10 Struggling Teams Entering the 2018 NCAA Tournament

Texas Tech Red Raiders

It really felt like the streak was going to be broken. Kansas had won 13 straight regular-season Big 12 titles, but Texas Tech Red Raiders had a one-game lead on the Jayhawks as recently as February 17th with a home game against them still on the schedule.

That's also the same day star player Keenan Evans was forced to leave a game against the Baylor Bears early with a foot injury. The Red Raiders went on to lose that game, and Evans tried to play through the pain in the ensuing two contests, including the aforementioned big game against Kansas. He was clearly limited, though -- the engine of this offense was only able to record two field goals combined in both losses.

Texas Tech eventually decided to sit him against West Virginia Mountaineers, and a team that looked like it might win the regular season title in America's best conference suddenly was staring at a four-game losing streak.

And while they did lose to West Virginia again in the conference seminfinals, the two games prior showed that Evans was back to his usual self, as he posted over 20 points in the regular season finale and again in the opening round of the Big 12 Tournament.

This team clearly struggled coming in to the tournament, but with their star back and the team returning to full strength, they are just as dangerous as ever.