The Big 12 is so deep and difficult that good teams can find themselves in a downward spiral threatening their NCAA hopes.
And because of that depth, a few wins can resuscitate those hopes for March.
"The great thing about the conference RPI and the nonconference that everybody had, you know when you got into conference play there weren't going to be any bad losses," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "Anyone you lose to, it's not going down on your résumé as a bad loss. There's only quality wins because of the success in the nonconference of everybody.