After an event-filled 10 weeks of regular-season conference matchups, Big 12 men’s basketball is taking its show to Kansas City.
The league’s conference tournament will take place over the next five days at T-Mobile Center, giving NCAA tournament hopefuls a chance to add to their resume while giving NCAA locks an opportunity to improve their seeding.
Plus, it’s five days of some of the most competitive, energy-filled basketball in the game.
Here’s what is at stake this week, and what to watch for as 16 Big 12 teams descend on Kansas City.
2025 Big 12 men’s basketball tournament
When: Tuesday, March 11, through Saturday, March 15
Where: T-Mobile Center, Kansas City
What’s at stake: An automatic bid to the NCAA tournament
Big 12 tournament schedule
First round, Tuesday
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Game 1: No. 12 Oklahoma State vs. No. 13 Cincinnati, 10:30 a.m. MDT (ESPN+)
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Game 2: No. 9 TCU vs. No. 16 Colorado, 1 p.m. MDT (ESPN+)
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Game 3: No. 10 Kansas State vs. No. 15 Arizona State, 5 p.m. MDT (ESPN+)
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Game 4: No. 11 Utah vs. No. 14 UCF, 7:30 p.m. MDT (ESPN+)
Second round, Wednesday
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Game 5: No. 5 Iowa State vs. winner of Game 1, 10:30 a.m. MDT (ESPN or ESPN2)
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Game 6: No. 8 West Virginia vs. winner of Game 2, 1 p.m. MDT (ESPN+)
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Game 7: No. 7 Baylor vs. winner of Game 3, 5 p.m. MDT (ESPN+)
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Game 8: No. 6 Kansas vs. winner of Game 4, 7:30 p.m. MDT (ESPN2 or ESPNU)
Quarterfinals, Thursday
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Game 9: No. 4 BYU vs. winner of Game 5, 10:30 a.m. MDT (ESPN or ESPN2)
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Game 10: No. 1 Houston vs. winner of Game 6, 1 p.m. MDT (ESPN or ESPN2)
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Game 11: No. 2 Texas Tech vs. winner of Game 7, 5 p.m. MDT (ESPN or ESPN2)
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Game 12: No. 3 Arizona vs. winner of Game 8, 7:30 p.m. MDT (ESPN or ESPN2)
Semifinals, Friday
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Game 13: Winner of Game 9 vs. winner of Game 10, 5 p.m. MDT (ESPN or ESPN2)
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Game 14: Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12, 7:30 p.m. MDT (ESPN or ESPN2)
Championship, Saturday
5 storylines to follow at the Big 12 basketball tournament
BYU is the hottest team. Can the Cougars keep it going?
This is odd to say, considering Houston is on a 10-game win streak and won the regular-season Big 12 crown by four games, but BYU’s eight-game win streak has been an impressive run.
BYU was 6-6 in Big 12 play before rattling off eight straight wins to end the regular season, a run highlighted by road wins at Iowa State and Arizona and a 34-point home victory over Kansas.
Will BYU be able to build off that and have the opportunity to improve its NCAA seeding with a strong showing in Kansas City? Last year, BYU was one and done at the Big 12 tournament, but this year they have a double-bye to the quarterfinals.
Bracket Matrix, in looking at 108 bracketology projections, has BYU as a No. 7 seed heading into the conference tournament.
Houston is No. 1 by a long shot. Will it result in a tournament title, too?
For as hot as BYU has looked over the past month, Houston is the truly dominant program in a power conference with multiple blue bloods.
Houston only lost once in regular-season conference play — a one-point loss against second-place Texas Tech — and is safely viewed as a No. 1 NCAA seed.
That shouldn’t be in question no matter how things go in Kansas City for Houston, who has a double-bye into the conference tournament quarterfinals.
There’s a chance that Houston could face BYU in the tournament semifinals, or even Iowa State — either way, that is some must-see March basketball ahead of the NCAA tournament.
Which NCAA bubble teams could improve their stock?
There are six Big 12 teams that appear to be locks for the NCAA tournament in Houston, Texas Tech, BYU, Arizona, Iowa State and Kansas.
But what about teams like Baylor and West Virginia, who show up on NCAA bubble watch articles? The Bears and Mountaineers are often classified as teams that “should be in” the NCAA tournament, but a nice week at the Big 12 tournament would help their cause.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati is a team viewed as on the NCAA fringe, and by some, so is TCU.
The Bearcats could help their case to make the NCAAs during the Big 12 tournament, even as the No. 13 seed. Cincinnati will play No. 12 Oklahoma State in the first round, then could potentially face two NCAA locks and No. 5 seed Iowa State and No. 4 seed BYU in the second round and quarterfinals, respectively.
Will the Bears, Mountaineers or Bearcats improve their NCAA tournament odds, with Selection Sunday less than a week away?
Who could get hot and improve their NCAA seeding?
Of those six Big 12 teams who are viewed as NCAA locks, will one (or more) of them get hot in Kansas City and improve their NCAA seeding with a strong week?
In the Bracket Matrix formula, Houston is a projected No. 1 seed, followed by Texas Tech and Iowa State as No. 3 seeds, Arizona is a No. 5 seed and BYU and Kansas are No. 7 seeds. (For reference, Baylor is a projected No. 9 seed and West Virginia a No. 10 seed.)
There will be chances for this group to improve their NCAA standing during the Big 12 tournament, as top teams face each other as the league tournament gets deeper into the week.
How will Utah do without a head coach?
Utah is the lone team at the Big 12 tournament that is currently working under an interim head coach in Josh Eilert, after Craig Smith was fired two weeks ago.
The Runnin’ Utes went 16-15 overall and 8-12 in their first year in the Big 12, and have gone 1-3 since the coaching change.
While there may not seemingly be much to play for, Utah arguably is in the best position to play spoiler at the Big 12 tournament. The Utes already own wins over two NCAA locks, BYU and Kansas, and played several competitive games over the back half of the league schedule.
Utah, No. 11 seed, would need to get by No. 14 seed UCF first, and the Knights edged the Utes in their only regular-season matchup.
After that, though, Utah could potentially face No. 6 Kansas and No. 3 seed Arizona in the next couple rounds if the Utes advance.
While the odds are wildly stacked against Utah making much of a run, there’s something to be said about a group that’s “playing for each other” in the league tournament after exceeding expectations already this year.
