Big 12 Tournament

The 2010 Big 12 men's basketball tournament will be played March 10-13 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. All 12 conference teams will participate and the winner earns the Big's 12 automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The 12 teams will be seeded according to their regular-season finish. The top four seeds earn a bye into the quarterfinals. The eight teams will compete in four first-round games with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals. The first round is scheduled for March 10, the quarterfinals March 11 and the semifinals March 12.

The championship game tips off at 5 p.m. Central time om March 13 and will be televised on ESPN. Doubleheaders start at 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m for the first two days of the tournament. The semifinal contests are set for 6 and 8 p.m. All the early-round games will be televised by the Big 12 Network, except for the final quarterfinal match-up, which will air on ESPN2.http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10410&KEY=&ATCLID= 204866026. This the 14th annual Big 12 tournament. It has taken place every year since the league's formation in 1996. The event returns to Kansas City this year after the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was the site for the 2009 tournament. The tournament also will be back in Kansas City next year. Missouri is the defending champion, beating Baylor, 73-60, in last year's title game as the No. 3 seed. Missouri's DeMarre Carroll was the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Baylor advanced to the final as the ninth seed. Kansas has dominated the event, winning six of the league's 13 championships. The only other schools will multiple titles are Oklahoma with three and Oklahoma State with two.

Kansaswon its seventh Big 12 Conference tournament title with a 72-64 victory over Kansas State in the title game on March 13. The Jayhawks, who captured their sixth Big 12 regular-season crown, won three hard-fought games to likely lock up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Marcus Morris scored 18 points and Tyrel Reed added 15 for Kansas, which has dominated the Sunflower Showdown series with Kansas State. The Jayhawks have won 41 of the last 43 meetings since 1994, including six in the Big 12 tournament. Kansas reached the Big 12 final with wins over Texas Tech (80-68) and Texas A&M(79-66). Kansas State defeated Oklahoma State, 83-64, and Baylor, 82-75, to advance to the championship game.

The Big 12 Conference began play in the 1996-97 season. Kansas won the national championship in 2008. Missouri is the defending Big 12 tournament champion, beating Baylor, 73-60, in the 2009 title game.

• 2010: Kansas Jayhawks Official site: [http://www.big12sports.com//pdf1/136015.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=10410 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records}
• 2009: Missouri Tigers Official site: [http://www.big12sports.com//pdf1/136015.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=10410 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records}
• 2008: Kansas Jayhawks Official site: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records
• 2007: Kansas Jayhawks Official site: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records
• 2006: Kansas Jayhawks Official site: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records
• 2005: Oklahoma State Official site: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records
• 2004: Oklahoma State Official site: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records
• 2003: Oklahoma Sooners Official site: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records
• 2002: Oklahoma Sooners Official site: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records
• 2001: Oklahoma Sooners Official site: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records
• 2000: Iowa State Cyclones Official site: Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship Records