Big 12 once again hopping mad as March Madness gets underway

Texas's Myles Turner, right, sits with other members of the team on the bench as they look on with time running out in the second half of an NCAA tournament second round college basketball game, Thursday, March 19, 2015, in Pittsburgh. Butler won 56-48 to advance to the third round. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) Texas's Myles Turner, right, sits with other members of the team on the bench as they look on with time running out in the second half of an NCAA tournament second round college basketball game, Thursday, March 19, 2015, in Pittsburgh. Butler won 56-48 to advance to the third round. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

By Associated Press March 20, 2015 4 min read

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Big 12 spent all season puffing out its chest. The league pointed to its RPI, that mercurial number that only seems to take on meaning in March, and the number of teams it had in the Top 25 as evidence of its superiority.

Then, Black Thursday came along.

Its conference tournament champ, Iowa State, was first to go down on the first full day of the NCAA Tournament. Fellow third-seed Baylor was ousted minutes later. No. 11 seed Texas capped the historically bad day for the league when it flamed out against Butler.

The good news? The Big 12’s other four teams don’t play until Friday.

“It’s been a rough day,” said Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford, whose ninth-seeded Cowboys will attempt to change the narrative when they play eighth-seeded Oregon in the West Region.