KU to open Big 12 tourney play Thursday with seeding for NCAAs still an unknown
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KU viewed as about a 4 or 5 seed in NCAAs entering Big 12 play Thursday.
- A KU quarterfinal win leads to a semifinal vs Houston, WVU or BYU.
- If KU draws a 3 or 4 seed in March Madness, team could be sent to a nearby site.
A No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament a year ago, Kansas men’s basketball is expected to improve on that slot on this year’s Selection Sunday.
“I would say going into it we’d probably be on that 4 or 5 — could-go-either-way seed line — right now is the way I look at it,” KU coach Bill Self said, offering his take on the upcoming NCAA Tournament fate of the Jayhawks entering Thursday’s Big 12 tournament quarterfinal.
The Jayhawks will face the winner of Wednesday’s (8:30 p.m.) TCU-Oklahoma State game. Tipoff is 8:30 p.m. Thursday at T-Mobile Center.
“As of today,” Self added, “I think right at that 4ish, 5ish edge is probably where we would be.”
If KU wins its tourney quarterfinal Thursday night, the Jayhawks (22-9), the 3 seed in the event, would advance to a Friday semifinal against either No. 2 seed Houston, No. 7 West Virginia or No. 10 BYU.
No. 1 seed Arizona is the favorite to reach Saturday’s tourney final from the upper level of the bracket.
“I think whoever wins the tournament, unless it’s Arizona, could potentially move up at least one line or two lines. And if you get to the finals, does that move you up one line? I don’t know,” Self said.
The Big 12 regular-season champion Arizona Wildcats are expected to land a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs even if they lose their first game in the Big 12 tourney.
If KU is granted a 3 seed or 4 seed for the 2026 NCAAs, the team could conceivably be sent to a first- and second-round site within driving distance of Lawrence.
CBS Sports reported on March 2 that travel during the NCAA Tournament may be affected because of fewer charter planes being available because of “potential travel stress, the ongoing partial government shutdown and operational aviation issues for large private aircraft, which have emerged as a result of the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement collaborating to use private airplanes to deport immigrants at the behest of President Donald Trump.”
The more teams that drive to sites, the fewer charter flights would be needed at this time.
“Nobody in my administration has come to me and told me that. So that may very well be true,” Self said. “If that’s the case, I would be good with that. Where would that put us, possibly St Louis or Oklahoma City? I’d be great with either one of those. Hopefully, that’s the case.”
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi late Tuesday night listed KU as a 4 seed headed to San Diego for a first-round game against No. 13 seed Hofstra. A win would move KU to a second-round matchup against either No. 5 seed Vanderbilt or No. 12 High Point. The NCAA in the past has tried to keep top-4 seeds close to home.
The 2025-26 Jayhawks enter the Big 12 tourney hoping to close the campaign much better than recent seasons. Last March, KU lost to Arizona 88-77 in a Big 12 tourney quarterfinal, then as a 7 seed fell to No. 10 seed Arkansas 79-72 in the first round of the NCAAs.
In 2023-24, KU lost to Cincinnati 72-52 in a second-round Big 12 tourney game, then as a 4 seed in the NCAAs defeated No. 13 seed Samford 93-89 before falling to No. 5 seed Gonzaga 89-68 in the second round.
In 2022-23, KU lost to Texas 76-56 in the Big 12 tourney finals. In the NCAAs, KU as a 1 seed beat No. 16 seed Howard 96-68, then lost in the second round to No. 8 Arkansas 72-71. KU won the national title in 2022.
“I remember when we tied a couple of the teams for the (regular-season league) championship, I would always tell our teams, ‘Hey, that’s great. Now let’s go to Kansas City and find out who the best team is,’” Self said. “It’s a little bit different now. It’s, ‘Let’s go to Kansas City and let’s go try to win a tournament. But let’s also make sure that we don’t completely wear ourselves out, because we’ve got a bigger tournament coming up.’”
Self is thankful the Big 12 concludes its postseason tourney on Saturday, well in advance of the Selection Sunday bracket reveal, set to start at 5 p.m. Sunday, on CBS.
“The best thing that our league has done that fans may not understand — and we did it a long time ago, and coach (Bob) Knight (Texas Tech) actually deserves the majority of the credit for this — is: ‘Let’s make the finals on Saturday,’” Self said.
“When I was at Illinois, we would play on Sunday in the (Big Ten) championship game, and you turn around, you find out who you’re playing (in NCAAs) that night. You turn around, leave on Tuesday to go to Albuquerque or go to San Jose or wherever (for open practice and first round game), and it wears people out. And so when the league went to a Saturday finish (in 2009), that’s one of the best things that we’ve done as a league.”
Self explained Knight’s role in switching from Sunday to Saturday.
“I remember coach Knight sitting in those coaches meetings in the summer — and yes, they’re boring, and nobody knew if he was really sleeping — but he wanted everybody to think he was, and then when somebody said, ‘We should move it to Saturday,’ he’d wake up and say, ‘Smartest thing anybody’s said in the whole (darn) meeting.’ He would do that quite, quite often,” Self added.
