I gotta agree here, as a close follower of the Big XII...
UT, OU and KU (with Simien back) are as close to 3 equal teams as you will find, and I think if they played a rotating schedule between the three would win very consistently at home with the road teams hanging tough, but getting edged out at the end. In the 2 case studies this year (UT at KU and OU at UT) this has been the case.
That being said, Texas Tech is 2 steps below this level of Big XII competition (with the level immediately below these 3 being occupied by Missouri and Okie State). They were 10-1 coming into conference (against suspect competition), and will finish BELOW .500 in the league. They have lost to 2 of the top 5 teams in the league (OU and OSU) AT HOME, and have looked even worse on the road (blowout at K-State, loss to TX A&M, etc.)
Bobby Knight is a legendary coach, and I think that effects the line and action in every one of their games, in my opinion making them consistently overvalued. The talent level is average for the leage, and tonight they go against the deepest collection of talent in the XII. I like Knight's system and think they will get some good looks against a UT team that should play loose at home looking to run and gun, but they cannot hang in the transition game and will tire in the second half, in an eventual runaway.
Tech is against the wall, trying to make a case for the tourney, but here they are outskilled, outmanned, and will ultimately not be able to handle the UT pace and depth.
STRONG on the OVER (as I think UT gets to 85), and also playing the HORNS.
thehounds
