Seventh-seeded Oklahoma, by most accounts will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament even with an early exit from this week’s Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.

Oklahoma State, on the other, would have to win four games in a row to get the NCAAs this year. No. 9 seeded OSU opened Wednesday night against No. 8 seed TCU. A win there would place the Cowboys up against No. 1 seed Kansas State at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Then OSU would face the winner of the Baylor/Iowa State game and probably No. 2 Texas Tech in the championship.

That’s a tall order.

The Cowboys won their last two games, including a 85-77 victory over West Virginia. Lindy Waters paced OSU with 19 points as they beat the Mountaineers 85-77 in Stillwater.

“We got a lot of positive contributions from a lot of different guys and they were all really valuable for us,” said OSU coach Mike Boynton. “Most of the guys are banged up, but they had a collective toughness and spirit of competitiveness about themselves and they found a way to get the job done.”

OU (19-12, 7-11) opened with No. 10 seeded West Virginia. If the Sooners won Wednesday night, they would face Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Thursday. A win against Tech would match the Sooners against the winner of the game between No. 3 seed Kansas and No. 6 seed Texas.

OU lost at West Virginia by a score of 71-79 on February 2 and beat the Mountaineers  92-80 on March 2 in Norman.

“I don’t think anybody is excited about playing us,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said after the OSU loss Saturday. “We screw up a set, we miss a guy wide open. When it was a three-point game, we missed a guy wide open on a shuffle cut; we didn’t even look at him, and that’s our first look. We’re playing four freshmen, let’s be honest.

“We’re playing four freshmen and obviously one of them is really good, but they’re young and they’re going to make mistakes.”

OU would also have to win four games in a row to win the tournament and that is unlikely. A first-round win over the Mountaineers would be a boost to the their NCAA resume.

Kristian Doolittle had 14 points and Jamal Bieniemy added 12 Saturday as the Sooners fell to Kansas State, 53-68, in Manhattan, Kansas.

For the first time in 15 years, Kansas didn’t win the Big 12 during the regular season. Kansas State and Texas Tech tied for the top spot.

This is the second time K-State has won the regular season title and the first time for the Red Raiders. K-State shared the title with KU in 2012-13.

Kansas State had the tiebreaker over Tech and got the No. 1 seed in the tournament. All the games will be on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU. In the tournament, games start 30 minutes after the end of the previous game.

 Doolittle was named the winner of the inaugural Big 12 Most Improved Player Award. Doolittle was also named to the third team All-Big 12 team.

During conference play, Doolittle led the Sooners by averaging almost 14 points per game along with 7.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Last season, Doolittle averaged only 2.9 points per game and 4.3 rebounds. Doolittle scored at least 14 points in each of OU’s final regular season games. He had 24 points and 11 rebounds when the Sooners upset Kansas on March 5.

OU’s Christian James was a second team All-Big 12 pick.

James led the Sooners in scoring this year, averaging 14.5 points per game, 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists. He has career totals of 1,165 points and 507 rebounds.

Teammate Brady Manek got an honorable mention. Manek shot 45 percent from the field (34 percent on three point shots) and averaged 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds this season.

Cameron McGriff and Lindy Waters of Oklahoma State got honorable mention on the All-Big 12 teams.

Jarrett Culver of Texas Tech is the Big 12 player of the year and Red Raider coach Chris Beard is the coach of the year. Barry Brown of Kansas State is defensive player of the year. Dedric Lawson of Kansas is newcomer of the year and Jaxson Hayes of Texas is freshman of the year. Lindell Wiggington of Iowa State won the sixth man award.

Culver, Lawson, Brown, Marial Shayok (Iowa State) and Dean Wade of Kansas State are on the All-Big 12 First Team.

The selections are made by league coaches (who can’t vote for their own players).