We tried nearly every #Big12Eats food item. Ranking from Cyclones Tenderloin to Baylor Float

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Josh Stone first thought of dishes for each state.

As a chef, he had strong ideas for Kansas and Oklahoma. He researched Texas and West Virginia.

But the Big 12 wanted more.

Each university needed a food item tailored to its culture or tradition when the Big 12 men’s basketball tournament opened this week at T-Mobile Center.

Ten dishes. Ten challenges.

All well worth it.

“The sales are through the roof,” said Stone, the executive chef for Levy Restaurants, the provider of food for T-Mobile Center and the Big 12 Tournament.

“I don't think any of us encompassed the full outreach or the full stretch of how big this footprint was going to be, how many people were going to be onto this before the tournament even started.”

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As the Big 12 Tournament winds down Saturday night with the championship game, so does the first full-week event under new commissioner Brett Yormark’s guidance to get “younger, hipper, cooler” in the conference.

The Big 12 partnered with Japanese fashion brand A Bathing Ape, unveiled a championship club and brought in hip-hop legend Fat Joe for a private show and Shaquille O’Neal for a one-hour show as DJ Diesel.

The conference even unveiled a conference anthem, “No Nights Off.”

But its most popular venture is a food-centric menu at a concession stand simply labeled #Big12Eats.

“Even dating back to when I interviewed for the job, I made it crystal clear that my vision of this conference was that we would live at the intersection of culture and sports,” Yormark said. “We feel that there is a balance that needs to be played out here.

“But seeding culture into what already existed is a great step for us as a conference. It is a great differentiator for us.”

But how good is the food? That was the million-dollar question.

So, I volunteered as tribute to sample each item Friday. I only take on the tough assignments.

Unfortunately, the West Virginia Mountaineer Roll was unavailable. But here are my rankings and thoughts on each of the nine other items:

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1. Cyclones Tenderloin

Iowa State fans travel very well to Kansas City for the tournament. It makes sense to have the elite food item appeal to them.

The sandwich — a breaded pork tenderloin with sliced onions and sweet and spicy pickles on a Kaiser bun — had some spicy kick thanks to the pickles Stone said were marinated in red pepper simple syrup.

Maybe I loved the pickles the most. I couldn’t get enough of them. They made the sandwich pop.

Either way, this was worth every hashtag and penny spent.

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2. Tech’s Masked Rider Burger

Stone said he’s received several questions as to why Texas Tech’s item did not feature a tortilla.

It’s valid.

But nobody wants to see a burger tossed onto the court.

Cleaning up a beef patty topped with cheddar, a friend onion ring, sweet pickled jalapenos and barbecue sauce seems like a hassle.

Unless it’s cleaning off the sauce from your mouth with a napkin.

I can get behind that, much like this burger.

The onion ring was crunchy, a big necessity. The sauce was strong. The jalapenos added a nice subtle kick.

And I didn’t even pour the side of beans that comes with it on the burger, though Stone said that has been a popular choice by fans.

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3. Jayhawks Mac & Cheese

Stone worked at the University of Kansas for a period of time and noticed mac-and-cheese bowls were popular.

So, this was a no-brainer when he designed the menu.

And it was my early front-runner for the top spot.

White cheese sauce macaroni covered with pulled pork, barbecue sauce and crispy fried onions rarely fails.

But Stone even pointed this out: It’s a heavy item.

Definitely try this, but know there won’t be much of a need for anything else.

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4. K-State’s Wabash Cannondog

I’ve tried lots of condiments on a hot dog throughout the years.

For sure mustard, ketchup and the usual (but not mayonnaise, you monsters). A Stillwater staple, The Curty Shack, puts cream cheese on its dogs, and it’s wonderful. An old Memphis Dog at an Oklahoma City Dodgers game was always great.

I can’t say I’ve had purple relish on a dog.

So, I was intrigued as to what that exactly was. Turns out, it’s pretty simple. It’s sweet relish mixed with a ghost pepper blueberry hot sauce.

And it was strong, especially on top of a bacon-wrapped hot dog.

This would have been higher on my rankings, but it also had the opposite effect of the mac and cheese. I feared it wasn’t heavy enough.

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5. TCU Loaded Tots

Speaking of purple, Stone really leaned into the Horned Frogs’ colors here when he developed a purple sour cream.

I barely noticed the purple, though.

I did notice the flavor.

Tater tots covered in smoked brisket, pico de gallo and spicy queso sauce rarely leave little to be desired.

I’m just not sure the brisket would meet Texas standards.

Still, there is a recent craze for smothered tots. This leans into that in a solid way.

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6. Longhorn Quesadilla

It’s hard to go wrong with a quesadilla, especially a triple-cheese one with steak or chicken.

I tried the steak version. And though it was cold — nobody’s fault — it was strong. The Burnt Orange salsa rojo sauce was not an option in the tasting, a concern I realized well after the tasting.

That could have taken this a step or two higher.

But a quesadilla is a quesadilla.

It’s simple, delicious and easily transportable in an arena. And perhaps pairing this with Longhorns fans means it won’t end up being tossed onto the court.

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7. Pistol Pete’s OSU Fried Corn

What does fried corn have to do with Oklahoma State or Stillwater?

Beats me.

Stone didn’t have a great answer either.

“We pulled that out of one of our other accounts: Arrowhead (Stadium),” he said. “It was a very popular concession item that we could make work for them.”

Those concerns aside, the corn — elote-style, bacon-fried and topped with crushed Doritos — just didn’t quite land with me.

There was cilantro and crema but not enough spice. A lime wedge might have helped some, too.

But the bacon pieces were a nice touch.

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8. Stormin’ from Norman Oklahoma Taco

This was a big swing trying to get a frybread taco (or Indian Taco as it’s commonly known around Oklahoma) right.

This just lacked a strong element — the bean base on the frybread. The chili was barely noticeable and overpowered by the ground beef chunks.

It had potential — the frybread was excellent — but I was expecting more.

Maybe the good news is that it’ll only be around for another year before it moves to Nashville and the SEC Tournament.

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The others

The Baylor Float

I just couldn’t rank a Dr Pepper vanilla ice cream float with other food items.

But order this along with whatever food item you choose. It’s wonderful and it perfectly fits Baylor and Waco, Texas, the home of Dr Pepper.

My only wish is that I had more than one scoop of ice cream and the small amount of soda. I shouldn’t have split that with others.

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West Virginia Mountaineer Roll

Sadly, this item was sold out.

Stone said West Virginia fans were very excited before the tournament about the item. So much so that they bought it out in two days.

Well done, Mountaineers fans.

But Stone also listened to their complaints.

The soft roll filled with sliced pepperoni and mozzarella cheese coated with oil and run through a conveyor oven had marinara sauce inside. That’s a big no-no for the traditional roll.

“I didn’t research deep enough,” Stone said. “You’re supposed to let the oil from the pepperoni be everything you need.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Big 12 Tournament food items for each program ranked best to worst