The Big 12 Conference men's basketball tournament is the championship men's basketball tournament in the Big 12 Conference. It is a single-elimination tournament of four rounds, with the top six seeds getting byes in the first round. Seeding is based on regular season records. The winner of the tournament receives the Big 12 Conference's automatic bid in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
Between 2005 and 2019, no current Big 12 member besides Iowa State or Kansas won the tournament, and those two schools have won 18 of 27 titles. The remaining current Big 12 schools only account for six additional tournament titles. For its first twenty-three years, no school from outside the original Big Eight Conference had ever won the tournament. This streak ended when the Texas Longhorns won the championship game against Oklahoma State in 2021.
The tournament has been held since 2010 at the T-Mobile Center (formerly Sprint Center) in Kansas City, Missouri, under long-term contracts most recently renewed in 2024.
History
The tournament has been held every year since the first full basketball season was completed in 1997. (The Big 12 was formed in 1996) Since that time, it was held in Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri in early March for every year up until 2003, and also in 2005. In 2003, 2004, and 2006 it was held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and in 2007 it was held in the Ford Center at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 2008 it was again held in Kansas City, but this time at the Sprint Center.
The 2009 edition of the championship was held in Oklahoma City, with the event returning to Kansas City from 2010 through 2020. On October 24, 2018, it was announced that the Big 12 Tournament would stay in Kansas City through 2024. In March 2024, the contract was renewed through 2031, with Kansas City also becoming the host of the Big 12 women's tournament.
Kansas has won the most Big 12 postseason titles as well, winning 11 out of 29, while appearing in 15 championship games.
Tournament champions
Numbers in parentheses refer to each team's finish/seed in the tournament for that year. Teams are seeded in order of highest conference record. Tie-breakers are based on conference record starting with: Head-to-head Record against highest standing team in conference, continuing down until one team gains an advantage Conference road games Road record against highest standing team, continuing down Draw, starting with highest seed to be determined Ties among more than two teams are broken similarly by comparing the "mini round-robin" record among tied teams, reverting to the above when elimination narrows it to two tied teams
Year Champion Runner-up Tournament MVP Location Attendance 1997 (1) Kansas 87 (10) Missouri 60 Paul Pierce, Kansas Kemper Arena – Kansas City, MO 114,420 1998 (1) Kansas 72 (3) Oklahoma 58 89,200 1999 (3) Kansas 53 (5) 37 Jeff Boschee, Kansas 106,600 2000 (1) Iowa State 70 (3) Oklahoma 58 Marcus Fizer, Iowa State 114,600 2001 (3) Oklahoma 54 (4) Texas 45 Nolan Johnson, Oklahoma 91,500 2002 (2) Oklahoma 64 (1) Kansas 55 Hollis Price, Oklahoma 104,740 2003 (3) Oklahoma 49 (5) Missouri 47 American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX 94,800 2004 (1) Oklahoma State 65 (2) Texas 49 Tony Allen, Oklahoma State 105,610 2005 (3) 72 (4) 68 Joey Graham, Oklahoma State Kemper Arena – Kansas City, MO 109,608 2006 (2) Kansas 80 (1) Texas 68 Mario Chalmers, Kansas American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX 109,428 2007† (1) Kansas 88 (3) Texas 84 Kevin Durant, Texas Ford Center – Oklahoma City, OK 113,274 2008 (2) Kansas 84 (1) Texas 74 Brandon Rush, Kansas Sprint Center – Kansas City, MO 113,254 2009 (3) Missouri 73 (9) Baylor 60 DeMarre Carroll, Missouri Ford Center – Oklahoma City, OK 94,614 2010 (1) Kansas 72 (2) Kansas State 64 Sherron Collins, Kansas Sprint Center – Kansas City, MO 113,398 2011 (1) Kansas 85 (2) Texas 73 Marcus Morris, Kansas 113,490 2012 (2) Missouri 90 (4) Baylor 75 Kim English, Missouri 94,894 2013 (1) Kansas 70 (2) Kansas State 54 Jeff Withey, Kansas 90,687 2014 (4) Iowa State 74(7) Baylor 65 DeAndre Kane, Iowa State 94,996 2015 (2) Iowa State 70 (1) Kansas 66 Georges Niang, Iowa State 94,963 2016 (1) Kansas 81 (2) West Virginia 71 Devonte' Graham, Kansas 94,934 2017 (4) Iowa State 80 (2) West Virginia 74 Monte Morris, Iowa State 94,934 2018 (1) Kansas 81‡ (3) West Virginia 70 Malik Newman, Kansas 89,2492019 (5) Iowa State 78 (3) Kansas 66 Marial Shayok, Iowa State 94,847 2020 Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 (3) Texas 91 (5) Oklahoma State 86 Matt Coleman, Texas T-Mobile Center* – Kansas City, MO 13,824‡ 2022 (1) Kansas 74 (3) Texas Tech 65 Ochai Agbaji, Kansas 79,846 2023 (2) Texas 76 (1) Kansas 56 Dylan Disu, Texas90,110 2024 (2) Iowa State 69 (1) Houston 41 Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State 118,300 2025 (1) Houston 72 (3) Arizona 64 Emanuel Sharp, Houston 106,259 2026 (1) Arizona 79 (2) Houston 74 Jaden Bradley, Arizona 107,974 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 Reference: † – Denotes overtime played
Results by team
Tournament record
School W LPct. Championships Runners-Up Championship YearsKansas†5116 11†41997, 1998, 1999, 2006,2007, 2008, 2010, 2011,2013, 2016, 2022Iowa State2724 602000, 2014, 20152017, 2019, 2024Oklahoma State2926 222004, 2005Arizona51 112026Houston72 122025Baylor1927 03−West Virginia1012 03−Kansas State1929 02−Texas Tech1829 02− BYU 4 3 00− Cincinnati 4 3 00− UCF 3 3 00− TCU 9 14 00− Colorado 11 17 00− Arizona State12 00− Utah02 00−Reference:
Former Teams Tournament record
School W LPct.Missouri1914.576Texas2624.520Oklahoma2322.511Nebraska 615.286Texas A&M616.273Reference: Italics denote former conference member
Former Teams Championship game record Appearances School W LPct.5Oklahoma32.6008Texas26.1434Missouri22.5000Nebraska00N/A0Texas A&M00N/AReference: Italics denote former conference member.
See also
Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament Big 12 women's basketball tournament
References