Big 12 Tournament 2023: Men's Bracket Seeds, Odds, Matchups and Predictions

The Big 12 is the best conference in men's college basketball—full stop.

Seven of the conference's 10 teams are included in the latest bracket from ESPN's Joe Lunardi, while an eighth, Oklahoma State, is listed among his "First Four Out."

This feels less like a basketball conference and more like a minefield. And if the regular season wasn't grueling enough, now these clubs have to duke it out over the coming days in a winner-take-all tournament. It's madness, folks.

With games on the docket for Wednesday, let's dive right in with seeding and scheduling information, the latest championship odds and a batch of tournament predictions.

Seeds, Schedule

Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 10: A view of the Big 12 logo on chairs before a Big 12 Tournament quarterfinal game between the TCU Horned Frogs and Texas Longhorns on Mar 10, 2022 at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City, MO. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Wednesday, March 8

Game 1: No. 8 West Virginia vs. No. 9 Texas Tech, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPNU

Game 2: No. 7 Oklahoma State vs. No. 10 Oklahoma, 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPNU

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Thursday, March 9

Game 3: No. 4 Baylor vs. No. 5 Iowa State, 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN2

Game 4: No. 1 Kansas vs. Game 1 winner, 3 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN2

Game 5: No. 2 Texas vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN2

Game 6: No. 3 Kansas State vs. No. 6 TCU, 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN2

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Friday, March 10

Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN2

Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN2

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Saturday, March 11

Championship game, 6 p.m. ET on ESPN

Tournament Odds

Chris Covatta/Getty Images

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 04: Marcus Carr #5 of the Texas Longhorns drives around Joseph Yesufu #1 of the Kansas Jayhawks in the second half at Moody Center on March 04, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)

Kansas: +275

Texas: +330

Baylor: +475

Kansas State: +650

Iowa State: +650

TCU: +750

West Virginia: +1500

Oklahoma State: +3000

Texas Tech: +4000

Oklahoma: +4000

*odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Predictions

Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

MANHATTAN, KS - MARCH 01: Kansas State Wildcats guard Markquis Nowell (1) celebrates after a three in the second half of a Big 12 basketball game between the Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas State Wildcats on March 1, 2023 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, KS. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

A Wednesday Winner Makes It To Friday

The bottom four finishers in the Big 12 open their tournament Wednesday, while the other six get an extra day of rest. And whichever teams emerge from Wednesday night are immediately rewarded with a tussle against one of the top two seeds, either Kansas or Texas.

That's a wildly difficult road—yet our crystal ball thinks one club will manage to navigate it.

Realistically, you're looking at either seventh-seeded Oklahoma State, which could probably play its way off the bubble with multiple wins this week, or West Virginia, which won three of its last four and lost by only two points during a recent trip to Lawrence.

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Markquis Nowell Leads Tournament in Points and Assists

If the Wildcats go on a run in Kansas City, their seniors will make it happen.

Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell were the only teammates to both find a spot on the All-Big 12 first team. They're also the only teammates to each rank among the conference's top five in scoring, as Johnson was second at 17.8 points per game and Nowell was right behind him with an even 17.

Nowell is more than a net-shredder, though. He also paced this conference in assists (by a comfortable margin) with 7.7 per outing. Look for him to flash both skills while putting up better numbers than anyone in this field.

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Baylor Lays an Egg

You could argue the Bears have more talent than any team in this tournament—but you'd be wasting your time. Not because the take is necessarily wrong, but because of the fact that talent doesn't automatically trump all this time of year.

Momentum matters in March. So do matchups. Neither are working in Baylor's favor.

The Bears stumbled into the tournament with three losses in their final five games. The most recent defeat was a home loss in their finale to Iowa State, which beat Baylor twice this season—by 15 points each time. Guess which team Baylor opens this tournament against? The Bears can feel free to pack light.

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