Insiders Select Top Big 12 Games for 2017

With less than six weeks until the start of basketball season and the announcing of the Sooners' league slates a few weeks back, we had our experts offer their choices for the "can't miss" and "dark horse" games of the conference season. Sherri Coale's squad is looking to make its 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament and opens the season on Nov. 2 with an exhibition against Midwestern State at Lloyd Noble Center. Lon Kruger's club starts off its season at home with a Nov. 8 exhibition versus Washburn.

Let's start with the men, fresh off their fifth Final Four appearance.

Toby Rowland // Voice of the SOONERS

MBB Can't Miss – Texas – Feb. 14

The Red River rivals had two barnburners last year with Buddy Hield providing the knock out punch in Norman. Shaka's Horns vs Kruger's Crew promises to be highly entertaining for years to come. This should be a Valentine's night big one in the Big 12 race.

MBB Dark Horse – Kansas State– Feb. 25

The Wildcats have been a pest the last couple years and this is a tough spot. It's a Saturday night game right before the Sooners go to Lawrence for Big Monday. Late in the season, it'll no doubt be very important.

kevin henry // radio analyst

MBB Can't Miss – Kansas – Jan. 10

Fresh off another Big 12 Conference title, 12 in a row to be exact. The Sooners' showdown with KU is my can't miss pick. The Jayhawks lost Perry Ellis, Wayne Selden, Cheick Diallo and Brannen Greene to the NBA draft, but return Frank Mason, Devonte' Graham, Carlton Bragg and Landen Lucas. Bragg, a McDonald's High School All American pick in 2015, looks to get his swagger back coming off of a sub-par freshman campaign. Mason and Graham might be the best backcourt in the Big 12. It will be interesting to see who steps up for the Sooners and joins Jordan Woodard as Oklahoma tries to slow this fast-paced tandem down.

MBB Dark Horse – Iowa State – Jan. 21

Iowa State lost an all-time fan favorite in Ames in Georges Niang and two other starters in Abdel Nader and Jameel McKay, but the cupboard is not bare. They return a trio of guards that will contend with the Kansas duo for the top spot in the top backcourt in the Big 12 conversation. Monte Morris is the point guard and leader of this team. Morris returning to the Cyclones is as valuable to them as it was for Buddy Hield returning to the Sooners for his senior season a year ago. Matt Thomas is a flat-out shooter and Naz Long is back after getting a medical redshirt from a hip injury last season. The pair will provide the sharp shooting from the other wing position.

The wild card of the bunch, and what makes the Cyclones the most dangerous team in the Big 12, is Deonte Burton. Burton, a 6-4, 250 pound mountain of muscle, is a matchup problem for everyone. He is big enough to play inside, but skilled enough to handle the rock and shoot the three. Who will the Sooners put on him? A bigger guy, and he steps away from the basket and drives around them. A smaller guy, and he takes them inside and uses his physical play to man-handle them. We will have to wait and see!

Jessica Coody // Sooner Sports TV

MBB Can't Miss – West Virginia – Feb. 8

What you are expecting me to say here is Kansas, but I am going with West Virginia on Wednesday, Feb. 8. The Mountaineers return seven key players from a team that advanced to the Big 12 Championship. Plus, by now, we all know how “Press Virginia” likes to play, and it always seems to result in a highly entertaining matchup between the Sooners and Mountaineers. Not to even mention, two of the three matchups last season resulted in last second buckets, a Khadeem Lattin tip-in resulted in an Oklahoma win at home, and Buddy's epic half-court shot in the Big 12 tourney that was waved off after he went crowd surfing. Again, usually an epic battle, and my must-see, cannot miss game in the LNC in 2017.

MBB Dark Horse – Texas – Feb. 14
BONUS: Bedlam – Oklahoma State – Jan. 30

1A. Texas. Last season's ending is etched into my brain forever, a defining moment a conference season full of them, in an electric atmosphere in the LNC, and something tells me it's on repeat in the minds of the Longhorns as well. Third season for Shaka Smart, and this rivalry is really heating up again.

1B. Oklahoma State. First year of the Brad Underwood Era, and I'm interested to see how things translate for him in a highly competitive Big 12 conference. Plus the pesky Phil Forte is back healthy after missing what would have been his senior season. With Forte and Jordan Woodard, should be a fun battle between two senior guards who really understand this rivalry.

And the picks for the women's squad ...

BRIAN BRINKLEY // PLAY-BY-PLAY

WBB Can't Miss – Baylor – Feb. 27

It's the final regular season game, and there could be implications for the Big 12 title and postseason seedings on the line. The Bears have won the conference six straight years and this could be a chance for the Sooners to end the streak and get their second win over Baylor in the last three years at home.

WBB Dark Horse – TCU – Jan. 1

TCU appears to be a program on the rise, and now have former Sooner Britney Brown on their coaching staff. These two teams always seem to play entertaining games, with an up-tempo pace and lots of action. It's the Big 12 home opener for the Sooners and a great way to start the new year.

brenda vanlengen // fox sports

WBB Can't Miss – Any of Them.

Any of the Big 12 games. Big 12 women's basketball is one of the most competitive conferences in the nation and this year will be no different. I expect Baylor and Texas to be ranked in the Top 10 with five or six teams in the Top 25 by the end of the season. With the experience and depth the Sooners bring back this season, they also have the opportunity to crack the Top 10, so every night in the Big 12 conference is a must-see event.

WBB Dark Horse – West Virginia – Feb. 7

Of all the games in the Big 12, the one fans may overlook is the West Virginia game, because it's not a long-standing rivaly. However the Feb. 7 game promises to be another epic battle for the Sooners. The two teams plays such different styles that every year it is a combination high stakes chess match and a battle of wills. It is fun to watch how the Sooners use their passing, court spacing and rhythm to try and overcome the physical, scrappy and disruptive Mountaineer gameplan.

Jessica Coody // Sooner Sports TV

WBB Can't Miss – Baylor – Feb. 27

All of them. I believe the conference is as wide open as it has been in awhile, and Oklahoma must take care of home court to bring back a Big 12 title to Norman, and Sooner fans, they need your help protecting the LNC!

But if you are making me choose, Baylor on Feb. 27 on senior night and what could have huge implications on the line. For the first time in this matchup Gabbi Ortiz will be the most experienced point guard on the floor with the graduation of Baylor's Niya Johnson, and that bodes well for the Crimson and Cream. And what a special, special senior class. I could go on and on about why you need to be in the stands for this one, just make sure and get your tickets to be there, because this has become one of the more exciting rivalries in Big 12 women's basketball.

WBB Dark Horse – Kansas State – Jan. 4
BONUS: Bedlam – Oklahoma State – Jan. 22

1A. K-State was a team on the rise a season ago, and is riding a ton of momentum after advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012. I'm excited to see the battle between Wildcat 6'5 senior center Breanna Lewis and Oklahoma's bigs Vionise Pieree-Louis and Nancy Mulkey. It's an early one, but as mentioned early, extremely important to take care of business from the get go on home court.

1B. To talk about this matchup, I must go back to last year's Bedlam game in Norman. 71-69 down to the wire in a fantastic ballgame, but theSooners were on the wrong end of it as the Cowgirls won at the Lloyd Noble Center for the first time since 1998. No dwelling on the past, but Oklahoma doesn't lose at home often (only four times in the last two years), and I have to imagine this very well might be on the back of the minds of several players that despised the feeling they felt a year ago. Oklahoma State graduated Big 12 Player of the Year Brittney Martin, but in what seems to be a highly-entertaining game more times than not because of the emotions surrounding Bedlam.

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Insiders Select Top Big 12 Games for 2017