The brackets are set for the 2026 Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament, set to take place next week from the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The West Virginia Mountaineers will enter the tournament looking to make a big run, with hopes of boosting their NCAA Tournament resume enough to jump a grouping of about 10-12 additional bubble teams and earn a spot in the dance.
The Mountaineers wrapped up their regular season with an 18-13 overall record and 9-9 record in Big 12 play, and with their win over the UCF Knights on Friday, they have secured a seventh-place finish in the No. 7 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. And with the brackets out, we now know have an idea of who the Mountaineers could face in the tournament.
Who will West Virginia play in the Big 12 Tournament?
The Mountaineers earned a first-round bye in the conference tournament with their regular season finish, meaning they will not play until Wednesday, and their exact opponent will not be determined until Tuesday's games are played. But we can get an idea of who the Mountaineers will play.
The first round of the tournament will feature the 9-16 seeds in action to determine awho advances, and with WVU the No. 7 seed, they'll get the winner of the game between No. 10 seed BYU and No. 15 seed Kansas State. The Mountaineers defeated BYU in the only meeting between the two teams this season, while they split their season series with Kansas State.
If the Mountaineers draw BYU, it will give the Mountaineers an opportunity at another Quad 1 win, while Kansas State would offer a Quad 2 win – the Mountaineers would probably prefer the opportunity to knock off BYU, as it would be their sixth Quad 1 win and would be better at boositing their tournament hopes.
Regardless of who WVU faces on Wednesday, a win would advance them to the quarterfinal round and a match-up with No. 2 Houston, who handed the Mountaineers a brutal loss in their only regular season meeting.
The Full Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket
First Round - Tuesday, March 10
Game 1: No. 12 Arizona State vs. No. 13 Baylor (ESPN+) - 12:30 PM EST
Game 2: No. 9 Cincinnati vs. No. 16 Utah (ESPN+) - 3:00 PM EST
Game 3: No. 10 BYU vs. No. 15 Kansas State (ESPN+) -7:00 PM EST
Game 4: No. 11 Colorado vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State (ESPN+) - 9:30 PM EST
Second Round - Wednesday, March 11
Game 5: No. 5 Iowa State vs. Game 1 winner (ESPN/2) - 12:30 PM EST
Game 6: No. 8 UCF vs. Game 2 winner (ESPNU) - 3:00 PM EST
Game 7: No. 7 West Virginia vs. Game 3 winner (ESPNU) - 7:00 PM EST
Game 8: No. 6 TCU vs. Game 4 winner (ESPN2/U) - 9:30 PM EST
Quarterfinals - Thursday, March 12
Game 9: No. 4 Texas Tech vs. Game 5 winner (ESPN/2) - 12:30 PM EST
Game 10: No. 1 Arizona vs. Game 6 winner (ESPN/2) - 3:00 PM EST
Game 11: No. 2 Houston vs. Game 7 winner (ESPN/2) - 7:00 PM EST
Game 12: No. 3 Kansas vs. Game 8 winner (ESPN/2) - 9:30 PM EST
Semifinals - Friday, March 13
Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner (ESPN/2) - 7:00 PM EST
Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner (ESPN/2) - 9:30 PM EST
Final - Saturday, March 14
Game 15: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner (ESPN) - 6:00 PM EST