The Big 12 Tournament is in full swing as an automatic bid to the big dance starting next week is on the line! Join us for our college basketball odds series where our Big 12 Tournament prediction and pick will be revealed.

The defending national champion  Jayhawks currently have the best odds to take home the Big 12 Championship hardware, but let's not forget that it was also Kansas that will need to give it their all to defend their conference tournament title with another impressive showing in Kansas City like the one that they showcased a year ago. With flashy schools like Texas, Baylor, and TCU more than ready to steal Kansas' thunder, this race throughout the week will surely be an intriguing one!

Here are the college basketball odds, courtesy of DraftKings. 

Big 12 Tournament Odds: 

Kansas: +250

Texas: +325

Baylor: +450

TCU: +600

*Watch college basketball LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why Kansas Could Win The Big 12

While Kansas had one of their more magical seasons in school history after bringing home Big 12 Championship honors while also managing to win their first national title since 2008 and their sixth overall, the Jayhawks are a roster that thrives themselves on being the cream of the crop of the Big 12. Although the Jayhawks are certainly no strangers in winning, they must figure out a way to not play hero ball and spread the ball around at will offensively. With a league-leading 16.9 assists per game, the Jayhawks are at their best when they are swinging the ball around there perimeter and also feeding the big boys in the paint from time to time.

Unfortunately, the Jayhawks will be without their top general in head coach Bill Self, as he will miss Thursday's matchup versus West Virginia due to an illness. However, Kansas leads the country in Quad 1 wins with a whopping 15 on the season and it definitely makes sense why the Jayhawks are favored to win the conference tournament yet again this week.

Why Texas Could Win The Big 12

Another viable option when it comes to which team can steal Kansas' thunder in Kansas City, the Texas Longhorns happen to be an extremely skilled squad that will be more than ready to make some noise. After reeling off 23 wins during the regular season, the Longhorns' most dangerous part of their game comes in the form of extreme balance on the offensive side of the floor. While it always helps to possess a type of player like leading scorer and point guard Marcus Carr in your backcourt, Texas averages the 39th-most points in the country at 78.8 per game but also is capable of doing some damage in the assists department with 16.6 per outing in that category.

Although Texas can string together some stops on that end of the floor, this is an area for concern for a Longhorns squad that has often remained inconsistent in finding ways to holding opposing offense at bay. Will National Coach of the Year in Rodney Terry have his troops ready for play?

Why Baylor Could Win The Big 12

A possible sleeper team when it comes to stealing the show this week in the Big 12 Conference Tournament happens to be the Baylor Bears. Entering bracket play with the number-four overall seed, the Bears will be squaring off with an Iowa State Cyclones bunch in the first round of play that has had their way versus Baylor all year long. Despite Iowa State having swept the regular season series versus Baylor, many players on this roster were National Champions only a few short seasons ago, so they certainly know exactly what it's like to string together some hard-fought victories in a win-or-go-home format.

Above all else, Baylor will find a way to win the Big 12 if they can get the proper production from their elite three-point shooting. Leading the conference in downtown percentage which currently stands at 36.8% on the season, this is an element of Baylor's game that could put teams away swiftly in a blink of an eye.

Why TCU Could Win the Big 12

Although the Horned Frogs face the difficult task in capturing the Big 12 title and an automatic bid to March Madness this week, don't 100% count out TCU to shock some folks in Missouri. Entering play, TCU has posted a 20-11 record overall that includes a 9-9 mark in conference play but don't let that make you doubt the Horned Frogs by any means.

While TCU will have a tough matchup against a really good Kansas State squad in the first round of bracket play, the Horned Frogs are sitting at a commanding five-seed in the NCAA Tournament according to ESPN insider Joe Lunardi, and a large part of this has been due to their big men in Xavier Cork and JaKobe Coles stepping up in the absence of the paint-dominating Eddie Lampkin. Even though not having Lampkin will continue to hurt TCU's chances of a big run, be on the lookout for the Horned Frogs to grab the edge on the glass as they remain one of the top rebounding teams that the Big 12 has to offer.

Final Big 12 Tournament Prediction & Pick

This conference is clearly jam-packed with talent, but it is hard to ignore the defending champs in Kansas to put their top-tier talent on display during competition this week.

Final Big 12 Tournament Prediction & Pick: Kansas +250