A year ago the Houston Cougars advanced to the conference championship game in their final season of AAC play. While they lost to Memphis in the ACC Championship Game, it was still enough for the Cougars to earn a No. 1 overall seed in last year’s NCAA men’s tournament. The Cougars advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, before losing to Miami.
This year, their first in the Big 12, Houston is hoping to advance deeper in the NCAA tournament. First, however, they’ll need to run the gauntlet in what is shaping up to be a very competitive Big 12 tournament. According to the latest estimates, the conference is set to see nine teams selected for the NCAA tournament, meaning that the team cutting down the nets when all is said and done at the T-Mobile Center in St. Louis will have earned their spot in the big dance.
While Houston is the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 tournament thanks to their 15-3 conference record (and 28-3 overall record) a number of talented teams round out the field. Iowa State enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed, and the Cyclones beat the Cougars at home in early January as the teams split their season series. Baylor, BYU, and Kansas are also ranked in the Top 25, and those teams are the No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 seeds in the conference tournament, respectively.
Then there is Texas Tech. The Red Raiders enter the Big 12 tournament as the No. 3 seed in the conference, thanks to their 11-7 conference record. Texas, Oklahoma, and TCU are the other three teams expected to earn at-large bids to the NCAA tournament.
Of course, the team that wins the Big 12 tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, as March can always deliver some surprises …
The Big 12 tournament gets underway on Tuesday, and SB Nation will have fans covered every step of the way.
2024 men’s Big 12 tournament bracket
Here is the 2024 Big 12 men’s tournament bracket. You can also view the bracket on the tournament website.
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2024 men’s Big 12 tournament schedule
March 12 First Round
Game 1: No. 12 UCF 77, No. 13 Oklahoma State 62
Game 2: No. 11 Cincinnati 90, No. 14 West Virginia 85
March 13 Second Round
Game 3: No. 5 BYU 87, No. 12 UCF 73
Game 4: No. 8 TCU 77, No. 9 Oklahoma 70
Game 5: No. 10 Kansas State 78, No. 7 Texas 74
Game 6: No. 11 Cincinnati 72, No. 6 Kansas 52
March 14 Quarterfinals
Game 7: No. 4 Texas Tech 81, No. 5 BYU 67
Game 8: No. 1 Houston 60, No. 8 TCU 45
Game 9: No. 2 Iowa State 76, No. 10 Kansas State 57
Game 10: No. 3 Baylor 68. No. 11 Cincinnati 56
March 15 Semifinals
Game 11: No. 1 Houston 82, No. 4 Texas Tech 59
Game 12: No. 2 Iowa State 74, No. 3 Baylor 62
March 16 Championship
Game 13: No. 1 Houston vs. No. 2 Iowa State, 6:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
