LAWRENCE — When Kansas basketball starts its NCAA tournament run this week, it’ll do so as the No. 17 team in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
The Jayhawks (23-10) reached the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference tournament this week, beating TCU in the quarterfinals before exiting with a loss against Houston. With those outcomes, KU dropped from No. 16 to No. 17. Now, the Jayhawks can look ahead to the NCAA tournament.
KU’s NCAA tournament run begins Friday with a game against California Baptist in the round of 64. The Jayhawks are the No. 4 seed, while the Lancers are the No. 13 seed. Whichever team wins, advances to a round of 32 matchup against either No. 5 seed St. John’s or No. 12 seed Northern Iowa.
Elsewhere in the Big 12 in the top 25, there’s No. 2 Arizona, No. 5 Houston, No. 6 Iowa State and No. 19 Texas Tech. If Kansas reaches the Sweet 16 this year, it won’t have to face any of those teams. However, should the Jayhawks get that far, they could get to face TCU again — if TCU beats Ohio State and potentially Duke to reach that point.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
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