Big 12 basketball tournament gives us the worst court design of the year

Flamboyant court designs are nothing new in college basketball. Oregon's pine trees, Memphis' tiger stripes, Oakland's dark court, and Florida Atlantic's palm trees. Schools aren't afraid to take big swings to deliver something unique, and gain some notoriety for themselves.

But not every big swing makes contact. Sometimes, you take your swing and it's a massive miss, and you wind up getting your knees buckled, or your bat flies off into the stands.

Unfortunately for the Big 12, their conference tournament court falls into the latter category.

The Big 12 tournament kicked off on Tuesday, and they unveiled a greyscale court with black accents on it. That alone would've made quite the statement, but unfortunately for everyone, they didn't stop there. Instead, they included hundreds of "XII" logos up and down the court, signifiying their brand logo. The result is a cluttered, off-putting mess that makes it almost impossible to focus on the action on court.

This is definitely one of the courts of all time pic.twitter.com/0atjH4x5Md
— Ryan Hammer🔨 (@ryanhammer09) March 11, 2025

I sort of get the idea here, but yeesh. I don't know that, were I running a conference, I'd want to present a picture that reminds viewers of television static. I'm not sure that making it impossible for viewers to focus on the action on the court because of the constantly moving details of the court.

Big 12 commissioner Brett Yorkmark discussed the court before the action on Tuesday.

“That court isn’t about me, it’s about the student athletes,”

Brett Yormark on the Big 12 Tournament’s court design pic.twitter.com/dNzverad3D
— Sam Foster (@Samfos1er) March 11, 2025

"That court isn't about me, it's about our student athletes," Yormark said. "Every student athlete that walked on that court last week came up to me and said 'Brett, it's fantastic.' They took selfies, they loved it."

"That's our stage," Yormark continued, "And we wanted to make a profound statement. And I think we did and I love it."

Maybe the players do love the court, and if so, that's certainly a mark in its favor. Unfortunately, watching it on television, something is clearly lost in translation.

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