The Big 12 conference tournament finals featured no real sweat for March Madness odds, with two Top-10 teams easily safe for selection into the Big Dance. However, the Iowa State Cyclones were able to take the bragging rights in an upset over the Houston Cougars, who were favored in the conference tournament odds.
The No. 1 seed Cougars entered the tourney as the odds-on favorites following a 15-3 conference record in their inaugural Big 12 season, and the college basketball odds tabbed them as two-possession favorites over Iowa State to no success.
Check out the updated bracket and more for the Big 12 tourney — and also see our free college basketball picks for more analysis of every March Madness matchup!
Big 12 Conference Tournament bracket
Big 12 Conference Tournament schedule
First Round
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday, March 12 | 12:30 p.m | (13) Oklahoma State vs. (12) UCF |
| Tuesday, March 12 | 3:00 p.m. | (14) West Virginia vs. (11) Cincinnati |
Second Round
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, March 13 | 12:30 p.m | (5) BYU vs. (12) UCF |
| Wednesday, March 13 | 3:00 p.m. | (9) Oklahoma vs. (8) TCU |
| Wednesday, March 13 | 7:00 p.m. | (10) Kansas State vs. (7) Texas |
| Wednesday, March 13 | 9:30 p.m. | (6) Kansas vs. (11) Cincinnati |
Quarterfinals
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, March 14 | 12:30 p.m | (4) Texas Tech vs. (5) BYU |
| Thursday, March 14 | 3:00 p.m. | (1) Houston vs. (8) TCU |
| Thursday, March 14 | 7:00 p.m. | (2) Iowa State vs. (10) Kansas State |
| Thursday, March 14 | 9:30 p.m. | (3) Baylor vs. (11) Cincinnati |
Semifinals
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, March 15 | 7:00 p.m | (1) Houston vs. (4) Texas Tech |
| Friday, March 15 | 9:30 p.m. | (2) Iowa State vs. (3) Baylor |
Championship
| Date | Time (ET) | Matchup |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, March 16 | 6:00 p.m | (1) Houston vs. (2) Iowa State |
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Big 12 Conference Tournament analysis
3/17: While it may have been a battle of the two top seeds in the Big 12 tournament, the scoreboard told a different story. Iowa State took a 7-point lead into halftime and put the pedal down, winning the second half 39-18 and the game 69-41.
The Cyclones opened second on the board in the 4/1 range behind Houston but easily claimed their fifth Big 12 title since 2014.
Previous Big 12 Conference Tournament action
3/16: The bracket remains pure chalk, with the Top 2 seeds both advancing to the final with decisive wins in the semis. The pre-tournament favorite Houston Cougars are installed as 4.5-point favorites for Saturday's showdown.
3/15: Round 2 was about double-digit seeds, but the quarterfinals were all chalk as the semifinals feature the four highest seeds in the bracket.
No. 1 Houston, which remains the odds-on favorite to win overall, opened at -8.5 against fourth-seeded Texas Tech, while the 2-3 matchup between Iowa State and Baylor is a much smaller spread — the Cyclones are just -1.5.
3/14: Double-digit seeds were the story of Round 2, as No. 10 Kansas State upset No. 7 Texas (as a 5.5-point underdog), while No. 11 Cincinnati — which went 7-11 in conference play this year — put stomped sixth-seeded Kansas (and No. 16 nationally) by 20 points.
The Bearcats aren't your typical conference bottom-feeder; they were 20-13 overall this season and recorded wins over BYU, Texas Tech, and TCU. Cincy's odds to win the Big 12 tourney are still long — it sits in the 22/1 range — heading into quarterfinal play against public pick BYU as a 4.5-point underdog, while odds-on favorite Houston opened a double-digit fave against the Horned Frogs and No. 2 Iowa State is -6 vs. Kansas State.
3/13: No change atop the odds board, with only the Bottom-4 seeds in action in Round 1 (and the two higher seeds prevailed), but it's still clearly Houston's title to lose, as the Cougars' longest odds are -115 and are as short as -150 at some operators.
Surprisingly though, it seems the public prefers the value in backing red-hot Baylor in the 6/1 range, as BetMGM reported ahead of the opening games that the Bears are its biggest liability, accounting for almost half of all championship bets and 44.2% of the money.
3/11: The Cougars have hit the board as an odds-on favorite to win the Big 12 in just its first season in the conference. They went 15-3 in Big 12 play and closed the regular season on a nine-game winning streak, now giving them no longer than -105 odds across the board to be the last team standing.
Iowa State sits No. 2 on the board between +275 and +490 after a 13-5 conference campaign, while Baylor (+600) and Kansas (+1,000) lead a slew of six teams that finished between 9-9 and 11-7 in Big 12 play.
2023 Big 12 regular season standings
| Team | Big 12 | Overall |
|---|---|---|
 Houston |
15-3 | 28-3 |
 Iowa State |
13-5 | 24-7 |
 Baylor |
11-7 | 22-9 |
 Texas Tech |
11-7 | 22-9 |
 BYU |
10-8 | 22-9 |
 Kansas |
10-8 | 22-9 |
 TCU |
9-9 | 20-11 |
 Texas |
9-9 | 20-11 |
 Oklahoma |
8-10 | 20-11 |
 Kansas State |
8-10 | 18-13 |
 Cincinnati |
7-11 | 18-13 |
 UCF |
7-11 | 16-14 |
 Oklahoma State |
4-14 | 12-19 |
 West Virginia |
4-14 | 9-22 |
Houston finished the Big 12 regular season with both the best conference record and overall record. All three of their losses came on the road to Kansas, TCU, and Iowa State.
Past Big 12 Conference tournament champions
| Year | Team |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Iowa State |
| 2023 | Texas |
| 2022 |  Kansas |
| 2021 | Texas |
| 2020 | COVID-19 |
| 2019 | Iowa State |
| 2018 | Kansas |
| 2017 | Iowa State |
| 2016 | Kansas |
| 2015 | Iowa State |
| 2014 | Iowa State |
The Big 12 tournament has been mainly a two-horse race over the past decade, with Iowa State winning five times and the Kansas Jayhawks winning three — but following a victory in 2023, the Texas Longhorns have claimed the crown twice in the last four seasons.
