KU Jayhawks await NCAA Tournament seeding, destination via Selection Sunday show
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Some bracketologists project KU as a No. 4 seed, others a 5 seed.
- Bracketology forecasts various first-round foes, not one confirmed 13 seed.
- Coach Self stresses fixing exposed deficiencies and preparing quickly.
The Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team, awarded a Bill Self era-worst No. 7 seed on Selection Sunday last year, figures to improve that assignment by two or three lines when the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket reveal commences at 5 p.m. Sunday on CBS.
ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi as of Saturday afternoon predicted the Jayhawks would be granted a No. 4 seed in the Midwest Regional, with an opening-round game against No. 13 seed Northern Iowa in Philadelphia. The winner in that scenario would play No. 5 Arkansas or No. 12 Akron for a spot in the Sweet 16 in Chicago.
CBSsports.com as of Saturday afternoon also predicted the Jayhawks would be a No. 4 seed, but in the East Regional. It did not predict location of games in its bracketology but did indicate the Jayhawks would play No. 13 seed High Point in the first round, with the winner taking on No. 5 St. John’s or No. 12 Akron for the right to play in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C.
The Sporting News as of Saturday also listed KU as a 4 seed.
On3.com’s bracketology dropped KU to a 5-seed in the South Regional following the Jayhawks’ 1-1 performance at the Big 12 tournament, which included a 69-47 loss to Houston in Friday night’s semifinals.
On3.com had KU playing No. 12 Akron in the first round in Portland, with the winner meeting either No. 4 Gonzaga or No. 13 Northern Iowa in the second round. That regional feeds into Houston.
KU has been a 4-seed four times in the 21 tournaments the Jayhawks have played during the 23-year Self era. There was no tourney in 2020 because of COVID. With Self as coach, KU has been a 1-seed 10 times, a 2-seed three times, a 3-seed three times and a 7-seed once.
The Jayhawks will enter Selection Sunday with a 23-10 record, including a 4-5 showing in their last nine games. Wherever Kansas is shipped — odds of being assigned nearby Oklahoma City or St. Louis do not appear to be in KU’s favor after a lopsided loss to Houston — the Jayhawks will need to perform a lot better than they did against the Cougars if they wish to win a pair of games and reach the Sweet 16.
“I think that will be the key thing we have to come up with,” Self said when asked what positive things his team could take from a Big 12 tournament in which the Jayhawks defeated TCU 78-73 in the quarterfinals before being blitzed by No. 5-ranked Houston.
“We beat a team (TCU) that will be the type of team we play either on Thursday or Friday (in first round of NCAAs),” Self said. “Hopefully we’ll get a little confidence from that (defeating the Frogs). But the thing about it is the conference tournament is important. It’s a great tournament. Of course that first (semifinal) game (Arizona’s 82-80 win over Iowa State Friday) was probably as good a game college basketball’s seen this year, a high level, from what I saw of it.
“But still yet after Sunday nobody’s going to remember this (Big 12) tournament. Everybody’s going to be focused on next week. So hopefully it’s an opportunity to get our batteries recharged. I would love to have played longer. I would have loved to have been more competitive and everything. But the reality of it is on Sunday is a new day that everybody’s 0-0 and everybody will be fired up to play.”
Self said he did not address his team about what’s ahead in the tourney immediately after Friday’s defeat. There will be time in coming days for that.
“I haven’t really talked to them postgame. I told them that obviously we weren’t very good tonight and we weren’t as competitive as we want to be. But in life, I hate to say this, and I wish that we never had to deal with it, but how hard is it to be a good person and think of others and add value to life whenever things are going well?
“The key is can you do it when it’s not going well? That’s what good teammates do. They pick each other up and that’s what we’re going to have to do as well.”
Self’s team has an opportunity to respond positively after a poor showing against Houston.
“This game, if anything, if we have any competitive juices at all, should inspire us to ‘can’t wait to get back out there again.’ And I believe the guys will respond in that way,” Self said. “The one thing about this game, it didn’t camouflage our deficiencies. It exposed them in a big way.
“Sometimes when things don’t go well you actually can rationalize, well, they didn’t go well, but it was close. It wasn’t close. So there’s no reason why we can’t look at this and see a very clear picture of what we didn’t do well and what are the intangibles that would allow us to do better because I do think that’s it as much as anything.”
There could be a bright spot to losing in the semifinals of the league tournament.
“I don’t know that there’s a benefit of having a game like this. There could be a benefit of not playing,” Self said. “If you play on Saturday, you might as well win, because you’re going to play regardless. But there’s some thinking that sometimes the rest before is actually more beneficial.
“When the Big 12 switched it to a Saturday final (instead of Sunday) that was one of the smartest things that the league’s done, I think. And that was done a long time ago. Because obviously a Sunday final, and then you play on Thursday, it’s too tight a window when you play back-to-back-to-back, and then have to take a day or two off, and then only have a day or two to prepare. So could it be a positive? Sure it could. Our bodies could be better rested moving forward. There’s no doubt there could be a positive in it,” Self noted.
KU senior Melvin Council Jr. said: “March Madness is win or go home, so that’s basically what we’re looking at. And starting with me, starting in practice, we’ve just got to get ready for March Madness.”
Said sophomore teammate Jamari McDowell: “We’ve got to look forward to next week and get prepared for that, for sure. It’s either we’re going to be there or we’re not.”
