Should Big 12 Change Conference Tournament Format?

The conference has an even 16 teams but has chosen against a traditional bracket.

Mar 12, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Big 12 Championship logo at center court prior to the game between the UCF Knights and the Oklahoma State Cowboys at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

The Big 12 has had to make significant changes to its conference tournament as it expanded, but it might need a new format.

This season marked the first with 16 teams in the Big 12. After Oklahoma and Texas left for the SEC, the Big 12 replenished with four teams from the Pac-12. Having added another four teams from mid-major conferences a year earlier, the Big 12 has expanded from 10 teams to 16 in a matter of only two years. That has forced the conference to get a bit creative when it comes to how it structures the conference basketball tournament.

In the 10-team league, the structure was rather straightforward. The teams that finished from 7-10 in the regular season would play in the first round before getting thrown into the quarterfinals, where the top six teams were already set. Since 10 teams aren’t exactly fit for a typical bracket, the Big 12 did the most straightforward thing by allowing the top six teams to have the first day off and get into action on day two. 

However, the conference now sits at 16 teams, which is the perfect size for a bracket. The Big 12 could easily make the conference tournament into an NCAA Tournament region replica that features a 1-16 matchup, a 2-15 matchup and so on. Yet, the Big 12 has followed in the footsteps of some other conferences and given a much larger advantage to teams that finished near the top of the standings.

The top eight teams get the first round off, while the top four teams also get to sit out round two. While this rewards the teams that finished at the top, it also takes away from the magic of March, where the worst team in the conference could potentially knock off the regular season champ in round one.

As the SEC appears to have taken the Big 12’s crown as the best conference in college basketball, a traditional 16-team bracket format could better showcase the Big 12’s depth and potentially lead to more NCAA Tournament teams.

The conference doesn’t appear to be in any rush to change its current format, but it might only be a matter of time before a new format begins to rule the Big 12.

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