Teams scramble for the sure way into NCAA tournament

DALLAS -- When the Big 12 tournament was first played in Dallas three years ago, the league was establishing itself as a power basketball conference.

After its first tournament outside of Kansas City ended in 2003, the Big 12 had two No. 1 seeds and a No. 2 for the NCAA tournament. And the conference sent six teams, matching the Southeastern Conference for the most, for the fourth straight year.

A year later after playing in Dallas again, the league's status took a severe blow. Just four teams made the 65-team NCAA field, and regular season and tournament champion Oklahoma received a No. 2 seed.

The Big 12 is back in Big D and could end with even fewer teams getting NCAA bids this time.

Only No. 8 Texas (22-5) and No. 17 Kansas (22-7), the regular season co-champions, along with No. 22 Oklahoma (20-7), go into this week's tournament virtually assured of NCAA berths.

The conference, in its 10th season, has always had at least four teams advance.

Texas A&M (20-7) has a seven-game winning streak and a first-round bye, but the Aggies haven't had many impressive victories this season. They face a potential quarterfinal matchup against Colorado (19-8), which is on the NCAA bubble because of inconsistent play.

"I think certainly because our league has gotten better from the bottom up, the perception is that the league is down," Colorado coach Ricardo Patton said Wednesday. "I think it's opposite. I think the league has gotten better as a whole."

Convincing the NCAA selection committee of that could be difficult.

Colorado plays today against 12th-seeded Baylor (4-12). In the other first-round games, Texas Tech plays Kansas State; Nebraska plays Missouri; and defending champ Oklahoma State plays Iowa State.

Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M won't play until the quarterfinals Friday