Big 12 Tournament 2018: Bracket, Schedule and Championship Predictions

Back in October, Big 12 coaches made Kansas the odds-on favorite to take the conference title. It was the only one of their 10 team projections that proved accurate.

In other words, the Jayhawks are every bit as strong as expected—regular-season champs for a record-setting 14th consecutive season—but the rest of the field is far less predictable. Second-place Texas Tech, for instance, was initially pegged to finish seventh.

There's little reason to think the surprises will stop once the conference takes over Kansas City's Sprint Center for this week's tournament.

Maybe (rock) chalk will prevail, but the lower seeds won't go down without a fight. Not when nine of the 10 teams—sorry, Iowa State—are either bound for the big dance or within arm's reach of the bubble.

Big 12 Tournament Schedule

First Round—Wednesday, March 7

Game 1 | Oklahoma State (8) vs. Oklahoma (9) | 7 p.m. ET, ESPNU

Game 2 | Texas (7) vs. Iowa State (10), 9 p.m. ET | ESPNU

Quarterfinals—Thursday, March 8

Game 3 | Kansas State (4) vs. TCU (5), 12:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2

Game 4 | Kansas (1) vs. Game 1 winner, 3 p.m. ET | ESPN2

Game 5 | Texas Tech (2) vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m. ET | ESPNU

Game 6 | West Virginia (3) vs. Baylor (6), 9:30 p.m. ET | ESPNU

Semifinals—Friday, March 9

Game 7 | Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m. ET | ESPN2

Game 8 | Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 9:30 p.m. ET | ESPN2

Championship—Saturday, March 10

Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 6 p.m. ET | ESPN

This tournament might not have the top-level teams it has in the past—the second-seeded Red Raiders have kenpom.com's highest efficiency rate at 10th overall—but its depth is remarkable.

Eight of the teams have efficiency ratings between 10th and 44th. And the ninth-ranked team, Oklahoma State (57th overall), just became the first Big 12 club to sweep head coach Bill Self.

Throw out Iowa State's six straight losses, and the conference's longest active streak in either direction is a two-game spurt by Oklahoma State. Any club can knock off anyone else, a point driven home by the fact Iowa State's otherwise abysmal 4-14 record included triumphs over Tech and West Virginia.

That said, there are tiers separating the squads.

The Jayhawks are favorites, thanks in no small part to Big 12 Player of the Year Devonte' Graham. The senior guard paced them in points (17.6), assists (7.2) and steals (1.6), and he was their second-best three-point marksman (93 triples, 42.3 percent).

"I am so happy for Devonte'," Self said, per KUsports.com's Matt Tait. "He's played as big a role on this team I believe as any player that we've had since we've been here, on any team. Everyone inside the program knows it goes far past statistics. We're really happy for him."

Kansas was the only school to have players named to the All-Big 12 first team (Graham), second team (Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk), third team (Udoka Azubuike) and honorable mention (Lagerald Vick). It also had the co-Coach of the Year (Self) and Newcomer of the Year (Malik Newman).

The Jayhawks are a force like none other in this conference.

But Texas Tech and West Virginia aren't too far behind.

Each had an all-conference first-teamer—Keenan Evans for Tech, Jevon Carter for West Virginia. Carter was also voted the Big 12's top defender for the second consecutive season.

Tech split its season series with Kansas. West Virginia lost both games to the top seed, once by five points and later by eight.

The Red Raiders have the country's third-ranked defense. The Mountaineers are 14th on offense. These are legitimate obstacles, although they'd have to get through each other to get to the Jayhawks.

The fourth-through-ninth seeds make up the middle, and all are threatening to some degree.

Kansas State won the fourth-most games in conference and tied for the fourth-most victories outside of it. TCU had the most efficient offense in the league (sixth overall). Baylor played top-20 defense (16th) and was represented on the all-league second (Manu Lecomte) and third teams (Jo Lual-Acuil).

Oklahoma probably has the best player in this tournament in Trae Young, the nation's leader in points (27.5) and assists (8.9). But he's unlikely to be the first player from this tournament selected in the 2018 NBA Draft. That distinction instead goes to Texas' impossibly long center Mohamed Bamba, the conference leader in boards (10.6) and blocks (3.8).

Oklahoma State might have the weakest resume of the bunch, and it swept Kansas, plus split with Tech and West Virginia. The middle is a minefield.

Prediction

Brad Tollefson/Associated Press

Make note, this is a regular prediction—not a bold one. Sorry, but it's difficult to project any team toppling Kansas.

The Jayhawks will have overwhelming talent advantages in their matchups, especially early on. They could stumble, sure, but there's enough firepower to shoot past the Oklahoma/Oklahoma State and Kansas State/TCU winners.

Just like that, Kansas would be in the championship game. We'll say against West Virginia.

The Graham-Carter matchup would be phenomenal. But Kansas would effectively have home-court advantage. Plus, its superior shooting collection—four players with 40-plus makes on 36-plus percent shooting to West Virginia's two—would be too much to overcome.

The Jayhawks should follow their regular-season title with one of the postseason variety, proving yet again they are the class of this conference.

Statistics used courtesy of ESPN.com and kenpom.com.