Big 12 Tournament Betting Odds, Predictions & Favorites to Win 2025: Big Changes Emerge in the Conference

• After a dominant regular season run, including securing a Big 12 regular season title in their first year in the conference, the Houston Cougars were upset by the Iowa State Cyclones in the Big 12 Tournament

• The Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils, Colorado Buffaloes, and Utah Utes will join the Big 12 for the 2024-25 regular season, adding even more competition to the nation’s best conference

• Baylor, Kansas, Iowa State, and Houston appear to be the early frontrunners to take home the hardware from the 2025 Big 12 Tournament

The Big 12 has been among the most challenging conferences for college basketball programs to play in the past decade. Before several competitive basketball programs emerged, the Kansas Jayhawks were running through their opponents. However, that is no longer the case, with new powerhouses like Houston, Iowa State, and Baylor continuing to make their presence known.

Additionally, the Big 12 will add four new members, including the Tommy Lloyd-led Arizona Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils, Colorado Buffaloes, and Utah Utes. The arrival of these four programs further increases the difficulty level in the Big 12.

Further, despite Oklahoma and Texas joining the SEC, the Big 12 will undoubtedly be one of the nation’s top conferences for college basketball. 

Which teams can have a dominant Big 12 regular season and propel their way forward toward a Big 12 Tournament championship? Let’s break down our favorite teams and their respective odds to run the conference table below!

Big 12 Tournament Betting Odds

Since the 2024-25 regular season has yet to start, Big 12 Tournament betting odds are unavailable. Usually, the betting odds are listed on most major sportsbooks a week or two leading up to the conference tournament. Once the odds are listed, we will post them below.

Favorites to Win the 2025 Big 12 Tournament

Houston Cougars 

Head coach Kelvin Sampson has built the Houston Cougars into a perennial powerhouse, but it has not necessarily been through attracting a ton of 5-star recruits or dominating the transfer portal with NIL deals.

Sampson has done it the old-fashioned way: working hard, developing chemistry, and out-coaching opposing coaches.

Like we have come to expect from Sampson-led squads, the Cougars are again one of the top offensive rebounding teams and have one of the most elite defenses in the country, which automatically propels them into the upper-echelon of college basketball.

There are a few major differences between the 2024-25 Houston Cougars and past teams. This year’s squad shoots the 3-ball at a high level, scarcely turns the ball over, and is deeper than previous teams.

L.J. Cryer, J’Wan Roberts, Terrance Arceneaux, Emanuel Sharp, and Ja’Vier Francis, five of the team’s top seven scorers from last year, returned for the Cougs; they also added Milos Uzan, a solid playmaking guard, to replace Jamal Shead.

Due to their pace of play, Houston could run into some problems in the half-court if its shots aren’t falling at the usual rate.

Because there will inevitably be fewer possessions in games that Houston is involved in, opponents will have a better shot at keeping games close.

Still, this team has championship contender written all over them.

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Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas has had a few solid wins to start the 2024-25 regular season but it looks relatively beatable, a surprise given the team’s depth, talent, and cohesion.

Few, if any, teams have the offensive talent of Kansas, which features Hunter Dickinson, AJ Storr, Rylan Griffen, Zeke Mayo, KJ Adams Jr, Dajuan Harris Jr, and Flory Bidunga. Those are seven fantastic, game-changing players.

Still, this is a top-ten defensive team in the country and they can compete with anyone if they are hitting shots on the offensive end of the floor.

If head coach Bill Self can get everyone to rally around one another, Kansas can beat any team it comes across in the Big 12 Tournament.

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Baylor Bears

Scott Drew and the Baylor Bears certainly aren’t afraid to play the best competition at the beginning of a season. That is something to admire.

However, the results have been a mixed bag, despite the Bears’ elite core of players that features Jeremy Roach, Norchad Omier, VJ Edgecombe, Rob Wright III, Jayden Nunn, Jalen Celestine, and Langston Love.

A season-opening blowout to Gonzaga can be forgiven. After all, the Bulldogs returned nearly every key contributor from last season's team while Baylor had to replenish most of its team in the offseason.

Further, Baylor dropped bouts to now-No. 1 Tennessee and back-to-back champion UConn. Again, those are not bad losses early in the season, especially with a new team.

Despite those three early losses, this team remains a serious threat in the Big 12. The Bears rank fifth in adjusted offensive efficiency (KenPom), shooting the lights out and grabbing offensive rebounds at an incredible rate.

But the defensive end of the floor remains an issue. Baylor has to be better on that end if it wants to make a deep run in the Big 12 Tournament.

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Who Will Win the Big 12 Tournament - My Pick 

Houston Cougars

With Kansas appearing to be beatable at the beginning of the season, the door could be wide open for the Houston Cougars to finish the job they started last year and secure the Big 12 Tournament title.

Houston has paired its elite play on the offensive glass and the defensive end of the floor with a turnover-averse team that can shoot the 3-pointer at a high level.

While the Cougs don’t have the individual offensive stars that they have had in past seasons, they are deep enough and collectively talented enough to run through the Big 12 this year.

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Who Won the Big 12 Tournament in 2024

The Iowa State Cyclones unexpectedly upset the top-ranked Houston Cougars to secure their sixth Big 12 Tournament Championship. With the Cyclones bringing back a ton of talent from their 2023-24 team, they will again be one of the favorites to win the Big 12 Tournament in 2025; however, they will have formidable opponents in the conference, including the Kansas Jayhawks, Houston Cougars, and others.

Big 12 Tournament History

The Big 12 Tournament was birthed right after (1997) the forming of the Big 12 Conference in 1996. Since 1997, the Big 12 Tournament has been held every year, with the Kansas Jayhawks holding a massive number of tournament titles (12).

While Kansas has the most Big 12 Tournament championships, Iowa State has an incredulous 6-0 record in the championship game, including the Cyclones’ championship win last season over the top-ranked Houston Cougars.

The Big 12 Tournament has been held primarily in Kansas City, Missouri, and will continue to be held there until at least 2031.

Past 15 Big 12 Tournament Winners

Below, we have listed out the past 15 Big 12 Tournament winners, including the Iowa State Cyclones, who upset No. 1 Houston to win the conference tournament last season. 

How to Choose the Best Sportsbook for Betting on the Big 12 Tournament

Name brand matters in the sports betting space, and companies like FanDuel, Caesars, and BetMGM have leveraged their presence in the hospitality and entertainment industries to expand into the online sportsbook space.

Choosing a sportsbook is challenging, as numerous factors can alter your decision. This becomes especially true if you only want to create an account with one sportsbook. 

Here is a list of categories: welcome bonuses, user interface, navigability, odds, ongoing promotions, payment options, and withdrawal times. That is only the beginning, too.

Regardless, we have broken down a few of our favorite sportsbooks below, including their welcome bonuses, withdrawal times, and payment options. Take a look!

How to Read Big 12 Tournament Winner Odds

Once the Big 12 Tournament odds drop on sportsbooks, you can bet on the teams we have listed above as our favorites or any underdogs you believe can win. However, unless you can read the odds and understand them, they will not help you. Luckily, it is all fairly simple to understand. 

For example, if the Kansas Jayhawks are -120 to win the Big 12 Tournament, then that means they are a favorite, as any odds with a minus (-) sign in front of them imply that they have a greater than 50% chance of winning. In this case, you would have to bet $120 to win $100.

If a team like the Baylor Bears has +200 odds of winning the Big 12 Tournament, then a bettor would need only to bet $100 to win $200 for a total payout of $300. A plus (+) sign implies that a team has a less than 50% chance of winning, and the higher the number, the bigger of an underdog they are, as the payout obviously increases.