College Basketball Conference Tournament Betting Preview - Big 12 

The countdown to the NCAA Tournament is less than 10 days away, and Selection Sunday is March 15. In the Big 12 Conference, Arizona is the top team and will be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament regardless of their Big 12 tournament result. A total of eight teams from the Big 12 are projected into the NCAA Tournament bracket by Joe Lunardi at ESPN. I chip in a Big 12 Tournament betting guide with odds, stats, select picks and information you can bet on at Off Shore Gaming Association. 

As the Big 12, Big East and ACC conference tournaments begin this week, along with the Big Ten and SEC, four other CCT's are going on in Las Vegas. I attended and reported on the West Coast Conference Tournament, and the championship game is March 10 between No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 3 Santa Clara, who will both be in the NCAA Tournament along with St. Mary's. The Mountain West Conference tips off tournament action March 10 along with the WAC and Big West. Dozen's of other small conference tournaments will send their tournament winner to the NCAA Tournament, but many top seeds and teams who won the regular season title are not going to the NCAA Tournament after losing in the conference tournaments. 

Big 12 Conference

Odds to win the Big 12 Tournament from BetOnline and leading reduced juice sportsbooks refresh periodically and are subject to change, including on props and live betting. 

Listed in the table is each teams overall and conference records in conference tournament seed order, and offensive and defensive efficiency (OE, DE) ratings from KenPom. Also, the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) is a key advanced metric that measures a team's or player's efficiency, calculated as the difference between their Offensive Rating (points scored per 100 possessions) and Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions). It shows how much better or worse a team performs compared to opponents. 

Big 12 Stats, Trends and Notes 

Arizona tied Duke with the most Quad 1 wins this season with 15. The Wildcats are top 10 in both Adjusted Offensive and Defensive Efficiency. Arizona is No. 2 in the nation in Effective Field Goal Percentage Defense (44.6%), sixth in Offensive Rebound Rate (38.4%) and No. 2 in 2-point defense (43.4%). 

Houston creates turnovers at the No. 2 rate (12.7%) in the nation. The Cougars have a dynamic and deep backcourt that has gotten better since I saw them play in Las Vegas in November in the Players Era Championship with many top teams. But the Cougars are still just 7-5 vs. Quad 1 teams, Iowa State 6-6, Kansas 8-8 and Texas Tech 8-8 vs. Quad 1 opponents. BYU is 7-8, TCU 5-7, UCF 5-6 and Cincinnati 3-11 vs. Quad 1 teams. 

Arizona and Houston join Duke, Michigan and Florida as the current five teams rank top 20 in both Adjusted Offensive and Defensive Efficiency ratings by KenPom. Why is that notable? Because 22 of the last 23 national champions have finished in the Top 20 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency. Those stats rankings will adjust through each game of the conference tournaments. Those five teams are also top defensive teams with proven profiles. 

Notable players to watch include Arizona’s Jaden Bradley, who was just named Big 12 Player of the Year. Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd is Big 12 Coach of the Year. The senior guard averaged 13.6 points, 4.6 assist, 3.5 rebounds per game. He's joined on the Big 12 first team by teammates guard Brayden Burries (16.0 ppg, 5 rpb) and center Motiejus Krivas (10.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg). Kansas forward Flory Bidunga (13.8 ppg, 9.0 rpg) is Defensive Player of the Year and 1st team All-Big 12 along with forwards Joshua Jefferson (16.6 ppg, 7.4 rpb, 5.0 apg) of Iowa State, AJ Dybantsa (24.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg) of BYU and JT Toppin (21.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg) of Texas Tech. Houston guards Emanuel Sharp (16.8 ppg) and Kingston Fleming (15.8 ppg, 5.4 apg) are joined by fellow guard Christian Anderson (19.2 ppg, 7.8 apg) of Texas Tech.

Bet on March Madness at one of these Elite-rated sportsbooks!

In conference games only this season, here are the stats leaders: 

- Scoring offense: Arizona (84.1), BYU (82.1), Texas Tech (79.5), Oklahoma State (78.6), UCF (78.1), Kansas (76.9), Houston (76.9), TCU (76.2), Iowa State (75.6). 
- FG% offense: Arizona (49.0), Texas Tech (47.1), BYU (46.0), UCF (45.9), Baylor (45.9), Kansas (45.8), Iowa State (45.5), Houston (45.0).
- 3-point offense: Texas Tech (41.0%), Iowa State (36.6), UCF (36.3), Kansas (35.3), Cincinnati (35.1). Texas Tech has taken (539) and made (222) the most 3-point shots in Big 12 play, making 12.3 per game with Iowa State (8.8) and Houston (8.7) next.     
- Scoring defense: Houston (64.7), Iowa State (67.8), West Virginia (67.9), Cincinnati (69.3), Arizona (70.3), Texas Tech (72.1), Kansas (73.6).  
- FG% defense: Arizona (38.5%), Kansa (40.2), Houston (41.3), West Virginia (42.8), Texas Tech (42.8), Iowa State (43.3).
- 3-point defense: Arizona (29.9%), Texas Tech (30.6), Iowa State (32.8), Cincinnati (33.1), Houston (33.3), Kansas (33.5). 
- Rebounding margin: Arizona (+9.4), Texas Tech (+3.7), Iowa State (+2.3), BYU (+2.0) Houston (+2.0).  

Arizona (+13.8) and Houston (+12.2) led the Big 12 in scoring margin per game in conference play with Iowa State (+7.7) and Texas Tech (+7.4) next. Kansas (+5.61) led the league in blocked shots followed by Arizona State (+5.3) and Arizona (+4.3). Iowa State (+8.7) topped the Big 12 in steals with TCU, Arizona and Oklahoma State at more than 7 per game. Houston (+5.11) had the best turnover margin in the Big 12 followed by Iowa State (+3.0), TCU (+2.2) and Arizona +1.0). Iowa State, Texas Tech, Cincinnati and Arizona all averaged 16-16.5 assists per game in Big 12 play.

The Vegas Stats & Information Network notes these situations and trends.

- Teams off an earlier round bye in the Big 12 tournament have gone 23-4 SU & 17-10 ATS (63%) since 2016.
- Underdogs in the opening round of the Big 12 tourney are on on a 17-4 ATS run with 10 straight up wins. 
- Big 12 semifinal favorites are on a 19-3 SU and 16-6 ATS (72.7%) run dating back to 2013.
- Teams winning by single-digits in a Big 12 tourney game have gone just 12-32 SU and 16-28 ATS in the follow-up tourney contest since 2016.

Big 12  Conference Tournament Schedule 

March 10-14, T-Mobile Arena, Kansas City, MO
First and Second Round: March 10-11
Quaterfinals: March 12
Semifinals: March 13
Finals: March 14 - 8:30pm ET on ESPN 

Matchups and Odds 

Tues., March 10 

- Game 1: No. 12 Arizona State vs. No. 13 Baylor (-3.5)
- Game 2: No. 9 Cincinnati (-11.5) vs. No. 16 Utah
- Game 3: No. 10 BYU (-10.5) vs. No. 15 Kansas State
- Game 4: No. 11 Colorado (-2.5) vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State 

Wed., March 11

- Game 5: No. 5 Iowa State (-11) vs. No. 12 Arizona State
- Game 6: No. 8 UCF vs. No. 9 Cincinnati (-2.5)
- Game 7: No. 7 West Virginia vs. Game 3 winner
- Game 8: No. 6 TCU vs. Game 4 winner 

Thur., March 12 (Quarterfinals)

- Game 9: No. 4 Texas Tech vs. Game 5 winner 
- Game 10: No. 1 Arizona vs. Game 6 winner
- Game 11: No. 2 Houston vs. Game 7 winner
- Game 12: No. 3 Kansas vs. Game 8 winner  

Fri., March 13 (Semifinals)

- Game 13: Game 9 vs. Game 10 winners
- Game 14: Game 11 vs. Game 12 winners 

Sat., March 14 - (Championship) 

Game 15: Semifinal winners at 6 p.m. ET on ESPN

Check back daily for college basketball and conference tournament updates including matchups, odds, stats and select picks with information you can bet on.

FairwayJay is a leading sports betting industry analyst, handicapper, content creator, writer, reporter and poker player. He's been covering major sports from a betting perspective for more than two decades from Las Vegas. FairwayJay is also on the scene for major sports and poker events plus industry conferences as a credentialed media member. Follow @FairwayJay on X and OSGA for more betting insight and information you can bet on.