The 10-Team Big 12 Figures Out Its Tournament Format

On Wednesday, I wrote about the SEC's decision to finally join the rest of the Big Six conferences by moving away from a divisional format for basketball. Today, the Big 12, which despite the name will have two fewer members for the foreseeable future, made an announcement regarding its conference tournament. Basically, the Big 12 will adopt the old Pac-10 format. The Big 12's postseason event will feature all 10 teams, with the top six receiving byes to the quarterfinals. Nos. 7 through 10 will play Wednesday for the right to likely lose to the top two seeds.

The Big 12 regular season will shift from a 16-game divisionally-based schedule to a full 18-game round-robin this season. In other words, league play will be a grind, particularly with two typical basement dwellers, Colorado and Nebraska, gone.

Up next, the Big East, who has to figure out what to do when TCU becomes team No. 17 in 2012-13. The coaches have already voted to include each and every team, but the athletic directors have the final say. Let's hope they deliver some sanity to the situation.

Enjoy this post? Follow Blogging the Bracket on Twitter and Like the site on Facebook.