Big XII turns X
Revisiting some of the highs and lows from the first nine conference tournaments
01:12 AM CST on Thursday, March 9, 2006
The Big 12 tournament began with a rather nondescript Oklahoma State win over Baylor, 80-66, on March 6, 1997. The game was played at Kansas City's now-obsolete Kemper Arena. Current Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie was an assistant on Baylor's staff. Since that pedestrian start, the Big 12 men's tournament has been the scene of memorable upsets, big comebacks and one extremely unfortunate premature celebration. The 10th Big 12 tournament starts today at American Airlines Center and will cap a decade of excitement. A look back at some of the highlights and lowlights: Perhaps the most famous play in Big 12 tournament history was a gaffe by Kansas State's Pervis Pasco in 2003. Through Sunday Photos: DMN All-Big 12 men's team Big D means big bucks for Big 12 Return trip to Dallas isn't guaranteed
Thursday's previews (.pdf)
Bracket (.pdf) In the last game of the first round at American Airlines Center, Pasco tried to get the party started a little too early. Kansas State led Colorado by two with 2.6 seconds left when Pasco intercepted a long inbound pass and began running up the court with his arm raised in celebration. Problem: There was still time on the clock, and Pasco was whistled for traveling. Given 1.8 seconds to work a miracle, the Buffaloes got it in the form of James Wright's 3-pointer that banked in at the buzzer for a 77-76 victory. "It was all luck," Wright said at the time. "I guess it was just meant for us to win." At the 2000 tournament in Kansas City, Texas' team bus got stuck in traffic on the way to Kemper Arena. With time running short, the Longhorns walked the last four blocks to the arena, then proceeded to walk all over Colorado. The Longhorns weren't happy about having to hoof it and took out their frustration on the Buffaloes. Texas' 78-35 quarterfinal victory remains the biggest blowout in Big 12 tournament history. "We couldn't wait to get here and show some people we're the best team," UT's William Clay said. History shows that it's better to be a No. 3 seed than a No. 2 seed in the Big 12 tournament. No. 2 seeds are 8-8, whereas No. 3 seeds are 18-5 – even better than the 17-5 record for top-seeded teams. The only No. 2 seed to win the tournament was Oklahoma in 2002. Four No. 3 seeds have won titles, the same number of champions No. 1 seeds have produced. The trend was set from the start when No. 2 seeds lost their opening game in the first three tournaments. It happened again in 2003. As for the bottom of the seedings, No. 12s are 0-8 (the tournament had only 11 teams in 2004 minus Baylor). No. 11 seeds are 1-9. The only No. 11 win was Colorado over No. 6 Texas last year. Through the first nine Big 12 tournaments, there was one constant: Texas A&M losing in the first round. The Aggies are 0-9 in Big 12 tournament appearances. The closest A&M has come to advancing to the quarterfinals was a 66-63 loss to Baylor in 1998. The Aggies were the 12th seed then. The only time A&M has been the higher seed was last season, when the Aggies were seeded seventh and lost to No. 10 seed Kansas State, 68-62. This year, A&M will play in the quarterfinals for the first time, having earned a first-round bye. The only time a No. 1 seed has fallen in its opening game is when Iowa State lost to eighth seed Baylor, 62-49, in Kansas City in 2001. As usual, a large contingent of ISU fans was at Kemper Arena to watch the Cyclones, who were ranked eighth and were the defending tournament champions. Those fans wound up with a lot of time on their hands because Iowa State couldn't stop Baylor's DeMarcus Minor, who had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Three teams that played in the opening round (seeds 5-12) also played in the championship game. Missouri was the No. 10 seed when it advanced to the title game against Kansas in the inaugural tournament in 1997. Oklahoma State was a fifth seed when it lost to Kansas in the 1999 final. The closest a team has come to winning the tournament in its fourth game was when fifth- seeded Missouri fell to Oklahoma, 49-47, in 2003. OU led by 22 with 15 minutes to go but missed 14 straight shots in a 12-point second half. The top two seeds have met in the final only three times, with the No. 1 seed winning twice. Paul Pierce, F, Kansas: Two-time Most Outstanding Player (1997, '98) Marcus Fizer, F, Iowa State: Two-time Most Outstanding Player Arthur Johnson, C, Missouri: All-time leading rebounder with 77, third in points with 147 (2001-04) Andre Emmett, G, Texas Tech: Career scoring leader with 163 points (2001-04) Hollis Price, G, Oklahoma: Two-time Most Outstanding Player (2002, '03); record 12 tournament games. Kelvin Sampson, Coach, Oklahoma: Sampson is 17-6 (.739); three tournament titles (2001, '02, '03), two as the No. 3 seed. 
American Airlines Center
• Tech-K State
• Colorado-Baylor
• OSU-Iowa State
• Missouri-Nebraska
