KANSAS CITY – The bracket is set for the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament, held March 10-14 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. Arizona, who captured its first Big 12 men’s basketball regular season title, is the top seed with a 16-2 record. The 2026 event marks the 26th time Kansas City has served as host.
No. 2 seed Houston (14-4), No. 3 seed Kansas (12-6) and No. 4 seed Texas Tech (12-6) earned the remainder of the coveted double-byes and will begin their run in Kansas City during the quarterfinals on March 12. Kansas and Texas Tech earned the last double-byes over No. 5 seed Iowa State (12-6) due to their superior winning percentage in head-to-head competition among the tied teams (Kansas .667; Texas Tech .500). No. 6 Iowa State (25-6, 12-6 Big 12) dominated the second half in an 86-65 victory over Arizona State (16-15, 7-11) Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale in Ames.
Joining the Cyclones with single-byes into the second round on March 11 are No. 6 seed TCU (11-7), No. 7 West Virginia (9-9) and No. 8 UCF (9-9). West Virginia was undefeated against the four-team tie at 9-9, while UCF earned the edge over No. 9 seed Cincinnati due to its 82-71 win over TCU on Feb. 17, as the teams had the same winning percentage against the top five teams in the standings. BYU (9-9) was seeded 10th due to its 0-3 record against tied teams.
Play begins on March 10 with No. 12 Arizona State (7-11) squaring off with No. 13 Baylor (6-12) at 11:30 a.m. CT (9:30 a.m. MST). Cincinnati takes on No. 16 Utah at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET/1 p.m. MDT) in the second game of Session 1. Tuesday’s night session features No. 10 seed BYU (8-10) facing No. 15 seed Kansas State (3-15) at 6 p.m. CT (5 p.m. MDT) followed by No. 11 seed Colorado (7-11) and No. 14 Oklahoma State (6-12) at 8:30 p.m. CT (7:30 p.m. MDT). Baylor ranked ahead of Oklahoma State due to its Jan. 13 win in Stillwater, while Colorado swept a pair of meetings with Arizona State to earn the tiebreaker.
All games of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Basketball Tournament are broadcast on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN+. The winner of the event captures the Big 12’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.
2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament Schedule
First Round – Tuesday, March 10
Game 1: No. 12 Arizona State vs. No. 13 Baylor (ESPN+) – 11:30 a.m. CT/9:30 a.m. MST
Game 2: No. 9 Cincinnati vs. No. 16 Utah (ESPN+) – 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT/1 p.m. MDT
Game 3: No. 10 BYU vs. No. 15 Kansas State (ESPN+) – 6 p.m. CT/5 p.m. MDT
Game 4: No. 11 Colorado vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State (ESPN+) – 8:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. MDT
Second Round – Wednesday, March 11
Game 5: No. 5 Iowa State vs. Game 1 winner (ESPN/2) – 11:30 a.m. CT