Los Angeles Dodgers
Big 12 March Madness Bubble Watch: BYU Boosts NCAAB Odds
- Get the best Big 12 basketball odds at BetUS.
- Houston has the shortest odds of winning March Madness among Big 12 teams.
- Read on for my March Madness breakdown for Big 12 teams this week.
With four Big 12 teams in the top 10 in the latest NCAA NET rankings, it looks like business as usual in one of the top college basketball conferences in the country.
Things could get interesting this weekend when West Virginia plays at Texas Tech, Houston is at home against Iowa State and BYU looks to upset Arizona.
Houston (+900) trails only Auburn, Duke and Florida in the odds of winning March Madness. Iowa State (+1800) is tied for sixth in the championship odds while Arizona and Texas Tech are both priced at +3500 to win the national title.
Houston (+130) and Iowa State (+160) lead the way in the odds of winning the Big 12 title followed by Kansas (+550) and Arizona (+1000).
The NCAA Selection Committee revealed the current top 16 seeds in the March Madness bracket less than a week ago, per NCAAB news. Houston was a No. 2 seed, Iowa state and Arizona were No. 3 seeds with Texas Tech and Kansas among the No. 4 seeds.
BetUS will provide a weekly update of where Big 12 teams stand with March Madness with the fans of the bubble teams hoping to get some good news on Selection Sunday.
Big 12 March Madness Analysis
Baylor, BYU Head Big 12 Bubble Teams
Baylor was tied for seventh in the March Madness odds when the season began. However, it has been a bumpy journey for the Bears, who are tied for sixth in the Big 12 standings and are 3-7 against ranked teams.
It hasn’t helped that just three players have appeared in all 26 games this season and only Jayden Nunn was with the Bears last season.
Baylor has lost its last six games to ranked opponents, per NCAAB betting trends. Despite being 30th in the NCAA NET rankings, a 5-9 mark versus Quad 1 teams has the Bears on March Madness bubble watch.
BYU’s NCAA NET ranking went from 36th to 31st after Richie Saunders had 22 points in the dismantling of the Kansas Jayhawks. The Cougars are just 4-7 in Quad 1 games heading into Saturday’s matchup with Arizona.
BYU BEATS NO. 23 KANSAS BY 34 😱
The Cougars collect their biggest win of the season in a dominant win over the Jayhawks 😳 pic.twitter.com/puFZ2tkoDp
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) February 19, 2025
West Virginia and Cincinnati are both in the top 50 in the NCAA NET rankings but both have losing records in the Big 12. With five Quad 1 wins, West Virginia looks to have a better chance to receive an at-large bid than Cincinnati. The Mountaineers helped themselves with a 62-59 win over visiting Cincinnati on Wednesday.
The March Madness Contenders
Even with the Kansas Jayhawks losing by 34 points to unranked Brigham Young on Tuesday, the Jayhawks look like one of five Big 12 teams locked into March Madness spots.
Houston leads the way as the Cougars are third in the NCAA NET rankings with all four losses coming in Quad 1 games. A 2-3 record against ranked teams isn’t going to wow anybody, but with a two-game lead in the Big 12 standings with five games to go, it is just a question about the seed Houston will receive.
It should be a challenging week with top-10 matchups with Iowa State and Texas Tech coming up. The Cougars have won 18 of 19 entering Saturday’s matchup with the Cyclones, per Iowa State vs Houston stats.
Texas Tech doesn’t get as much national attention as the other Big 12 contenders. Perhaps having just one win against a ranked team has something to do with that. The overtime win at Houston will certainly help Texas Tech when the March Madness bracket is finalized.
No doubt about it.
JT Toppin is the AP National Player of the Week! pic.twitter.com/ysGr7kC7mA
— Texas Tech Basketball (@TexasTechMBB) February 18, 2025
Even with two Quad 2 losses, Texas Tech is seventh in the NCAA NET rankings. JT Toppin has led the way by averaging 27 points and 12.8 rebounds over his last four games to attract attention from those partaking in college basketball player props.
Iowa State, with 14 of its 21 wins coming against either Quad 1 or Quad 2 teams, and Arizona, with a Big 12-best eight Quad 1 wins, are also in the top 10 in the NCAA NET rankings.
Not that it will matter when the March Madness bracket is put together, but Iowa State, Arizona and Houston are tied with BYU for the best record among Big 12 teams with a 15-11 record against the college basketball spread.
Kansas tumbled six spots to No. 21 in the NCAA NET rankings after the BYU debacle. A 6-7 record in Quad 1 games and two Quad 2 losses will hurt the March Madness seeding for the Jayhawks.
Some Work To Do
There is a pretty large drop after BYU when it comes to the NCAA NET rankings for Big 12 teams.
Arizona State is 66th and its 10 Quad 1 losses are tied for the fourth most in the country.
It might take a championship run in the Big 12 tournament for Arizona State, Utah or TCU to receive a seat at the March Madness table.
Check Out Last Week’s Big 12 March Madness Bubble Teams Stats
Questions Of The Day
How many Big 12 teams have winning road records this season?
Four. Houston is 8-0 on the road while Arizona, Texas Tech and Iowa State have also posted winning road records.
How many Big 12 teams played in the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament?
Iowa State, Houston, BYU, Baylor, Texas Tech, Kansas, Texas (now in the SEC) and TCU. Colorado and Arizona also made it into the 2024 March Madness bracket when both programs were in the Pac-12.
Odds and information are accurate at the time of writing. Please check with official sources for the latest updates before placing any bets
