Ninth-seeded Cincinnati plays 16-seed Utah in the Big XII Tournament first round on Tuesday at noon Mountain Standard Time. The winner advances to play eighth seed, Central Florida, on Wednesday at 12 PM MST. Arizona plays the winner of the game on Wednesday.
Arizona won 97-78 at Utah in the 2026 Big XII opener on January 3 and 77-51 against Cincinnati on January 21. Cincinnati beat Utah 69-65 on February 15. The Bearcats are an 11.5-point favorite over the Utes in the FanDuel Sportsbook odds.
Cincinnati lost 73-63 at TCU in its final regular-season game on Saturday. That ended a stretch of six wins in the last seven games for the Bearcats, which put them in discussion for an NCAA Tournament berth. Utah enters the Big XII Tournament with 12 losses in its last 13 games.
Cincinnati is currently 46th in the NCAA NetRatings and has three wins and 11 losses against quad one teams. The Bearcats cannot afford a loss to Utah at 17-14 overall to have any chance of making the NCAA Tournament. Cincinnati would likely have to beat Central Florida to be considered for the NCAA Tournament.
A historic #Big12MBB season has led us to this moment.
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) March 8, 2026
The OFFICIAL 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket is here 👀 pic.twitter.com/tkKZYPWggt
Big XII Tournament Odds
Arizona is the favorite to win the Big XII Tournament at +105. Houston is the second favorite at +220, followed by Iowa State at +750 and Kansas at +850. After Kansas, there is a significant dropoff to Texas Tech at +1600 and an even bigger fall after that to BYU and Cincinnati at +6500.
Central Florida is +25000 to win the Big XII Tournament. Utah is tied with Arizona State, Baylor, Colorado and Kansas State at +30000 to win the 2026 Big XII Tournament. Central Florida won 73-71 at Utah and 73-72 over Cincinnati, but lost 92-72 to the Bearcats on the road during the 2025-26 season.