Preview, picks, predictions for 2022 Big 12 basketball tournament

The Big 12 Conference Tournament will open on March 9 from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The regular-season title was shared by the Kansas Jayhawks and the Baylor Bears, but it’s KU that holds the No. 1 seed for the tourney.

We’ll be taking a look at some of the best teams in each conference, and providing picks and predictions for each conference tournament. Plenty of favorites will win, but we’ve got some sleepers to consider that might be able to pull off a big upset on the way to the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s the bracket for the Big 12 Conference Tournament with TV listings, dates and times.

Favorite: Kansas Jayhawks

The Jayhawks finished with a 25-6 overall record and 14-4 in conference play. They were led in the regular season by guard Ochai Agbaji who averaged 20.2 points per game. The dominance for this team, other than well-rounded scoring, is their ability to hit the boards. They have four players that are averaging at least five rebounds per game and two of them are guards. There is a lot of flexibility in this roster and even though they don’t always meet the eye test, they can pull a win out of anywhere.

Sleeper: Texas Tech

Texas Tech gets the nod as a sleeper given their regular season performance in their first year of the new coaching regime. Sure, it is hard to call a 23-8 overall team as a sleeper, but the regular season projections for the Red Raiders weren’t heading into the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed. Guard Kevin McCullar will need to stay healthy in the tournament as he missed seven games in the regular season. He leads Texas Tech in rebounds, assists and steals per game.

Dark Horse: Iowa State

Iowa State flirted with being a ranked team early in the regular season, but they weren’t able to sustain. We still were able to see the talent on this roster even though they weren’t as successful in conference play. The Cyclones are led by guard Izaiah Brockington who averaged 17.8 points per game in the regular season. Brockington also leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game.

Odds to win Big 12 Tournament from DraftKings Sportsbook

Baylor +200
Kansas +200
Texas Tech +340
Texas +550
TCU +2000
Oklahoma +5000
Iowa State +5000
Kansas State +8000
West Virginia +13000

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