Big 12 Tournament bracket projections: Will Arizona get a rematch with Houston?
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The 2025 Big 12 Tournament is just over a week away, and the Arizona Wildcats (19-9, 13-4) are hoping to be one of the top four seeds.
To accomplish that the Wildcats will probably have to win at least two of their final three games — at Iowa State, vs. Arizona State, at Kansas. Arizona enters Saturday's enormous road game at Iowa State one game ahead of Texas Tech and two games ahead of BYU and the Cyclones.
Houston (24-4, 16-1) has already clinched the Big 12 title and the No. 1 seed in the tournament. If Arizona can secure the No. 2 seed it would give them a double bye — and set them up for a higher seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Projected Big 12 Tournament matchups
The Big 12 Tournament starts on Tuesday, March 11 in Kansas City with four first-round games featuring seeds No. 9 through No. 16. Here's a projection of what those matchups could look like:
Game 1 - No. 12 seed Utah vs. No. 13 Seed UCF - 11:30 a.m. CT
Game 2 – No. 9 seed TCU vs. No. 16 seed Colorado - 2 p.m. CT
Game 3 – No. 10 seed Cincinnati vs. No. 15 seed Arizona State - 6 p.m. CT
Game 4 – No. 11 seed Kansas State vs. No. 14 seed Oklahoma State - 8:30 p.m. CT
It continues on Wednesday, March 12 with four second-round matchups. Here are projections for those games:
Game 5 – No. 5 seed BYU vs. Winner of Game 1 - 11:30 a.m. CT
Game 6 – No. 8 seed Baylor vs. Winner of Game 2 - 2 p.m. CT
Game 7 – No. 7 seed West Virginia vs. Winner of Game 3 - 6 p.m. CT
Game 8 – No. 6 seed Kansas vs. Winner of Game 4 - 8:30 p.m. CT
If Arizona earns the No. 2 seed they would not play until the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 13:
Game 9 – No. 4 seed Iowa State vs. Winner of Game 5 - 11:30 a.m. CT
Game 10 – No. 1 seed Houston vs. Winner of Game 6 - 2 p.m. CT
Game 11 – No. 2 seed Arizona vs. Winner of Game 7 - 6 p.m. CT
Game 12 – No. 3 seed Texas Tech vs. Winner of Game 8 - 8:30 p.m. CT
In these projections, Arizona would likely play West Virginia in the quarterfinals, which would be another Quad 1 opportunity. The Mountaineers are currently ranked No. 46 in the NCAA NET Rankings.
If the Wildcats advance to the semifinals they would likely play No. 7 Texas Tech. And if they get to the championship game, No. 3 Houston will probably be waiting for them.
All three projected games — West Virginia, Texas Tech, Houston — would be Quad 1 matchups for Arizona. If the Wildcats win them all, a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament is not out of the question.
More Arizona & Big 12 Analysis
-029877d49238355bd3388a94f90e3c72.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.