The NCAA Tournament selection show is underway, and fans of the Kansas Jayhawks are certainly not pleased with what region they were selected to be in.
The Jayhawks have been one of the best teams in college basketball this season. However, they didn’t have the ideal ending to their season, losing the Big 12 Championship Game to Texas. This seems to be a loss that has come back to cost them in a big way.
Many anticipated that Kansas would be the No. 2 overall one seed and be placed in the Midwest Region. However, Houston received that honor despite their loss on Sunday in the American Athletic Conference Championship to Memphis.
CBS’s Seth Davis shared his reaction to the news shortly after it was revealed on the NCAA Tournament selection show.
“I do not see the case for Houston over Kansas on the overall seed line… If Kansas is in this spot, Kansas is going to Kansas City… Kansas had 10 more Quad 1 wins and a much harder strength of schedule.”
Many around the college basketball world echoed Davis’s sentiments on social media, thoroughly shocked at this decision by the selection committee.
https://twitter.com/CWilliamson44/status/1635041716079329280
https://twitter.com/NicoleAuerbach/status/1635041187471175682
Instead, Kansas was selected to be the No. 1 seed in the West Region, which many believe is an extremely tough draw for them with a number of extremely talented teams they may face off against.
As Seth Davis alluded to, Kansas will now miss out on playing in front of their hometown fans in Kansas City, Missouri in the Midwest Region in a potential Sweet 16 game. They will be playing in Las Vegas should they make it to the Sweet 16.
One positive for Kansas is that head coach Bill Self will be returning from a health issue to coach his team in the tournament. He notably missed the entirety of the Big 12 Tournament. Regardless, they will attempt to fight through a significantly tougher road this year to attempt to repeat as National Champions.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.