Big 12 Record in March Madness 2026: League Splits Saturday Games As Houston Dominates, TCU Falters

Midway through the second round of March Madness, and the push to the Final Four is heating up across the country.

Few conferences have the power at the top of the league that the Big 12 possesses, though it has been a quiet start to the tournament for the conference. No Big 12 teams were relegated to the First Four, and just three played on Thursday. The remaining five of the conference-record eight programs will be in action on Friday, including No. 1 seed Arizona. No. 2 Houston, last year’s national runner-up, No. 2 Iowa State and No. 4 Kansas are the league’s favorites to cut down the nets in a few weeks.

They’re joined in the field by No. 5 Texas Tech, No. 6 BYU, No. 9 TCU and No. 10 UCF, though the Cougars have already been eliminated, likely ending the impressive college run of AJ Dybantsa and the Knights fell in a competitive game against UCLA. The Horned Frogs followed suit on Saturday, putting together an impressive first 25 minutes against No. 1 Duke before the Blue Devils turned on the jets and cruised to a win.

The East Region is the most heavily populated by Big 12 teams, though the Jayhawks are the highest seed in that quadrant. Houston is alone in the South, Arizona heads up the West and the Midwest features a pair of Big 12 teams, most notably Iowa State.

TCU Horned Frogs forward Xavier Edmonds celebrates after scoring against Ohio State in the NCAA tournament. — Xavier Edmonds scored 16 points as part of a balanced TCU attack that took down Ohio State in the first game of the first round of March Madness. | Alex Martin/Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Big 12 record in NCAA tournament after Houston, TCU second-round games on Saturday

Through the first three games of March Madness on the men’s side, the Big 12 has won two-thirds of its games, sitting at 6–3.

No. 9 TCU opened the Big Dance with a dramatic 66–64 win over No. 8 Ohio State, outlasting the Big Ten program in a back-and-forth contest. Micah Robinson led the Horned Frogs with 18 points, knocking down 4-of-6 shots from deep, while David Punch had 16 points and 13 rebounds. TCU came out fast against No. 1 Duke on Saturday, holding the Boozer twins to four combined points at the half. They couldn’t keep up, and the Blue Devils ultimately solved a Horned Frogs defense desperate to prevent Cameron Boozer from dominating. He finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds after hitting just a pair of first-half free throws anyway, leading Duke to an 81–58 victory.

No. 2 Houston made easy work of No. 15 Idaho, opening up a 24-point lead at the half and cruising to a 78–47 win, and No. 10 Texas A&M from the mighty SEC didn’t put up much more resistance on Saturday. The Cougars starters outscored their Aggies counterparts 65–26 en route to an 88–57 victory.

No. 6 BYU dropped its first-round game against No. 11 Texas. Dybantsa flashed his impressive potential in what was likely his final game with the Cougars, scoring 35 with 10 rebounds, though he was just 1-for-7 from deep and turned the ball over five times in the loss. BYU shot just 18% fro three-point range on the day.

No. 1 Arizona made easy work of No. 16 Long Island, 92–58 on Friday. No. 2 Iowa State got a scare with an early injury to star forward Joshua Jefferson but it did not impact the Cyclones against No. 15 Tennessee State, as they cruised to a 108–74 win. No. 5 Texas Tech lost its own standout player JT Toppin during the regular season, but handled No. 12 Akron, 91–71.

No. 4 Kansas looked like it would run away with its first-round game against California Baptist, and went into the half 38–18, but the Lancers clawed their way back, outscoring the Jayhawks by 12 in the second half, leaving Bill Self’s program with a tight 68–60 win. No. 10 UCF was the Big 12’s sole loser on Friday, falling in a back-and-forth contest with No. 7 UCLA, 75–71.

Which Big 12 teams are still alive?

Houston is the only Big 12 program to make it through to the Sweet 16 so far, though many of the league’s remaining teams compete on Sunday.

The five Big 12 programs remaining: Arizona, Iowa State, Houston, Kansas, Texas Tech.

Big 12 March Madness schedule

Below are all the details available for the seven remaining Big 12 teams’ upcoming games on Friday and Saturday. All times are ET. Big 12 programs are in bold. The full men’s NCAA tournament schedule and TV lineup is available here.

Game	Date	Time	Location	Channel
No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 7 Kentucky	Sunday, March 22	2:50 p.m.	St. Louis	CBS
No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 5 St. John’s	Sunday, March 22	5:15 p.m.	San Diego	CBS
No. 1 Arizona vs. No. 9 Utah State	Sunday, March 22	7:50 p.m.	San Diego	truTV
No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 5 Texas Tech	Sunday, March 22	9:45 p.m.	Tampa	TBS
No. 2 Houston vs. No. 3 Illinois/No. 11 VCU	Thursday, March 26	TBA	Houston	TBA

BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa dribbles against Texas Longhorns forward Dailyn Swain during an NCAA tournament game. — AJ Dybantsa put points on the board, but BYU was not able to overcome Texas in Thursday’s March Madness first round. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Biggest wins and most disappointing losses

TCU scored the biggest win for the Big 12 on Thursday, with its impressive afternoon game against Ohio State, a Big Ten squad that played its way into the field with a strong showing down the stretch of the regular season. They could not follow it up with a full 40-minutes against Duke, though they gave the Blue Devils trouble early. Texas Tech’s dominant performance against an Akron program that was a trendy first-round upset pick was also very impressive, as the Red Raiders continue to figure out how to best handle life without Toppin. Houston’s second-round domination of Texas A&M was not totally unexpected, but beating any SEC tournament team by 31 points gets you high marks.

The most disappointing loss was the only loss for the Big 12 on Thursday, BYU’s defeat at the hands of Texas. The Cougars had not played well down the stretch, so it wasn’t a terrible surprise to see them bow out of the tournament early. Even so, it is disappointing for the average viewer as well, as we no longer get to see Dybantsa play in the Big Dance.

How the Big 12 compares to other conferences in the 2026 NCAA tournament

The Power 5 conferences have largely dominated the NCAA tournament so far, and the Big 12 is right near the top at 7–3 through Saturday’s second-round games. The Houston’s win over Texas A&M knocked the SEC to 9–3, a half-game behind the Big Ten (9–2) for best tournament record midway through Saturday’s slate. The ACC is at a disappointing 5–5, with two of its teams dropping out in the First Four and North Carolina suffering an upset loss to VCU. The Big East is 2–1.

The Atlantic 10 is the class of the mid-majors so far, at 2–1, and as of publication, No. 11 VCU is hanging tight with No. 3 Illinois.

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