2008 Big 12 Basketball Tournament
Printable & Viewable Bracket Link: 2008 Big 12 Mens Basketball Tournament Bracket
Participants/Overview: The 2008 Big 12 Conference Basketball Tournament features all twelve of the Big 12 schools. The top 4 seeds gain entry in the tournament as well as receive a bye into the quarterfinals of the basketball tournament. Teams that finish 5th place or lower must go the route of winning 4 tournament games in 4 days.
As of publish on March 1st, the 2008 Big 12 tourney is needed to determine just who from this conference is going to make it as an at large bid. About the only thing we know for certain is that Texas and Kansas are in, and are likely playing for #1 seeds into this years mens basketball tournament. The Jayhawks looked like they were the best team in the country pre February, but suddenly have become very beatable. While Kansas has faltered down the stretch, the Longhorns have ascended up to the top of the Big 12 standings and are in the drivers seat to get a number 1 seed if they can upset Kansas in this setting. Yes, I said upset because regardless of where the teams are ranked the college basketball odds makers would agree that Kansas is a better team than Texas.
Now for the tricky stuff. Kansas State, Texas A&M, Baylor,
Nebraska and Oklahoma are fighting for 3 spots. I don't see how
with the selection committee's love for the BCS schools, that they
could only put 4 teams in from a major conference like the Big 12
into the tournament. So using that thinking is how I came up with
3 bids available. Kansas State is likely in as long as they dont'
fall apart the last 2 games of the season. Nebraska is likely out,
unless something major happens. That leaves 2 bids left. So between
Texas A&M, Baylor, and Oklahoma, one of those teams is going
to be left at home. Who will it be? Hard to tell without knowing
the seedings, but one thing for sure is, the showing in the Big
12 Tournament will go a long way to impress the selection panel.
Once the brackets and odds are posted, be sure to use Maddux's college
basketball picks to be on the right side of these big 12 basketball
tournament games.
Venue: Sprint Center
Sponsors: Phillips 66
Dates: March 13th-March 16th
TV: Like it usually does ESPN will broadcast the entire Big 12 Championship Tournament on its network of stations, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN PLUS. For game by game listing view this years Big Twelve bracket for game by game tv listings. We know for certain that the Semifinals will be seen at 2:00 & 4:20 eastern time on ESPN2 and that the Big 12 Championship final game will be seen at 3:00 eastern time on ESPN.
Big 12 Tournament Schedule
March 13th - Opening Round
March 14th - Quarterfinals
March 15th - Semifinals
March 16th - Championship
Click
here for the updated Big 12 Conference tournament bracket
Last Years Winner
Kansas Jayhawks. The Jayhawks continued the trend of back to back
winners. We remember this game very well as Kansas not covering
the spread cost us a college basketball handicapping title. Texas
jumped out to a huge 20 point lead in the 1st half, thanks to some
hot shooting by the Longhorns, namely Kevin Durant. Kansas closed
the gap to 5 at the half and ended up taking the lead late in the
second half. The rest of the way was back and forth and eventually
the game went into OT, where Kansas never trailed and won 88-84
despite 37 points from Durant.
It was a case of deja vu for the Longhorns who just a week earlier had Kansas down by 16 points but couldn't hang on to get the win. That blown lead cost Texas the Big 12 regular season title, while this one cost them the tournament championship.
Kansas was playing their best basketball of the season as it entered the tournament on a 11 game winning streak. The Jayhawks continued the run all the way to the elite 8, before losing to Ben Howland's UCLA Bruins.
The Longhorns would end the season on a sour note losing in the second round of the tournament to another PAC-Ten school, the USC Trojans. Just like with Kansas, it was another case of the better coached basketball team prevailing in the NCAA tournament.
Previous Years Big 12 Basketball
Tournament Brackets
2007 Champion: Kansas
2006
Champion: Kansas
2005
Champion: Oklahoma State
2004
Champion: Oklahoma State
Off Site Links
Big 12 Conference Official
Website
Sprint Center Venue
Website
View all of the 2008 tournament info on our march madness 2008 page. Complete with previews, articles, and bubble breakdowns.
