Big 12 Tournament 2015: Bracket, Schedule and Championship Odds

Due to a vast amount of talented and diverse teams, the Big 12 tournament may prove to be one of the most competitive postseason showcases this season.

Each of the conference's 10 teams has been able to find some success this year. Kansas State and Texas Tech are two perfect examples, as they are the only Big 12 teams to hold sub-.500 overall records, yet the Wildcats recorded a win over conference-leading Kansas and Texas Tech was able to take down second-seeded Iowa State.

Entering the conference tournament, no team is riding a huge wave of momentum—Iowa State and Texas are the only squads with two-game winning streaks—but most teams were able to generate late-season wins, as only TCU is riding a multigame losing streak.

The stage is set for an intriguing showdown in Kansas City, so before the action gets underway, let's take a look at the tournament bracket, full schedule, projected odds and predicted winner.

Bracket

Schedule

Wednesday, March 11	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV Info
Thursday, March 12	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV Info
Friday, March 13	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV Info
Saturday, March 14	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV Info
Game 1	Kansas State vs. TCU	7 p.m.	ESPNU
Game 2	Texas vs. Texas Tech	9 p.m.	ESPNU
Game 3	Baylor vs. West Virginia	12:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Game 4	Kansas vs. G1 Winner	2:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Game 5	Iowa State vs. G2 Winner	7 p.m.	ESPNU
Game 6	Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State	9 p.m.	ESPNU
Game 7	G3 Winner vs. G4 Winner	7 p.m.	ESPN OR ESPN2
Game 8	G5 Winner vs. G6 Winner	9 p.m.	ESPN OR ESPN2
Game 9	G7 Winner vs. G8 Winner	6 p.m.	ESPN

Full tournament schedule courtesy of Big12Sports.com.

Projected Odds

Team	Odds
Kansas	2-1
Iowa State	3-1
Oklahoma	5-1
Baylor	10-1
West Virginia	15-1
Texas	25-1
Oklahoma State	50-1
Kansas State	50-1
TCU	100-1
Texas Tech	100-1

Prediction

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

So, here's the burning question for the impending tournament: Is Kansas really the team to beat?

The Jayhawks have struggled within the conference at times this season, dropping games to Iowa State, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, Kansas State and Oklahoma. Although, while Kansas did lose each of those contests, none were by a margin greater than seven points.

Kansas is coming off a rough finish to its regular season, losing three of its last six games, including dropping its finale against Oklahoma on a buzzer-beating tip-in by Buddy Hield. However, the Jayhawks have been playing some short-handed basketball of late.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Leading scorer Perry Ellis missed the final game with a sprained knee, and the sharpshooting Brannen Greene was suspended for the game by coach Bill Self. With both players back in the fold for tournament action, the Jayhawks will gain the offensive explosiveness and depth they were missing in the loss to the Sooners.

Although, let's not take anything away from Oklahoma's victory. Three starters scored double-digit points, as Hield dropped 18, Isaiah Cousins had 16 and TaShawn Thomas finished with 13. Forward Ryan Spangler notched nine points and helped the Sooners keep up with Kansas on the boards by collecting 11 rebounds.

During a press conference with The Associated Press, via ESPN.com, after the game, Hield spoke of the confidence the win instilled in his team: 

"

I feel like it's our time now, you know what I mean? Everything bad has been happening to us, so it's our time. It's us making the plays. It's good. It's March. It's fun. It gets us ready for the next one.

"

That confidence will likely make Oklahoma a big factor this postseason.

USA TODAY Sports

Another team poised to make a run is Iowa State. The Cyclones have been arguably the conference's hottest team in the second half of the season, splitting their series with Kansas and Oklahoma, sweeping Texas and defeating both West Virginia and Oklahoma State.

The team's most impressive victory was against the Sooners, as it rallied from a 37-18 deficit at halftime to score a whopping 59 points in the second half and win by seven. Georges Niang has been impressive all season for the Cyclones, and he stepped up in a big way in that contest, racking up 20 of his 23 points in the second half while willing his team to victory.

Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg spoke about the confidence and momentum he was hoping the win would generate for his team during a press conference with The Associated Press, via ESPN.com:

"

I thought it was really a great mental half. We needed that. We needed that in a bad way. Obviously, it was a team that was struggling. Hopefully, this is what we need to get our confidence back to the point where we can get some momentum going into the tournament.

"

Well, the team sure appeared to have plenty of confidence in its regular-season finale, dropping 86 points on TCU in an impressive road victory. With a two-game winning streak in tow, the already dangerous Cyclones just may be the team to beat in the Big 12 tournament.

Predicted winner: Iowa State