Big 12 Tournament 2023: Men's Schedule, Bracket Predictions and Players to Watch
The Big 12 has been the toughest league to win in men's college basketball.
The intensity of every conference game should continue into the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Missouri.
The Kansas Jayhawks emerged as the class of the conference. They enter Tuesday with a one-game edge on the Texas Longhorns for first place.
Texas, the Baylor Bears and Kansas State Wildcats are all within two games of Kansas in the Big 12 standings.
Kansas and the other top teams are locks to make the NCAA tournament, but the teams at the bottom of the standings will be fighting to be on the right side of the bubble with one or two big wins inside the T-Mobile Center.
The West Virginia Mountaineers and Oklahoma State Cowboys were in the "Last Four In" column in Monday's bracket update from ESPN's Joe Lunardi, while the Texas Tech Red Raiders were on the "Next Four Out" line.
West Virginia, OK State and Texas Tech will have to slow down the conference's best players, like Kansas' Gradey Dick and Texas' Marcus Carr, to spring those upsets and confirm spots in the field of 68.
Big 12 Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, March 8
No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed (7 p.m. ET)
No. 7 seed vs. No. 10 seed (9:30 p.m. ET)
Thursday, March 9
No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed (12:30 p.m. ET)
No. 1 seed vs. No. 8/9 winner (3 p.m. ET)
No. 2 seed vs. No. 7/10 winner (7 p.m. ET)
No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed (9:30 p.m. ET)
Friday, March 10
Semifinal No. 1 (7 p.m. ET)
Semifinal No. 2 (9:30 p.m. ET)
Saturday, March 11
Championship Game (6 p.m. ET)
Players to Watch
Gradey Dick, Kansas
Dick is one of the best freshmen in the country.
The first-year player is averaging 14.9 points per game and he shoots 41.8 percent from three-point range.
Dick is projected to be a top-10 pick in the 2023 NBA draft by Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman.
He is by far Kansas' best shooter, and he will be asked to hit plenty of big shots as March progresses.
Dick is surrounded by experience in Jalen Wilson and Dajuan Harris, who were part of Kansas' national championship team last season. He was asked to fill the points production left open by the departures of Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun, who combined to average 32 points per game last season.
The star freshman hit the 20-point mark four times in Big 12 play, and he is on a four-game streak with at least 16 points.
If Dick continues to score at that rate, Kansas should be in good shape in Kansas City and beyond.
Keyonte George, Baylor
Keyonte George will have eyes on him for different reasons going into Kansas City.
The Baylor guard left Saturday's game against Texas with an ankle injury. He did not play against Oklahoma State on Monday.
George is averaging 16.3 points per game. He is one of three Baylor players averaging over 14 points per contest.
Baylor has to hope George's injury is not too serious. The Bears' Big 12 and NCAA tournament hopes will take a hit if he is not on the floor.
George is a projected top-10 pick, per Wasserman, and he could make the difference in any tight games in March.
Marcus Carr, Texas
Carr is one of the most experienced players in the Big 12.
The guard is in his fifth year of college basketball. He spent one year at Pittsburgh and two at Minnesota before transferring to Texas.
Carr is averaging 16.8 points per game, which is the second-highest total of his career, for a Texas team that has four scorers averaging over 10 points per contest.
He is the driving force of the Texas offense and has been in double figures in all but one game dating back to December 12.
Texas should benefit from his leadership and experience in the backcourt. That could help the Longhorns take down Kansas and Baylor in Kansas City.
Bracket Prediction
1. Kansas
2. Texas
3. Baylor
4. Kansas State
5. TCU
6. Iowa State
7. West Virginia
8. Oklahoma State
9. Texas Tech
10. Oklahoma
Nine of the 10 teams will try to improve their standing in the NCAA tournament field in Kansas City.
West Virginia, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech need at least one win over any of the top-four teams to feel more comfortable about their resumes going into Selection Sunday.
The desperation from those teams plus the desire from the top teams to earn a higher seed in March Madness should create four spectacular quarterfinal games.
The top seed will be determined by Saturday's regular-season finale between Kansas and Texas. Kansas won the first meeting 88-80.
The No. 1 seed will not have an easy task on its hands, as it will likely face one of the three bubble teams. The top seed's quarterfinal opponent will have to play on the first day of the Big 12 tournament in what could serve as an NCAA tournament elimination game.
Kansas or Texas is not guaranteed of a run to the Big 12 tournament final if they land the top seed, since two of the last three completed Big 12 tournaments had a final between the No. 3 and No. 5 seeds.