After the Kansas Jayhawks won on senior night, KU fans were hopeful that they might be able to have a good Big 12 Tournament showing. Unfortunately, after an overtime win over UCF, a team they beat 99-48 on the road just earlier this season, they fell to Arizona in the quarterfinals 88-77, finalizing their resume for March Madness.
Due to the craziness that is Championship Week, teams can never know exactly where they will fall in the seed-lines. However, with Kansas ending the regular season unranked and them not improving their resume much at all, it is fairly safe to assume that the Jayhawks will finish as a No. 7 or 8 seed. Luckily, KU did secure some big early season wins which helps their case for No. 7.
For this thought experiment, we will look at teams projected in the No. 9 to 10 seed range that could potentially face off with the Jayhawks in the first round. Teams like Baylor, West Virginia, and Creighton are in this range, however with two of them being Big 12 teams and Creighton and Kansas having already played this season, the committee will likely pair KU with someone else.
Which five teams are favored to see the Crimson and Blue in the Round of 64?
Bottom-table SEC teams, top-table Mountain West teams, and a mid major champion
The first two teams that are likely in the No. 10 seed range that could find Jayhawks fans cheering against them are both from the SEC in the Georgia Bulldogs and the Arkansas Razorbacks. While the two found themselves ranked ninth and 11th in the SEC standings, the league was so stacked this year, that both teams should still find themselves as tournament locks.
This year would mark the first time that Georgia finds themselves in March Madness since the 2014-2015 season, so they would surely be hungry for a round of 64 win. Meanwhile, Arkansas looks to make a run in March with their new coach, John Calipari. Kansas is very familiar with Arkansas, as the Razorbacks dished out an 8-1 upset over KU in 2023-2024.
The Mountain West foes may cause Kansas issues as well
Looking at another conference, Kansas could also face off with teams much higher up in their conference standings, although it is a much weaker conference in the Mountain West. The Utah State Aggies and New Mexico Lobos were on the No. 8 to 9 line entering the MWC tournament as top three seeds, but unfortunately both were beaten in the semifinals, which may cause them to fall.
Coach Richard Pitino brought the Lobos to their first March Madness in a decade last season and Donovan Dent can be like a one-man-army on offense at times. Utah State meanwhile won their first March Madness game in over a decade last year. First-year coach, Jerrod Calhoun and his incredibly deep team will look to make the second weekend.
Is the mid-major potential opponent actually the scariest of the bunch?
Lasly, we have the Drake Bulldogs, who are an incredibly fun story. After Coach DeVries and his son and star player, Tucker DeVries, left for West Virginia this offseason, many thought Drake might find themselves in a down year. Boy were they wrong. Coach Ben McCollum took the coaching job after being very successful in Division II and brought four of his Division II players with him.
Drake finished the year 30-3, winning the MVC conference tournament and secured their first 30-win season in school history. It is hard to gauge how the committee will view Drake, as its record is impressive but competition was very weak. Regardless, they had wins over Vanderbilt and Kansas State, so they can definitely hang with KU if they meet up.
Selection Sunday takes place in the coming days on March 16th and only then will the Jayhawks find out their seed and their matchup. Regardless, it will be an exciting matchup for one reason or another!