The conference tournaments around the NCAA begin this week, all of which of course are leading up to selection Sunday next week. The Big 12 tournament is slated to begin on Wednesday, March 9 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
There are four teams with byes in the first round of play: top-seeded Kansas, second-seeded Texas, No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 4 Kansas State. All four of those teams will play on Thursday.
Wednesday's and Thursday's slate of games looks like this:
Wednesday, March 9 TV Time (CST) No. 8 Nebraska vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State Big 12 Network 11:30 a.m. No. 5 Colorado vs. No. 12 Iowa State Big 12 Network 2:00 p.m. No. 7 Baylor vs. No. 10 Oklahoma Big 12 Network 6:00 p.m. No. 6 Missouri vs. No. 11 Texas Tech Big 12 Network 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 10 No. 1 Kansas vs. NU/OSU winner ESPN2 11:30 a.m. No. 4 Kansas State vs. CU/ISU winner Big 12 Network 2:00 p.m. No. 2 Texas vs. BU/OU winner Big 12 Network 6:00 p.m. No. 3 Texas A&M vs. MU/TTU winner ESPN2 8:30 p.m.
There is a lot at stake for a few teams in this tournament, notably Baylor. The Bears will likely have to win at least two games in order to earn an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Of course, if Baylor wins the tournament outright, they'll qualify as well - but let's face it, that's an unlikely scenario.
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