The 2023 Big 12 Tournament begins Thursday, with all games being played at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. Games will be streamed live on Big 12 NOW/ESPN+, with two quarterfinals games (Friday) and the championship game (Sunday) televised nationally on ESPNU and ESPN2, respectively.
While the Baylor Bears have historically been the Big 12’s most successful team during the conference tournament — they’ve won eight of the last ten titles and 11 total since 1997 — it’s their in-state rival, the Texas Longhorns, who will be favored in 2023. Texas defeated Baylor in last season’s tournament championship game and enter this season as the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, having gone 23-8 and 14-4 in Big 12 play during the regular season. They’ve got the hardware to show for it, too: 2022 Big 12 Tournament MVP Rori Harmon was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for 2023, while BYU transfer Shaylee Gonzales earned Newcomer of the Year honors and Vic Schaefer was named Coach of the Year.
That isn’t to discredit every other team in the tournament, of course. The Iowa State Cyclones, in particular, can never be ruled out, due to the number of 3-pointers they shoot (38.8 percent 3-point rate) and the play of Ashley Joens, who was…
