Bye big help in tourney

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- On paper, this might look like the most wide-open Big 12 tournament in the conference's nine-year history.

But that depends on which piece of paper you're reading -- this season's results, or the tournament record book.

Eight teams in the league have beaten a ranked opponent this season. The two top seeds, No. 17 Oklahoma and No. 9 Kansas, have four conference losses each, and the Jayhawks could be without injured senior swingman Keith Langford.

That offers hope to teams such as fifth-seeded Iowa State, which has won nine of its last 11 after an 0-5 start in the Big 12, and Texas, a 20-game winner that's seeded sixth.

"The league has proven the parity is the best it's been from top to bottom since I've been here," said Texas coach Rick Barnes. "There are a lot of teams that think they can put it all together for a couple of days."

But since the conference started play in 1996-97, no team seeded fifth or worse has won the postseason tournament, which starts with four games today. The top four seeds have byes, meaning a lower-seeded team must win four games in four days to take the title.

"I would be surprised if anybody is ever able to do that, with the balance we have in the Big 12," said Eddie Sutton, coach of third-seeded and 10th-ranked Oklahoma State. "You're just exhausted on that fourth day. It's difficult to beat four quality teams in four days."

Missouri came closest to pulling off the feat in 2003, winning its first three tournament games as a No. 5 seed -- two against ranked opponents -- before losing 49-47 to Oklahoma in the title game.

Tigers coach Quin Snyder could be forgiven for wanting a day off between the semifinals and the finals. That's how the Big 12 runs its women's tournament.

But Snyder, whose team is seeded eighth this year but also has beaten both Kansas and Oklahoma, said Wednesday that he doesn't mind the four-games-in-four-days format.

"I would think that [a day off] would interrupt the flow of the tournament," he said. "Oftentimes, you're playing on fumes -- but that plays to a team's toughness, adrenaline, spirit and emotion, all the things that make the tournament and the tournament final great."