Beware the Ides of March. Also beware the first week of March in Kansas City.The Big 12 womens tournament shows up with the same blunt bargain every league tournament offers: win three games if youve earned a double-bye, four or five if you havent, and youre in the March Madness field with hardware and a fresh line on your resume. Lose once and youre back to committee math, hoping your season holds up under fluorescent lighting.How to watch the Big 12 womens basketball tournamentVenue: T-Mobile Center Kansas City, Mo.Dates: March 4-8TV:ESPN+, ESPNU, ESPNStreaming: Fubo (Stream Free Now!)Watching in person? Get tickets on StubHub.All ESPN networks are also available on ESPN Unlimited.TCU enters as the No. 1 seed and the defending tournament champ, which makes the assignment clear: survive long enough to prove last year wasnt a one-off. Olivia Miles is the engine now, a guard who turns a half-second of inattention into a clean look, a bent defense or both. She was just minted both the conferences player and newcomer of the year.West Virginia is the No. 2 seed led by Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Jordan Harrison with Baylor at No. 3 and Oklahoma State at No. 4. Those top four get the luxury item every tournament team wants, which is a bye into Fridays quarterfinals. Thats another way of saying they get to watch the chaos before they have to touch it.The middle is where this thing starts to feel like a bar fight nobody planned. Texas Tech (No. 5), Colorado (No. 6), Iowa State (No. 7) and Utah (No. 8) open Thursday. The Cyclones, with star center Audi Crooks and the return of Addy Brown to the lineup, are one team to watch throughout the tourney.But this entire group is good enough to dismantle a top seeds weekend before the bracket has time to develop a theory about itself. These are teams that didnt come to Kansas City to make the semifinals interesting. They came to be in them.Wednesday is pure survival and for some, making it off the NCAA Tournament bubble. BYU (No. 9) and Arizona State (No. 10) are the best of the first-round problems. Kansas (No. 11) and Kansas State (No. 12) are right behind them. Cincinnati (No. 13), UCF (No. 14), Arizona (No. 15) and Houston (No. 16) are just trying to collect on something before the bracket even warms up. Every one of them is playing to make someone elses math harder.One wrinkle worth knowing: If BYU reaches the championship game, the final moves to Monday. An extra day of rest, an extra day of preparation. In a tournament that already runs on compressed time and tired legs, thats not a scheduling footnote. Thats a variable.Tournament scheduleAll times ET. Conference tournament seedings are also listed.Wednesday, March 4 First roundBroadcaster:ESPN+Game 1: No. 12 Kansas State vs. No. 13 Cincinnati, noonGame 2: No. 9 BYU vs. No. 16 Houston, 2:30 p.m.Game 3: No. 10 Arizona State vs. No. 15 Arizona, 6:30 p.m.Game 4:No. 11 Kansas vs. No. 14 UCF, 9 p.m.Thursday, March 5 Second roundBroadcaster: ESPN+Game 5: No. 5 Texas Tech vs. Game 1 winner, noonGame 6: No. 8 Utah vs. Game 2 winner, 2:30 p.m.Game 7: No. 7 Iowa State vs. Game 3 winner, 6:30 p.m.Game 8: No. 6 Colorado vs. Game 4 winner, 9 p.m.Friday, March 6 QuarterfinalsBroadcasters: ESPN+ and ESPNUGame 9: No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. Game 5 winner, noon (ESPNU)Game 10: No. 1 TCU vs. Game 6 winner, 2:30 p.m. (ESPNU)Game 11: No. 2 West Virginia vs. Game 7 winner, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN+)Game 12: No. 3 Baylor vs. Game 8 winner, 9 p.m. (ESPN+)Saturday, March 7 SemifinalsBroadcaster: ESPN+Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 4 p.m.Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 6:30 p.m.Sunday, March 8 ChampionshipBroadcaster: ESPNGame 15: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, 5 p.m.Note: If BYU advances to the championship, the game will be played on Monday, March 9 at 4 p.m.Ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply.The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process, and do not review stories before publication.This article originally appeared in The Athletic.Houston Cougars, Utah Utes, Kansas State Wildcats, Arizona State Sun Devils, Colorado Buffaloes, BYU Cougars, Baylor Bears, Cincinnati Bearcats, TCU Horned Frogs, Iowa State Cyclones, West Virginia Mountaineers, UCF Knights, Arizona Wildcats, Texas Tech Lady Raiders, Oklahoma State Cowgirls, Kansas Jayhawks, Women's College Basketball, Fubo Partnership, How to Watch2026 The Athletic Media Company