NCAAW: Top-seeded Texas Longhorns the favorites in Big 12 Tournament

The 2023 Big 12 Tournament starts Thursday, with all video games being dipped into the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. Games will be streamed live on Big 12 NOW/ESPN+, with 2 quarterfinals video games (Friday) and the national championship (Sunday) telecasted nationally on ESPNU and ESPN2, respectively.

While the Baylor Bears have actually traditionally been the Big 12’s most effective group throughout the conference competition — they’ve won 8 of the last 10 titles and 11 overall because 1997 — it’s their in-state competitor, the Texas Longhorns, who will be preferred in 2023. Texas beat Baylor in last season’s competition national championship and enter this season as the competition’s No. 1 total seed, having actually gone 23-8 and 14-4 in Big 12 play throughout the routine season. They’ve got the hardware to reveal for it, too: 2022 Big 12 Tournament MVP Rori Harmon was called the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for 2023, while BYU transfer Shaylee Gonzales made Newcomer of the Year honors and Vic Schaefer was called Coach of the Year.

That isn’t to reject every other group in the competition, obviously. The Iowa State Cyclones, in specific, can never ever be eliminated, due to the variety of 3-pointers they shoot (38.8 percent 3-point rate) and the play of Ashley Joens, who was just recently called Big 12 Player of the Year. The Oklahoma Sooners have a high-octane offense, too (79.3 belongings per 40 minutes; No. 3 in Division I), that makes them a risk versus almost any challenger, while the Kansas Jayhawks have among the very best defensive centers in the nation in Taiyanna Jackson (15.1 points, 12.3 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per video game).

The taking part groups, noted in order of competition seeding, are as follows:

1. Texas Longhorns (23-8; 14-4 Big 12)
2. Oklahoma Sooners (24-5; 14-4 Big 12)
3. Iowa State Cyclones (19-9; 11-7 Big 12)
4. Oklahoma State Cowgirls (20-10; 10-8 Big 12)
5. West Virginia Mountaineers (19-10; 10-8 Big 12)
6. Baylor Bears (19-11; 10-8 Big 12)
7. Kansas Jayhawks (19-10; 9-9 Big 12)
8. Texas Tech Lady Raiders (18-13; 6-12 Big 12)
9. Kansas State Wildcats (16-15; 5-13 Big 12)
10. TCU Horned Frogs (7-22; 1-17 Big 12)

Big 12 Tournament schedule

All video games at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, MO

First round — Thursday, March 9

Game 1: No. 8 Texas Tech vs. No. 9 Kansas State, 6 p.m. ET (Big 12 NOW/ESPN+)

Game 2: No. 7 Kansas vs. No. 10 TCU, 8:30 p.m. ET (Big 12 NOW/ESPN+)

Quarterfinals — Friday, March 10

Game 3: No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. No. 5 West Virginia, 12 p.m. ET (ESPNU or Big 12 NOW/ESPN+)

Game 4: No. 1 Texas vs. Game 1 winner, 2:30 p.m. ET (ESPNU or Big 12 NOW/ESPN+)

Game 5: No. 2 Oklahoma vs. Game 2 winner, 6 p.m. ET (Big 12 NOW/ESPN+)

Game 6: No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 6 Baylor, 8:30 p.m. ET (Big 12 NOW/ESPN+)

Semifinals — Saturday, March 11

Game 7: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 1 p.m. ET (Big 12 NOW/ESPN+)

Game 8: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 3:30 p.m. ET (Big 12 NOW/ESPN+)

Championship — Sunday, March 12

Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 2 p.m. ET (ESPN2 or Big 12 NOW/ESPN+)