The good news for local college basketball fans is that Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri earned first round byes in the upcoming Big 12 basketball tournament as the bottom feeders of Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech have to face off on Wednesday night. Local action starts on Thursday with Kansas State facing Baylor in the toughest match-up for any of the three.
The Jayhawks have already secured the Big 12 title during the regular season and a conference title would cement a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. For a team that was expected to rebuild, that's a tremendous coaching job on the part of Bill Self and a testament to the performance this season of Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor. The same can be said for Missouri and Frank Haith's performance.
The Big 12 Conference Championship begins on Wednesday, March 7 and will be held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. Here is a look at the complete Big 12 Conference Championship Schedule:
Wednesday, March 7
Gm1: No. 8 Oklahoma Vs. No. 9 Texas A&M - 6:00 p.m. CT - Big 12 Network
Gm2: No. 7 Oklahoma State Vs. No. 10 Texas Tech - 8:30 p.m. CT - Big 12 Network
Thursday, March 8
Gm3: No. 4 Baylor Vs. No. 5 Kansas State - 11:30 a.m. CT - ESPN2
Gm4: No. 1 Kansas Vs. Oklahoma/Texas A&M - 2:00 p.m. CT - ESPN2
Gm5: No. 2 Missouri Vs. Oklahoma State/Texas Tech - 6:00 p.m. CT - ESPN2
Gm6: No. 3 Iowa State Vs. Texas - 8:30 p.m. CT - ESPN2
Friday, March 9
Gm7: Baylor/Kansas State Vs. Kansas/Oklahoma/Texas A&M - 6:30 p.m. CT - Big 12 Network/ESPNU
Gm8: Missouri/Oklahoma State/Texas Tech Vs. Iowa State/Texas - 8:30 p.m. CT - Big 12 Network/ESPNU
Sautrday, March 10
Gm9: Championship Gm7 winner Vs. Gm8 winner - 5:00 p.m. CT - ESPN
For more on the Big 12 Conference Championship check out Big 12 Hoops. For more college basketball news and analysis head on over to SB Nation's College Basketball page.