Kansas Missouri Basketball Enter Three-way Tie

Missouri is not leaving unnoticed. The Tigers pulled their arch rival, Kansas, back into a three-way tie atop the conference race, beating them 74-71 Saturday.

The Tigers sit at 8-2 with Baylor and Kansas, and are heading into Missouri's Big Monday night game at Oklahoma.

The Jayhawks are chasing their eighth regular-season championship in as many years, but the upshot is that they are no longer in control. To put Kansas' string of Big 12 championships into perspective, take a look at the other conferences. The Big East has crowned four different regular-season champions in the past four years. Same in the Pac 12. The Southeastern conference has rotated divisional winners the past three seasons.

Keep an eye on this race - you can bet we will be!

Michigan State: The 'Why' Behind the Rank

Michigan State is a cohesive, clear-cut leader in Draymond Green and a good core mix. Keith Appling and Travis Trice offer different looks at point guard. Branden Dawson is a future star. Favorable schedule could springboard the Spartans into a lot of early conference wins.

Michigan State is for sure a No. 3 and could likely battle Wisconsin for the No. 2 (at least in my rankings).

Wisconsin: The 'Why' Behind the Rank

Jordan Taylor is a scorer, playmaker, defender and rebounded. The Badgers have guards who rebound and big centers and forwards who guard. Opponents will have extreme difficulty in defending. Those who leave center Jared Berggren alone on the perimeter will meet their demise. Sixth man Ben Brust and Josh Gasser are exceptional 3-point shooters.

Wisconsin deserves their #2.

Ohio State: The 'Why' Behind the Rank

I picked Ohio State to finish atop the Big 12 this year in college hoops. Here's why:

Jared Sullinger may be the best player in college basketball. If that isn't enough, Aaron Craft is a brilliant sophomore point guard and William Buford and Deshaun Thomas are reliable scorers.

Ohio State is the clear favorite!

Big 12 Hoops Race

Here are my picks for the Big 12 hoops race!

1. Ohio State

2. Wisconsin

3. Michigan State

4. Michigan

5. Illinois

6. Indiana

7. Northwestern

8.Purdue

9. Minnesota

10. Nebraska

11. Iowa

12. Penn State

Big 12 Schedule: 12/29 - 1/4

12/29
Arkansas Tech at Texas A&M
Howard at Kansas
Oklahoma at Cincinnati

13/30
Missour at Old Dominion
Southeastern Louisiana at Texas Tech

12/31
Virginia Tech at Oklahoma State
Mississippi Valley State at Iowa State
Rice at Texas
Howard at Kansas State
Northwestern State at Oklahoma
North Dakota at Kansas

1/2
Texas A&M at Baylor

1/3
Oklahoma at Missouri

Big Ten and Pac 12 Unite

The Pac 12 and the Big 10 announced that the two leagues would join forces for annual interconference games. The details are pending, but we do know the interconference games will not happen until 2017.

What are your thoughts on the interconference games?