It's that time of year again that every basketball fan loves . It's  March Madness and the Phillips 66 Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. This years Big 12 tournament will be like none other because there are only 10 teams this years. With Colorado leaving for the PAC 12 and Nebraska leaving for the Big 10,the format will be a little different this year. And after this year's tournament Missouri and Texas A&M leave for the Southeastern Conference and the Big 12 will welcome in West Virginia and Texas Christian

With only 10 teams in this years tournament the 2012 Big 12  bracket will be different than past year with  six teams receiving first-round byes . As a result the bottom four teams in the regular-season league standings tip off the tournament on Wednesday night, with what amounts to two play-in games.

The Big 12 Tournament kicks off with the # 8 seed Oklahoma  will play # 9-seeded Texas A&M in the first game Wednesday evening for the right to meet conference champion and # 1 seeded Kansas in the second round. The second game of the night will feature #n 7 Oklahoma State taking on the 10th seed Texas Tech. The winner of that game will advance to play Missouri, the conference runner up and No# 2 seed in the second round of the Big 12 tournament.

Entering the  2012 Big 12 Tournament the  Kansas Jayhawks are expected to win this years tournament and are projected to be one of the # 1 seeds in the 2012 NCAA Tournament where the pairing come out on Sunday evening a #1 seed is a spot that is not unfamiliar to the Jayhawks as they have been a # 1 seed ten times since 1979. The  Missouri Tigers are looking like a solid two seed in the NCAA Tournament but could be a #1  seed if they were to win their second Big 12 Tournament , other teams expect to be in the 2012 NCAA Tournament are Iowa State, Baylor and Kansas State.

Who do you Think Will Win the 2012 Big 12 Tournament? Take Our Poll!

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