Iowa State looks a whole lot like bad news for the Big 12 now. The Cyclones won their sixth straight game — and this is seven out of eight if you reach back and include a win at Kansas … and a loss at Texas — by cooling off Oklahoma State Tuesday night, and a team with seven seniors has already started its last stand. The stakes are clear for the rare Friday night game between Iowa State and No. 10 West Virginia at the Coliseum: The winner is the No. 2 seed in next week’s Big 12 tournament.

(Rare? It’s the fifth Friday game this season, the second in conference play and the third at home. The recent history is filled with good and bad memories. But the Dec. 30 game at Oklahoma State was for television, as is this. The last regular-season conference game on a Friday before that? More than five years ago.)

The Mountaineer can be second, third or fourth in the standings and the bracket. Here’s how:

No. 2: Win

No. 3: Lose, Baylor loses at Texas

No. 4: Lose, Baylor wins at Texas

The No. 2 plays the winner of the 7 v. 10 game. The No. 3 still avoids Kansas until the final, but it plays the No. 6. The identities of 6, 7 and 10 will be cleared up soon, beginning with games tonight: Texas at Texas Tech, K-State at TCU. The No. 4 is on Kansas’ side of the bracket and plays the No. 5, which is Oklahoma State.