Big 12 Tournament 2015: TV Info, Teams, Odds and Championship Predictions
Big 12 basketball is at its peak with the level of top-to-bottom competition at an all-time high, which means the 2015 Big 12 tournament is sure to live up to the hype.
The Kansas Jayhawks lead the way as expected, after securing their 11th consecutive regular-season conference title and locking down the tournament's No. 1 seed. But 10 of the more impressive squads in major college basketball are in the running to cut down the nets in Kansas City's Sprint Center, and a number of them already have some experience toppling the Jayhawks during the season.
With only two teams more than two games within .500 in their conference records, five teams in the top 25 and as many as seven gunning for an NCAA tournament bid, the action from Wednesday to Saturday shouldn't disappoint.
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Here's a look at everything you need to know for the Big 12 tournament.
Schedule
| 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 |
Note: Tournament schedule courtesy of Big12Sports.com.
Bracket
Projected Odds
| Kansas | 3-1 |
| Iowa State | 4-1 |
| Oklahoma | 8-1 |
| Baylor | 10-1 |
| West Virginia | 10-1 |
| Texas | 25-1 |
| Oklahoma State | 25-1 |
| Kansas State | 50-1 |
| TCU | 100-1 |
| Texas Tech | 100-1 |
Prediction
Talk of any Big 12 tournament typically starts with Kansas head coach Bill Self and his Jayhawks. But despite winning an 11th straight season title, it'd be a disservice to the field to not address the parity in the conference.
Even in another title-winning season, the Jayhawks dropped five games in conference play. That's a number that could conceivably be much worse, as they took seven of their 13 conference victories by nine points or fewer.
Along with another susceptible season from start to finish, the Jayhawks aren't even heading in the right direction entering tournament play. They dropped their season finale Saturday at Oklahoma on a last-second Sooners score, and could be without Big 12 Player of the Year candidate Perry Ellis—who has missed three straight games with a knee injury.
"He will wear a brace for the rest of the season," Self told ESPN's Andy Katz. "If the doctors say he's not feeling well enough, we will sit him for the tournament. All indications are he is doing well with his lateral movement. We will press forward and put him in position, and hopefully he'll be 100 percent by the NCAA tournament."
While Kansas is on a downward slope entering the postseason, second-place Iowa State is having no such trouble.
The Cyclones gave Kansas one of its five conference defeats this season, and the No. 17 team logged an insane comeback win over then-No. 15 Oklahoma on senior night to snap a two-game skid, before finishing the season by beating TCU. Behind Georges Niang's 15.2 points per game and Monte Morris' strong three-point shooting, the Cyclones are a force to be reckoned with.
Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports also added how big man Jameel McKay has come on as of late:
Of course, that's only where the fun begins regarding the top contenders for this weekend's tournament.
Three more ranked teams right behind Kansas and Iowa State will be gunning for a deep run, as Oklahoma, Baylor and West Virginia all look to further solidify favorable seeds in the NCAA tournament. The Sooners' size could give anybody in the fold some trouble, while both the Bears and Mountaineers have star-caliber guard play to guide them to victories.
However, there seems to be a small gap between Kansas, Iowa State and the rest of the field—and only one of those teams is peaking at the right time.
The Cyclones may not have the same team that won the 2014 Big 12 tournament en route to a high seed in March Madness, but players like Niang and Morris are capable of being depended upon much more so than last season. Their streaky offense will open up once the pace of play opens up, and they have the size and skill to make opponents pay when that happens.
As Kansas licks its wounds and tries to get its most effective lineup back together for an NCAA tournament run, pulling out the stops to win in Kansas City won't be priority No. 1. But momentum is everything in college basketball, especially for a streaky team like Iowa State that has a real shot at repeating as tournament champs.
Prediction: Iowa State wins Big 12 tournament
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