KU Earns One Seed

Kansas won a third straight Big 12 Tournament title on Sunday and in the process earned the top seed in the Midwest.

Everything fell into place once again for Kansas.

After Tennessee was booted in the semis of the SEC Tournament, Kansas saw an open door to one of the tourney’s top spots, and Sunday in impressive fashion, the Jayhawks beat Texas and took the Midwest’s top spot.

"I think if we were a two seed, our year would have been just as good,” KU head coach Bill Self said after watching the brackets unveiled. “In peoples' minds, when you are a one seed, they think you are one of the best four teams in the country.  Being a No. 1 seed was not the goal. The goal was to have a favorable path, and while there are no easy paths, it's nice to stay in the Midwest Region."

So KU’s road to the Final Four will begin in Omaha, Nebraska and if they advance, the Jayhawks will play in the regional final in Detroit, MI. The first opponent Kansas has to worry about is 16th seeded Portland State Vikings. Portland State won the Big Sky conference tournament and earned an automatic bid. The Vikings will be playing in their very first NCAA tournament. The Vikings have played UCLA, Washington State, and Washington this season but lost to all three - the margins of victory in those games 21, 12, and 19 respectively.

Portland State is 23-9 on the season and head coach Ken Bone did say that he was surprised that his team received a 16 seed. Bone thought the Vikings would be a 14 or 15 seed.

The reason you want to be a one seed is because it should be the easier path. Remember, a 16 has never beaten a one seed in NCAA play. There are plenty of other potholes along the way to Auburn Hills – Clemson (5th seed), Wisconsin (3rd seed), Georgetown (2nd seed), and even USC (6th seeded) could be a formidable opponent. Kansas will have to play well to make it to San Antonio.

"I'm not sure if it really makes that much difference, to be honest with you,” said Self when asked about being a one seed. “It's nice that we are going to Omaha. I don't know much about Portland State yet, but we'll know more by tonight."

"We're excited to be playing.  Right now, I am just worn out.  I'm going to go home, get a good night's rest, and recharge the batteries."

"We just won the championship game 20 minutes ago and now we are back to business,” said senior Russell Robinson. “We are fortunate to get a one seed and now let the journey begin. Anytime you are a number one in anything you have to enjoy it."