Houston has quickly established itself as the kings of the Big 12 with back-to-back outright regular season titles in its two seasons since joining the conference from the AAC. But there is still one bit of league supremacy the Cougars have yet to claim. A year ago, they lost to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament Championship Game.

Houston will have the luxury of resting an extra two days with the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship basketball tournament starting Tuesday. The Big 12 regular-season champion Cougars (27-4) won’t be playing until Thursday’s quarterfinal round at Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center,

Fans were quick to call out the Big 12 tournament's 2025 court design. See our favorite social media reactions.

Fully adorned with “XII” symbols, the court has been panned as headache-inducing, although the Big 12’s commissioner said players approved of the “aspirational” design.

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Day 2 of the Big 12 Tournament closes with the Kansas Jayhawks (20-11, 11-9) taking the court against the UCF Knights (17-15, 8-13). UCF thumped Utah yesterday 87-82 in the opening round of the tournament.

Up next: Kansas plays No. 3 seed Arizona in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Tipoff (ESPN) is set for 8:30 p.m. Thursday at T-Mobile Center. Kansas defeated Arizona in the last game of the regular season on Saturday.

The 12th-ranked Iowa State Cyclones defeated the Cincinnati Bearcats 76-56 in the second round of the Big 12 Tournament. Iowa State's victory was fueled by a dominant frontcourt performance, led by Joshua Jefferson with 19 points and Dishon Jackson with a double-double (10 points,