Big 12 Unveils 2026 Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket

The Cougars will take on the Kansas State Wildcats in the first round

Mar 7, 2026; Provo, Utah, USA; BYU Cougars guard Robert Wright III (1) controls the ball during the first half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Baker-Imagn Images | Aaron Baker-Imagn Images

The Big 12 regular season has come to an end. The evening games saw BYU take down no. 10 Texas Tech to enter the postseason with some momentum, followed by no. 2 Arizona taking care of business against Colorado.

On Saturday evening, the Big 12 released the 2026 men's basketball tournament bracket. BYU will be the 10-seed and will take on 15-seed Kansas State in the first round of the Big 12 tournament. Below is the full 2026 bracket.

Big 12 Unveils 2026 Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket

Big 12 2026 men's basketball tournament bracket | BYU On SI

The first round will feature four games including the bottom eight teams in the league. Baylor-Arizona State will begin the tournament with a game on Tuesday morning. Then, 9-seed Cincinnati will take on 16-seed Utah. The early evening game will feature 10-seed BYU against 15-seed Kansas State. The final game of the first round will feature 11-seed Colorado against 14-seed Oklahoma State.

The second round will feature Iowa State (5), TCU (6), WVU, (7), and UCF (8) who will enjoy first round byes. Those four teams will take on the winners of the first round games.

The quarterfinals will feature the four top seeds: Arizona (1), Houston (2), Kansas (3), and Texas Tech (4).

BYU's Path in the Big 12 Tournament

Given the format of the tournament, BYU knows who its first three potentials opponents would be. If BYU beats Kansas State, it would setup a second round rematch between BYU and WVU. BYU would have a solid chance to beat the Mountaineers in that game. It was just last week that BYU lost to WVU in a close game in Morgantown. BYU did not play anywhere near its potential in that game.

A win over WVU would take BYU to the quarterfinals where 2-seed Houston would be waiting. Houston is the only team that BYU has not beaten since joining the Big 12. Texas Tech was the other Big 12 team that was undefeated against BYU. That streak came to an end on Saturday night when the Cougars took down the Red Raiders in the Marriott Center.

There is no such thing as an easy draw in the Big 12. Nearly any team in the league is capable of taking BYU down on any given night. With that being said, there isn't a much more favorable draw than Kansas State in the first round and WVU in the second round. BYU could win its first two games in the Big 12 tournament, gain some momentum going into the NCAA Tournament, and potentially position themselves to earn a 6-seed in the NCAA Tournament.