Big 12 Tournament 2018: Schedule, Bracket Predictions and Players to Watch

If basketball fans could only watch one conference tournament this year, they would be wise to make it the Big 12 postseason tournament that will be played at the Sprint Center in Kansas City over four days, starting March 7.

The Big 12 has been widely recognized as the top conference in the nation from top to bottom since the start of the season, and there's no reason to think that has changed at this point in the season.

Kansas is in first place in the conference, and the Jayhawks are traditionally the conference's most powerful team. They squared off with Texas at home Monday night, and they came away with a solid 80-70 victory that allowed them to take the Big 12's regular-season title.

Even though the Jayhawks are in the top spot, they have still lost four conference games, and that speaks to the depth of the conference.

Here's a look at how the tournament will play out in terms of the seeding matchups.

The tournament will start with a doubleheader March 7, as the seventh seed will square off against the No. 10 seed, while the eighth-seeded team will meet the No. 9 seed.

Here's a look at the current conference standings. All teams play 18 conference games, so several changes could come in the final week of the regular season. However, it seems that Oklahoma State and Iowa State will end up in the last two spots and will be playing on the first night of the tournament.

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Players to watch

Guard Devonte Graham, Kansas—Graham is the leader of the Jayhawks. He is averaging 17.9 points and 7.1 assists per night. When Graham is on the court, he is capable of hitting the big shot or delivering a perfect pass to one of his teammates for an easy hoop. The only negative is his 40.9 shooting percentage. He can go cold, and if that type of shooting comes at a critical phase of the game, it can put the Jayhawks in a deep hole.

Guard Keenan Evans, Texas Tech—Much as Graham has been the go-to guy for the Jayhawks, so has Evans for Texas Tech. Evans is averaging 17.2 points per game, and he is connecting on 47.3 percent of his shots from the field. Evans is much less likely to go into a slump than his rival from Kansas.

Guard Jevon Carter, West Virginia—Carter has been Mr. Do-Everything for head coach Bob Huggins' Mountaineers this season, averaging a team-high 17.0 points per game, even though he is shooting 41.5 percent from the field. Carter makes up for that deficit with his excellent free-throw shooting, as he is hitting 85.3 percent of his shots from the foul line. Carter is also handing out 6.5 assists and pulling down 5.0 rebounds per night.

Guard Trae Young, Oklahoma—Young was perhaps the biggest story in the sport during the first half of the season, as the freshman sensation made a name for himself with his explosive scoring and pinpoint passing. Young leads the nation in scoring and assists as he is averaging 28.3 points and 9.1 assists per game. While those numbers are remarkable, Young hit a wall during the second half of the season. However, Young is coming off a 27-point effort in Oklahoma's 86-77 win over Kansas State Saturday, and he may be coming back into top form.

Ray Thompson/Associated Press

Predictions

Kansas has the best team in a strong conference, and it should be able to get by the winner of the game between the No. 8 and 9 seeds with little trouble, but it will get tougher after that.

Texas Tech and West Virginia are both capable of winning the tournament.

Those two are likely to meet in the semifinals. The Mountaineers handled Texas Tech Monday night by an 84-74 score, and Huggins should find a way to get his team to the title game again.

After winning the regular-season title, head coach Bill Self may be looking ahead to the NCAA tournnament. That could make the Jayhawks vulnerable to the Kansas State Wildcats in the semifinals. Look for the Wildcats to come up with the upset.

Kansas State will have momentum, but West Virginia is the better team and will come away with the Big 12 conference tournament title.