Arizona finished tied for third and earned the three seed in the Big 12 Tournament. The Big 12 Media picked Arizona fifth in their preseason poll. Houston who was picked second won the Big XII regular season with a conference record of 19-1 and are 27-4 overall The other three teams picked ahead of Arizona finished behind the Wildcats.
Kansas who was picked first with nine first-place votes and 215 points finished sixth with a record of 11-9 in Big 12 and finished 19-11 overall. Kansas will play the winner of 11th-seed Utah and 14th-seeded Central Florida in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament on Wednesday at 8:30 PM.
Arizona plays either Central Florida, Utah, or Kansas in the quarterfinals on Thursday night. Central Florida was picked 11th in the Big 12 preseason media poll and Utah was projected to finish 16th. Utah will be coached by interim head coach Josh Eilert in the Big 12 Tournament and named Alex Jensen as its next head coach.
Arizona received one first-place vote and 179 points in the Big 12 preseason poll. Iowa State was picked third in the Big 12 preseason media poll with Iowa State with one first-place vote and 194 points. Baylor was picked fourth in the Big 12 preseason media poll with Baylor with 185 points but did not receive a first-place vote.
The OFFICIAL 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship bracket. pic.twitter.com/X61MfbE7VJ
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 9, 2025
Baylor finished 18-13 overall and 10-10 in seventh place in the Big 12. Arizona swept the regular season series with Baylor. Iowa State is 23-8 overall and finished 13-7 in the Big 12 Regular season in fifth place. Arizona split their regular season series with Iowa State.
Expect seven or eight teams from the Big 12 to earn NCAA Tournament bids. Arizona will likely be a four or five seed in the NCAA Tournament. Selection Sunday is a week away on March 16 at 3 PM Mountain Standard Time and will be televised by CBS.