Big 12 tournament court raises eyebrows with hundreds of logos - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark wanted the league's postseason tournament to reflect his idealized version of the league — young, hip, upscale and current — and that spilled like a bucket of paint onto the floor this week.

Goodbye, clean and traditional hardwood. Welcome, a court emblazoned with hundreds of «XII» logos that stretch from baseline to baseline and result in a polarizing Louis Vuitton-like look to some fans and an abhorrent eyesore to others.

«That court isn't about me. It's about our student-athletes,» Yormark said Tuesday, shortly before Cincinnati and Oklahoma State stepped onto it for the first game in the newly expanded 16-team Big 12 tournament.

«When I first got here,» Yormark continued, «it was all about modernizing and contemporizing our brand, and connecting to the culture of current and future student-athletes, and that's what we're doing.»

The gray-hued floor actually debuted during last week's women's Big 12 tournament, featuring black baselines and sidelines and the Big 12 logo splashed across center court. Depending on who you ask, the product is cool or crass, awesome or ugly, yet there appeared to be precious little middle ground among basketball fans.

«I think the Big 12 tournament floor is going to give me a panic attack,» hoops analytics expert Erik Haslam wrote on X, while others joked about staring at the floor long enough to see hidden messages. Some complained that it was causing problems for TV cameras trying to focus, especially for those streaming games, or that it might cause them to have a seizure.

Other fans thought it was daring and fashionable, or at least palatable.

Such avant-garde court designs certainly are the rage these days. Florida Atlantic has an