Colorado Buffaloes Big 12 Tournament Hub With Full Schedule, Bracket

After the West Virginia Mountaineers defeated the TCU Horned Frogs for the women's title, all 16 teams from the Big 12 participated in the conference tournament at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

As the No. 11 seed, the Colorado Buffaloes lost 92-83 to the No. 14-seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys in the first round on Tuesday night. The loss effectively ends the season for Colorado coach Tad Boyle and the Buffaloes.

Colorado Buffaloes Fall to Oklahoma State

Mar 7, 2026; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Tad Boyle talks to his players in the first half against the Arizona Wildcats at the CU Events Center. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Colorado forward Bangot Dak scored 22 points and hauled in eight rebounds, and the Buffaloes finished with a higher shooting percentage than the Cowboys, but they lost the rebound battle, and Oklahoma State shot 35 free throws on the night.

On the other hand, the Buffaloes shot 9-of-16 from the charity stripe.

“These are guys I’ll go to war with, I’ll live with. We hate losing. This was a winnable game, but we didn’t get it done tonight. We didn’t play well enough when we had to. We got nobody to blame but ourselves, so credit goes to Oklahoma State, they played much better than us tonight,” Boyle said after the loss.

Colorado Buffaloes' Outlook

While the regular season hasn't been all fun, coach Tad Boyle's Buffs have taken a tangible step forward, finishing 17-14, 7-11 in Big 12 play. Last year, Colorado won nearly as many games against Big 12 opponents in the tournament (two) as it did in the regular season (three).

The backcourt is vastly improved, with guard Isaiah Johnson setting the program's freshman scoring record last Saturday against Arizona. Barrington Hargress has impressed as a scorer and distributor from the transfer portal, leading Colorado with 4.4 assists per game to go with 14.1 points.

The Buffaloes haven't had any statement victories this season, and are a long shot to win the conference to make the NCAA Tournament, but simply winning more raises hope for the future.

Big 12 Tournament Schedule

Mar 7, 2026; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes center Elijah Malone (50) defends on Arizona Wildcats center Motiejus Krivas (13) in the first half at the CU Events Center. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

The Big 12 tournament's first-round matchups have begun.

No. 12 Arizona State defeated No. 13 Baylor, 83-79.
No. 9 Cincinnati defeated No. 16 Utah, 73-66.
No. 10 BYU faces No. 15 Kansas State at 5 p.m. MT.
No. 11 Colorado vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State at 7:30 p.m. MT.

All games will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Each second-round game takes place on Wednesday and will be broadcast on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

Arizona State advanced to face No. 5 Iowa State. Cincinnati advanced to face No. 8 UCF. The winner of BYU and Kansas State advances to face No. 7 West Virginia. The winner of Colorado and Oklahoma State advances to face No. 6 TCU.

For Thursday's quarterfinal round, the winner of Arizona State and Iowa State would advance to face No. 4 Texas Tech. The winner of Cincinnati and UCF advances to face No. 1 Arizona. The winner of BYU/Kansas State and West Virginia advances to face No. 2 Houston.

Big 12 Tournament Bracket

If Colorado gets past Oklahoma State and TCU, the winner of that matchup faces No. 3 Kansas in the quarterfinals.

A historic #Big12MBB season has led us to this moment.

The OFFICIAL 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket is here 👀 pic.twitter.com/tkKZYPWggt
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 8, 2026

First-Round Predictions

BYU has struggled without the steady presence of guard Richie Saunders, but finished the year on a high note, upsetting AP No. 10 Texas Tech. The Cougs got a favorable matchup as well, having beaten K-State on the road by 10 points in January. While Saunders played in that game, expect star forward AJ Dybantsa and Co. to lead an 81-74 victory.

And in the nightcap, Colorado matched up well with Oklahoma State the last time the teams played in Boulder. While the Cowboys battle everyone hard, leading rebounder and second-leading scorer forward Parsa Fallah suffered a season-ending torn ACL on Feb. 24. It will be a nail-biter whether forward Sebastian Rancik plays or not, but the Buffaloes will survive and advance, 85-83.

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