Kansas Jayhawks basketball's five most likely first-round foes for March Madness
By Tyler Key
In the recent “Top 16 Committee Ranking” release, Kansas basketball was ranked eighth overall, making them the bottom No. 2 seed as of February 16. It will be difficult for the Jayhawks to climb into contention for a top seed, but their resume is also already complete enough to avoid anything lower than a three-seed entering the tournament. What does this mean for KU’s potential first-round matchup in the Round of 64?
Kansas finishes the regular season with three Quad 1 games, one Quad 2 game, and one Quad 3 game. Additionally, in the Big 12 Tournament, the Jayhawks will likely add a few more Quad 1 games to their resume. In most scenarios, the Crimson and Blue will end up being between the sixth and 11th overall seed, essentially indicating that they will be a No. 2 or 3 seed for March Madness. This allows us to immediately cut out a large portion of teams that KU won’t be in the opponent-seed range for.
Projected automatic qualifier teams who are closer to a 16 seed or a weaker 15 seed: Merrimack, Southern U, Eastern Kentucky, North Dakota, Norfolk State, Morehead State, and Quinnipiac.
Projected automatic qualifier teams who are closer to a 12-13 seed or a stronger 14 seed: Akron, Appalachian State, South Florida, Indiana State, Yale, UC Irvine, Samford, McNeese State, Louisiana Tech, and Vermont.
This leaves us with five teams who are most likely to slot in as a weaker No. 14 seed or a stronger No. 15 seed.