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Between Houston, Texas Tech and others, we should be in for a great week in Kansas City.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Big 12 tournament.
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Storylines to watchHouston cruising into Big 12 tournament
Houston has rolled through a very solid Big 12 this season, and the Cougars look like a legit national title contender. They closed out the regular season with 10 straight wins, including over both Iowa State and Texas Tech, and they’ve lost just once since the end of November. L.J Cryer has dominated offensively, and the Houston defense has been remarkable. The Cougars haven’t let a team score more than 65 points during their 10-game win streak, too.
If Kelvin Sampson is going to make a title run, this is the perfect chance to do it. That starts in Kansas City, where the Cougars will get the double bye.
What happened to Kansas?
The preseason No. 1 team in the nation is entering the Big 12 tournament in perhaps the worst possible way. The Jayhawks finished the regular season with a 20-11 record and lost seven of their last 13 games. They fell out of the national rankings for the first time in years and suffered one of the worst blowout losses in the Bill Self era when they lost to BYU by more than 30.
The team that generally dominates the Big 12 and has a huge advantage with what essentially is a home conference tournament looks far from a team that can make an NCAA tournament run. That didn’t help KU much in a loss to Arizona in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
Big 12 tournament bracketHow to watch the Big 12 tournament
All times ET
When: Tuesday-Saturday
Where: T-Mobile Center | Kansas City, Missouri
TV: ESPN, ESPN+
Game schedule:
Tuesday, March 11: First round
Game 1 – No. 13 Cincinnati 87, No. 12 Oklahoma State 68
Game 2 – No. 16 Colorado 69, No. 9 TCU 67
Game 3 – No. 10 K-State 71, No. 15 Arizona State 66
Game 4 – No. 14 UCF 87, No. 11 Utah 72
Wednesday, March 12: Second round
Game 5 – No. 5 Iowa State 76, No. 13 Cincinnati 56
Game 6 – No. 16 Colorado 67, No. 8 West Virginia 60
Game 7 – No. 7 Baylor 70, No. 10 K-State 56
Game 8 – No. 6 Kansas 98, No. 14 UCF 94
Thursday, March 13: Quarterfinals
Game 9 – No. 4 BYU 96, No. 5 Iowa State 92
Game 10 – No. 1 Houston 77, No. 16 Colorado 68
Game 11 – No. 2 Texas Tech 76, No. 7 Baylor 74
Game 12 – No. 3 Arizona 88, No. 6 Kansas 77
Friday, March 14: Semifinals
Game 13 – No. 1 Houston 74, No. 4 BYU 54
Game 14 – No. 3 Arizona 86, No. 2 Texas Tech 80
Saturday, March 15
Big 12 championship game: No. 1 Houston vs. No. 3 Arizona, 6 p.m. | ESPN