Big 12 Tournament 2017: Quarterfinals Schedule, Live Stream, Bracket Predictions

The men's Big 12 tournament features four teams inside the top 25 of the Associated Press poll (Kansas, West Virginia, Baylor, Iowa State) and a team just on the outside looking in (Oklahoma State, who received the second-most votes of any team not in the top 25).

The stiff competition this year inside the Big 12 should make for an interesting three days, starting with the quarterfinal round on Thursday.

Here's a look at the Big 12 tournament schedule, the live-stream information as well as quarterfinal-round predictions.

Big 12 Tournament Schedule

Date	Game	Round	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV
Wednesday, March 8	1	First Round	No. 8 TCU 82, No. 9 Oklahoma 63	7 p.m.	ESPNU
Wednesday, March 8	2	First Round	No. 10 Texas 61, No. 7 Texas Tech 52	9 p.m.	ESPNU
Thursday, March 9	3	Quarterfinals	No. 4 Iowa State vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State	12:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Thursday, March 9	4	Quarterfinals	No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 8 TCU	2:30 p.m.	ESPN2
Thursday, March 9	5	Quarterfinals	No. 2 West Virginia vs. No. 10 Texas 61	7 p.m.	ESPNU
Thursday, March 9	6	Quarterfinals	No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 6 Kansas State	9 p.m.	ESPNU
Friday, March 10	7	Semifinals	Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner	7 p.m.	ESPN or ESPN2
Friday, March 10	8	Semifinals	Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner	9 p.m.	ESPN or ESPN2
Saturday, March 11	9	Finals	Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner	6 p.m.	ESPN

Information via Big12sports.com. All games will be played at the Sprint Center in Kansas City and live-streamed on WatchESPN.

Quarterfinal Predictions

No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 8 TCU

Kansas freshman phenom Josh Jackson is suspended for this game following a traffic incident on February 2.

According to Jesse Newell of The Kansas City Star, sophomore guard Lagerald Vick, who averages 7.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, will start for Jackson.

Losing Jackson would be a big issue against a team like West Virginia or Baylor, but against the Horned Frogs, who lost seven straight games to close the regular season before beating Oklahoma in the first round of the Big 12 tournament, it shouldn't be a problem.

Kansas still has Big 12 Player of the Year Frank Mason III, who averaged over 20 points and five assists per game, as well as All-Big 12 Second Team member Devonte' Graham, a junior guard who put up 13.2 points and 4.3 assists a game. Those two should lead KU to a win.

Pick: Kansas

No. 2 West Virginia vs. No. 10 Texas

Texas upset Texas Tech in an ugly first-round game in which neither team shot more than 40 percent from the field.

The Longhorns will face a much tougher foe in the West Virginia Mountaineers, who present a bad matchup. Texas commits 13.5 turnovers per game, which ranks 230th out of 351 Division I teams. Meanwhile, West Virginia is No. 1 in turnovers forced (21.19 per game), and there is no close second (Fordham is No. 2 with 17.61).

When these two teams faced off this season, WVU outscored Texas 46-32 in the first half and never looked back in a 77-62 win.

Ultimately, WVU is one of the best teams in the nation, while Texas is rebuilding under second-year head coach Shaka Smart. The Mountaineers should win this one easily.

Pick: West Virginia

No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 6 Kansas State

Kansas State is the most desperate of the two teams in this matchup. The Wildcats are on the cusp of an at-large tournament berth but are sitting just outside the field, per ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi's latest projections. A win over Baylor, ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll, would go a long way toward securing an NCAA tournament bid.

Baylor has other ideas, however, as the Bears would enter into the No. 1 seed conversation with a Big 12 tournament win. Chances are the Bears still wouldn't make the top line, but they would definitely be part of the discussion.

The two teams split their conference matchups, with Baylor winning at K-State 77-68 and the Wildcats handing Baylor one of its two home losses this season 67-65.

Kansas State has a balanced scoring attack, with six players averaging between 7.6 and 12.6 points per game. Baylor largely revolves around big man Johnathan Motley, who averages a double-double (17.5 points and 10 boards), and junior guard Manu Lecomte, who scores 12.4 points per game and shoots 41.4 percent from deep.

The Wildcats have an advantage because of the game's location—the Sprint Center in Kansas City—which is only two hours from campus. That should lead to K-State fans flooding the arena.

However, Baylor has the best player on the floor in Motley, and that will prove to be the difference in a nail-biting win.

Pick: Baylor

No. 4 Iowa State vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State

This game (and Duke vs. Louisville in the Atlantic Coast Conference) will be the must-see men's college basketball matchups on Thursday.

The first team to 85 will probably win this contest. That's been the case in ISU's two wins over OK State this season, with the Cyclones taking 96-86 and 86-83 victories over the Cowboys.

Don't give ISU this game because of its recent success against Oklahoma State, however. The Cowboys have the top-ranked team in adjusted offensive efficiency, according to the Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings and score the ninth-most points per game in Division I (85.6). 

They can hang with any team in the country because of their high-powered offense, led by rising star and sophomore point guard Jawun Evans (18.7 points and 6.3 assists per game).

The problem OK State has is on the defensive end of the floor, as Pomeroy ranks them 123rd in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Iowa State's four-headed scoring monster of senior guards Monte Morris, Naz Mitrou-Long, Deonte Burton and Matt Thomas (ISU runs a four-guard starting lineup alongside freshman big man Solomon Young) is also an issue. That quartet averages 58.8 points of ISU's 80 points per game.

That will prove to be too tough for the Cowboys to stop, so the pick is for ISU to win a shootout and advance to face Kansas.

Pick: Iowa State