The Kansas State Wildcats know their opponent in the second round of the 2011 Big 12 tournament -- Colorado Buffaloes. Iowa State just dropped their round one game to fifth seed Colorado meaning the Buffaloes will move on to face the fourth seed Wildcats at 2:00 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday. Here's the full Big 12 tournament bracket.
There are plenty of story lines in this one.
First, Colorado swept the season series against Kansas State. The Buffs won 74-66 on January 12 and then again 58-56 on February 12. When looking at Kansas State, you almost have to divide their season into two parts because, in the early half of the season and Big 12 conference play, they struggled big time. But they turned things around in the end and have won eight of their last nine games. The one loss? Colorado. So the Buffs have proven they can beat the bad K-State and the good K-State.
Second, it's a matchup of two Big 12 player of the year candidates. You've got Jacob Pullen for K-State who averaged over 20 points per game and has been on a tear the last few weeks of the season. Then you've got Alec Burks for Colorado who put up 29 points and 15 boards in Wednesday's meeting with Iowa State.
Though we expected this matchup to happen -- we picked Colorado to beat Iowa State -- it's still an exciting matchup.
For more on this game, check out Bring On The Cats and Ralphie Report.