Selection Sunday is a month from this Sunday. That means it's the homestretch as teams play their way in (or out) of the NCAA Tournament bracket.

And it also means that bracketologists are as busy as tax accounts on April 14. Bracketologists, if you haven't been paying attention, are those experts who spend hours each day updating their mock brackets that change with each day's scores.

This week, ESPN.com, Rivals.com and CBSSports.com all posted their brackets for this week. Here's how the Big 12 teams fared (with projected seeds in parentheses):

ESPN.com
Oklahoma (1), Kansas (3), Missouri (5), Texas (7), Kansas State (12). Kansas State, by the way, was listed as one of the "last four" teams to make the bracket as an at-large selection.

Rivals.com
Oklahoma (1), Kansas (4), Missouri (5), Texas (7), Texas A&M (12). Rivals' tournament bracket is based on projections. For instance, the site says, "Texas A&M has lost five of seven, but the Aggies have enough big games left on the schedule to right the ship."

CBSSports.com
Oklahoma (1), Kansas (4), Missouri (5), Texas (10). This bracket lists just four Big 12 teams making the field. Baylor, Texas A&M, Kansas State, Nebraska and Oklahoma State are listed as Big 12 bubble teams.

Here are some NCAA Tournament thoughts and opinions from Your Humble Correspondent
* The Big 12 should get at least five teams in the field. Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and Texas are locks. Kansas State is making a strong bid to become the fifth team. The sixth team should come from (in order of their chances) Nebraska, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Baylor.

* Oklahoma State and Baylor each took backward steps this week. The Cowboys were blown out at Texas and Baylor let second-ranked Oklahoma slip away in the final minutes. The Bears have lost home games to Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma during their six-game losing streak. Baylor's good work during non-conference play could be wasted.

* Nebraska's NCAA Tournament chances will be decided on the road. The Cornhuskers have games remaining at Missouri (Saturday), at Kansas (Feb. 21), at Kansas State (Feb. 28) and at Baylor (March 7).

* Texas A&M has six regular-season games remaining. The Aggies probably need to win five. Home games with Texas (next Monday) and Missouri will be huge as will a Feb. 24 trip to Nebraska.

* Oklahoma is continuing to make a strong bid to become a No. 1 seed. The Sooners will probably open NCAA Tournament play in Kansas City. What will be interesting to see is if the NCAA Tournament committee places another Big 12 team (Kansas? Missouri?) in K.C.

* Texas wants to avoid being a No. 8 or No. 9 seed because the second round means a game with a No. 1 seed. Seeds five, six and seven have easier second-round games.

Hearing voices
Players, particularly freshmen, have heard their coaches' (loud) voices for months. Those who are struggling to grasp certain concepts have heard so much that whenever a coach says something now, it sounds like white noise.

Omaha World-Herald writer Lee Barfknecht put it this way when discussing Nebraska redshirt freshman Toney McCray: "I keep expecting to find an injury report citing McCray as questionable because of ruptured ear drums. 'MCCRAY!!! WHATTA YA DOIN?' booms Sadler day after day after day."

The 6-6 McCray is perhaps the most talented player on Nebraska's roster but unless he plays within Sadler's system, that talent is largely wasted.

Barfknecht reports that at a recent practice, Sadler turned to some other voices. He asked ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla and George McQuarn, former head coach at Cal State Fullerton and Los Angeles prep power Verbum Dei High, to do some good coach/bad coach counseling.

"(Fraschilla) and Coach Sadler's friend, George, both got on me and told me playing hard is a skill," McCray said. "All the other skills I have, I'm putting to the side for now and I'm working on that one.

"But it's not easy to do,'' McCray said. "You think you're playing full speed, but it's not the real speed it needs to be.''

Fast breaks
* Two games Saturday are not just rivalry games. Kansas, following its first Big 12 loss, travels to Kansas State. The Wildcats have recovered from an 0-4 start to win their last six. And Texas A&M is at Baylor. The Bears are 3-7 in the Big 12 after losing to Oklahoma; the Aggies are 3-6. "It's a 'Gotta Beat Baylor' game," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "(But) I don't have to tell the guys that. We all know where we are. And that we're trying to salvage something."

* Texas' season-long search for a point guard has led to Dogus Balbay. The sophomore from Turkey started for the first time Tuesday night in the Longhorns' 99-74 victory over Oklahoma State. He had 10 points, seven assists, two steals and was "the difference in the game," according to Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford. Balbay's start meant that Connor Atchley became a reserve. After struggling to find his shot most of this season, the 6-10 senior scored 14 and was 4-of-6 for the floor and 2-of-4 on 3-point attempts. Before Tuesday, Atchley was 7-of-34 from the field and 2-of-21 on 3-point shots in Big 12 games.

* Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive, chair of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, said Tuesday that the economy won't influence how teams are bracketed. "The bracketing principles are designed to place teams as geographically close to their home city as possible, and we certainly understand the economic times," Slive said. "But I don't think we're going to violate those principles. Our primary obligation is to provide the nation with a geographically and balanced national tournament."

* Slive also emphasized that conference affiliation has no bearing when the committee is selecting the 34 at-large teams. There has been speculation that the 16-team Big East Conference could place as many as 10 teams in the bracket. "Each team is chosen based on its own merit and being in a particular conference does not help or hurt your chances of making the tournament," Slive said.

Stat sheet
* Oklahoma has won 12 in a row and during that streak the Sooners have made 51 percent of their shots while holding their opponents to 38.9 percent shooting.

* Oklahoma State has trailed by 14 or more points in six of the last seven games.

* Oklahoma State's bench has been outscored 56-8 the last two games.

* In three games against Oklahoma State last season, Texas guard A.J. Abrams was 8-of-35 from the field and 1-of-19 from 3-point range. In Tuesday night's 99-74 Texas victory, Abrams was 6-of-9 from the field and 4-of-5 on 3-pointers.

* Texas is 3-6 in games decided by six points or fewer. Last season in games decided by the same margin, the Longhorns were 9-3.

* Baylor guard LaceDarius Dunn's streak of 28 games with a made 3-pointer ended with his 0-for-6 shooting night against Oklahoma on Wednesday.

* Oklahoma's Blake Griffin had 18 points and 10 rebounds against Baylor. His 21st double-double of the season ties the single-season school record held by Alvan Adams and Gar Heard.

Talking points
"We think the last 10 minutes of the game belong to us. When we see 'em bleeding, we've got to put our foot in their neck."
Missouri junior guard J.T Tiller on how the Tigers like to finish games

"This is one of those games that will linger. If this doesn't hurt, I don't know what hurts. It really eats at me. No. 1, it's Missouri, and No. 2, we didn't fight. We didn't play the second half like we normally do. We didn't hold our composure."
Kansas' Cole Aldrich after the Jayhawks' 62-60 loss at Missouri Monday night

"I don't think we consider ourselves a bubble team. We just hit a little roadblock. Everybody was kind of mad, but our confidence is up and our morale is up."
Texas senior guard A.J. Abrams on the Longhorns' NCAA Tournament chances

"I guess the way we played here shows you what kind of people we are. We're never going to give in and we're always up for a challenge like this. But we have to bring that same intensity at home."
Colorado freshman point guard Nate Tomlinson after the Buffs' 77-72 loss at second-ranked Oklahoma

"Nobody is going to remember how I played. They're just going to remember Mizzou beating us."
Kansas freshman guard Travis Releford on his career-high nine points in Monday's 62-60 loss at Missouri

Coach speak
"If you compete in the Big 12 and you are one of the five or six teams that gets to compete in the NCAA tournament, then you have a chance to be successful in that tournament. That's what I want to do year in, year out."
Nebraska coach Doc Sadler on where he wants the Cornhuskers' program to be

"Every time he turns, if they want to flop, they can flop. And coaches on the other end are begging for it. If I were on the other end, I'd probably be doing the same thing."
Texas coach Rick Barnes on the foul calls often encountered by his 6-10, 300-pound center Dexter Pittman

"We closed out games down the stretch last year. This year, we haven't done that in the last five minutes. Our defense has hampered us all year, and we haven't executed offensively in the final minutes. We're missing shots that we hit last year."
Baylor coach Scott Drew on the difference between his team this season and last

12 in 12
Updates/assessments of the men's teams in a dozen words or less: