Kansas basketball: Selection committee good to Jayhawks

The Kansas basketball team is preparing for their NCAA Tournament opener Thursday against Penn. The Jayhawks are the top seed in the Midwest and number three seed in the field.

The Kansas basketball team is making their 29th straight trip to the NCAA tournament. Many fans did not like the annual NCAA Selection Show on TBS. As a matter of fact, change is good but the executives at CBS didn’t need to ruin the show. Jayhawk fans had to be patient but finally learned who, what and where teams were headed.

The Jayhawks biggest challengers in the Midwest Region are No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Michigan State.  Their path to the final four is difficult but not impossible. After what we saw the Jayhawks accomplish at Sprint Center this weekend, they can beat anyone. Coach Self is not intimidated by Michigan State or Duke. They won’t have to face both.

The Big 12 regular season and tournament champions must first stop No. 16 seed Penn. The Quakers won 24 games this season. Villanova beat the Quakers by 28 in November. Penn also struggled to defeat the 10-win UMKC team.  With a win the Jayhawks will face the winner of North Carolina State and Seton Hall.

I was surprised the committee included only seven Big 12 Conference teams. Several TV talking heads mentioned the Big 12 as the nation’s most competitive. If that is the case, why not include Oklahoma State?  That makes no sense. On ESPN Dick Vitale ripped the committee for ignoring the Cowboys.

Jayhawk fans in the Sunflower State are thrilled the Jayhawks open this tournament in Wichita. I’m not sure that helps Bill Self’s guys but they will avoid a long journey.  The committee assigned Texas Tech to Dallas. The other Big 12 teams will have long distance trips.

Next: Get Your March Madness Realtime Bracket Here

Airplane tickets for most Big 12 teams

West Virginia fans complained about going to Kansas City. The Mountaineers get a cross country trip to San Diego and a game with Murray State. In addition, Oklahoma opens in Pittsburg against Rhode Island and TCU goes to Detroit to face Arizona State. The most interesting match for Big 12 teams is Kansas State in Charlotte for a rematch with former Wildcat Marcus Foster and Creighton.