KANSAS CITY — There’s a new format for the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament, and it includes a stipulation that the championship game would be moved back a day if BYU advances to the title game.
The league announced during Big 12 basketball media days at T-Mobile Center on Tuesday that the 2025 tournament championship game will be played on Sunday and be televised on ESPN, but the title matchup will move to Monday and be televised on ESPN2 if BYU makes it to the final.
“Our women’s championship game will now be played on Sunday on ESPN, providing greater broadcast and fan exposure for the pinnacle of our season,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told media members during his opening address, while adding, “If BYU earns a spot in the championship, the game will be pushed to Monday.”
BYU, which is owned and sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, does not compete on Sundays, thus the reason for the stipulation to move the championship game if the Cougars advance to it.
Women’s basketball is the only sport in the Big 12 that will feature a championship game on Sunday.
Prior to BYU joining the conference in summer 2023, the women’s basketball tournament championship game had been played on Sundays the previous three years — before that, the conference held semifinal games on Sundays.
During the Cougars’ first year in the league last season, the championship game was played on a Tuesday, with Sunday used as an off day during the tournament.
The 2025 tournament will be held at T-Mobile Center — also the location for Tuesday’s media day — for the second straight season, and it will include all 16 teams.
This will be the first season as a 16-team conference, after Utah, Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State joined the league this offseason and Texas and Oklahoma moved on to the SEC.
The tournament will run from Wednesday, March 5, to Sunday, March 9, unless BYU makes the final — then it will run through Monday, March 10.
The top four teams in the Big 12 standings at the end of the regular season will receive a double bye into the tournament quarterfinals, while teams who finish fifth through eighth will earn one bye into the second round.
The Cougars are in their second year in the Big 12 — last season, BYU was the No. 10 seed in the Big 12 tournament and lost to No. 7 seed Kansas in the second round.
BYU was picked to finish 12th in the league in this year’s preseason coaches poll.
BYU women’s coach Amber Whiting shared appreciation for the stipulation that includes moving the championship game if the Cougars advance that far.
“I love that he speaks it into existence,” she told the Deseret News when asked about Yormark’s comment. “I know that that’s always been a thing with BYU, but for me, that’s what kind of, what makes us special, is that we take that day off and really focus on how we can have our inner peace within how we want to worship. And I don’t ever apologize for that.”
