Big 12 basketball tournaments this week

Baylor’s men’s and women’s basketball teams converge on Kansas City this week for the 2008 Big 12 Conference tournaments.

The women’s tournament kicks off Tuesday, though the Lady Bears (led by first-team All-Big 12 selections Angela Tisdale and Rachel Allison) receive a bye as the conference’s No. 2 seed. Eighth-ranked Baylor will face either Texas or Texas Tech on Wednesday at 6 p.m.; that game (and all Big 12 Tournament games past the first round) will be televised by Fox Sports Net.

The men, meanwhile, matched the program’s best finish ever in earning a No. 5 seed for this year’s conference tournament; the Bears’ 9-7 Big 12 record set a new program best. Baylor (led by first-team All-Big 12 honoree Curtis Jerrells) will face Colorado Thursday at 2 p.m.; that game will be televised nationally on ESPNU and regionally on ESPN Plus.

Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!