The Big 12 was the top conference in college basketball in 2015, finishing first in both conference RPI and KenPom's conference ratings. And it went 0-3 in NCAA Tournament action on Thursday, the worst mark in conference history:
The Big 12 crashes and burns on the NCAA Tournament’s opening day
The best conference in college basketball had its worst NCAA Tournament day ever on Thursday.
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Today is the 1st day in Big 12/Big 8 history that the conference lost 3 NCAA Tournament games on the same day.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 19, 2015 Only eight of the 32 conferences in Division I even placed three teams in the NCAA Tournament, and the Big 12's seven bids tied the Big Ten for the most of any conference. But the Big 12's faceplant is a significant one, no matter how you slice it. Two of the losing teams were No. 3 seeds -- Iowa State went belly-up against a 15-loss UAB squad, while Baylor blew a 12-point lead in the game's final three minutes to a Georgia State team that was missing its starting point guard, Ryan Harrow. In that context, No. 11 Texas losing to No. 6 Butler, despite Bulldogs forward Roosevelt Jones sustaining an injury that left him limping for much of the second half, almost seems good. Almost.
On the bright side, an 0-4 encore on Friday would seem difficult, with No. 2 seed Kansas and No. 3 seed Oklahoma both favored by double-digits.
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