Tuesday tip-off: Football's finished, turn to Big 12 hoops

Setting up the day in college basketball:

Best bets: Now that the college football season is officially in the books, there figure to be some more casual fans turning their attention to the hardwood as conference play heats up. The deepest league in basketball's top division will be the subject of ongoing debate, but the Big 12 has the best argument at this stage.

The Large Dozen-minus-two now boasts seven teams in the Paste BN Sports coaches poll, with No. 24 Oklahoma State joining the rankings this week. That number will be put to an immediate test as the Cowboys pay a visit to Allen Fieldhouse to take on No. 10 Kansas (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).

The trip to Lawrence is just a continuation of a challenging stretch for Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys battled to a two-point loss at Iowa State and upended then-No. 10 Texas to earn their poll spot. But snapping the Jayhawks' 15-game home winning streak figures to be a tall order. KU played its smoothest offensive game in some time against Texas Tech in its most recent outing as Perry Ellis appeared to snap out of a slump with a 15-point, 5-for-7 shooting performance.

In another Big 12 clash of ranked squads, No. 15 West Virginia looks to bounce back from its first league loss as No.18 Oklahoma comes to Morgantown (7 p.m. ET, ESPNews). The Mountaineers' tenacious defense keep them in nearly every game, but with so much talent in the conference they're going to have to make more shots to achieve more consistency. The Sooners have plenty of scoring options, and the floor opens up for all of them when Isaiah Cousins is on target from the three-point arc.

Number of the day:68.4. No. 4 Duke found itself in the loss column for the first time this season Sunday, but freshman postman Jahlil Okafor did nothing to damage his hold on the nation's best field-goal percentage. He was 8-for-11 from the floor in his 23-point outing to boost his accuracy rate to 68.4%. But he had to work for every one of his shots, and the Wolfpack took away his passing lanes to the Blue Devils' perimeter shooters and held him without an assist. Duke will look to resume its winning ways at home against Miami (Fla.) (9 p.m. ET, ESPNU). The Hurricanes took unbeaten Virginia to double overtime 10 days ago.

Days until Selection Sunday: 61.

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