Big 12 Record in March Madness 2026: Arizona Reaches First Final Four Since 2001

The No. 1 Wildcats clearly looked like one of the nation’s best teams in the second half vs. No. 2 Purdue.

Freshman Koa Peat has been a dominant force for Arizona during their run to the Final Four. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Into the Elite Eight of March Madness, and the push to the Final Four is heating up across the country, and the Big 12 will be represented in Indianapolis.

Few conferences have the power at the top of the league that the Big 12 possesses. No. 1 seed Arizona, No. 2 Houston, last year’s national runner-up, No. 2 Iowa State and No. 4 Kansas led the way for the Big 12 entering the Big Dance.

They were joined in the field by No. 5 Texas Tech, No. 6 BYU, No. 9 TCU and No. 10 UCF in the field.

Xavier Edmonds scored 16 points as part of a balanced TCU attack that took down Ohio State in the first game of the first round of March Madness. | Alex Martin/Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Big 12 record in the NCAA tournament after the Elite Eight

After the Elite Eight, the Big 12 has taken some lumps, sitting at 10–7. The most important thing, however, is that the league is still alive for the national title.

No. 1 Arizona struggled against No. 2 Purdue in the first half of Saturday’s Elite Eight game, but looked the part of national championship favorite, dominating the Boilermakers 48–26 to finish with a 79–64 win, punching their ticket to the Final Four. The Wildcats dominated No. 16 Long Island, 92–58 to open tournament play. Their second-round game with No. 9 Utah State was a bit trickier, and the Aggies pulled within four of Arizona a few times over the game’s final few minutes, but the Wildcats were able to pull away late, 78–66. Arkansas’s Darius Acuff Jr. scored 28 in the Sweet 16, but the Razorbacks were no match for Arizona, falling 109–88.

In the first round, No. 9 TCU opened the Big Dance with a dramatic 66–64 win over No. 8 Ohio State, outlasting the Big Ten program in a back-and-forth contest. Micah Robinson led the Horned Frogs with 18 points, knocking down 4-of-6 shots from deep, while David Punch had 16 points and 13 rebounds. TCU came out fast against No. 1 Duke on Saturday, holding the Boozer twins to four combined points at the half. They couldn’t keep up, and the Blue Devils ultimately solved a Horned Frogs defense desperate to prevent Cameron Boozer from dominating. He finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds after hitting just a pair of first-half free throws anyway, leading Duke to an 81–58 victory.

No. 2 Houston made easy work of No. 15 Idaho, opening up a 24-point lead at the half and cruising to a 78–47 win, and No. 10 Texas A&M from the mighty SEC didn’t put up much more resistance on Saturday. The Cougars starters outscored their Aggies counterparts 65–26 en route to an 88–57 victory. Houston’s run came to an end in the Sweet 16, when No. 3 Illinois stifled the Cougars in a 65–55 win.

No. 6 BYU dropped its first-round game against No. 11 Texas. Dybantsa flashed his impressive potential in what was likely his final game with the Cougars, scoring 35 with 10 rebounds, though he was just 1-for-7 from deep and turned the ball over five times in the loss. BYU shot just 18% fro three-point range on the day.

No. 2 Iowa State got a scare with an early injury to star forward Joshua Jefferson but it did not impact the Cyclones against No. 15 Tennessee State, as they cruised to a 108–74 win. Jefferson was out against Kentucky, but Iowa State was locked in, handing the Wildcats their worst NCAA tournament loss since the early 1970s. The Cyclones felt Jefferson’s absence in the Sweet 16 against No. 6 Tennessee, as none of their frontcourt players managed to score in the double digits in a 76–62 loss.

No. 5 Texas Tech lost its own standout player JT Toppin during the regular season, but handled No. 12 Akron, 91–71. Toppin’s absence was felt on Sunday against No. 4 Alabama, however, as the Red Raiders fell 90–65.

No. 4 Kansas looked like it would run away with its first-round game against California Baptist, and went into the half 38–18, but the Lancers clawed their way back, outscoring the Jayhawks by 12 in the second half, leaving Bill Self’s program with a tight 68–60 win. The Jayhawks could not overcome No. 5 St. John’s Sunday, despite a furious late comeback, falling 67–65 due to an instantly iconic game-winning layup by Red Storm guard Dylan Darling.

No. 10 UCF fell in a back-and-forth contest with No. 7 UCLA, 75–71.

Which Big 12 teams are still alive?

Arizona was the only Big 12 program to reach the Elite Eight, and now head to the Final Four after a win over Purdue.

Big 12 March Madness schedule

Below are all the details available for Arizona’s upcoming Final Four game. All times are ET. Big 12 programs are in bold. The full men’s NCAA tournament schedule and TV lineup is available here.

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Location	Channel
No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 1 Michigan/No. 6 Tennessee	Saturday, April 4	TBD	Indianapolis	TBS

AJ Dybantsa put points on the board, but BYU was not able to overcome Texas in Thursday’s March Madness first round. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Biggest wins and most disappointing losses

TCU scored the biggest win for the Big 12 in the first round, with its impressive afternoon game against Ohio State, a Big Ten squad that played its way into the field with a strong showing down the stretch of the regular season. They could not follow it up with a full 40-minutes against Duke, though they gave the Blue Devils trouble early. Texas Tech’s dominant performance against an Akron program that was a trendy first-round upset pick was also very impressive, as the Red Raiders continue to figure out how to best handle life without Toppin. Houston’s second-round domination of Texas A&M was not totally unexpected, but beating any SEC tournament team by 31 points gets you high marks.

The biggest performance after the full first weekend, however, has to go to Iowa State for its prodigious beatdown of Kentucky. Even without one of their top scorers available, the Cyclones ran Mark Pope’s program out of the gym. Of course, Arizona deserves mention for its second half outburst against Purdue, overcoming a sluggish start to dominate one of the nation’s best and most experienced teams.

The most disappointing loss was the only loss for the Big 12 was BYU’s defeat at the hands of Texas. The Cougars had not played well down the stretch, so it wasn’t a terrible surprise to see them bow out of the tournament early. Even so, it is disappointing for the average viewer as well, as we no longer get to see Dybantsa play in the Big Dance.

How the Big 12 compares to other conferences in the 2026 NCAA tournament

The Power 5 conferences have dominated the NCAA tournament so far, though the Big Ten (18–7) and SEC (14–8) have been the top programs, both well clear of the Big 12 (10–7). The ACC is at a disappointing 6–7, with Duke as the only team that made it to the Sweet 16. The Big East had only three teams in the tournament, but UConn and St. John’s have made it count, and the league is 5–2 with the Huskies facing the Blue Devils in Sunday’s Elite Eight.

The mid-majors have all been eliminated after Utah State’s loss to Arizona. As a group, the 26 non-power-conference teams won eight total games, including First Four contests.

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