Bracketology: Could we have a Texas vs. Texas A&M first round?

TCU climbed out of the basement of the Big 12 standings with a win over Iowa State, 96-73 on Wednesday night at Schollmaier Arena.

The victory snapped a three-game losing streak, although the nature of that streak is a little bit misleading. In their past three contests, Jamie Dixon’s team fell in overtime at then-No. 9 Oklahoma (102-97), at Texas in double-overtime (99-98) and to then-No. 10 Kansas (88-84).

The Horned Frogs remain on the six-line in the latest bracketology outlook from ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. The only difference in Lunardi’s latest projection this week is that TCU is now playing in the West Region and would have to face either Maryland or Middle Tennessee. The winner of their play-in game would be a No. 11 seed.

While Dixon’s bunch finally picked up a conference win at home, things weren’t all smiles at Schollmaier arena. Earlier in the day, news broke that sophomore guard Jaylen Fisher suffered a knee injury in practice on Tuesday. Fisher underwent surgery today.

After the game, Fisher’s situation was the first thing the head coach addressed.

TCU may have coasted to a blowout win, but the rest of the Big 12 had a typically upside evening. Texas, probably the league’s best unranked team, upended No. 8 Texas Tech, 67-58, in Austin. In Lunardi’s latest bracket, Texas will join TCU in the West Region as the No. 8 seed. The Horns first round opponent: No. 9 Texas A&M.

The loss had to be a disappointing one for the Red Raiders, seeing as they were coming off a huge home-win over then-No. 2 West Virginia. According to Lunardi, head coach Mark Beard’s team will be a No. 3 seed in the South Region where they will take on a 14-seeded Bucknell team that many expect could be a sleeper come tournament time.

The game between the two Texas teams might not have even been the biggest upset in the Big 12 over the past few days. Coming into Tuesday’s road game against Kansas State, No. 9 Oklahoma was flying high. In their last two games, the Sooners had picked up big home wins over then-No. 8 Texas Tech and then-No. 16 TCU.

But Oklahoma superstar Trae Young finally had an off night, at least for him, as his team got walloped by the Wildcats in Manhattan, 87-69. In Lunardi’s bracket, the Sooners sit on the two-line in the West Region.

In total, the Big 12 is projected to have six teams in the tournament field including Oklahoma and Kansas (both 2-seeds), Texas Tech and West Virgnia (both 3-seeds), TCU (six-seed) and Texas (eight-seed).

TCU, meanwhile, will continue through the grind of the Big 12 schedule. The Horned Frogs take on Kansas State on Saturday afternoon in Manhattan. Two days later, they will host No. 6 West Virginia at 8 p.m. on ESPN’s Big Monday.

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This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Bracketology: Could we have a Texas vs. Texas A&M first round?."