On Wednesday night, the final game of round one in the 2011 Big 12 tournament bracket will feature the sixth seed Missouri Tigers and the 11th seed Texas Tech Red Raiders. RPT from Rock M Nation (and SB Nation KC) wrote a preview suggesting Mizzou needs a good showing in Kansas City this week to gain some momentum heading into the NCAA tournament.
Check out the full preview here. Here are a couple of notes about these two teams heading into the game at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday night.
-Texas Tech fired head coach Pat Knight, but he will coach the team through the rest of the season so this could be his last game. His players could fall apart in the final game knowing he's gone or they could step up and send him off on a high note.
-As RPT noted, Mizzou has lost three in a row. Losing on the road to Kansas State and Nebraska isn't so bad, and neither is losing to the No. 2 ranked team in the country. But losing to Texas Tech would be a major downer.
-Missouri struggles big time on the road but Wednesday night's game will be closer to a home game than a road game. The Big 12 tournament is in Kansas City where the majority of fans are from Mizzou, Kansas and Kansas State. The Tigers will have a bigger crowd than Texas Tech.
Check out more on Mizzou at Rock M Nation.