Despite college basketball season being over four months away, ESPN released a bracketology update that features nine teams from the Big 12 Conference earning an invite to the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
The nine teams listed as tournament participants are (1) Kansas, (1) Houston, (2) Iowa State, (3) Baylor, (3) Arizona, (4) Texas Tech, (5) Cincinnati, (8) BYU, and (10) Kansas State.
Bill Self and the Kansas Jayhawks earned the top overall seed in Lunardi’s bracket after constructing one of the best off-season portal hauls in college basketball history. The group is headlined by All-American center Hunter Dickinson, veteran point guard Dajuan Harris, reliable forward KJ Adams, and a cast of multiple impressive transfers.
The nine teams included in the list trailed both the SEC and the Big Ten, who each fielded 10 teams in the NCAA Tournament.
In the scenario listed above, the matchups based on seeding would look something like this.
(1) Kansas vs. (16) Southern/Wagner
(1) Houston vs. (16) Marist
(2) Iowa State vs. (15) Weber State
(3) Baylor vs. (14) Louisiana Tech
(3) Arizona vs. (14) Charleston
(4) Texas Tech vs. (13) Vermont
(5) Cincinnati vs. (12) Grand Canyon
(8) BYU vs. (9) Ole Miss
(10) Kansas State vs. (7) Michigan State
While the 2025 NCAA Tournament is still nearly eight months away, the nine teams listed above from the Big 12 Conference are currently passing the eye test as tournament bids, at least in the eyes of Joe Lunardi.
