Path to a Big 12 title still exists for Kansas basketball

Winning will come easy Saturday, but the pressure then starts to mount for Kansas. After a week-long break, the Jayhawks will travel to Lubbock on February 23rd to take on a ranked Texas Tech team that is currently tied with Kansas in second place.

While Kansas doesn’t control it’s own destiny, if it were to win out the rest of the way and finish 14-4, at least a tie for the championship would be all but guaranteed. If they did so it would include a win over Kansas State. One more loss for the Wildcats in addition to the Kansas game would put them at 14-4, leaving a likely scenario that the two Kansas schools share the title for the second time.

The problem for KU is winning six straight in the Big 12 is not easy. Even one slip-up and the Wildcats would have to lose two more games for there to be a tie. This doesn’t even include what Texas Tech does.

Assuming a win happens against West Virginia, here is what the rest of the season would like for a 9-4 KU team.

• Feb. 23 — @ No. 15 Texas Tech (20-5)
• Feb. 25 — vs. Kansas State (19-6)
• March 3 — @ Oklahoma State (9-15)
• March 5 — @  Oklahoma (15-10)
• March 9 — vs. Baylor (16-8)

ESPN.com gives Kansas at least a 55 percent chance to win every game besides the road trip to Lubbock. The same site gives the Red Raiders a 72 percent chance to come out victorious. So, if we play the odds, the Jayhawks will finish 13-5 in Big 12 play. They won the conference by two games last season with that exact record, but that’s not happening this year.

In this scenario Kansas State would have only have to go 5-2 the rest of the way to claim the title. Texas Tech would have to go 6-0.

Here is the Wildcats remaining schedule:

• Feb. 16 — vs. No. 23 Iowa State (18-6)
• Feb. 18 — vs. West Virginia (10-14)
• Feb. 23 — vs. Oklahoma State
• Feb. 25 — @ No. 14 Kansas (19-6)
• March 2 — vs. Baylor
• March 4 — @ TCU (17-7)
• March 9 — vs. Oklahoma

Assuming a loss occurs to Kansas, the Wildcats could afford just one more loss to claim the title. ESPN.com is giving Iowa State (51 percent) and TCU (62 percent) the edge against the Wildcats. Which, in simple terms, means they are picking KU and Kansas State to go 13-5.

If it were only that easy. As long-time ESPN anchor Chris Berman likes to say, “That’s. Why. You. Play. The. Game.”

If odds predicted everything there would be no need for competition. If the Jayhawks want to make it easy, they’ll win out and claim number 15 in a row. If not, they can lose one game and hope for the best.

Lose two, and well, 14 in a row isn’t so bad.