Kansas men’s basketball earns No. 1 seed in 2023 NCAA tournament in West region
LAWRENCE — Kansas men’s basketball is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for the second-straight year.
The selection committee recognized the Jayhawks (27-7) Sunday for a season in which they won the Big 12 Conference’s regular season title and reached the championship game of the conference tournament. The selection committee placed the Jayhawks on the same seed line they were a year ago, when they went on a run to win the national championship. And they’ll open up Thursday at 1 p.m. (CT) in Des Moines, Iowa, against 16-seed Howard (22-12) — which won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's regular season and tournament titles.
"I'm just happy that we get to still be able to play," redshirt junior guard Dajuan Harris Jr. said. "I know we didn't get the Midwest region, but ... we've got a great fan base. So, hopefully they get to travel wherever we are. ... We've just got to get ready for Howard."
The lopsided defeat against Texas in the Big 12 tournament title game may have put a sour taste in the mouths of some analyzing Kansas’ resume, given how recent it is. But where Kansas will start in the NCAA tournament is a reflection of more than just one day. It didn’t deserve to drop far, if at all.
In the non-conference portion of the schedule alone the Jayhawks beat Duke, NC State, Missouri, Indiana and Kentucky. All of those teams are in the NCAA tournament. The only non-conference loss Kansas suffered came on a neutral court against Tennessee, another NCAA tournament team.
In the Big 12 portion of the schedule, Kansas beat each of the other nine programs at least once and swept Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and West Virginia. West Virginia is among the seven Big 12 schools going to the NCAA tournament. Owning wins against Texas, Baylor, TCU, Iowa State and Kansas State gives Kansas a bevy of victories that’s hard to compete against.
"It's always an exciting time of the year," assistant coach Norm Roberts said. "Our guys were really happy being the No. 1 seed. That's an unbelievable accomplishment. (Head) Coach (Bill Self) talked to our guys earlier today and said if that happens for us that means that you're one of the teams that have a chance to cut down nets, and that's such a great accomplishment for what they did, and how proud he was of them and what we've accomplished."
Should Kansas beat Howard, it's in line to go up against either 8-seed Arkansas or 9-seed Illinois in the round of 32. Should Kansas advance to the Sweet 16, it could go up against either 5-seed Saint Mary's, 12-seed VCU, 4-seed UConn or 13-seed Iona. Should Kansas advance to the Elite Eight, it could play against either 6-seed TCU, 11-seeds Arizona State/Nevada, 3-seed Gonzaga, 14-seed Grand Canyon, 7-seed Northwestern, 10-seed Boise State, 2-seed UCLA or 15-seed UNC Asheville.
This is arguably the toughest region in the NCAA tournament. So, the challenging schedule Kansas just went through should serve the Jayhawks well. Because more challenges are coming for a team that's a 1-seed for the 16th time in program history.
"The region is very strong, very strong," Roberts said. "You knew you were going to play a good, really good, team in the 8-9 game, just the way it was setting up throughout the year because there's so many good teams in the country. So, we knew we were going to have a battle there no matter what. Every 1-seed is going to have a battle. So, we've just got to come focused, ready to play. Both teams are very good. But Howard's a very good team, too. We need to put all our focus on Howard."
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU basketball earns No. 1 seed in 2023 NCAA tournament in West region
