A Texas school has never won the Big 12 basketball tournament. Could this be the year?
Baylor’s Mark Vital looked surprised when told a tidbit regarding the history of the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament. TCU’s RJ Nembhard had a similar reaction. Heck, even Texas Tech coach Chris Beard wasn’t aware of it.
It’s true though — no Texas school has ever won the Big 12 tournament.
“That’s motivation right there,” Vital said. “I didn’t know that. I’m glad you said that, man. You’ve got me motivated now.”
Added Nembhard: “OK, that’s something to talk to the guys about. That’s a lot of extra fire for us.”
If the drought is going to end anytime soon, this would seem to be the year. The state has three programs ranked in the Top 25 and another viewed as a sleeper in the tournament. The action starts Wednesday with TCU and Kansas State tipping it off at 5:30 p.m. at the T-Mobile Center.
Vital and the Baylor Bears are the favorites going in, winning the Big 12 regular-season title and being ranked as the No. 2 team in the country. Next up is No. 13 Texas, which has won four of its last five including victories over Kansas and Oklahoma.
Then there is No. 20 Texas Tech, which was playing for the national championship the last time an NCAA Tournament game was held in 2019. And TCU, despite losing six of its last seven, swept Oklahoma State in the regular season and has been competitive in a number of other games.
The Texas drought isn’t something that’s been talked about much over the years, but isit surely on the coaches’ and players’ minds now.
“I’m a Big 12 guy, spent most of my adult life in the Big 12, but didn’t know that,” said Beard, who has been Tech’s head coach since 2016 and served as an assistant at the school from 2001-11.
“In my opinion, it’s going to be a great tournament as it always is. The play-in games … you’ve got teams who can beat anybody in our league playing in those games. We’re looking forward to competing in it.”
And hopefully becoming the first Texas school to win it.
The state has had its share of chances, of course. Just think about all the players who have suited up for these schools over the years. Texas had Kevin Durant in the 2006-07 season as well as other NBA first-round picks such as Tristan Thompson (2010-11) and Myles Turner (2014-15).
Baylor has become a perennial contender under Scott Drew. Tech had some NCAA Tournament teams under Bob Knight and Beard has turned it into a championship contender. Back when it was part of the conference, Texas A&M had some good teams under Billy Gillispie and Mark Turgeon.
TCU is now in the mix, too, with Jamie Dixon at the helm. Despite a couple of subpar seasons, Dixon is still one of the top coaches in the country and won the Big East tournament as Pitt’s head coach in 2008.
“Our goal someday is to win this tournament,” Dixon said. “Everybody believes they’re going to play their best basketball and come together in this tournament. Every team is going in there with the dream of winning it.”
Former college coach’s take
As far as ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla is concerned, the Texas drought can be chalked up as an anomaly. He pointed to two factors: KU’s dominance within the league and Iowa State’s emergence in the past decade.
KU has won 11 of the 23 tournaments followed by Iowa State (five). Oklahoma has won it three times with Missouri and Oklahoma State each winning it twice.
“I know it’s 20 years, but that’s still a small sample size,” Fraschilla said. “But this season you see more of an opportunity for a Texas school to win the Big 12 tournament than maybe ever before because of the strength of Baylor, Texas and Texas Tech all in one year.”
Another factor has been the tournament being played in Kansas City for most of its existence. KC has played host to the event for 18 years with Dallas hosting it three times (2003-04, 2006) and Oklahoma City twice (2007, 2009).
The tournament has become essentially a road game for most Texas schools with KU being located less than an hour away, and Iowa State fans turning up in droves to watch the Cyclones.
Fraschilla acknowledged the location isn’t ideal for Texas schools, but KC is the best host for the event much like AT&T Stadium is the right host for the league’s football championship.
“What Kansas City does is it connects the league to its great basketball past in the old Big Eight and Kemper Arena,” Fraschilla said. “The spiritual location from a basketball standpoint is downtown Kansas City. I don’t think it’s a huge factor, but for the Big 12 schools in Texas it does have to feel like a road game. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State were in the old Big Eight, so its fans are used to Kansas City. It’s an easier drive too.
“Again, I don’t think it’s a huge factor. I just think there haven’t been that many Texas teams that were good enough to blow the tournament away.”
Close calls for past Texas teams
Arguably the best chance a Texas team had at winning was in 2007 when the tournament was played in Oklahoma City. Durant and the Longhorns reached the championship game and built a substantial lead on KU. But the Jayhawks rallied back for an 88-84 overtime victory.
Texas Tech lost the 2005 championship game to Oklahoma State 72-68. Baylor has reached the championship three times and lost each time. The Bears were the last Texas school to play in the championship round in 2014, falling to Iowa State 74-65.
But, if there’s any year for history to be made, it’s this year. Texas has three legitimate contenders and the KC factor should be minimal given the limited capacity crowds due to COVID-19 protocols.
“There’s been a definite power shift in the league to the south,” Fraschilla said. “I’ve chronicled this because so much of the league’s recruits are coming from Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. There’s been a power shift for sure to the Oklahoma schools and the four Texas schools.
“It makes sense, at least from a statistical standpoint, that this would be as good of a year as any for Texas schools to win their first Big 12 tournament title.”
