Big changes are coming to the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, commissioner says
The Big 12 basketball tournaments at T-Mobile Center had a new look for 2025.
The court for the men’s and women’s games had hundreds of patterned “XII” logos. However, fans mostly disliked the change, calling it an “assault to the eyes.” Two years earlier, the Big 12 unveiled an anthem for the tournament.
Those were updates made by Big 12 commissioner Brett Yorkmark. Bigger things are coming for the tournament.
“We are going to be making some major announcement soon on some big-time enhancements, which, listen, I’m a first-mover, and our conference is a first-mover,” Yormark said last week during the broadcast of a Baylor-Colorado game. “That’s how we position ourselves. And we’re going to be doing some things that have never been done in the collegiate space.
“And I think the first announcement is going to be next Tuesday, so be on the lookout for that. And then we’re going to integrate some big-time musical talent, which is also going to be great.”
Ari Temkin and James Westling of Big 12 Radio on TuneIn said they know what’s coming, and when the conference makes the update on Tuesday, it’s going to be huge.
“I don’t think you can make as a big deal out of the announcement as the deal is going to be,” Temkin said on his show. “It’s a game-changer.”
The Big 12 tournaments are set to be in Kansas City through 2031, so it doesn’t seem like a move to another city is planned.
Yormark explained why the forthcoming changes are so important to him.
“From day one, it’s all been about, how do we continue to celebritize our tournament?” he said. “How do we make it destinational for fans? How do we give student-athletes just the best type of experience possible? And I thought we did it well last year, but we’re going to keep building on it, and this year is going to be incredible.
“And again, the fans are going to be in store for some amazing moments. There’s a lot of things I can’t discuss tonight, but over the course of the next couple of weeks, we’ll start dripping it out there, and it’s going to be amazing.”
This story was originally published February 9, 2026 at 11:34 AM.
