2025 Big 12 Baseball Tournament Preview: Chaos, Contenders, and a Whole Lot of Questions
The calendar flipped to late May, and that can only mean one thing for college baseball fans across the Big 12 – tournament time. And this year? Oh man, it is wide open. Like, anybody can take this kind of wide open.
The 2025 Big 12 Baseball Tournament kicks off Wednesday, May 21, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and let’s just say, no one should be placing easy bets. The top five seeds were separated by just two games during the regular season, which is about as close as it gets. Parity doesn’t just live in the Big 12 it thrives here.
Add in some new faces like Arizona and Arizona State, two battle-tested programs fresh off their Pac-12 pasts, and you’ve got yourself a field that feels more like a 12-car pileup waiting to happen than a traditional pecking-order bracket. Arizona and Arizona State didn’t join the conference just to be polite and settle in. Nope. They’re already making noise.
Arizona landed the No. 4 seed after an 18-12 Big 12 debut, while their desert rivals, Arizona State, sit right behind them at No. 5, also finishing 18-12 but losing the tiebreaker.
There’s definitely something spicy about the possibility of one of these programs winning the tournament in their first year as Big 12 members. It’s not unheard of, but it’s rare, and you can bet fans in Tucson and Tempe are fired up about the chance.
Oklahoma State was everyone’s preseason favourite to win the conference. Seriously, the Cowboys were hyped from day one. And here they are, coming in as the No. 7 seed.
But don’t let that seeding fool you. This team’s still dangerous, and with their postseason experience and power-hitting lineup, nobody’s really excited about facing them in an elimination game.
Then there’s Texas Tech and Cincinnati, two squads sitting in the middle of the pack who can catch fire at any moment. That’s the beauty of this kind of tournament: seeding matters, but momentum? That’s gold.
West Virginia, the No. 1 seed, is rolling into the tournament with a solid 40-13 record and a lot of confidence. They edged out Kansas, the No. 2 seed, by percentage points for the regular-season title. But both teams are looking to do more than just sit pretty they want that trophy.
Kansas, in particular, is fascinating. Their 42 wins and 20 conference victories have made this one of the most successful seasons in program history. And after sweeping West Virginia last week, they’re clearly not just happy to be here they’re here to win.
TCU, sitting at No. 3, also can’t be ignored. The Horned Frogs ended the season on a heater, locking up the first-round bye, which might be a big deal considering the condensed four-day schedule.
The fun starts right out of the gate. Four matchups will set the tone for what’s shaping up to be a wild ride –
- No. 12 BYU vs No. 5 Arizona State (9 a.m. CT, ESPN+)
- No. 9 Cincinnati vs No. 8 Texas Tech (12:30 p.m. CT, ESPNU)
- No. 10 Baylor vs No. 7 Oklahoma State (4 p.m. CT, ESPNU)
- No. 11 Houston vs No. 6 Kansas State (8 p.m. CT, ESPNU)
Winners move on to face the top four seeds. Losers? Well, pack your bags.
Beyond bragging rights and a nice shiny banner, the winner of the Big 12 Tournament also secures an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Several teams here are NCAA locks, Kansas, West Virginia, and TCU, but for others, this could be their only path in.
And with the expanded 64-team field looming just around the corner, there’s added motivation across the board.
There’s no clear favourite this year. Seriously. You could shuffle this entire bracket three times and get three different championship games that still make sense. That’s how tight things are. So what’s it going to take to win this thing? Maybe a little luck. Definitely solid pitching. Timely hitting. A calm head under pressure.
