The 2026 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament arrives in Kansas City this week with the conference widely regarded as the most brutal gauntlet in the country. With 16 teams now in the fold, the path to a title at the T-Mobile Center has never been more physically demanding, requiring the bottom eight seeds to win five games in five days to secure an automatic bid.
The Favorites
Arizona enters as the No. 1 seed and betting favorite (-105) after a dominant 16–2 inaugural run through the league. Tommy Lloyd’s squad is playing its best basketball of the season, entering on a six-game winning streak led by the interior presence of Koa Peat and the scoring of freshman Brayden Burries. Close behind is Houston (+185), whose identity remains rooted in Kelvin Sampson’s relentless defensive pressure. While the Cougars stumbled late with road losses at Iowa State and Kansas, their style is historically built for the postseason grind.
The "Hilton South" Factor
Despite being the No. 5 seed, Iowa State remains a massive threat. The Cyclones have won back-to-back Big 12 Tournament titles, and their fans routinely turn Kansas City into "Hilton South." They face a potential quarterfinal clash with a shorthanded Texas Tech squad, which is currently reeling from the loss of star forward JT Toppin to injury.
Bubble Pressure
The stakes are highest for the middle of the pack. West Virginia, UCF, and BYU all finished with 9–9 conference records and are fighting to solidify their March Madness resumes. West Virginia, in particular, has a critical second-round matchup Wednesday against the winner of BYU/Kansas State. A deep run for any of these programs could be the difference between a plane ticket to the Big Dance or a Tuesday night in the NIT.
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How many March madness teams is the Big 12 actually going to get and why on earth is West Virginia not one of them this
It's a bonus episode of Locked On Big 12
You are locked on Big 12 your daily podcast on the Big 12 conference part of the Locked On podcast network your team every day
Every Monday everybody welcome to Locked On Big 12 bonus episode. I'm Drake toll from America's number one big 12 podcast locked on big 12
Thank you for making this show your first lesson every single day
I joined the crew at ESPN Central Texas this morning
We talked about your favorite team and if they're in March madness and your favorite women's team and your favorite baseball
We talked about a lot of stuff. So thought you know what let's record it and give it to you as a bonus episode
If you hit subscribe, I get to keep my job owned by the way our every day or club and free locked on big 12 and a discord use code March
Right now all caps March skater first month free head to locked on big 12 that's super cast dot com for ad free locked on big 12
All right bonus episode time this episodes free for you if you hit subscribe, you can keep my job. Let's go boys
Appreciate you as always you're doing a great job and so proud of you as well
And let's start with big 12 women's tournament
First and foremost before we get into what happened in the games the floor how impressed or how unimpressed was Drake toll on the glass floor at Kansas City
Look ward the SEC is paying players in football
10 million dollars and in the big 10 the winning national championships three in the row three in a row in the big 12
We have a TV for a basketball court
Um, I just think there are other issues
We should be figuring out, you know, but that aren't the uh that aren't the basketball court
And it got some publicity
I think the rest of the most of the country looked at it and said that's pretty unnecessary. So I I remain
Without a strong opinion, but I it's it just seems like something that no one was asking for the big 12 did it anyway and
Another ploy to try to get more eyeballs on the conference that just didn't exactly work as as the league probably wanted to
Drake you look at West Virginia getting the title in the big 12
Uh over the weekend against TCU
Uh, maybe a little bit of surprise maybe an upset, but really maybe not the way West Virginia has been playing
Yeah, West Virginia is one of the hottest teams the big 12 and now one of the hottest teams in the country
The fact they avenge the couple of losses to TCU this season just shows what makes them so good
It's their ability to adjust and have they have it's called a hundred and eighteen points in Cincinnati a few games ago
Um, and this is a West Virginia team now on a six game win streak you ward you and I talk about it quite a bit
Uh, we have a few times the past about how the big 12 tournament or these conference tournaments don't always matter much for certain teams
For West Virginia, they wanted to prove hey we can beat a top 10 caliber team like TCU
We need to get that monkey off our back and grab that true big time
Markey win now they have a couple of them they want at Iowa state
But that win was diluted over the course of the year they just you find out Iowa state wasn't as good as we thought this TCU team is
Is top notch and West Virginia beating them is a massive feather in their cap going into the NCAA tournament now
Can they contend with UCLA can they contend with Texas or or Yukon that's a much different question
But for West Virginia a
A massive momentum bump going into the NCAA tournament super proud of what the mountaineers have done
I know the entire state of West Virginia is behind their women
Baylor women's had the double buy and they took a loss to Colorado 62 to 53 and in their first game of the big 12 tournament
Drake how concerning is that for Baylor women's basketball
Yeah, this was a Baylor team Jacob and it's a good question because you asked us on the men's or the women's side of hey
Who wants to win in the big 12 tournament and who knows what's stacked against them
I think Baylor would have had to have won the entire the entire weekend in Kansas City to be able to host the the postseason and March madness
And so they said hey instead of
Except of really pushing ourselves to go win a couple games here when it won't matter
And I won't change our seating and will still be probably a five seeded as whole thing. Let's just
Go home. Let's lose to Colorado. We know who we are. We know what we want to do in March madness
Let's end this thing right here take some rest and if rest is what you need right now
If you don't need excess wins in Kansas City or wins that don't really matter to where you're going to be seated
Then just go home and rest do the thing that's going to help you win in March madness
What it actually matters for West Virginia you get a monkey off your back
They didn't really need to rest up with injury issues
They wanted to go win to prove they could be the top 10 team for Baylor
You need to do sometimes. It's best to say hey if in our in our interest in the interest of our basketball team
We're going to take a nap and that's going to help us win when it matters most Baylor did that. I'm not that concern
Drake told with us here on the press box on ESPN central Texas the men's tournament
Is set Baylor now set to take on Arizona state right here on ESPN central Texas
Tomorrow at 1130 and for the bears. I mean you've got a gauntlet laying in front of you you got
Arizona state which you beat earlier in Waco by
By a couple and then you get through that you got Iowa state and then hello Texas tech to get to friday if you possibly can
or the bears
it is
I know this is a gauntlet laying in front of them, but if they can get those three wins
Drake did they return to a bubble team all of a sudden
You have to if you're beating Arizona state who themselves were listed on the bubble in the last couple of weeks
If you beat Iowa state meal on mom chileovich team and lipsy a team that's ebbed and flowed in and out of the top five all season long
Then you beat Texas tech who is the giant slayer tech will lose to Arizona state
Or lose to be why you and then beat a top five team. It's what the red raiders have done all year
And especially if you beat Arizona Baylor could lose in the big 12 championship to say Houston or Kansas
And you're still just be you just knocked off three top 12 teams in the span of probably three or four days
That at least deserves a nod toward march madness and and a swing in into the NCAA tournament because you proven
You can beat some of the best teams in the country now Baylor is proven it can lose to some of the best teams or worse teams in the country
Um, and I think a boost like this all be it needed necessary for them to make it still may not be enough in the eyes of the committee
It is for me knocking off three top 12 teams in the span of a weekend
This is that should get you in but for Baylor if
If it doesn't I'm not surprised you had to do more in the regular season as I look up and downward at this bracket
Here's what really surprises me about about where we sit in bracketology in the big 12 West Virginia bought themselves the buy
They're the seven seed in the big 12 tournament ward BYU is the ten seat if you ask a lot of bracketologists
They would tell you this BYU team to finish three spots below West Virginia in big 12 conference play that this BYU team
Is in a six seed overall the NCAA tournament if you ask people said hey, what about Iowa State
They tell you the Iowa State is a two seed in the NCAA tournament Iowa State the fifth best team in the big 12
BYU the 10th best team in the big 12 both those teams are well-seated in March West Virginia
The seventh best team in the conference isn't even on the bubble
I think we're missing a lot of big things here Baylor's going to carry a big storyline
Cincinnati could too if they win if they get hot a Colorado or Oklahoma State grab a couple big wins
The thing that I'm watching this week is West Virginia because no one's talking about them and they should be
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Outside of west Virginia and you mentioned some other schools. Do you have another sneaky favorite that could really turn some heads in the big 12 tournament
Yeah, I'm hopeful actually to see a team like you know
It'd be cool to see me while you put it all together and prove okay
We can win consistently without Richie Saunders. It'd be it'd be nice to see Arizona honestly run the table and prove
Hey, we're a one seed and we're the best team in college basketball
You're all about to find out from Braden buries to co-a-peat
But I think Baylor squarely in that category with enough talent from yes to food a cam car that they've got an opportunity to win games and and go all the way
The championship of this thing since and that if they get hot at the right time they get through Utah
They get through UCF both of those are very win-able for the bear cats
They could they could meet up with an Arizona team. It says hey, we we want to go home. We want some rest
We don't need to be here. We don't need to win this thing
And then watch out for Colorado. They're playing a lot better basketball and they've been off the radar entirely
But they've got a leg up to be local homestay then TCU is winnable for Colorado
Kansas with or without Darren Peterson. They've lost some big games
I could see Colorado making a run of the semi-finals this thing. I don't see that winning it
But they could make some noise for sure
When you look at this big 12 tournament. I mean who do you foresee in that championship game if everything was to go chop
Yeah, I'd be very surprised honestly. I do think most of this will go chalk
I'd be very surprised if we do not see the likes of Arizona and Houston meeting in the big 12 title
How fun would that be the number one team of the conference versus the number two team of the conference
A squad who's a lock for a one seed in Arizona and a Houston team that I think can once again go to the final four
And win the national championship this year
The veteran leadership they have mixed in with the Kingston Flemmings of the world make Houston a very dangerous team
I want to see Houston and Arizona square off in a top five matchup in the big 12 tournament championship
And and give themselves a glimpse another look into the crystal ball of what a final four game would look like
Another glimpse of the crystal ball of what an elite eight matchup with Illinois could possibly look like you get that the big 12 tournament
And and ward again
Those two teams could lose in the first round. I think they're still fine. They get more rest
You need rest after a big 12 gauntlet
But if you go to the big 12 championship
It's just gonna be fun for it will be fun for everybody involved
To watch two elite teams play like Arizona and Houston. I'm hopeful we get that matchup
Christopher. Oh go ahead there
Drake got better softball up and down during non-conference, but gets conference started with a huge sweep of Iowa State
Yeah, I this Baylor softball team is going to give me fits all year long
And at 17 and six
It's the same softball team that lost the San Diego State by a run and then turn around and return the favor 11 to two
A softball team that went toe to toe with Clemson who's elite, but lost a series to McNeese state
And now McNeese is one of the better mid majors you'll find out there
But then they sweep Iowa State and they look pretty darn good doing it
They've got a very young team. They're loaded with sophomores juniors Amber Tovins kind of the senior leader that is helping bring them all up
Thought the the blot went on Friday that first game of the double-hatter was impressive
And then the the way to grid it out on Sunday to hold a lead to rally take a lead hold a lead was impressive for Glenn Moore's group
So yeah, the fact they're already approaching 20 wins this season for a squad so young is is impressive to me that they've done
They've outplayed them something they've lost games. I thought they would win. They've won games
I thought they would lose and so happy with what Baylor softball has done
You know my sister full scholarship. They're playing
Plant for Baylor. Hey, she tore her per PCL
Four or five months ago. She'll be back next season red starting this year
But man Aaron you ought to see her hold a clipboard. She is so good holding the clipboard right now
Going into the big 12 baseball season
I know TCU is widely regarded as the favorite. Well, they've taken a couple steps backwards. Is there a right?
Is there a team just that goes straight to your mind drake that
Is your favorite to win the big 12 or at least be out in front?
Well, I would have said Arizona has a great chance to do so preseason
But then Arizona six and nine and they're a little bit better now, but I am
Completely surprised that Arizona and TCU are not toward the top of the big 12 conference
This is
We should be talking more about what West Virginia is doing in big 12 baseball and overall we don't talk a ton of college
Baseball in the grand scheme and things mean today alone right with Mike Evans going to the San Francisco
49 or there are a million storylines out there that that Trump big 12 baseball
But if you get into the nitty gritty of this conference West Virginia has been at the top of the league
Pretty consistently now dating back five six seven years
West Virginia is is a squad that if I had to buy somebody right now
I'm going to keep riding with the mountaineers and I do think Texas tech
You know, they've had a rough couple years that they'll rally and being that mix Oklahoma state has got a great program
Arizona state is solid. I'm still holding out hope for Cincinnati. We'll see if they're fools gold
But right now I'm just gonna give the
I'm gonna give the flowers to West Virginia because they've been up there for a few years
This could be a year where they went it out right in the regular season
Drake toe locked on big 12 hopes to Westwood one morning show with this on the press box on ESPN central Texas and Drake
The indoor national championships coming up this weekend in Fayetteville. How do you think to big 12 fairs and that?
I think the big 12's on a great spot and that is
Again, it's just the depth of this conference and it's the ability of this league to buy into sports at the Olympic level
So you're saying hey football is what that brings you the most money
Go go win in football and make more money and and the big 12 says hey
What about track or tennis? What about women's basketball? What about what about these sports that aren't necessarily gonna make us all the money
But we can still compete in them and be one of the best conferences in all of America
That's what they're doing in basketball at least so for the big 12 being at the indoor
This is an opportunity another opportunity to prove we have invested in all sports
It's not just football in this league and that is another nod ward to
This conference unlike the SEC wanting to to win at all levels the SEC values football
They value the heck out of football because they know it's where the money comes from the big 12 wants to
Prove hey once the government or somebody writes the ship of college athletics
It will have paid off to have invested in Olympic in Olympic sports
The big 12's going to showcase that again this weekend
Real quick. I want to go back to basketball
Baylor basketball did in the regular season on the men's side on high note against Utah
And for Scott Drew gets his 500th career win. Yeah, just a huge milestone and a huge plus side with a season that has just been
With so many bumps and and and and a year where he's had to totally rebuild his roster from the ground up
Yeah, anybody who is poking holes in Scott Drew right now
gig
Look
I as as a Baylor fan and and Aaron could tell you this better than anybody
There there is some there is some level of safety that you grant yourself when you win a national championship in what was formerly
Maybe the worst men's basketball program in America
When you when you are the pinnacle and the summit. I'm honestly. I know it was 2021
I'm still riding that high like Scott Drew can miss the tournament next year
And I'm still not going to question Scott Drew because he's been Baylor
He is the last two decades
He is
Baylor is is ability to adapt the adjust is going to it's question mark right now because
Scott this year didn't win and didn't build the any elite big 12 product out of the transfer portal and
In iL is a question mark dug back to me the new athletic director will have a big say and how Baylor divvies that out
How they how they attack that moving forward, but for Scott Drew
That's the last guy I point a finger at or ask questions of just because he's he's proven to you and to me and to everybody
I can win a national championship now since then hasn't made it out of the first week in a march
I get that I know Baylor fans are by and large frustrated because it looked like Baylor was becoming a basketball school
But the brand is still there the championship trophy is still in the it's in the halls in wakego
And that's something that Scott has bought himself really a lifetime contract over
And I'm hopeful that Baylor fans rally around this team in the offseason
And they build yet another contender next year
And this this season is just a blip on the map as Scott continues to figure out the portal and in iL
I mean, he lost his entire team the fact that they're even the fact they're even above 500
Says a lot about what Scott Drew was able to scrounge together
Um, it may sound weird, but this is another moment for me as an alumni to say hey
I'm I'm a proud Baylor bear on Monday, March 9th because of what Scott Drew has continued to build
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The BYU Cougars reminded us of what it takes to raise the bar this week
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Right
Spring football starting across the country this week and some big 12 teams getting into action as well
Who has the most crucial spring in front of them for big 12 football?
I think this is Houston and
Reason being they were
superb last season overlooked, but superb had a really good campaign in
2025 BYU
Texas tech they're returning a lot of starting production Texas tech
Combined with the transfer portal if you count the amount of players on the roster who started in the FBS last year
They have 23 starters there are only 22 guys on the football field
But because the portal and the dudes they poached out of other programs who were starting elsewhere
They have 23 FBS starters. I don't need to I know Texas tech. I know BYU
I don't necessarily know Houston. I want to figure and here's a piece of why I need to figure out
If Houston is that fun team that wins eight games a year
Are they just TCU are they the ten and three team that went that won 10 games that one time under Willie Fritz and then
Regressed to the mean and went seven and five or are they a big 12 championship team with Conor Wegman at quarter rack next year
their schedule is favorable enough
Non-conference Southern Georgia Southern Oregon State. I mean, they're gonna be a okay
Even in conference. I think they've got a leg up to beat Oklahoma State Kansas State UCF that Texas tech game is huge
But they should beat Cincinnati Colorado and Baylor
Houston. I've got some question marks over they need to prove this year
Hey, we're not just hanging around and winning games to win games. We're winning games to win championships
The Cougars if they have the right off season will be in Arlington next year
And one more quick question for you Drake. I know the big 12 championships this week
For basketball. I want to peel back to that. How many teams do the big 12 after this tournament get into the NCAA tournament
Yet so it's such a brutal question because I think it should be more I should be it should be closer to 10 right now
And that may sound crazy, but that's the treatment the SEC is getting
Texas tech is obviously lock BYU is a lock Houston Arizona those are locks Iowa State is like I think TCU at this point
Should squarely be in
Cincinnati needs a little they have a little bit of work to do Kansas is there UCF probably has a little bit of work to do although I was surprised
That they that they aren't a lock. They just kind of the bottom fell out on them when it mattered the most then West Virginia
They've got a couple games to win need to win a gamer too, but I think they should be in there still question marks a vague question mark on TCU
Certainly on Cincinnati UCF West Virginia man in you know in the best conference in America your teams that are sitting
9 and 9 who are 500 they should make it in over an 8 and 10 SEC team over 7 and 11 big 10 team or or a
ACC SEC squad the big 12 just not getting that treatment. I think we're squarely at I know seven are getting in
It's 8 9 10 that should or could but they've got some work to do
Right tall what's coming up on Westwood one morning show and locked on big 12
Yeah, well, I kind of alluded to it earlier man. It's some crazy stuff happening in the national football league
We'll be all over that at Westwood one sports and it's a great opportunity for for a big 12 guy to have a national platform
You're 300 affiliates across the country to talk big 12 to be a mouthpiece nationally for the big 12 conference
It's always for for the mayor's which is always an honor to do every morning 6 a.m. 9 a.m
And then unlocked on big 12
Made a lot of a lot of murmurs about
How especially after Friday when everybody met in DC how the big 12 in the ACC stay afloat whether on a merger is coming whether or not a merged TV rights deal is on the table
So a lot of that unlocked on big 12 great toe with us in the press box here on ESPN Central Texas Drake always appreciate the time
Have a great week. We'll talk to you next Monday
The pleasure. Thank you Ward
There you go. It was Drake toe with us here on the press box. Stay right there more to come on ESPN Central Texas
It's good dudes man. I like them a lot good dudes
Uh, get a little taste of women's basketball in there track
Yeah, this has been always will be locked on thanks for making it your first lesson every single day
Go say good on that
You
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