Now that conference regular season play is in the books, the Big 12 Conference turns its attention to Oklahoma City, where the women’s basketball tournament will take center stage. The No. 1 team in the country, Baylor, will be a heavy favorite to win the tournament, but there is a lot to play for, especially for TCU and the two other teams on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. Tournament Bracket The bracket is SET! See y'all Friday for the 2019 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women's Basketball Championship » https://t.co/aFLkKcduCo. #Big12WBB pic.twitter.com/rZEKVBYoWv — Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 6, 2019 Tournament Schedule Friday, March 8: First Round Game #1: (8) Oklahoma vs. (9) Texas Tech, 6pm, FCS First Round Game #2: (7) Oklahoma State vs. (10) Kansas, approx. 8:30pm, FCS Saturday, March 9: Quarterfinal #1: (4) West Virginia vs. (5) Kansas State, 11:00am, FSN Quarterfinal #2: (1) Baylor vs. First Round Game #1 Winner, approx. 1:30pm, FSN Quarterfinal #3: (2) Iowa State vs. First Round Game #2 Winner, 6:00pm, FSN Quarterfinal #4: (3) Texas vs. (6) TCU, approx. 8:30pm, FSN Sunday, March 10 Semifinal #1: Quarterfinal #1 Winner vs. Quarterfinal #2 Winner, 2:00pm, FS1 Semifinal #2: Quarterfinal #3 Winner vs. Quarterfinal #4 Winner, approx. 4:30pm, FS1 Monday, March 11 Championship: Semifinal #1 Winner vs. Semifinal #2 Winner, 8:00pm, FS1 Team Previews (1) Baylor Bears: 28-1 Overall, 18-0 Big 12, AP: #1, RPI: #2 The Bears enter the tournament this season as the clear favorite, having gone through conference play unblemished. Winners of 20 consecutive games, their only loss on the season came on the road against Stanford. Since that loss, they have beaten the likes of UConn and dominated most of the games they have played in. They are anchored by star center Kalani Brown and forward Lauren Cox, who combined are averaging 27.8 points per game. Where the Bears really stand out is on the defensive end, where they rank No. 1 in the nation in field-goal percentage defense and blocked shots per game. (2) Iowa State Cyclones: 23-7, 13-5, AP: #19, RPI: #11 The Cyclones have been one of the bigger surprises in the conference this season and are entering the conference tournament having won 9 of their previous 11 games. They are led by senior guard Bridget Carleton, who was the Big 12 Player of the Year, leading the league with 21.9 points per game and shooting 46.6% from the field, which is elite for a guard. Whereas Baylor wins games for the most part on the defensive end, the Cyclones are all about scoring and putting up big numbers. They ranked No. 10 nationally, averaging north of 80 points per game and led the conference in three-pointers made per game and free-throw percentage. (3) Texas Longhorns: 22-8, 12-6, AP: #21, RPI: #27 In recent seasons, Texas has been a national powerhouse, right up at the top of the conference with Baylor. While this year might not have featured the success that Longhorn fans are accustomed to, Texas still showed that they were very competitive as five of their losses came only by single digits. The Longhorns don’t stand out as doing any one thing extremely well, but they are led by some experienced players who will know what it takes to win in March. If any team has the post presence to battle with Baylor, it’s Texas, as they rank No. 4 nationally in rebounding margin. (4) West Virginia Mountaineers: 20-9, 11-7, RPI: #71 The Mountaineers enter the game heading in the wrong direction, losing 3 of their final 4 games down the stretch; however, they showed promise in their last game, falling to Baylor in Morgantown 63-57. Everything with West Virginia centers around the three-point line, as the Mountaineers are No. 1 in the conference in three-point field goal defense and No. 2 in three-pointers made per game. Opposing teams will need to know where Tynice Martin is at all times - she finished 3rd in the conference in scoring and 2nd in three-point field goal percentage. (5) Kansas State Wildcats: 20-10, 11-7, AP: RV, RPI: #35 K-State has brought themselves back to the bubble conversation by rattling off five consecutive victories heading into the conference tournament. The Wildcats have been impressive of late, picking up road victories in Austin and Fort Worth during that stretch. Of the three teams on the bubble, Kansas State is definitely in the most favorable position given their RPI, but that can change in the tournament. Games with the Wildcats are often close, and they do a really impressive job of staying out of foul trouble and limiting opponents’ opportunities at the free-throw line. (6) TCU Horned Frogs: 20-9, 10-8, RPI: #51 The Frogs have had quite the roller coaster of a year, but it was a stretch of five-straight victories in the heart of Big 12 play that brought TCU into the NCAA Tournament conversation and a pair of late-season road victories over Kansas and Oklahoma that have them in a nice position. The Frogs will have a tough task in the opening game of taking down Texas, a team that just beat them this week in Fort Worth in the regular season finale. If TCU wants to get this win, they will need a strong performance from center Jordan Moore, who finished 6th in the conference in scoring. They will also need to create transition opportunities from their pressure defense that led the conference in steals. (7) Oklahoma State Cowgirls: 14-15, 5-13, RPI: #129 The Cowgirls may not enter the conference tournament with a glamorous record, but they have shown that they can compete with most teams in the league. They kept things interesting with Baylor in Stillwater earlier this season and were in the game until the very end in both matches against the Longhorns. Not much stands out when you look at their team numbers, but Oklahoma State had two players finish in the top 10 in the conference in scoring - Vivian Gray (2nd) and Braxtin Miller (10th). They will need strong performances from both if they want to make a run this weekend. (8) Oklahoma Sooners: 8-21, 4-14, RPI: #145 While the Sooners are typically a very tough team to face in this conference, they struggled this season to take care of the ball, finishing dead-last in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio, turnovers per game, and turnover margin. Although their lineup featured a significant amount of freshmen, Oklahoma did prove to be a scrappy team and they should not be taken lightly this weekend. Freshman Madi Williams is a tough presence on the team and freshman Taylor Robertson was the top three-point shooter in the conference. (9) Texas Tech Red Raiders: 13-16, 4-14, RPI: #146 The Red Raiders have recently been near the bottom of the conference, and although they finished 9th this season, they have been much, much more competitive this season. Of their 14 losses in Big 12 play, 10 have come by single digits, showing how far they have come this season under a new head coach. It is not hard to imagine that they will soon be playing for NCAA Tournament bids and they will be a dangerous team to face this weekend. Guard-forward duo Chrislyn Carr and Brittany Brewer both finished in the top-6 in the conference scoring and will likely be asked to carry a significant amount of the scoring load this weekend. (10) Kansas Jayhawks: 12-17, 2-16, RPI: #159 This season was another struggle for the Kansas women’s basketball team, who have won five conference games in the past four regular seasons. The Jayhawks were keeping a lot of games close early in Big 12 play after a strong 10-1 non-conference performance; however, as the season wore on, many of their games began to be double-digit losses and they enter the tournament on a ten-game losing streak. Kansas has had issues scoring this season, finishing last in the conference in points per game and last in most rebounding categories. Players to Watch Bridget Carleton, Iowa State The first player to watch in the tournament is the conference’s leading scorer and Big 12 Player of the Year.<doc-sep>Kansas enters the Big 12 Tournament without the conference's regular-season crown for the first time since 2004. The 2019 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament will begin on March 13 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. The teams will battle through March 16, when a conference champion will be crowned one day before the NCAA tournament bracket is revealed on Selection Sunday. The tournament seeding has yet to be revealed, but the game dates, times and television networks have been announced. Here's a rundown of the Big 12 Tournament schedule: Wednesday, March 13 Game 1 – TCU vs. Oklahoma State, 7 p.m. ET on ESPU Game 2 – Oklahoma vs. West Virginia, 10 p.m. ET on ESPNU Thursday, March 14 Game 3 – Iowa State vs. Baylor, 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 Game 4 – Winner of Game 1 vs. Kansas State, 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 Game 5 – Winner of Game 2 vs. Texas Tech, 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2 Game 6 – Kansas vs. Texas, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2 Friday, March 15 Semifinal No. 1 – 7 p.m. ET on ESPN 2 Semifinal No. 2 – 9 p.m. ET on ESPN 2 Saturday, March 16 Championship Game, 6 p.m. on ESPN<doc-sep>For the first time since 2004, there is a new regular season champion in the Big 12 Conference. Kansas’ 14-year reign ended this year, with Texas Tech and Kansas State sharing the regular season crown with a conference record of 14-4. Now the teams head to Kansas City Wednesday through Saturday for the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament. Nexstar affiliates from across Big 12 country have you covered with team-by-team previews for those looking to lock up an automatic bid to March Madness. Teams listed in order of regular season Big 12 finish (overall record, conference record) Texas Tech (26-5, 14-4) Kansas State (24-7, 14-4) Kansas (23-8, 12-6) Baylor (19-12, 10-8) Iowa State (20-11, 9-9) Texas (16-15, 8-10) Oklahoma (19-12, 7-11) TCU (19-12, 7-11) Oklahoma State (12-19, 5-13) West Virginia (12-19, 4-14) Xxx<doc-sep>
Orlin Wagner/Associated Press Big 12 basketball is in an unfamiliar state heading into its conference tournament, as Kansas is not favored to come out on top in Kansas City, Missouri. Regular-season co-champions Kansas State and Texas Tech are the favorites to take the title Saturday night at Sprint Center. Of course, Bill Self's Jayhawks will try to have a say in which program leaves with the conference-tournament crown, but they aren't the only underdogs looking to make a splash over the next few days. Starting with TCU in the tournament opener Wednesday, there are a few Big 12 teams who will be playing with the extra motivation of securing their spots in the NCAA men's basketball tournament by the time they leave Kansas City. Bracket Video Play Button Videos you might like Odds Matchups All Times ET. Wednesday, March 13 No. 8 TCU vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State (7 p.m., ESPNU) No. 7 Oklahoma vs. No. 10 West Virginia (9 p.m., ESPNU) Thursday, March 14 No. 4 Baylor vs. No. 5 Iowa State (12:30 p.m., ESPN2) No. 1 Kansas State vs. TCU/Oklahoma State winner (2:30 p.m., ESPN2) No. 2 Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma/West Virginia winner (7 p.m., ESPN2) No. 3 Kansas vs. No. 6 Texas (9 p.m., ESPN2) Friday, March 15 Semifinal No. 1 (7 p.m., ESPN2) Semifinal No. 2 (9:30 p.m., ESPN2) Saturday, March 16 Championship (6 p.m., ESPN) Predictions Results Lead to 6 NCAA Tournament Teams From Big 12 It's safe to assume five teams are locked into the field of 68 from the Big 12, but there could be as many eight programs chosen by the selection committee to participate in the NCAA tournament. Kansas State, Texas Tech, Kansas, Baylor and Iowa State are all safe and playing to better their respective seeds in the Big Dance. After that, it gets a bit messy, as there are mixed opinions on Texas, TCU and Oklahoma, who are the three other programs with realistic chances of qualifying for March Madness. Before they take on much more difficult tasks in the quarterfinals, TCU and Oklahoma have to avoid bad losses in Wednesday's first round, and given how poorly Oklahoma State and West Virginia have played, the Horned Frogs and Sooners should be able to cruise into Thursday's set of games. Eric Gay/Associated Press Both TCU and Oklahoma are in safe spots in the latest bracket projection from CBSSports.com's Jerry Palm, but ESPN.com's Joe Lunardi has the Horned Frogs as his third-to-last team into the field of 68. By winning Wednesday's openers, the Horned Frogs and Sooners will give themselves the opportunity to earn another quality win over the top two seeds in the tournament. If TCU knocks off Kansas State, Jamie Dixon's team should move up in the bracket projections, while a loss would leave it waiting until Selection Sunday to learn its fate. As for Oklahoma, it is a bit safer than TCU, but given how chaotic the bubble can get during Championship Week, it won't want to risk losing to Texas Tech for the third time this season. And then there's Texas, which has the unenviable task of taking on a motivated Kansas team in the quarterfinals. Chris Covatta/Getty Images According to Lunardi, the Longhorns are one of the last four teams earning byes into the round of 64, while Palm doesn't have Shaka Smart's team in his latest projection. Texas is more likely to knock off an inconsistent Kansas team and earn a spot in the Big 12 semifinals than TCU or Oklahoma is to upset one of the top two teams. Although the three teams in need of wins will put up strong fights, they won't be able to produce upsets, and due to the fluidity of the bubble, TCU and Texas fail to qualify for the field of 68, while Oklahoma barely sneaks in. Kansas Earns Chance to Bring Home Hardware Kansas is always under a microscope when it reaches the national stage, but it will receive extra attention after failing to extend its 14-year regular-season title streak. The Jayhawks have been one of the most up-and-down teams in the nation, but they have a chance to turn things around in Kansas City and head into the NCAA tournament with plenty of momentum. Jamie Squire/Getty Images After beating Texas in the quarterfinals, the Jayhawks play tough against a Texas Tech team they split the regular-season series with.