The Big 12 tournament is set to tip off in Kansas City, Missouri on March 10, and Baylor (-140) is a prohibitive favorite. But the Bears have a competitive field to navigate at the top of the Big 12 basketball field.

Baylor went 13-1 in league play this year, but went 21 days without playing a game starting in early February due to the pandemic. The Bears were not as sharp when they returned to action for their final five games, and suffered their only loss of the season at Kansas.

Mindset going into March pic.twitter.com/CgDBQNo6P7

— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) March 10, 2021

Still, Baylor is 21-1 this season and ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll. The Bears will be a No. 1 seed in next week’s start of the NCAA Tournament. But the madness begins with the conference tournaments, and the Big 12 is one of the best this season with the conference ranking as the second best, according to KenPom.

I chipped in some Big 12 tournament coverage at Forbes, and also for FanDuel with conference tournament odds and information you can bet on ahead of the tournament. You can read the other articles for additional insight and a printable bracket.

Big 12 Basketball Conference Tournament Odds 2021

Seed	Team	Odds
1	Baylor	-140
2	Kansas	+500
3	Texas	+600
4	West Virginia	+600
5	Oklahoma State	+800
6	Texas Tech	+850
7	Oklahoma	+1100
8	TCU	+10000
9	Kansas State	+20000
10	Iowa State	+20000

Big 12 conference records 2021

• Baylor (13-1)
• Kansas (12-6)
• Texas (11-6)
• West Virginia (11-6)
• Oklahoma State (11-7)
• Texas Tech (9-8)
• Oklahoma (9-8)
• TCU (5-11)
• Kansas State (4-14)
• Iowa State (0-18)

You can check out my college basketball top defensive teams article and stats profile as you prepare for the conference tournaments and March Madness. This should help you as you review game match-ups and consider teams with stronger defensive profiles. That includes Big 12 teams Kansas, Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Texas.

Big 12 Tournament Picks and Bracket

Update from Forbes. The Picks: Oklahoma State and Texas, along with a printable bracket.

Oklahoma State is the sleeper, and note that freshman Cade Cunningham missed the Cowboys final game win at West Virginia following an ankly injury in the loss to Baylor. He’s set to play according to head coach Mike Boynton. Cunningham was both the freshman and conference Player of the Year, and a projected top-2 pick in the NBA Draft should he declare himself eligible. The Cowboys won six of their final seven games, but lost to Baylor twice this season.

In his sixth season at Texas, head coach Shaka Smart has much more to prove. In his tenure, the Longhorns have a losing record in conference play. But Texas won nine games away from home this season – most in the conference. The Longhorns won their final three games, all on the road. Now Texas must prove they can beat Texas Tech in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Longhorns lost twice to the Red Raiders this season. But with a top-3 field goal percentage offense and defense in the Big 12, including from the 3-point arc, plus a top-3 rebounding margin team, the Longhorns might be able to hook ‘em at the right time in the Big 12 tournament.

Oklahoma State beat all other top teams in the conference, and the Cowboys have the defensive profile to stack up if Cunningham plays.

Follow Big 12 men’s basketball on Twitter with the hashtag #Big12MBB