Your Kansas Jayhawks guide to the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament in Kansas City

The month Jayhawk fans have been waiting for has finally arrived.

It’s March — which brings along postseason play for the Kansas men’s basketball team.

KU wrapped up the regular season with a 75-59 loss to Texas on Saturday, but Kansas players aren’t too concerned about the result. After all, the Big 12 Tournament begins on Wednesday (KU’s first game will be Thursday) at T-Mobile Center. KU won the Big 12 tournament last year and ultimately won the 2022 National Championship.

“Things like this happen. We’re lucky we get an opportunity to play them again soon,” Jalen Wilson said, referencing the Big 12 event. “We realize our season is just beginning now.”

Winning the Big 12 by a game, KU claimed the No. 1 seed for the tournament. ESPN’s Dick Vitale called the Big 12 “the best league” in the last 20 years of college hoops, a sentiment Kansas coach Bill Self agrees with.

“Night-in, night-out in the Big 12,” said KU guard Gradey Dick, “(it) really prepares us ... when we get to March Madness.

“I think that’s what makes this conference so great. We play teams like this every single night. That really is going to help us moving forward. We still get another chance to do that in the Big 12 Tournament.”

Next up in the Big 12 Tournament, KU will meet the winner between No. 8 West Virginia and No. 9 Texas Tech, which square off on Wednesday. KU’s game against the winner will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at T-Mobile Center.

Let’s take a closer look at KU’s path to a Big 12 Tournament Title, starting with potential quarterfinal opponents:

No. 8 West Virginia (18-13, 7-11 Big 12)

Expectations weren’t exactly sky-high for the Mountaineers heading into the season — Big 12 coaches ranked WVU ninth in the conference’s preseason poll. The Mountaineers finished in eighth.

WVU had a bumpy start to conference play with five-straight losses and never won more than two games in a row.

Still, the Mountaineers look to be an NCAA Tournament team. After being on the bubble for much of the season, West Virginia ended its season with an 89-81 win over No. 11 K-State, which may be enough to get the Mountaineers in the field of 68.

In his latest projection, ESPN Bracketology expert Joe Lunardi has the Mountaineers as the No. 10 seed.

Senior guard Erik Stevenson leads West Virginia’s potent offense. He has scored 20-plus points in his last five games and shoots 39.2% from beyond the arc. After one year at South Carolina, he transferred to WVU before this season. Stevenson also played at Washington and Wichita State.

KU swept the season series, but in the second matchup West Virginia nearly came out with a victory in Allen Fieldhouse — ultimately losing 76-74 in a down-to-the-wire game. In that contest, Stevenson scored 23 points on 9-for-22 shooting and WVU outrebounded Kansas 34-26, which kept things close.

No. 9 Texas Tech (16-15, 5-13 Big 12)

If it’s not West Virginia in the quarterfinal round, Kansas will face Texas Tech. The Red Raiders had middle-of-the-Big 12 expectations, but the team struggled mightily early on in Big 12 play.

Texas Tech lost its first eight conference games but won four straight later in conference play. That streak included wins over then-No. 12 K-State and No. 5 Texas.

Still, the Red Raiders don’t come into the tournament in great shape, with three-straight losses to end the season. Not to mention Texas Tech suspended coach Mark Adams on Sunday for what the school is calling, per ESPN, an “inappropriate, unacceptable, and racially insensitive comment.”

Hovering around .500, Texas Tech will likely need at least two wins in the Big 12 Tournament to earn an NCAA Tournament bid — and that may not be enough.

KU swept the season series, but it wasn’t easy for the Jayhawks. After winning 75-72 in Lubbock in January, KU narrowly defeated Texas Tech 76-74 on Senior Night. In that game, KU’s two senior night honorees (Kevin McCullar and Jalen Wilson) combined for 35 points to carry KU to the finish line.

Texas Tech shares the scoring load with five players averaging double-digit points: Kevin Obanor, De’Vion Harmon, Fardaws Aimaq, Pop Isaacs, and Jaylon Tyson. Obanor leads the team with 14.4 points per game, but the rest aren’t too far behind.

Big 12 Tournament semifinal round

If KU wins its quarterfinal matchup on Thursday, the Jayhawks will face off against the winner of No. 4 Baylor vs. No. 5 Iowa State. That semifinal meeting would take place on Friday at 6 p.m.

No. 4 Baylor (22-9, 11-7 Big 12)

According to the preseason poll, Big 12 coaches expected the Bears to win the conference. For much of the season, Baylor was in the hunt, but lost pivotal games late in conference play.

In Lunardi’s latest projections, Baylor is a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

After opening conference play 0-3, the Bears won five-straight games, including a 75-69 victory over the Jayhawks in Waco. Later in the season, Baylor rode a four-game winning streak into Allen Fieldhouse, with both teams tied for first in the league with Texas.

The Bears led by 17 points at one point, but ultimately lost 87-71 to KU after a second-half collapse.

BU’s team is built around its trio of guards (Keyonte George, Adam Flagler and LJ Cryer), all averaging 14 or more points per game. KU coach Bill Self called the group “the best offensive trio” in the country.

It’s certainly a group with some hardware. Flagler made the All-Big 12 first team. George won Big 12 Freshman of the Year and made the All-Big 12 second team. Finally, Cryer made the All-Big 12 third team.

No. 5 Iowa State (18-12, 9-9 Big 12)

The Cyclones haven’t exactly played their best basketball lately. After some big wins earlier in conference play (Kansas State, TCU and Texas) — plus a blowout win over KU, 68-53 — Iowa State lost four straight games in February.

Those games included losses to teams at the bottom of the conference: Oklahoma and West Virginia. After being ranked for much of the season, Iowa State finds itself unranked for the last two weeks of the AP Poll.

After defeating Baylor in the regular season finale, the Cyclones need a few conference tournament wins to improve from Lunardi’s No. 5 seed projection in the NCAA Tournament. They’ll certainly have the fan support, as has been the case in recent trips to T-Mobile (formerly Sprint) Center in KC.

The Jayhawks split the season series with Iowa State, winning 62-60 in Allen Fieldhouse in January. In that game, Cyclones guard Gabe Kalscheur scored 23 points, shooting 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.

After the dismissal of guard Caleb Grill from the team, Kalscheur and guard Jaren Holmes will be relied on more to score.

Big 12 Tournament final

Now, let’s look at the three most likely teams KU could face from the other side of the bracket. The Big 12 championship game will be at 5 p.m. on Saturday and air on ESPN.

No. 2 Texas (23-8, 12-6 Big 12)

The Longhorns had high expectations heading into the season and UT lived up to them despite some turmoil.

After coach Chris Beard’s dismissal in December, Rodney Terry took over as interim coach. Behind the guard duo of Sir’Jabari Rice and Marcus Carr, Texas was tied with KU for first place in the conference in late February, with the potential for the final matchup being for the Big 12 title.

UT stumbled a bit, including losing pivotal games to Baylor and then TCU, which clinched the Big 12 title outright for Kansas. But the Longhorns are plenty formidable.

KU and Texas split the season series. KU won in Lawrence 88-80, but Texas came out on top in the season-finale 75-59.

Currently, Texas is a No. 2 seed in most NCAA projections, but winning the Big 12 Tournament could move them to the No. 1 line.

UT will play the winner of the No. 10 Oklahoma and No. 7 Oklahoma State on Thursday.

No. 3 Kansas State (23-8, 11-7)

If there’s any team in the conference that exceeded expectations, it’s coach Jerome Tang’s Wildcats. Big 12 coaches predicted K-State to finish dead last in the Big 12; the Wildcats instead finished third in the conference. As a result, Tang was named Big 12 Coach of the Year on Sunday.

Kansas State raced out to a 6-1 start in conference play, led by the dynamic duo of Keyontae Johnson and Markquis Nowell. The pair made the All-Big 12 first team on Sunday.

That start included a thrilling 83-82 overtime victory over KU in Manhattan.

Still, it wasn’t always pretty for K-State. K-State went 1-3 to start February with bad losses to Texas Tech and Oklahoma. The Wildcats ended their regular season with an 89-81 loss to West Virginia on Saturday.

KU split the season series with the Wildcats, including a 90-78 victory in Allen Fieldhouse. In that game, Kansas completely shut down Nowell and Johnson, who shot a combined 12-for-37 (32.4%).

K-State is a No. 3 seed in Lunardi’s latest projection. That would be the highest tournament seed for K-State since the 2009-10 season under Frank Martin.

No. 6 TCU (20-11, 9-9)

At one point in conference play, the Horned Frogs looked like the best team in the Big 12, but then the injury bug struck.

Star guard Mike Miles and big man Eddie Lampkin missed multiple games, including three straight games in February. As a result, the Horned Frogs lost four-straight games in that month and found themselves free-falling down the standings.

Now, Miles finds himself healthy and TCU is much more formidable. KU split the season series with the Horned Frogs, including a blowout 83-60 loss in Allen Fieldhouse. That loss was Kansas’ only home loss of the season.

In Fort Worth, KU held on to win 63-58 due to stellar defense late in the game. The Jayhawks didn’t score a single basket for nearly five minutes, but they did just enough to hold on and win.

The Horned Frogs are currently a No. 5 seed according to Lunardi, but a Big 12 Tournament win could lead to a No. 4 seed or better. Because of the injuries TCU faced, the team could be one that plays well over its seed line.