Current Big 12 Conference Win Odds:
| Team | Open | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Baylor Bears | +165 | -165 |
| Kansas Jayhawks | +170 | +600 |
| West Virginia Mountaineers | +450 | +600 |
| Texas Longhorns | +550 | +700 |
| Texas Tech Red Raiders | +1000 | +800 |
| Oklahoma Sooners | +2000 | +800 |
| TCU Horned Frogs | +10000 | +15000 |
| Kansas State Wildcats | +30000 | +30000 |
| Iowa State Cyclones | +8000 | +50000 |
| Oklahoma State Cowboys | NA | NA |
The Sprint Center is now the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri, so don’t get confused and think that the Big 12 Conference Tournament has moved. It will still be in the Land of BBQ this year and there will be a smattering of fans in attendance.
The Baylor Bears are only 16-23 all-time in the Big 12 Tournament, an event that has been dominated by Kansas, who had 14 Championship Game appearances, but the Bears are much, much better than the Jayhawks this season. Baylor is better than everybody else in this conference, but anything can happen in a one-and-done format under the right conditions.
Baylor has been in the top three all year long no matter the metrics site you use the most. That won’t change heading into this event, but you have to go back to 2014 for the last time Baylor made the Finals. They did that as a #7 seed.
Iowa State has actually been the surprise team a few times in this tournament, but their odds of +50000 tell us that will not be the case this time around.
Baylor is the odds-on favorite here with a dominant regular season in a Big 12 that would be best described as “good, but not great”. It certainly isn’t on the level of the Big Ten, but does seem to overshadow the ACC this season. Kansas and West Virginia are the +600 teams listed on the board and would appear to be on a crash in the semifinals, unless something changes with the seeding before the tournament.
Your strategy here is to pick a team to back in the bottom of the bracket that won’t run into Baylor until the Championship Game. Whether that is West Virginia, Kansas, or if something happens and Oklahoma winds up the #2 or #3 seed, you want to avoid Baylor at all costs.
Perhaps a team like Texas Tech can make a run with an elite head coach in Chris Beard, but the +800 odds don’t look great for a team that will have a hard road.
Baylor is the best, but betting on a -165 favorite in a conference tournament is a tough sell, so you should pick the team you like the most that won’t play Baylor until the very end. Whether that team is Texas, Kansas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, or West Virginia, you have a lot of choices as the seeds start to formulate.
Big 12 Conference History:
The Big 12 was formed in 1996 and its teams have participated in the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament since 1997. The tournament is a single-elimination tournament lasting four rounds. Of the ten teams in the conference, the top six earn a first-round bye leaving the bottom four to play for the last two seeds. The tournament winner earns a berth in the annual NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball tournament.
Kansas has been the conference’s dominant force with 11 Big 12 tournament wins in 14 appearances. Iowa State is 5-0 in their five championship games including their upset win over Kansas in 2019. Oklahoma has won three of its five championship games while Missouri has won two of their four. Conversely, Texas has failed to win in any of its six championship game appearances.
Since 2006, only Kansas (8), Iowa State (4), and Missouri (2) have won the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament. Kansas is understandably getting a lot of respect from bookmakers entering the 2020-21 season. However, they seem to like Baylor a little more. A Big 12 team hasn’t gone on to win the NCAA tournament since Kansas did it in 2008.
Win Count All-Time in The Big 12 Tournament
| Wins | Team | Last |
| 11 | Kansas | 2018 |
| 5 | Iowa State | 2019 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 2003 |
| 2 | Missouri | 2012 |
| 2 | Oklahoma State | 2005 |
