The Big 12 is set to have its biggest conference tournament to date with 16 teams heading to Kansas City, Missouri, to try and secure the automatic big, and bolster their NCAA men’s tournament resumes while doing so.
Chaos has always been welcomed in the Big 12, and there was no shortage of it in the regular season. Houston continued its dominance in the league with back-to-back regular season titles, but will be trying to win its first Big 12 tournament title and prove it deserves a No. 1 seed for the third consecutive year. Behind them is Texas Tech followed by newcomer Arizona, which had a strong start to conference play, and Brigham Young, the hottest team in the league with eight wins in a row.
Teams to watch are off the pace include longtime members Baylor and Kansas, which aren’t having anywhere near their recent success. There’s also Iowa State, which will try to be the first repeat tournament champion since it accomplished the feat it in 2014-15.
BRACKETOLOGY:Fight for No. 1 seeds, bubble lead projected NCAA field
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Big 12 tournament schedule, bracket, scores
First round
Tuesday, March 11
Cincinnati 87, Oklahoma State 68
Colorado 69, TCU 67
Kansas State 71, Arizona, State 66
Central Florida 87, Utah 72
Second round
Wednesday, March 12
Iowa State 76, Cincinnati 56
Colorado 67, West Virginia 60
Baylor 70, Kansas State 56
Kansas 98, Central Florida 94 (OT)
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 13
Brigham Young 96, Iowa State 92
Houston 77, Colorado 68
Texas Tech 76, Baylor 74
Arizona 88, Kansas 77
Semifinals
Friday, March 14
Brigham Young vs. Houston, 7 p.m.
Texas Tech vs. Arizona, 9:30 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, March 15
Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.
All times Eastern
Big 12 tournament favorite
The favorite will be Houston, which dominated its way through with 19 Big 12 wins, setting the conference’s single-season record. The Cougars do play elite defense − leading the country in points allowed per game (58) and fifth in field goal defense (38.4%) − but the improvement on offense is what’s made them a national championship contender. Houston is third in 3-point percentage at 39.6%.
There are plenty of teams that could take the crown away from Houston, including a Texas Tech team that gave the Cougars its lone conference loss. Arizona nearly took down Houston earlier this season and have an electric offense, red-hot BYU could continue it’s momentum and Iowa State just loves to win this tournament. One note: in the history of the Big 12 conference tournament, all the champions have been a No. 5 seed or better.
Big 12 tournament top players
JT Toppin, Texas Tech – The New Mexico transfer excelled in Lubbock, winning Big 12 player of the year after averaging 18.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. He’s totaled at least 20 points in seven of his last nine games, including a career-high 41 points against Arizona State.
LJ Cryer, Houston – A well-seasoned veteran for Kelvin Sampson, Cryer is the leader of the regular season champions on both ends of the court. Not only is extremely athletic, he’s a prolific shooter as his 43% 3-point percentage is tops in the Big 12 and 16th-best in the country.
Caleb Love, Arizona – Love has been a top scorer through his career and it’s been no different in his final season for the Wildcats. Even though he can get into some shooting slumps, if he’s able to knock down one shot he can quickly get into rhythm − especially from beyond the arc.
Curtis Jones, Iowa State – It’s not often a team’s leading scorer comes off the bench, but Jones leads the team’s second unit. The conference’s sixth man award winner averages 17.3 points, and his performance has often dictated whether the Cyclones win or not.
Richie Saunders, Brigham Young – BYU’s recent surge can be credited to Saunders, who has had no problems becoming the go-to-guy for the Cougars. He’s really turned up his play against conference opponents with 17.9 points per game while shooting 52.4% in Big 12 play.
NCAA tournament bubble storylines for the Big 12
The Big 12 is projected to send eight teams to the NCAA men’s tournament, and the nice part is all of the projected teams aren’t in the bubble or at risk of missing out. The real story is teams are fighting to position themselves for the best possible seed on Selection Sunday. Teams at risk of being double-digit seeds in March Madness include West Virginia and Baylor.
