The calendar has turned to March, and with it, college basketball has turned to madness. Or at least, it will soon.
With the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments just on the horizon, it’s time for conference tournaments to get started in full swing.
One of the things that makes March Madness great is that any team that makes the bracket of 68 teams can make a run at the title—and because any team that makes a run in their conference tournament can make the bracket, basically every team in college basketball is currently still in the running for a championship.
The Big 12 conference is set to have its men’s and women’s tournaments tip off next week. Below, we take a look at the lowest seeds to have ever punched their ticket from the Big 12 conference tournament to the big dance.
What Is the Lowest Seed to Win the Big 12 Men's Tournament?
The Big 12 conference men’s tournament has been played since 1997, and has largely been dominated by the Kansas Jayhawks, who have 12 conference tournament titles to their name. Of those 12 wins, nine have come with the Jayhawks entering as the top seed of the tournament.
But despite Kansas’ reign atop the conference, some lower seeds have come through to win the tournament, with the biggest underdog being the 2019 Iowa State Cyclones, who took the Big 12 crown despite entering the conference tournament as a No. 5 seed.
How 2019 Iowa State Pulled Off Its Big 12 Tournament Run
The 2019 Cyclones entered the Big 12 tournament on a downswing, having lost five of their final six games to drop to 20–11 overall on the season and a flat 9–9 in conference play.
While they didn’t end the year well, Iowa State had plenty of reason to believe they were capable of making a run. There was plenty of talent on the team, including future NBA players Tyrese Haliburton and Talen Horton-Tucker, and as winners of three of the previous five conference tournaments, the Cyclones knew what it took to succeed in the postseason.
In their first game of the tournament, No. 5 Iowa State cruised past No. 4 Baylor, setting up a semifinal matchup against No. 1 Kansas State, who was ranked 15th in the nation in addition to being the top seed of the conference tournament. But the Cyclones knew they could hang with the Wildcats, having beaten them in Kansas earlier in the year, one of just two home conference losses K-State suffered that season.
Marial Shayok led the way for Iowa State, playing all 40 minutes and scoring a game-high 21 points. The Cyclones jumped out to a 10-point lead at halftime, and were able to hold on for the win. In the title game, Iowa State cruised past No. 3 Kansas, again jumping out to a double-digit lead before halftime, and never letting the game get close after that.
It was quite a run to conference glory for the Cyclones, but it marked the high point of the team’s postseason dream. After earning a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament, Iowa State was knocked out in the first round by No. 11 Ohio State.
What Is the Lowest Seed to Win the Big 12 Women’s Tournament?
Just as Kansas has dominated the Big 12 conference on the men’s side of the game, Baylor has been equally dominant in the conference on the women’s side, with 11 titles since the tournament was first played in 1997. From 2011 to ‘21, the Baylor Bears won nine of the 10 Big 12 tournaments that were contested, entering the tournament as the No. 1 seed in every outing.
Their streak of conference titles was broken by West Virginia in 2017, who took down the Bears in the title game as a No. 6 seed. Their win tied the lowest seed to ever take the conference tournament, matching the feat that 2004’s Oklahoma squad pulled off. We take a closer look at both runs below.
How 2004 Oklahoma Pulled Off Its Big 12 Tournament Run
Oklahoma’s No. 6 seed heading into the 2004 Big 12 tournament was a bit misleading. The Sooners were ranked No. 11 in the nation at the time, and were 24–9 on the season, but their 9–7 record in conference play had them sixth in what was an extremely stacked Big 12.
Throughout the tournament, the Sooners proved that their national ranking was a better reflection of their skill than their conference seeding. After dispatching an overwhelmed Texas A&M team in the first round, Oklahoma knocked off Colorado (No. 3 Big 12, No. 17 national), Kansas State (No. 2 Big 12, No. 8 national), and Texas (No. 1 Big 12, No. 4 national) to lift the trophy.
Despite the strong run through the Big 12, the Sooners postseason ended in a disappointing upset at the hands of Stanford in the NCAA tournament.
How 2017 West Virginia Pulled Off Its Big 12 Tournament Run
As explained above, the Mountaineers are responsible for breaking up a dynastic run from the Baylor Bears, who would have won 10 straight conference tournament titles if not for their stumble in 2017.
Entering the tournament, West Virginia was ranked No. 22 nationally, but an 8–10 record in conference play left them in the bottom half of the Big 12.
But once the tournament got going, the Mountaineers ran the gauntlet, beating Oklahoma (No. 3 Big 12, No. 19 national), Texas (No. 2 Big 12, No. 12 national) and Baylor (No. 1 Big 12, No. 2 national) en route to lifting the trophy.
The magical run would not last much longer for West Virginia though, as they were knocked out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.