March Madness: Predicting who wins every major conference tournament

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 09: Kenny Williams #24 of the North Carolina Tar Heels reacts after a play against the Duke Blue Devils during their game at Dean Smith Center on March 09, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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MANHATTAN, KS – MARCH 09: Kansas State Wildcats forward Dean Wade (32) gets a reverse dunk over Oklahoma Sooners forward Brady Manek (35) in the first half of a Big 12 game between the Oklahoma Sooners and Kansas State Wildcats on March 9, 2019 at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, KS. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Big 12

Dates: March 13-16
Location: Kansas City, MO
Top Seed: Kansas State

For the first time in a long time, the Kansas Jayhawks are not atop the Big 12’s tournament bracket. That honor goes to in-state rival Kansas State, which shared the regular season title with Texas Tech but claimed the top seed by a tiebreaker.

The Big 12 figures to send up to eight teams to the NCAA Tournament, but two of its teams really need to do work in Kansas City: Texas and TCU. TCU has to avoid a loss to Oklahoma State in order to avoid sweating on the bubble for four days, while Texas needs to beat Kansas to avoid the possibility of hoping the selection committee rewards them for a 16-16 season.

In a league where anybody can beat anybody on a given day, the conference tournament should be a wide-open affair. When in doubt, it’s hard to bet against Bill Self’s squad.

Prediction: Kansas