Look at what’s next for four No. 1 seeds if they take care of business in Round One
If they can avoid defeat in the first round, the four No. 1 seeded teams would certainly face intriguing matchups in the Round of 32 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
For instance, a KU victory over No. 16 Howard at 1 p.m., Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa would place the Jayhawks in a second-round West Regional contest against either Illinois or Arkansas on Saturday with the winner off to the Sweet 16 in Las Vegas and the loser finished for the season.
The other potential second-round games involving No. 1 seeds if they are to fare better than former No. 1 seed Virginia, which lost to No. 16 UMBC in the 2018 NCAAs, are: Houston vs. the Iowa/Auburn winner in the Midwest; Alabama vs. Maryland or West Virginia in the South; Purdue vs. Memphis or Florida Atlantic in the East.
“You knew the region you’d be in is very strong. You knew you were going to play a really good team in the 8-9 game,” KU assistant coach Norm Roberts said after the NCAA bracket was released on Sunday.
“(You knew) just the way it was setting up through the year. There are so many good teams. We knew we’d have a battle no matter what. Every 1 seed is going to have a battle. Those (8, 9) teams are very good. Howard (winner of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament) is a very good team too. We’ve got to put all our focus on Howard,” Roberts added.
In KU’s case, No. 9 seed Illinois (20-12) and No. 8 Arkansas (20-13) were not ranked in Monday’s final AP poll of the 2022-23 season, but the Razorbacks of the SEC were No. 10 in the AP Preseason Top 25 and the Fighting Illini of the Big Ten No. 23. Suffice it to say both teams have been battle tested.
Coincidentally, KU and Illinois met in an NCAA-allowed “Secret Scrimmage” during the preseason.
So if KU upends Howard would the Jayhawks prefer a game against the team they scrimmaged in a St. Louis gym last Oct. 22 over an unknown Arkansas squad?
“No. I wouldn’t say we’d rather have anybody (of those two teams) win,” Roberts said. “Both teams are very good. Both teams had great seasons. Both would present different problems from an athletic standpoint and shooting standpoint. We just want to focus on trying to beat Howard then our next opponent. We don’t look too far ahead,” Roberts added.
KU junior point guard Dajuan Harris, a starter on last year’s NCAA title team, grinned when asked about the Secret Scrimmage vs. Illinois which took place so long ago.
“Both teams were not good at the scrimmage. We were both bad,” Harris said. “Now it is the end of the year if we match up again. I think it’d be a pretty good game.
“That’s going to be a tough game between those two in the first round too,” Harris noted. “Arkansas is very athletic, fast. Illinois has big guards, big wings. It’ll be a fun game watching them. If we win the first game against Howard we’ll see who we play, hopefully we match up well against whoever it is.”
It should be noted Harris was merely answering media questions about Illinois, not looking past Howard, which will enter with a 22-12 record and five-game win streak.
“A 16 seed has beat a 1 seed before,” Harris said. “We’ve got to come in locked in, be ourselves, be who we are. We’ve got to bring a lot of energy. Yesterday (in 20-point loss to Texas in Big 12 tourney title game) we had a little bit of energy at the start. If we bring the energy and play together like we’ve done the whole year, we should be together pretty well,” Harris added.
KU coach Bill Self, who reported to work on Monday just a few days after last week’s medical procedure, realizes leadership is important this time of year.
“Coach when he talked to the team (Sunday) talked to Dajuan and he talked specifically to Jalen Wilson (junior starter off last year’s title team) and he talked to Jankovich (Michael, junior) and Kevin (McCullar, senior) and KJ Adams (soph),” Roberts said, “He talked to those guys: ‘Hey you guys know; you’ve been there, done that. You know what it’s like to be 1 seed. You know what it’s like to be focused. You know what it is like to have no distractions. Make sure to relay that to the young guys and new guys.’ Kevin’s been through it (too). He went to the Final Four with Texas Tech. He understands,” Roberts stated.
This story was originally published March 14, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
