Kansas basketball: First look at the Jayhawks’ seat in the West Region

Good news, Kansas basketball fans: The best time of the year is officially back (finally). We all might be a little rusty when it comes to filling out our brackets, considering we haven’t done it since 2019. However, the matchups are set and it’s time for the games to begin.

Jayhawks fans didn’t have to wait too long into the hour to see their team revealed. KU landed a seat in the West region as a No. 3 seed. They will face No. 14 seed Eastern Washington on Saturday at 12:15 pm CT.

The Eastern Washington Eagles come into the NCAA Tournament as the Big Sky conference tournament winners and carry a 15-8 overall record (12-3 conference).

Something that jumps out in this region is the Jayhawks’ placement with No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga, who they previously lost to in their season opener. However; KU has a long ride to the Elite Eight before even getting a chance for revenge.

To round out the top 3 seeds here, No. 2 Iowa landed in the West as well. The Hawkeyes are led by potential National Player of the Year Luka Garza as they try to make a deep run. He’s averaging a whopping 23 points per game and is joined by a complement of solid teammates.

Again, the Jayhawks won’t have to worry about potentially playing them until getting out of the first weekend. However, if Kansas is lucky enough to advance; Garza and this Iowa team would pose quite the challenge.

One thing that has caught many Jayhawks’ attention is their potential second-round matchup with the No. 6 USC Trojans. Assuming KU is decent enough beat Eastern Washington, they could face the No. 14 KenPom program (KU is 8 spots behind them here at No. 22).

This would certainly be a tough matchup for the Jayhawks, especially as the roster is in limbo a bit for now due to some Covid-19 issues. After the bracket reveal, Coach Bill Self stated that he thinks his team is in the best shape they can be. He does expect David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna, who didn’t travel to Kansas City, to join the team at some point this week.

Based on the NCAA’s Covid protocols, it seems unlikely Kansas’ third player to test positive (rumored Jalen Wilson, but unconfirmed) would be unable to play until after the first weekend due to NCAA regulations.

Now that the matchups are set, it’s really about getting and staying healthy for Kansas. We can only hope that the guys will travel safely to Indiana and be ready to go on Saturday as it will be crucial that this squad is healthy if they’d like to make a run in this year’s tournament.