Big 12 Tournament 2022: Bracket, TV Schedule, Dates and Predictions

The Big 12 men's basketball regular season was a grind for every team involved.

The Kansas Jayhawks, Baylor Bears, Texas Tech Red Raiders and Texas Longhorns were the only sides to emerge with league records over .500.

Kansas edged out Baylor for the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament, and the reigning national champion Bears will be on the opposite side of the bracket in Kansas City.

Nine of the league's 10 teams will take part in the event inside T-Mobile Center because the Oklahoma State Cowboys are serving a one-year postseason ban.

B/R's Kerry Miller projects six of the nine teams headed to Kansas City to make the NCAA men's basketball tournament.

Kansas and Baylor will try to win the Big 12 tournament to solidify their cases to land a No. 1 seed, while the other four squads also need victories in Kansas City to earn the highest seeds possible on Selection Sunday.

                  

Big 12 Tournament Bracket and Schedule

Wednesday, March 9

No. 8 Kansas State vs. No. 9 West Virginia (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

        

Thursday, March 10

No. 1 Kansas vs. Kansas State/West Virginia winner (12:30 p.m. ET)

No. 4 Texas vs. No. 5 TCU (3 p.m. ET)

No. 2 Baylor vs. No. 7 Oklahoma (7 p.m. ET)  

No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 6 Iowa State (9:30 p.m. ET)

       

Friday, March 11

Semifinal No. 1 (7 p.m. ET)

Semifinal No. 2 (9:30 p.m. ET) 

       

Saturday, March 12

Championship Game (6 p.m. ET, ESPN)

          

Predictions

Kansas Bounces Back from Recent Struggles

Kansas stumbled to the finish line of the regular season. The Jayhawks lost on the road to Baylor and then split back-to-back games with the TCU Horned Frogs. They locked up the No. 1 seed with an overtime win over Texas.

That recent play may spark up some concern about Kansas' chances to win the Big 12, but it is significant that it pulled out two close victories to finish the regular season.

Saturday's win over Texas was even more impressive when you take into account that Ochai Agbaji went 1-of-11 from the field and scored eight points. Kansas' leading scorer had five 20-point performances in five of his six games before Saturday.

The Jayhawks should gain confidence from winning a tight game without Agbaji doing much on the offensive end.

Bill Self's team earned a spot on the easier side of the bracket, as it will not have to play Baylor or Texas Tech until the championship game.

Kansas just got the best shot from Texas and TCU, so it will be better equipped to deal with both sides' threats. The Texas-TCU winner plays Kansas in the semifinals.

The Jayhawks can use their first two games in Kansas City as a chance to prepare for the final challenge from either Baylor or Texas Tech.

If that scenario plays out, Kansas should be in solid position to claim one of the four No. 1 seeds on Selection Sunday. It would also benefit the Jayhawks if Texas Tech took down Baylor for a third time this season to clear the Bears from that race.

            

Baylor Gets 1st Win Over Texas Tech, Advances to Final

Baylor earned a regular-season victory over every team in the Big 12 except for Texas Tech.

The reigning national champion can avenge those losses in the semifinal round if both squads win their first games in Kansas City.

Baylor fell by three points to the Red Raiders at home January 11 and dropped a 10-point loss on the road February 16.

The Bears reeled off five straight wins after the second loss to put them in the best possible position to go deep in the Big 12 tournament.

Baylor's uptick in form coincides with Texas Tech's dip at the end of the regular season. The Red Raiders lost two of their final three games. They scored 51 Saturday in their defeat at the hands of Oklahoma State.

The Bears have the edge in postseason experience, and that could show as March goes on. That could be one of the intangibles that helps the Bears not only in Kansas City but in the NCAA tournament as well.

If Baylor avenges its regular-season losses, it may be playing for a No. 1 seed in its rubber match with Kansas. That would mark the first time the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds face off in the Big 12 tournament final since 2016.