Kansas Jayhawks head to Fort Worth as No. 1 seed in NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional
Big 12 regular-season and postseason tournament champion Kansas has been awarded the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional of the 2022 men’s NCAA Tournament.
The Jayhawks (28-6) secured their ninth No. 1 seed in the 19-year Bill Self era (there was no NCAA Tournament or bracket in 2020 because of COVID-19).
“We are a 1-seed. You work your butt off all year to get that. We had to earn it,” Self said.
His squad will open play Thursday at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas against the winner of a First Four game on Tuesday between No. 16 seeds Texas Southern and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Dayton, Ohio (5:40 p.m. on truTV). Tipoff for KU’s first-round game will be 8:57 p.m. Thursday on TruTV.
If KU wins its first round game, it would meet No. 8 seed San Diego State or No. 9 seed Creighton on Saturday for a spot in the Sweet 16 in Chicago. Also in KU’s regional: No. 2 seed Auburn, No. 3 seed Wisconsin, No. 4 seed Providence and No. 5 seed Iowa, which won the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday.
“I see Fort Worth and Chicago. If things go well, those are both 7, 7 1/2-hour drives and direct flights in alumni-rich areas,” Self said. “So I think it was about as good a Sunday afternoon as we could have, but that doesn’t really include who we are playing either.”
The challenge for Sunday night into the wee hours of the morning would be to scour tape of the two teams the Jayhawks could play in the first round.
Self has limited knowledge about A&M-Corpus Christi of the Southland Conference and Texas Southern of the SWAC.
“I have known Steve for a while,” Self said of A&M-Corpus Christi coach Steve Lutz, a former Purdue assistant, “and I’ve known Johnny forever,” Self added of Texas Southern coach Johnny Jones, former head coach at LSU.
“But as far as watching their teams play, that’s something we’ve got to dive into now.”
Self said not knowing the identify of the first-round foe at this time “presents a challenge from a preparation standpoint. I’d rather know who we are going to play. We are going to have a full day tomorrow (Monday) and full day Tuesday that we will be working on stuff and wouldn’t even know who we are playing yet.
“It is a one-day prep for the first game regardless who wins. Unless after watching tape we see something they do is something we haven’t seen all year long … even though we may not know who we are playing, if one of those does something like that we may work on that stuff Monday or Tuesday.”
Gonzaga was awarded the overall No. 1 seed and will play in the West Regional. Arizona was the second No. 1 seed and was assigned the South Regional. After KU, Baylor was the final No. 1 seed and will be in the East Regional, also opening play in Fort Worth. The Big 12 has six teams in the tourney: KU and Baylor, plus Texas Tech (No. 3, West), Texas (No. 6, East), TCU (No. 9, South) and Iowa State (No. 11, Midwest).
“It’s human to look at the entire bracket, no question,” Self said. “Bottom line is I’m looking at three teams — the winner of the game Tuesday and San Diego State and Creighton. Next week we’ll go on to another two-day tournament. That’s how I look at it.
“If you ever get into the tournament, you will be playing somebody good no matter what. It doesn’t happen often you play a 16, then a 15, then a 14, then a 13. You are going to play good teams in the tournament. That’s just the way it is. It’s more about matchups I think than anything else. I won’t get into how we match up the second weekend until we take care of business the first weekend. We’ve got a lot of work to do before that occurs.”
As far as location … the Jayhawks more often that not have played first-round games in close proximity of Lawrence. In 2021, the entire tournament was held in Indianapolis because of COVID-19. It was canceled in 2020.
In 2019, KU opened in faraway Salt Lake City, however in 2018 it was Wichita, 2017 Tulsa, 2016 Des Moines, 2015 Omaha, 2014 St. Louis, 2013 Kansas City, 2012 Omaha, 2011 Tulsa and 2010 Oklahoma City.
“I think we’ve been so spoiled here that every time we play the NCAA Tournament, it’s been a drive first round,” Self said. “This is still the closest we can do (this postseason) but sometimes it’s good actually to go to a place that fans can look to as a nice spot to get to as opposed to Kansas City fans saying, ‘Hey we get to drive to Des Moines or Wichita or Tulsa or Oklahoma City.’ Those are nice places but probably not places you’d say, ‘I want to go spend a weekend there,’ (because) they are close already. I think this will give us a fan base in Dallas and Chicago if we are fortunate enough to win two to come watch us.”
KU is a No. 1 seed for the first time since the 2018 postseason, when it advanced to the Final Four. This is the Jayhawks’ NCAA record 32nd consecutive tournament appearance and 50th overall.
“That’s pretty good, pretty strong,” Self said. “Although seeds don’t matter, once you get them you’ve got to go play.”
This story was originally published March 13, 2022 at 5:23 PM.
