DALLAS — March is one of the biggest months in sports because it’s filled with opportunity. There’s opportunity for basketball teams ranked at the top and opportunity for the underdogs to surprise everyone. Programs on both sides of the spectrum will have an opportunity to shine this week in the Big 12 Tournament. 

No Texas team has ever hoisted the championship trophy or cut down the net in the history of the Big 12 Tournament, which dates back to 1997. However this year, some of the most dominant teams in the conference and the country hail from the Lone Star state.

What You Need To Know

  • Baylor Bears expected to be ranked high in the NCAA Tournament

  • The Texas Longhorns clinched third place in the regular season, which is its best finish in the last six years

  • Texas Tech men's basketball is ranked No. 20

  • TCU is coming into the tournament as an underdog

The Baylor Bears (21-1, 13-1) have been the superior Texas team all season. The team’s only loss was on the road against the No. 11 Kansas Jayhawks, and because of the Bears’ dominance, they’re a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. 

The Texas Longhorns clinched third place in the regular season, which is its best finish in the last six years.

“It’s exciting that we continue to play and we have an opportunity to play in March,” said Texas guard Matt Coleman. “We’re ready for the postseason. We’ve been through a lot. Just like every other team has been through a lot.”

Texas also finished the regular season with three impressive road wins over Iowa State, Oklahoma, and Texas Christian University. But can the momentum endure? UT head coach Shaka Smart seems to think so.

“Yeah if we take the good things like the passing and the pace we had in the second half of the season and we take that with us to Kansas City, I have no doubt our success will continue,” he said. 

Texas Tech is another Texas threat. The No. 20 Red Raiders have quietly defeated four ranked opponents throughout conference play. Lastly, TCU is coming into the tournament as an underdog. The Horned Frogs have been underwhelming during the course of the regular season, but there’s hope. If TCU manages to win the conference tournament, it will punch a ticket to the dance for the first time since 2018. 

“We’ve shown that we can compete with all these teams,” said TCU guard RJ Nembhard. “We had Baylor tied at half. Texas down by four at half. It’s about putting 40 minutes together. I think it’s definitely a possibility."

No one knows it’s a possibility better than TCU men’s basketball head coach Jamie Dixon. In 1991, as an assistant coach at the University of Hawaii, he helped a struggling Warriors team clinch a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in their program history. In order to have similar success, the Horned Frogs need to make some minor adjustments on the defensive side of the ball.

“We’re just not defensively good enough to beat those teams right now,” Dixon said. “I keep thinking it’s going to happen tomorrow. You can’t let a team shoot 53% on you.”

As they say, defense wins championships. The entire country and Big 12 Conference will be watching to see which Texas team has what it takes to clinch a conference tournament championship for the first time. 

TCU starts things off Wednesday, March 10 at 5:30 p.m. against Kansas State.