Missouri did its part for the Southeastern Conference Saturday by upsetting No. 12 Iowa State. And Tennessee protected its home court in the Rick Barnes Reunion game.

But the league mostly flopped during the final SEC/Big 12 Challenge. That could cost the SEC dearly when the NCAA Tournament selection committee sets the bracket.

Consider Oklahoma’s 93-69 bludgeoning of No. 2 Alabama. The Sooners are just 12-9 overall and 2-6 in the Big 12, so that mammoth victory could help them nab an NCAA bid at the expense of one of the SEC hopefuls.

That rout could also deny Alabama one of the top seeds. Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats felt the full weight of the loss afterward.

“It doesn't have any effect on SEC standings, which is the only good thing to come out of this,” he said. “Hopefully, we will recover from a loss out of conference, but, you know, it's not good. We needed the SEC to do well in this Big 12 challenge. We obviously didn't do our job on it.”

Elsewhere in the challenge:

The only other SEC positive Saturday was Mississippi State taking down No. 11 TCU in overtime. That is fair warning to Missouri, which will be in Starkvegas Saturday to face the Bulldogs.

THE BASKETBALL DIARIES

Here is what people have been writing about college basketball:

Kyle Boone, CBSSports.com: “No. 4 Tennessee's defensive reputation is well-known — the Volunteers rank No. 1 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency at kenpom.com — but their offense has been a source of concern at times this season. In an 82-71 win over No. 10 Texas, offense carried the day. The Vols shot 55.6% from the floor led by a career-high 27 points from Olivier Nkamhoua and 22 from Zakai Ziegler. The win marked a bit of revenge for Tennessee, which dropped a 52-51 thriller at Texas last season as coach Rick Barnes returned to the school where he spent 17 seasons. The Longhorns have struggled to find consistency since Barnes' tenure ended while the Volunteers appear destined to be a No. 5 seed or better in the NCAA Tournament for a fifth time in Barnes' eight season with the program.”

David Cobb, CBSSports.com: “After a Quad 4 home loss to South Carolina on Jan. 10 dropped Kentucky to 1-3, the Wildcats clearly turned a corner during a four-game winning streak over the last two weeks. However, the Wildcats made just 25.7% of their 3-pointers during that stretch, and the run of poor outside shooting finally caught up with them against Kansas.  Kentucky hit just 2 of 13 shots from beyond the arc with Cason Wallace responsible for both makes. CJ Fredrick and Antonio Reeves — a pair of transfers lauded for their perimeter shooting — combined to go 0 for 8 from deep. The poor shooting is a new development for the Wildcats, who made 35.4% of their 3-pointers as a team in the season's first 16 games. If Kentucky is going to put the Kansas loss behind it quickly and build off the progress it made since the loss to the Gamecocks, it will need to find better shooting from somewhere. Wallace is doing his part, but getting Reeves and Fredrick going is going to be essential to this team's long-term success.”

Kevin Flaherty, 247 Sports: “Both Alabama and Texas entered Saturday as ranked teams, and neither looked much like a top-10 team in their Big 12/SEC Challenge contest. Texas has arguably the Big 12’s best combination of talent and experience, but the Longhorns needed to show up with a honed edge rather than a dull one. Instead they were thoroughly controlled, never coming within single digits of Tennessee in the second half and trailing by as many as 22. Speaking of 22, heading into its game against No. 2 Alabama, 22 points marked Oklahoma’s biggest win of the season, with a 75-53 win over UMKC. That changed, with the Sooners blasting Alabama by 24 points, 93-69, in a game Oklahoma led by 32 with about two minutes left in the contest. Look, teams have off nights. Sometimes they don’t even seem to get off the bus. But the No. 2 team in the country, a team with designs on a national championship, shouldn’t need a run in the final couple minutes to avoid a 30-point loss. And while Alabama’s defensive effort left quite a bit to be desired, it was also disconcerting that Porter Moser was able to scheme up a strong performance against Alabama’s offense.”

Gary Parrish, CBSSports.com: “The Crimson Tide are still 18-3 overall, including 8-0 in the SEC, with a 6-3 record in Quadrant 1 and zero losses outside of the first quadrant. Literally every school in the country besides Purdue either has fewer Quadrant-1 wins than Alabama and/or more Quad 1 losses than Alabama and/or more losses outside of the first quadrant than Alabama. Most have all three.”

Neal McCready, Rivals.com: “The calendar turns to February on Wednesday, and basketball season in Oxford is basically over. The Rebels enter Tuesday’s game against Kentucky 1-7 in Southeastern Conference play. Dating back to last season and including a first-round SEC Tournament loss to Missouri, the Rebels have won just five of their last 26 games against league foes. Apathy has set in amongst the fan base. If you’re (athletic director) Keith Carter, apathy is an enemy that must be driven out. Continuing with another season of the current situation isn’t an option, and everyone knows it. Carter likely needs a splash. (Chris) Beard is a hell of a basketball coach. Beard, who turns 50 next month, took Little Rock to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2015. He guided Texas Tech to the Elite Eight in 2018 and to the national title game a year later. He took Texas to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season and was recruiting a top-five class before being fired earlier this year.”

MEGAPHONE

“I thought the crowd was unbelievable. I sat there when the crowd rushed the floor -- you know, my younger self might have ran out in the middle of it -- and I just sat there and just said, 'This is a vision.' And like, this kind of excitement with the student body -- I thought they were awesome. They were there early. Best crowd I've had since I've been here.”

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser, after upsetting Alabama.