A Border War game in NCAA Tournament? ESPN projection sets the stage

What if that Missouri-Kansas exhibition men’s basketball game at the Sprint Center in October was merely a preview for a much bigger contest?

The latest forecast from Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology at ESPN.com has both teams making the NCAA Tournament and a potential meeting in the Round of 32.

KU is currently projected to be a No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region that would face Radford in Wichita. With a victory, the Jayhawks would then take on the winner of a game between No. 7 Miami and No. 10 Mizzou, per Lundardi’s projection.

Would this be the first time that KU and Mizzou fans actually rooted for their rival because it would set up a Border War game in the NCAA Tournament?

OK, maybe that’s a stretch.

The Star’s Blair Kerkhoff noted that KU and Mizzou have only played each other in four cities: Columbia, Lawrence, Kansas City and Dallas.

Wichita would be the fifth city if this projection came true.

But, wait, there’s more.

Lundardi’s projection has Wichita State as a No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region and would play a Sweet 16 game in Omaha (they wouldn’t play opening-round games at Wichita). The Shockers thumped KU in the 2015 NCAA Tournament and that game was played in, you guessed it, Omaha.

Yeah, it’s early and a lot can happen between now and March, but it’s fun to dream of this happening.