AJ Dybantsa and Olivia Miles are at the top of the pro basketball prospects on display in the 2026 Big XII championship tournaments. Attendance and enthusiasm are high in downtown Kansas City.

And here we are, writing about the world’s largest iPad.

There have been so many hot takes written about the conference’s floor, deemed “glass” by many casual observers and media members who haven’t set foot on it.

Truth is, the “glass” is much more of a firm vinyl-feeling floor, black in color and assembled in a grid, with visible seams between the squares.

But it’s not the playing surface that has people talking; it’s the countless thousands of LED lights right beneath the surface that allow the conference to run dynamic graphics, live stats, and ads throughout the game for all to see.

Truth be told, I think it’s too early to decide where we go from here. But after watching dozens of hours of live in-person action on the court over the last two weeks, I think the innovation is more New Coke than Crystal Pepsi in that it tried to fix a problem that didn’t exist, but it might not be a total failure.

Here are three quick snippets to illustrate  from a single afternoon at the women’s tourney :

Olivia Miles hits the deck

I was sitting courtside, about 25 feet away from TCU guard (and top WNBA draft-pick to-be) Olivia Miles was undercut during a slash through the lane. Toppling backwards, Miles slammed the back of her head on the floor hard enough that the strap on her glasses gave way and the specs went flying.

While I’m not a medical professional, I can certainly spot a potentially dangerous head trauma situation. And I’m comfortable saying that, in this particular case, Miles was saved from that potential disaster by the soft give of the playing surface. 

Baylor’s Caden Powell seemed to back this opinion up during Day 1 of the men’s tournament. Even after a loss, Powell was complimentary of the league’s innovation, adding that the softer surface made jumping and landing easier on his body.

Oklahoma State’s “Why Now?” 

After her team’s emotional loss to upstart No. 12-seed Kansas State, Oklahoma State junior guard Amari Whiting gave one of the week’s most honest assessments on the new surface.

While she acknowledged it was “nice to see the Big 12 try and bring some uniqueness,” she added “it would be nice to play on a …court.”

Read also: “Why now, when the stakes are so high?” (I think she has a point.)

For what it’s worth, Cincinnati guard Jalen Celestine was also complimentary of the surface.

“It’s just basketball at the end of the day. We’ve all played on concrete, tile, … hardwood,” he said.

BYU’s tough sledding

With TCU running up the score in the first half of the same game mentioned above, BYU had difficulty getting into its own offense. This led to a handful of painful possessions when the Cougars ran 15 seconds of handoffs and screens at the top of the key.

The resulting traffic seemed to affect the floor, and footing became an issue. 

On one particular possession, one of the Cougars athletic guards slipped, hit the deck, then got to her knees just in time to catch a forearm to chops from another passing player.

“I … hate this floor,” she appeared to say. 

In an era when the players have more power and say than ever before, I think it’s important that we listen to their feedback. 

Lookit: The visuals of the court are awesome, and I suspect that the players will also really enjoy seeing the photos of them with a ball that seems to glow and sneakers that (at times) appear to have neon soles — both cool side effects from the LEDs.

I suspect that will carry some weight, too.

In the short term, though, I think what matters is the product on the floor. And the current Big 12 has the best assembly of talent — from top to bottom — in any league at the moment.