Upcoming Schedules....

Yeah the OU loss really stings especially since it was, in my opinion, a give away. We could have easily won that game if Self had pulled Dok to stop the fouling. That said, I think the team is in a great spot and they could very well go down to TT and win that game. My concern is still with the Iowa St. and OSU games. Always very tough places to play.

...but let's not forget that we have a 1 game lead on the next group (and it coulda woulda shoulda been a 2 game lead on OU if Baylor had finished last night).

Tonight completes this round of games with both Tech and WVU in action. WVU should win in Ames easily, but Texas could win at Tech. That would be nice, but I'm going to assume that both WVU and Tech win.

On Saturday we have:
-OSU at KU: KU likely to win
-KSU at WVU: WVU should win, but it's not a guarantee
-OU at Texas: again, OU should win, but no guarantee
-Tech at TCU: Tech wins

So by Saturday night, there's a CHANCE that WVU and or OU gets dinged, and in all liklihood KU and Tech maintain their positions.

NEXT WEEK:
-TCU at KU: KU wins
-WVU at OU: SOMEBODY MUST LOSE THIS GAME>> --This will bump one of them to at least 2 back (if KU wins), and could bump somebody to 3 back if they one loses on Saturday.
-ISU at Tech; Tech wins

NEXT SATURDAY:
-KU at Baylor: not an easy win, but certainly possible
-OSU at WVU: WVU wins
-Tech at KSU: good game...coin toss?
-OU at ISU: OU wins

With all that in mind, and assuming that this round ends with KU up one game on WVU, Tech and OU, here's the prediction for the next 3 games

-KU goes 2.5-0.5 (@Baylor is the coin toss)
-Tech goes 2.5-0.5 (@KSU is their toughie)
-OU goes 2-1 (WVU game could go either way, and @ Texas is in question)
-WVU goes 2-1 (OU game will definitely ding one of them, and hosting KSU is their other rough one).

So just looking into the next week, KU and Tech have the easier roads, and OU and WVU have the tougher roads. Ideally, if OU or WVU loses on Saturday, the loser of that game wins in the OU/WVU matchup to put them both another game down. Of course if they both lose on Saturday, that would be ok too.

WOW! ISU taking down WVU changes the equation going forward, so I'm going to revise my "next 3 games" thing. I'll keep WVU in the list of contenders since they were in there to begin with, but in reality falling 2 games off the pace is really going to make their path a LOT more difficult, and the best they can hope for vs. KU is to win at AFH to split the series.

On Saturday we have:
-OSU at KU: KU likely to win
-KSU at WVU: WVU should needs to win, but it's not a guarantee. I'm not picking KSU to win this one This is suddenly a HUGE game since the loser could potentially fall to 3 games behind, almost certainly eliminating them from a realistic shot at the title.
-OU at Texas: again, OU should win, but no guarantee. The calculus changes here too. Texas is coming off a tough loss, playing at home, and OU has been lucky to pull out their last couple of wins. This game is a toss up, IMHO.
-Tech at TCU: Tech wins

So by Saturday night, there's a CHANCE that WVU and or OU gets dinged, and in all liklihood KU and Tech maintain their positions.

NEXT WEEK:
-TCU at KU: KU wins
-WVU at OU: SOMEBODY MUST LOSE THIS GAME>> --This will bump one of them to at least 2 back (if KU wins), and could bump somebody to 3 back if they one loses on Saturday. Gonna be rooting like crazy for Huggy now.
-ISU at Tech; Tech wins ISU beating WVU is not even close to a "trend" yet

NEXT SATURDAY:
-KU at Baylor: not an easy win, but certainly possible
-OSU at WVU: WVU wins
-Tech at KSU: good game...coin toss? Even more of a coin toss now, if KSU can beat WVU on Saturday.
-OU at ISU: OU wins

With all that in mind, and assuming that this round ends with KU up one game on WVU, Tech and OU, here's the prediction for the next 3 games

-KU goes 2.5-0.5 (@Baylor is the coin toss)
-Tech goes 2.5-0.5 (@KSU is their toughie)
-OU goes 2-1 (WVU game could go either way, and @ Texas is in question) Revised downward to 1.5-1.5 because I think Texas will give them more problems than I originally thought.
-WVU goes 2-1 (OU game will definitely ding one of them, and hosting KSU is their other rough one). Also revised downward since WVU is officially struggling (3 game losing streak, lost 5 of the past 6).

WVU made things tough for themselves, so going forward it's now a 3 team race unless/until KSU or WVU are able to gain ground.
If my predictions pan out we'er looking at the following standings:
KU: 9.5-2.5
Tech: 8.5-3.5
OU: 7.5-4.5
WVU: 6.5-5.5

Then again, as we saw last night in Ames, anything can happen. Hoping that we get through the next 3 games without any surprises.

Saw that, and I agree. "Press Virginia" is kind of like the Baylor or Syracuse zone...kind of a 'one trick pony' deal. If you can nullify it, they got nuthin else to throw at you. Granted, if you DON'T figure it out, you can have problems.

With WVU, I think having 4 guys with decent handle and passing skills made their zone ineffective and that was all it took. As more teams are relying on small lineups, I think that's something that will continue. I also think that once somebody solves a riddle, every other coach sees the game tape and learns how to do the same thing.

Don't get me wrong, they're still a threat but they're struggling mightily right now.