The first and only Big 12 men’s basketball tournament with 14 teams will take place this season with the conference welcoming four new teams to Kansas City, Missouri, and seeing two other members compete for the last time.
Leading the first-timers is Houston, which is No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and won the regular-season title by two games. Brigham Young also acquitted itself well with 10 league wins that have the Cougars comfortably in the field. Texas and Oklahoma both finished in the middle of the pack in their final seasons in the league they co-founded in 1996. Could they create some final fireworks before joining the SEC?
And what about Kansas? The perennial tournament contenders enter as a No. 6 seed after their worst conference finish in the Big 12. Depth and injury issues have derailed the Jayhawks, who will be without their top two players − Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr.
Big 12 tournament schedule, bracket, scores
At T-Mobile Center, Kansas City, Missouri
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First round
Tuesday March 12
Central Florida vs. Oklahoma State, 12:30 p.m.
Cincinnati vs. West Virginia, 3 p.m.
Second round
Wednesday March 12
Brigham Young vs. Central Florida-Oklahoma State winner, 12:30 p.m.
TCU vs. Oklahoma, 3 p.m.
Texas vs. Kansas State, 7 p.m.
Kansas vs. Cincinnati-West Virginia winner, 9:30 p.m.
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 14
Texas Tech vs. Brigham Young-Central Florida-Oklahoma State winner, 12:30 p.m.
Houston vs. TCU-Oklahoma winner, 3 p.m.
Iowa State vs. Texas-Kansas State winner, 7 p.m.
Baylor vs. Kansas-Cincinnati-West Virginia winner, 9:30 p.m.
Semifinals
Friday, March 15
Houston-TCU-Oklahoma winner vs. Texas Tech-Brigham Young-Central Florida-Oklahoma State winner, 7 p.m.
Iowa State-Texas-Kansas State winner vs. Baylor-Kansas-Cincinnati-West Virginia winner, 9:30 p.m.
Championship
Saturday, March 16
Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.
Big 12 tournament favorite
It’s hard to look past the No. 1 team in the country. Houston leads the country in scoring defense (57.3) and is third in field-goal percentage defense (38.5%) and that will keep them in games. A 30-point destruction of Kansas in the regular-season finale did nothing to diminish their position. Iowa State does have the defensive might to stick with them and Baylor has the scoring firepower to making things close. That pair could meet in the semifinals with the winner likely getting a shot at the Cougars.
Big 12 tournament top players
► Jamal Shead, G, Houston – It says everything about Shead that he was a named Big 12 player of the year and the league’s defensive player of the year. The straw the stirs the drink on both ends of the court for the Cougars is why they dominated the conference.
► Dylan Disu, F, Texas – The Vanderbilt transfer won Big 12 most improved player after scoring 16.1 points per game. The big man and Max Abmas provide most of the firepower for the Longhorns.
► RayJ Dennis, G, Baylor – Dennis led the conference in assists (7.0 apg) in league play and sets the pace for the Bears offense that averages 81.5 points per game.
► Tamin Lipsey, G, Iowa State – The key cog in driving the Cyclones to a surprise, second-place finish, Lipsey made the all-Big 12 first team as a sophomore. He does a little bit of everything, including leading the league with 2.8 steals per game.
► Emmanuel Miller, F, TCU – The team leader in scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding (5.8) has the ability to carry the Horned Frogs as he did in defeat of Baylor and Houston. It was his last-second shot that dealt the Cougars one of their three losses.
NCAA tournament bubble storylines for the Big 12
The Big 12 should lead all conferences with at least nine berths in the field. A majority of those should be top seeds with Houston, Baylor, Kansas and Iowa State leading the way. The lowest seeds look to be Oklahoma and TCU, but the Sooners and Horned Frogs are seemingly comfortable with 20 wins apiece. Those two play each other in the second rounds, so the losing team might have some sleepless nights before Selection Sunday. Kansas State and Cincinnati are the closest teams outside the bubble. A run to the conference tournament final probably wouldn’t be enough and winning the whole thing seems unlikely.