Big 12 Tournament 2023: Top Storylines for Men's Round 1 Games

The Oklahoma State Cowboys need to eliminate their biggest rival in the first round of the Big 12 tournament to maintain their hopes of a ticket to the Big Dance.

Oklahoma State comes into its first-round matchup with the Oklahoma Sooners as one of the first teams out in most bracket projections.

Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report listed the Cowboys as the third team out, while Joe Lunardi of ESPN has them as the first team out.

An Oklahoma State loss inside T-Mobile Center in Kansas City would limit the Big 12's number of NCAA tournament teams to seven.

The West Virginia Mountaineers need to beat the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the other first-round game to avoid being thrown back into the bubble conversation. Miller and Lunardi both have the Mountaineers projected as a No. 9 seed.

The Oklahoma State-Oklahoma winner will face the Texas Longhorns in Thursday's quarterfinal round, while the Kansas Jayhawks await the West Virginia-Texas Tech winner.

Oklahoma State's success in Kansas City will determine if the Big 12 gets seven or eight teams into the NCAA tournament.

The Cowboys are on the bubble because they lost five of their last six contests. They beat Texas Tech on Saturday to get back on track.

Mike Boynton's side beat Oklahoma twice in the regular-season Bedlam series, winning each of those games by double digits.

Oklahoma is not a pushover, though, as it displayed on Saturday in a 72-60 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs.

The Sooners could relish the spoiler role on Wednesday to keep the Cowboys out of the field of 68.

Oklahoma picked up wins over TCU, the Iowa State Cyclones and Kansas State Wildcats in league play, and it blew out the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Big 12/SEC Challenge.

Porter Moser's team has been more inconsistent than the rest of the Big 12, but if it plays its best, it could surprise Oklahoma State.

It doesn't matter how the Cowboys win as long as they advance to the next round. A victory of any sort over a team they already beat twice probably won't mean much to the selection committee.

Oklahoma State needs to set itself up to face Texas in the quarterfinals to gain another quality win and leap over the other bubble contenders.

The Cowboys should also be rooting for the North Carolina Tar Heels and Wisconsin Badgers to lose in their respective conference tournaments to further clear out the bubble.

West Virginia won three of its last four games to feel safer about its NCAA tournament chances heading into Kansas City.

The Mountaineers split the regular-season series with Texas Tech, with each team winning on the road in those games.

Texas Tech enters T-Mobile Center on a three-game losing streak and without head coach Mark Adams, who has been suspended for making an "inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive comment."

ESPN's Pete Thamel and Jeff Borzello provided more detail on the situation:

"According to the school, Adams was encouraging a player to be more receptive to coaching and "referenced Bible verses about workers, teachers, parents, and slaves serving their masters." Adams apologized to the team after he found out the player was upset about the use of the Bible verse, a source told ESPN."

On the court, the Red Raiders went through losing streaks of eight, three and two games in Big 12 play. They also had a four-game winning run in conference play.

Texas Tech's inconsistency is a concern and that should benefit the Mountaineers.

Like the other game, a West Virginia win will not do much for its NCAA tournament resume, but it would put it in position to have a chance to earn another big victory.

West Virginia lost to No. 1 seed Kansas twice in the regular season, but the most recent losing margin was two points. An upset in Kansas City may help the Mountaineers move up a seed line in the NCAA tournament bracket.