Big 12 Notebook: Championship Preview Edition

The new look Big 12 Championship features an expanded field of 12 teams and is now single elimination.

This is what the first two days of the 2025 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship look like.

Wednesday, May 21

Game 1 – No. 5 Arizona State (35-21, 18-12) vs. No. 12 BYU (27-26, 10-20) – 9:00am

Game 2 – No. 8 Cincinnati (31-23, 16-14) vs. No. 9 Texas Tech (20-32, 13-17) – 12:30pm

Game 3 – No. 7 Oklahoma State (27-22, 15-12) vs. No. 10 Baylor (33-21, 13-17) – 4:00pm

Game 4 – No. 6 Kansas State (31-23, 17-13) vs. No. 11 Houston (29-24, 12-17) – 8:00pm

Thursday, May 22

Game 5 – No. 4 Arizona (36-18, 18-12) vs. Game 1 Winner – 9:00am

Game 6 – No. 1 West Virginia (40-13, 19-9) vs. Game 2 Winner – 12:30pm

Game 7 – No. 2 Kansas (42-14, 20-10) vs. Game 3 Winner – 4:00pm

Game 8 – No. 3 TCU (37-17, 19-11) vs. Game 4 Winner – 7:30pm

** all times are Central Time **

Notes and Observations Around the Big

No. 1 West Virginia comes into the Championship cold, but with the best winning percentage, thus their #1 seed. The Mountaineers were swept at home by eventual #2 seed Kansas to close out the regular season.

No. 2 Kansas comes in red hot, having swept West Virginia to close out the season and finishing with the most wins in the Big 12 with 20.

No. 3 TCU was a big winner when the All-Big 12 teams were announced on Tuesday afternoon. The Horned Frogs had five players make the 12-member All-Freshman team, with Sawyer Strosnider claiming the Freshman of the Year honor.

No. 5 Arizona State and No. 12 BYU will play the first game on Wednesday, set for 9am. This may be the worst draw of all for two of the three teams in the later time zones. For BYU it will be 8am back home in Provo, while the Sun Devils will have a first pitch set for 7am Phoenix time.

No. 7 Oklahoma State might be one of the more compelling teams in the field, perhaps having everything come together at the right time as of late. Long time pitching coach Rob Walton announced on Monday that the conclusion of this season will also bring about the conclusion of his stellar career. There’s no doubt that he will continue to give his all to his pitching staff this week. The thing to watch with the Cowboys is will their pitching staff perform above and beyond to help send out their coach on a high note, while Oklahoma State is also fighting for a spot in a NCAA Regional.

No. 11 Houston drew the earliest possible time slot for Tuesday's batting practice session at Globe Life Field at 9am. The Cougars will also play the latest day one game, projected to start at 8pm, but likely to start later as the earlier games run late and force the schedule later. That is quite a bit of time between practice and playing.

The top four seeds have the biggest advantage this week. West Virginia, Kansas, TCU, and Arizona will all make a NCAA Regional, they would also only have to win three games to claim the 2025 Championship, while any other team would have to win four games.

At first glance at the projected starting pitchers for Wednesday's opening day, most teams are throwing their top starters. In the previous Big 12 Championship format, which was double elimination, teams would often give their best arms an extra day of rest, but the new single elimination format is leading teams to go with their best pitchers early.

Game 1 - no starters announced at this time

Game 2 - Mac Heuer (2-3, 6.18 ERA) vs. Nathan Taylor (5-2, 3.65 ERA)

Game 2 - Ethan Calder (3-6, 5.43 ERA) vs. Sean Youngerman (3-1, 2.08 ERA)

Game 4 - Jacob Frost (1-3, 5.16 ERA) vs. Paul Schmitz (4-5, 5.37 ERA)

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