It took just one tweet to spark a social media debate about the best location for the Big 12 Basketball Tournament—as if it were any debate at all.
Despite the opinion that Las Vegas would serve as a better venue for the tournament, it will remain in Kansas City until at least 2031, and for good reason.
As it turns out, Kansas City prides itself as the home of the Big 12 Basketball Tournament and has left a lasting impression on several people, including Arizona women’s basketball insider Kim Doss.
Doss recently experienced her first Big 12 Championship covering the Wildcats, and she shared high praise for her first go-round in KC.
“Have to thank @Big12Conference, @tmobilecenter & #KansasCity for a fantastic @Big12WBB tournament,” Doss wrote on X. “I covered the Pac-12 tourney 5 times and media day once, all in Vegas. They were all nightmarish experiences. The things the league, the venue, and the city get right…”
She then went on to list 15 more things that stood out about her experience, leaving no doubt as to why the conference is said to have the best tournament of anyone in the country, year-in and year-out.
Check out some of these excerpts from her experience compared to that of a tournament in Las Vegas.
“No ‘resort fees’ for things that a Motel 6 will provide for free. My hotel had great wifi, a gym, a restaurant, etc. No extra fee.”
“There was complimentary water in my room. Not bottles that cost $15 if you touched them.”
“I didn’t have to pay $50 for a French dip, fries, & a Coke in the in-hotel restaurant like I did in Vegas.”
“The venue was so easy to find. The media entrance was clearly marked. When I couldn’t find my way somewhere, an employee of T-Mobile Center walked with me and helped me find it. My experience finding things in Vegas casinos was always a nightmare and the “help” didn’t exist.”
“It’s family-friendly both at the venue & the immediate environs. You’re not surrounded by gambling, smoking, drugging, prostituting, stripping, etc, etc, etc. Instead, you have fun things for kids like the College Basketball Experience.”
From hotel accommodations to transit and T-Mobile Center staff to locker room availability, numerous things stood out to Doss in her first Big 12 Tournament, and from the looks of it, she appears to prefer t Kansas City to the previous experiences she had in Las Vegas.
So, despite what some might suggest, there are those who believe the Big 12 is doing just fine with its current tournament setup, and thankfully, it isn’t changing any time soon.
