Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament | |
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Conference Baseball Championship | |
Sport | Baseball |
Conference | Big 12 Conference |
Number of teams | 8 |
Format | two 4-team double-elimination brackets, winners face off in the championship game |
Current stadium | Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark |
Current location | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
Played | 1997-present |
Last contest | 2016 |
Current champion | TCU (2) |
Most championships | Texas (5) |
TV partner(s) |
Fox College Sports (all games prior to final) Fox Sports Net (championship game only) |
Official website | Big12Sports.com Baseball |
Sponsors | |
Phillips 66 | |
Host stadiums | |
Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (1998-2001, 2003, 2005-2014, 2016) ONEOK Field (2015) Globe Life Park in Arlington (2002, 2004) All Sports Stadium (1997) |
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Host locations | |
Oklahoma City (1997-2001, 2003, 2005-2014, 2016) Tulsa, Oklahoma (2015) Arlington, Texas (2002, 2004) |
The Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament (sometimes known simply as the Big 12 Tournament) is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Big 12 Conference. Going back to the original format abandoned in 2005, the tournament consists of two separate four-team double-elimination tournaments. The winners of each of those tournament face each other in a one-game match for the championship. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
The Big 12 Tournament was first played in 1997 at All Sports Stadium in Oklahoma City, before moving to Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark the following year. The tournament has been played in Oklahoma City each year, save for 2002 and 2004, when the event was played in Arlington, Texas at the home park of Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers. Over its 10-plus year history, the tournament has had three distinct formats.
In 1997 and 1998, the top six teams were invited to play in a double elimination tournament with no byes for any teams. The format mirrored the regional round of the NCAA tournament at that time.
Beginning in 1999, the tournament expanded to eight teams and followed the format of the College World Series. It consisted of two 4-team double-elimination brackets, with the winners facing off in a final championship game. The format mirrors that of the tournament format used by the Southeastern Conference, which continues to use this bracket.
In 2006 the tournament moved to a round-robin format. In this format, two pools of four teams play each other with the winners of each pool playing a one-game championship match. This format ended in 2010.