The Big 12 tournament in Kansas City is always a popular and exciting event. Fans from all different directions come to KC, hoping that their team will come out on top and get an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

This season, when the Big 12 tournament came to Kansas City, many were dreaming about and hoping for a border war rematch. Mizzou and Kansas had two very fierce, close games, each winning one; leading up to the tournament and many hoped they would get another rematch.

This tournament was very special for Kansas City, especially for Missouri fans.  Having both area teams in the top ten and the great rivalry coming to an end, this was extremely important to the Missouri players, and they showed how important it was to them with their play.

The ideal situation for the city of Kansas City would have been for Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, and Iowa State to make it to the semi-final on Friday. Kansas State however lost to Baylor and Iowa State lost to Texas on Thursday. Missouri and Kansas both showed off their talents and moved on.

On Friday, Kansas and Baylor battled each other with a large number of Kansas fans in attendance. However, Baylor simply outplayed the Jayhawks and earned a spot in the final. When KU would get on a run, it always seemed like Baylor would have one of their own. Baylor ruined the possible border war rematch, but that did not take away from the rest of the tournament.

Missouri and Texas played in the following game and the home fans were not disappointed. Missouri seemed to have control of the game from the very start, similar to their previous game in the tournament against Oklahoma State.

Mizzou and Baylor were once again to face off in the Big 12 championship game, a rematch of the 2009 tournament. The result was the same; Mizzou controlled the pace of the game and were once again Big 12 champions.

As the game was coming to a close, Mizzou fans left their mark by chanting “MIZ-SEC!” Missouri guard, Kim English was named the tournament’s most valuable player. English was later interviewed after the game by ESPN where he gave reasons why Mizzou should get a number one seed.

This tournament was very special for Missouri fans. On their way to the SEC, Mizzou left their mark, as Big 12 champions.