The Big 12 Tournament has brought back its awful basketball court design, and this time with a glass digital court. Credit: ESPN; Terry McAulay on X Credit: ESPN; Terry McAulay on X
By Matt Clapp on

In 2025, the Big 12 drew plenty of criticism for its basketball court at the conference tournaments. The court was definitely not easy on the eyes, with the conference’s “XII” logo all over the court in a repeated pattern. It would’ve mesmerized “Magic Eye” poster fan Mr. Pitt in Seinfeld, but it’s not what viewers want to see on a college basketball broadcast, especially a high-stress tournament with seasons on the line.

The criticism was so rampant that Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark even had to defend it in media sessions.

Fast-forward to March 2026, and the Big 12 has doubled down on the court design for the latest conference tournaments.

But there’s more- it’s also a digital court!

The glass digital court, from ASB GlassFloor, is the first of its kind “for official competition in the United States,” as the Big 12 bragged about Wednesday on X.

And that Big 12 social media post is a test in the “Is all publicity good publicity?” debate, as it was met with a whole lot of mocking and criticism.

Here’s a look at the reactions on social media, which even includes Terry McAulay, the NFL rules analyst for NBC, disgusted by the court.

The Big 12 women’s tournament takes place over the rest of the week in Kansas City, while the men’s tournament will be March 10-14. So, college basketball fans will see a lot of this ugly design over the next two weeks on ESPN broadcasts, unless the Big 12 wants to actually take better advantage of the digital court capabilities.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.

He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

View all posts by Matt Clapp