Big 12 Tournament 2020: Schedule, Bracket Predictions and Players to Watch

The last Big 12 tournament champion not named Kansas or Iowa State now plays in the SEC. 

That's how long it's been since the Jayhawks or Cyclones have been kept from winning the tourney. Missouri won it in 2012, but the two programs have combined to win the last seven tournament championships.

It's pretty safe to say Iowa State won't win it this year. They're easily in the bottom half of the league. However, the Jayhawks are once again the favorite to make a run and get to the NCAA tournament fresh off a championship. 

With the final week of regular season play still on the table, Baylor is within striking distance of the Jayhawks for the No. 1 seed. However, the Bears' recent losses to TCU and Kansas raise questions about their ability to upset Kansas in the final. 

Game 1: No. 8 seed vs. No. 9 seed, 7 p.m. ETGame 2: No. 7 seed vs. No. 10, 9:30 p.m. ET

Game 3: No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed, 12:30 p.m. ETGame 4: No. 1 seed vs. Game 1 winner, 3 p.m. ETGame 5: No. 2 seed vs. Game 2 winner, 7 p.m. ETGame 6: No. 3 seed vs. No. 6 seed, 9:30 p.m. ET

Semifinals: Friday, March 13

Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7 p.m. ETGame 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 9:30 p.m. ET

Championship: Saturday, March 14

Semifinal winners, 6:00 p.m. ET

Full bracket and schedule available here. 

Predictions

Kansas Wins the Title

Kansas has a checkered history in the Big 12 tournament under Bill Self. They've won the tourney eight times in his 16 seasons with the team. That's a good number, but when you throw in the fact they've won the regular-season title 14 consecutive seasons it's a little less impressive. 

Still, this seems like a year in which the Jayhawks are set up to win. Self's squad is No. 1 in KenPom's rankings. Baylor isn't far behind at No. 3, but Kansas is No. 8 in offense to Baylor's 16th while they are the No. 1 team in the nation defensively and Baylor ranks fourth. 

In short, Kansas is better than Baylor on both sides of the court and won the most recent head-to-head matchup, 64-61. 

The Jayhawks are a well-balanced team. The inside-out combo of guard Devon Dotson and center Udoka Azubuike is as good as any in the country, and the Jayhawks have been on a roll. They haven't lost since January 11 and have since avenged that loss when they beat Baylor. 

Texas Makes the Finals

There's still a lot of seeding to be decided before the tourney gets started on March 11, and the Texas Longhorns are one of the teams that can make a move up the bracket. They're tied with the Oklahoma Sooners for the fourth or fifth seed which is the same draw. 

However, a win over their rival Tuesday night would put them one game ahead to move them to four and Texas Tech still has to play Baylor again. 

The Longhorns are peaking at the right time. After winning nine of their first 10 games of the season the Longhorns had a rough 4-9 stretch from the beginning of 2020 to mid-February. Now, Texas has four consecutive wins over TCU, Kansas State, West Virginia and Texas Tech, which makes them one of the hottest teams in the league. 

Getting the No. 3 seed would put them on the opposite side of the bracket to Kansas and give them a real chance to get to the championship game. 

Players to Watch

Andrew Jones, G, Texas

One of the reasons to believe in Shaka Smart's crew is the play of Andrew Jones. The sophomore guard is one of the best stories in college basketball, and his play is only making his story better as we head into the most important stretch of the season. 

Jones' basketball career was put on hold when he had Leukemia in 2018. Now, two years later he's lighting it up and feeling confident. 

"My body's starting to feel really good," Jones said, per Brian Davis of the Austin American-Statesman. "The coaches are putting a lot of confidence into me to be myself, be confident and know that if I feel good about the shot, take it and always make the right play."

Jones has responded to that confidence with 77 points over the last four games. He's a big reason why Smart's team has gone from shooting 34.3 percent from three-point range to 42.9 percent as a team in the last three games. 

If Jones keeps this play up he's going to have a big impact on the tournament. 

Udoka Azubuike, C, Kansas

Azubuike has been a player to watch in the Big 12 all season and will likely be the player of the year. However, he's a player to keep an eye on in the tournament for health reasons. 

The big man rolled his ankle in the Jayhawks 62-58 win over Kansas State, and Self classified him as "questionable" to play in the season finale against TCU. 

Azubuike is the team's defensive anchor with 2.6 blocks per game and leads the conference in rebounding at 10.3 per contest. Losing Azubuike or even having him at less than 100 percent could hurt the Jayhawks' chances of making a deep run in the NCAA tournament. 

How Kansas handles him in the tournament and how well he plays will be a good barometer for where his health is for the final stretch. 

MaCio Teague, G, Baylor

The Baylor Bears have had a successful season in large part because of the backcourt duo of Jared Butler and MaCio Teague. The tandem averages 29.9 points per game for Baylor, but Teague has struggled to do his part of late. 

Teague is 15-of-41 from the field over the last four games and hasn't been as aggressive with only 15 free-throw attempts in that time span. 

With just one game left in the regular season to get in a groove Teague needs to step up his play for the Bears to reach their postseason potential. 

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