The Kansas State Wildcats will be looking for some revenge against Colorado after the Buffaloes swept the season series between the two teams. K-State will play their first game of the 2011 Big 12 tournament bracket in the quarterfinals against Colorado.
This will surprisingly be one of the best matchups today. K-State is, in my opinion, the better team and they're playing really well right now. However, Colorado sweeping the season series 2-0 is no joke. They've shown they can beat quality Big 12 teams, including KSU.
So what happens on Thursday? I'm predicting a KSU victory. It's hard not to.
The Wildcats have won eight of their last nine games -- the one loss coming to Colorado -- and Jacob Pullen, a Big 12 player of the year candidate like Colorado's Alex Burks, has been at the top of his game. Plus, it's hard to beat anyone in any sport three times in one season. I think Frank Martin figures them out and Kansas State wins it.
I haven't seen a line for the game yet but I'd imagine K-State is slightly favored in this one. The Sprint Center crowd in Kansas City will be purple and they'll be fired up because, if KU wins right before them, they'd be playing for a matchup against the Jayhawks.
Colorado-Kansas State will be going down at 2:00 p.m. in Kansas City and can be viewed on the Big 12 Network (or KMCI in Kansas City....or channel 8 for Time Warner folks).
Check out Bring On The Cats and Ralphie Report for more on the game.