A little less than five weeks from now, Baylor will once again hear their name called as an NCAA tournament participant. It will be our third such invite in the Drew era, it will be time to toast to a great regular season.

How great this regular season will be remembered will likely be determined this week, however.

At 8-2 in the conference, the Bears have equipped themselves with a great chance at winning their first conference championship. They've recovered from a pair of painstaking losses with four straight nail-biting wins.

Now come the rematches against Kansas and Mizzou.

With the conference's new format, BU will get a second shot at 'north' teams. Fortunately, this gives the Bears an opportunity for enacting revenge, this time with a healthy Perry Jones III. Conversely, this means the Bears possible undefeated record against the 'south' could get outweighed as the balance of power has shifted towards the Mason-Dixon line.

Either way, Baylor's next two games are not 'big' or 'must wins' or 'bubble bursters.' They're bigger than ever and also likely to determine which Big 12 entry receives something much bigger than invitation to the dance on Selection Sunday.

I'm talking, of course, about a one seed.

The task of taking care of business this week is daunting, make no mistake. Baylor will have to overcome an 18 point whipping in Lawrence and do a lot of things differently to beat KU this time around.

It's not likely the Bears will play as sloppy and rattled. It's not likely KU will play with the same poise and fortune as they did at Allen Fieldhouse last month. If Baylor can get great performances from Jones, Quincy Miller and maybe some more late game magic from Pierre Jackson, the Bears should win.

Beating Mizzou might be even tougher. The Tigers are now 3-0 against the conference's top four teams and though they have stumbled twice, they have been solidified as the team to beat. The Bears would be wise to rethink the game plan, address their likely rebounding advantage against MU and, again, get the ball to Jones to establish an interior presence.

Baylor has not defeated the Jayhawks in Waco in 11 years, they have never won at Mizzou arena. They have never won a Big 12 Championship. The stakes have never been higher.

With March Madness looming closer and closer, imagine the possibilities if both teams get our best punch.