2025 Big 12 Tournament Preview & Conference Awards

CBB Review prepares you for every conference tournament leading up to Selection Sunday on Mar. 16. Up next: The Big 12 Tournament.

The Big 12 was all Houston this year, finishing an impressive 19-1 and four games ahead of second place. We saw some surprises, like Texas Tech and BYU, and some disappointments, like Kansas, Baylor, and Cincinnati. Regardless, we’re looking at eight tournament teams, and several who are national championship threats.

Iowa State obliterated Houston in the final last year, beating Houston by 28 and holding them to just 41 points. If you like upsets, this might not be the tournament for you. There was only one upset last season, and that was 11-seed Cincinnati beating six-seed Kansas. The year before, only two.

With Texas and Oklahoma leaving and Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah joining, it will be interesting to see if the change in dynamic leads to a different tournament. Regardless, we’ll get to see some of the best players and teams in the country battle it out in a five-day battle for the title.

2025 Big 12 Conference Awards

Player of the Year: JT Toppin, Texas Tech

Freshman of the Year: VJ Edgecombe, Baylor

Transfer of the Year: JT Toppin, Texas Tech

Coach of the Year: Kelvin Sampson, Houston

First Team:

• G: Javon Small, West Virginia (18.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 5.6 APG, 1.6 SPG)
• G: LJ Cryer, Houston (15.3 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.8 SPG)
• F: Richie Saunders, BYU (16.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.2 SPG)
• F: JT Toppin, Texas Tech (18.1 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 1.1 APG, 0.9 SPG, 1.2 BPG)
• F: Hunter Dickinson, Kansas (17.4 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.3 BPG)

Second Team:

• G: Curtis Jones, Iowa State (17.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.2 SPG)
• G: Keyshawn Hall, UCF (18.5 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.4 APG, 0.8 SPG)
• G: J’Wan Roberts, Houston (11.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.7 APG, 0.7 BPG, 1.0 SPG)
• F: Derrion Williams, Texas Tech (14.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 3.8 APG, 1.2 SPG)
• F: Norchad Omier, Baylor (15.6 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.2 SPG, 1.0 BPG)

2025 Big 12 Tournament Simulation

First Round – Tues., Mar. 11

12. Oklahoma State (15-16, 7-13) vs. 13. Cincinnati (17-14, 7-13) – 11:30 a.m. CT on ESPN+

Cincinnati, a preseason top-25 team, has had a disastrous season. This was capped off by a 78-67 loss to Oklahoma State in the final game of the season, their third loss in a row. Oklahoma State has been playing good basketball of late, going 3-3 in their last six, including a win over Iowa State.

Oklahoma State can’t win away from home, losing every road game in Big 12 play. Unfortunately, this game is not in Stillwater, and Jizzle James and co. will make it to the next round.

Ariel’s pick: 13. Cincinnati

9. TCU (16-15, 9-11) vs. 16. Colorado (12-19, 3-17) – 2:00 p.m. CT on ESPN+

Same scenario as the game before. Colorado pulled off a surprising 76-56 win over TCU in the season finale but didn’t win a single road game in conference play. The fact that Colorado even got to three wins is impressive, but go with the favorite here.

Ariel’s pick: 9. TCU

10. Kansas State (15-16, 9-11) vs. 15. Arizona State (13-18, 4-16) – 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN+

Arizona State is basically a corpse at this point. They play six guys, and their sixth guy is a freshman who played his true minutes of the season on February 26th. This looks like the end of the days of Bobby Hurley, and this ASU basketball team. Welcome to the Big 12!

Ariel’s pick: 10. Kansas State

11. Utah (16-15, 8-12) vs. 14. UCF (16-15, 7-13) – 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN+

Utah fired their coach a few weeks ago and is playing with an interim. Luckily, that interim coach was West Virginia’s interim last year, so he has experience in these games. This could be a really fun scoring feud between Keyshawn Hall and Gabe Madsen. Both can go for 25.

If Utah still had Craig Smith, the pick would be Utah. With Eilert, UCF moves on.

Ariel’s pick: 14. UCF

Second Round – Wed., Mar. 12

5. Iowa State (23-8, 13-7) vs. 13. Cincinnati – 11:30 p.m. CT on ESPN or ESPN2

They call the T-Mobile Center Hilton South for a reason. The Iowa State fans will travel and make this feel like a home game. What happened when Iowa State played Cincinnati at home? They won 81-70. Expect a similar result in this one.

Ariel’s pick: 5. Iowa State

8. West Virginia (19-12, 10-10) vs. 9. TCU – 2:00 p.m. CT on ESPN+

These two teams split the regular season, and this should be a great coaching matchup between Darian Devries and Jamie Dixon. Per Kenpom, TCU has the 201st most efficient offense, and West Virginia has the 13th most efficient defense. Never a good combo for the former, and they can go on a drought that they can’t get out of late.

Ariel’s pick: 8. West Virginia

7. Baylor (18-13, 10-10) vs. 10. Kansas State – 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN+

Baylor can not afford to lose this game. 14 losses and a first-round exit could be the difference between being safely in the NCAA Tournament and on the wrong side of the bubble.

The big question will be Coleman Hawkins. When Kansas State went on that magical streak, Hawkins was playing incredible basketball. He got hurt, and the team regressed significantly. Since he’s returned, he hasn’t been great, but hopefully, he’s now healthy enough to contribute at a high level.

Scott Drew won’t let his former assistant beat him, and VJ Edgecombe will have a big game with the NBA scouts in attendance.

Ariel’s pick: 7. Baylor

6. Kansas (20-11, 11-9) vs. 14. UCF – 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN2 or ESPNU

The first time these two teams played, Kansas won 99-48. Kansas scored more points in the second half than UCF in the entire game. The second matchup was a bit closer, but Kansas still came out on top. You have to expect Kansas fans to make the short drive to Kansas City and support their team, and that crowd could be enough to push them to victory.

Ariel’s pick: 6. Kansas

Quarterfinals – Thu., Mar. 13

4. BYU (23-8, 14-6) vs. 5. Iowa State – 11:30 a.m. CT on ESPN or ESPN2

What a matchup this will be. Just nine days ago, these two teams played, and Iowa State came back from down 21 to force overtime at home. The game went to double overtime, and BYU prevailed, picking up an impressive win. BYU is red hot, winning 8 in a row and stealing that four seed from Iowa State, so they didn’t have to play the game the day before.

The big question will be Keshon Gilbert’s health. Gilbert, the team’s second leading scorer, has been battling injury, missing the season finale after logging 43 minutes in the BYU loss. Regardless, the Clones should have just enough to beat this team, thanks to the depth of their other top players.

Ariel’s pick: 5. Iowa State

1. Houston (27-4, 19-1) vs. 8. West Virginia – 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN or ESPN2

No disrespect to West Virginia, but unless Tucker DeVries suits up, they’re not winning this game. Even if he did, Houston would most likely win this game. Houston’s defense is too good, and if they bottle up Javon Small, West Virginia doesn’t have a plan B to beat this Houston team.

Ariel’s pick: 1. Houston

2. Texas Tech (24-7, 15-5) vs. 7. Baylor – 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN or ESPN2

VJ Edgecombe missed the first game these two teams played against each other, which was a big reason why Texas Tech won so easily. He’ll suit up in this one, but Josh Ojianwuna won’t. He held Toppin to just eight points that game, and without him on the floor, Baylor won’t have the answers to stop this team. Unless VJ Edgecombe has a career day, the Red Raiders roll on.

Ariel’s pick: 2. Texas Tech

3. Arizona (20-11, 14-6) vs. 6. Kansas – 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN or ESPN2

Kansas picked up the win in the season finale at home, winning 83-76. Hunter Dickinson was a monster, going for 33 points in the win. Like most Arizona games, it’ll come down to Caleb Love’s shooting. He shot well against Kansas, but they needed more from him.

The lack of defense on Dickinson was concerning, and there wasn’t really a moment where it looked like they figured out a way to solve that. Bill Self doesn’t want to go home and won’t, pulling off the big win to advance to the semifinals.

Ariel’s pick: 6. Kansas

Semifinals – Fri., Mar. 14

1. Houston vs. 5. Iowa State – 6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN or ESPN2

Let’s be honest; the winner of this game will win the Big 12 Tournament. We talked about last year’s drubbing by Iowa State, and Iowa State fans remember that too. They’ll make this feel like a home game. Houston is just better, especially with Gilbert not at 100%. LJ Cryer can light it up, and Houston’s physicality will be too much for this team to handle.

Ariel’s pick: 1. Houston

2. Texas Tech vs. 6. Kansas – 8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN or ESPN2

Texas Tech went into Allen Fieldhouse and beat Kansas to kick off March. This will be a fun game between the two best big men (and maybe players) in the conference. This will come down to the role players, though. Who can have more of an impact, McMillian, Williams, and Hawkins or Mayo, Adams, and Harris? The Red Raiders win that battle and look to win their first Big 12 championship in school history.

Ariel’s pick: 2. Texas Tech. 

Championship – Sat., Mar. 15

1. Houston vs. 2. Texas Tech – 5 p.m. CT on ESPN

The two best teams face off, as it should be. Houston lost one game in conference play, and it was to Texas Tech. Houston also hasn’t played a fully healthy Texas Tech team. In the first game, the loss, Grant McCasland and JT Toppin were ejected in one of the first few minutes. In the second matchup, the win, Chance McMillian and Derrion Williams didn’t play.

If Texas Tech wants to win this game, they’ll need to hit the three. They hit 12 in their win, shooting 40%, compared to 6 and 20% in the loss. This is truly anyone’s game, but Houston’s defense and coaching will just be too overwhelming, especially since they can lock up a one seed in the NCAA tournament. In two years, Houston will have won two regular season titles and a conference tournament. Not a bad introduction to the league.

Ariel’s pick: 1. Houston