Big 12 Tournament: All You Need To Know

The Big 12 Tournament kicks off Wednesday at Sprint Center in Kansas City. Here's all the information you need to know.

Dates:

Wednesday-Saturday, March 12-15.

Location:

Sprint Center

1407 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO, 64106.

Schedule & TV Info:

Wednesday:

SESSION 1:

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma State, 6:00 PM Central, Big 12 Network, ESPN3.

TCU vs. Baylor, 8:30 PM Central*, Big 12 Network, ESPN3.

Thursday:

SESSION 2:

Kansas State vs. Iowa State, 11:30 AM Central, ESPN2.

OKST/TTU winner vs. Kansas, 2:00 PM Central*, ESPN2.

SESSION 3:

TCU/Baylor winner vs. Oklahoma, 6:00 PM Central, Big 12 Network, ESPN3.

West Virginia vs. Texas, 8:30 PM Central*, Big 12 Network, ESPN3.

Friday:

SESSION 4:

Semi-final 1 (If Kansas wins Thursday, they play here) 6:00 PM Central, ESPN U, ESPN3.

Semi-final 2: 8:30 PM Central*, ESPN U, ESPN3.

Saturday:

SESSION 5:

Final: 8:00 PM Central, ESPN.

Also of note is that Brent Musberger and Fran Fraschilla will be calling the title game, semi-finals, and the KU and ISU/KSU quarters.

*Estimated tipoff, based on ending of previous game.

Injury News

If you've been living under a rock the past couple days, and that rock doesn't have wi-fi, Joel Embiid will not play in the Big 12 Tournament. This probably hurts KU's chances a decent amount. Get well soon, big fella.

Kenpom Projections

While Ken notes that this projection does not account that well for the Embiid injury, he still argues that KU is the obvious favorite. Here are his projections for the Big 12 Tournament:

Odds

Interestingly, KU's odds have actually gotten better in Vegas to win the Big 12 Tournament since the Joel Embiid news. According to this article by the wonderful Jesse Newell, KU's odds have gone from 2/1 to 6/5.

Ticket Info:

I don't know what the best way to get tickets to this is, but there's always StubHub. Or scalping.

Prediction:

While it's tough to win four games in four days, I wouldn't be surprised if Oklahoma State makes a run and beats KU en route to a Big 12 Tournament Title. I think it's been noted on this site before how much better Oklahoma State is than their record, not just because they've underachieved, and not just because they have three losses without Marcus Smart, but they've actually been the third best Big 12 team in net efficiency, behind Kansas and Oklahoma. Still, I'm an optimist, so I'm gonna roll with the Jayhawks to win the Big 12 Tournament. While the Embiid injury obviously hurts, there really isn't a team that scares you with its size inside. The rim protection Embiid provided will be the biggest thing missed. The extra rest Kansas will have going into the likely matchup with the Cowboys should also help.

Final Big 12 Standings (with efficiencies)

Here are the final Big 12 standings, along with the net efficiencies (points scored per 100 possessions minus points allowed per 100 possessions).

Kansas 14-4, +15.3

Oklahoma 12-6, +6.7

Iowa State 11-7, +2.0

Texas 11-7, +1.2

Kansas State 10-8, +1.2

Baylor 9-9, +2.9

West Virginia 9-9, -2.4

Oklahoma State 8-10, +5.1

Texas Tech 6-12, -5.3

TCU 0-18, -26.3

Yes, TCU really was that bad. Rather impressive, if you ask me.

Bracket

Via the official Big 12 website:

That's about all I can think of. As always, you can follow me on Twitter @TJFsports.