Big 12 Tournament 2019: Quarterfinals Schedule, Live Stream, Bracket Predictions

The Big 12 tournament started with a couple of nail-biters in the first round Wednesday night, setting the stage for a competitive quarterfinals slate on Thursday.

Eighth-seed TCU squeezed past ninth-seed Oklahoma State 73-70, while West Virginia defied their No. 10 seed to beat seventh-seed Oklahoma 72-71. 

Because of their struggles to close out Oklahoma State, the TCU Horned Frogs have to impress in their quarterfinal showdown with the top-seeded Kansas State Wildcats. 

Before TCU gets a shot at Kansas State, Baylor and Iowa State open up quarterfinal Thursday at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Co-regular season champion Texas Tech opens the night session against West Virginia, while Kansas and Texas face off in the other quarterfinal. 

Big 12 Tournament Quarterfinals Schedule

All Times ET. 

No. 4 Baylor vs. No. 5 Iowa State (12:30 p.m., ESPN2) 

No. 1 Kansas State vs. No. 8 TCU (2:30 p.m., ESPN2) 

No. 2 Texas Tech vs. No. 10 West Virginia (7 p.m., ESPN2) 

No. 3 Kansas vs. No. 6 Texas (9 p.m., ESPN2) 

Games can be live-streamed on Watch ESPN and ESPN app.

Predictions

Iowa State Shakes Off Losing Streak, Defeats Baylor

Iowa State entered the week as one of the coldest teams in the power conferences, as it lost five of its last six games to settle for a 9-9 Big 12 record. 

One of those defeats came at the hands of Baylor, who also won the first meeting with the Cyclones back in January. 

In order to enter the NCAA tournament on a positive note, the Cyclones will play well enough to knock off the Bears in Thursday's Big 12 tournament opener. 

Guards Marial Shayok and Lindell Wigginton will be the driving forces of the victory, as both players come into the Big 12 tournament with three straight double-digit performances. 

Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images

In the two regular-season meetings against Baylor, Shayok and Wigginton combined for 30 points, which is a positive sign going into Thursday. 

Those point totals will increase a bit, while Talen Horton-Tucker, who has hit double digits in four of his last five games, will play well in a supporting role to keep Baylor's defense off balance. 

By knocking off Baylor, the Cyclones will earn an opportunity to beat Kansas State for the second time this season, which could help improve their seed on Selection Sunday. 

Kansas Puts Texas' NCAA Tournament Hopes In Peril 

Texas received the worst draw of the Big 12 bubble teams, as it faces a Kansas team with plenty of motivation to thrive in Kansas City after its 14-year regular-season title streak came to an end. 

The Longhorns are in a precarious situation, as they possess a 16-15 overall record and lost four of their last five regular-season games. 

According to ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi, the Longhorns are one of the last four teams into the field of 68, but a loss to Kansas will put their NCAA tournament hopes on thin ice. 

In addition to the losing run mentioned above, confidence in Texas is further decreased after it lost by double digits to both Texas Tech and TCU during the final week of the regular season. 

The Dedric Lawson-led Jayhawks won three of their last four Big 12 games, and with a potential revenge game against Texas Tech, who blew them out 91-62 on February 23, on their minds, they'll come out strong and put the Longhorns under pressure. 

John Weast/Getty Images

The early strike from Bill Self's team will be too much to handle for Shaka Smart's side, and it will end up at .500 going into Selection Sunday.

With bubble teams, like Indiana, Creighton and Alabama pulling off wins Thursday, Texas drops into the last-four-out category and sets sail for the NIT. 

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90