Let the Show.....BEGIN!

The Pokes finished off their 2010-2011 out-of-conference (OOC) schedule tonight with a solid win over UTSA, 79-63. Jan-Paul Olekemi paced the Orange and White with 16 points and Marshall Moses added 14 for the Cowboys, who now must get ready for a good - yet sporadic - Kansas State team to visit GIA in 5 days.

I'm still having a hard time placing what kind of team this year's squad is going to be. I think it's a fair assessment to say they will go as far as Marshall Moses can lead them, as he leads the team in points and rebounds after the first 14 games. Undersized for a post player (even by collegiate standards), Marshall has learned to use his superior strength and touch to get better each year he's played for the Cowboys. If he can continue to dominate the paint and knock down the 8-12 footers in conference play, Oklahoma State could have a better-than-expected year. Realistically speaking, however, I think it's just going to be too hard to replace James Anderson and the Cowboys will hover around .500 during conference play, which would give them a record of 20-10 going into the Big 12 Tournament.

Looking at other players on the roster, J.P. Olukemi continues to get stronger with the rock and should develop into a good player in just his sophomore season. I could see him bumping his PPG up to 11 or 11.2 (currently he sits at 9.7) as teams will be more likely to let him beat them than they will Keiton or Marshall.

Keiton Page isn't shooting the rock very well right now, and that will need to improve quickly if the Pokes want to do better than 8-8. He's averaging just under 15 ppg right now, but only shooting 34% from behind the arc. A shooter with his range and touch needs to be at least over 40%, and I'd like to see Keiton get to 42-43%.

Matt Pilgrim, Ray Penn and Darrell Williams are wildcards. At times, flashes of brilliance and great skill. At others, invisible on the court. Frustrating to say the least, but Coach Ford and his staff will do everything they can to get the guys to give 100% every game, and good things should happen.

I think the 2010-2011 Cowboys have a couple of surprises in them, if they can put it all together, stay healthy, and catch a break or two. I think the Big 12 is going to be the definition of the Haves and Have Nots this season, as I expect the 4 teams with the best conference record to have a combined record of 51-13 while the 4 teams with the worst conference record to mirror that record exactly, finishing a combined 13-51.

Taking a look at the schedule, here's my prediction on each game. I'll follow that up with my predicted order of finish for the Big 12 after the last tournament game in mid-March. I am placing the ranking a team currently holds as of this post.

1/8 vs. #17 Kansas State - L

1/12 @ #16 Texas A&M - L

1/15 @ Colorado - W

1/19 vs. Iowa State - W

1/22 @ Baylor - L

1/26 vs. #12 Texas - W

1/29 @ Texas Tech - L

2/2 vs. #8 Missouri - L

2/5 vs. Oklahoma - W

2/12 @ Nebraska - W

2/16 @ #12 Texas - L

2/19 vs. #16 Texas A&M - W

2/21 @ #3 Kansas - L

2/26 vs. Texas Tech - W

3/1 vs. Baylor - L

3/5 @ Oklahoma - W

Conference record.... 8-8.

Order of predicted finish (with record)

#1 Kansas... 14-2

#2 Missouri... 14-2

#3 Kansas State... 12-4

#4 Texas A&M... 11-5

#5 Baylor... 11-5

#6 Texas... 9-7

#7 Oklahoma State... 8-8

#8 Iowa State... 5-11

#9 Colorado... 4-12

#10 Texas Tech... 4-12

#11 Oklahoma... 3-13

#12 Nebraska... 2-14

Big 12 Regular Season Champion... Kansas

Big 12 Tournament games:

First Round

#5 Baylor vs. #12 Nebraska (Baylor)

#6 Texas vs. #11 Oklahoma (Texas)

#7 Oklahoma State vs. #10 Texas Tech (Oklahoma State)

#8 Iowa State vs. #9 Colorado (Colorado)

Second Round

#1 Kansas vs. #9 Colorado (Kansas)

#2 Missouri vs. #7 Oklahoma State (Missouri)

#3 Kansas State vs. #6 Texas (Texas)

#4 Texas A&M vs. #5 Baylor (Texas A&M)

Semifinal Round

#1 Kansas vs. #4 Texas A&M (Kansas)

#2 Missouri vs. #6 Texas (Missouri)

Championship Round

#1 Kansas vs. #2 Missouri (Missouri)

Big 12 Tournament Champion... Missouri

I'll do my best to post after each game with my thoughts and to hold myself accountable for these predictions ;)

Here's hoping that I have plenty of crow to eat in March!

GO POKES!!