NCAA Midwest Region: Kansas earns top seed for the 15th time

March 13, 2022 Updated Sun., March 13, 2022 at 7:46 p.m.

By Dave Skretta Associated Press

Kansas fought its way through arguably the toughest league in college basketball this season, ultimately sharing the Big 12 regular-season title with Baylor before romping past Texas Tech to win the conference tournament.

Maybe it’s karma that the Jayhawks could have the easiest path of a No. 1 seed to the Final Four.

They earned the top seed line for the 15th time on Sunday, second only to North Carolina for most in college hoops history. Big 12 player of the year Ochai Agbaji and the Jayhawks will open the NCAA Tournament in the Midwest Region against the play-in winner between Texas Southern and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Fort Worth, Texas.

“I mean, being a 1-seed shows you’ve gone through the whole year, put in all the work, the grind it takes to be a 1-seed,” Kansas forward Jalen Wilson said, “and now it’s time to show it. It comes with the good and bad. Now you have everyone gunning for you. We’re used to getting everyone’s best shot anyway. Just have to represent it well.”

Jayhawks coach Bill Self has a No. 1 seed for the 10th time, third-most in history, trailing only retiring Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski with 14 and former Kansas and North Carolina coach Roy Williams with 13.

While the Jayhawks never reached the top spot in the Top 25 this season, their biggest roadblock to reaching New Orleans spent three weeks there. That would be second-seeded Auburn, the regular-season SEC champs, who will begin their quest for a second Final Four appearance four years against Jacksonville State in Greenville, South Carolina.

Star search

The Midwest Region is loaded with big-name talent, starting with Auburn standout Jabari Smith, the likely No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. The 6-foot-10 freshman is averaging about 17 points and nine rebounds a game.

Along with Smith and Agbaji there’s Iowa standout Keegan Murray, the nation’s fourth-leading scorer; Wisconsin shooting guard Johnny Davis, another likely lottery pick; and Auburn’s Walker Kessler, who should be picked in the top 20.

West Coast, best coast

Gonzaga and Arizona are No. 1 seeds elsewhere in the bracket, but the dominance of the Pacific time zone this season is evident in the Midwest Region, too.

Seventh-seeded USC is back after a run to the regional finals last year, while eighth-seeded San Diego State lost a 53-52 nail-biter to Boise State in the Mountain West tourney title game.

Home cooking

The third-seeded Badgers should have the biggest fan advantage of anyone in the opening two rounds of the tourney, playing Colgate and a potential second-round game against LSU or Iowa State in Milwaukee. Fiserv Forum is just over an hour from the Wisconsin campus in Madison.

Getting hot in here

No. 12 seed Richmond heads into its game against the Hawkeyes on the heels of an Atlantic 10 Tournament title that the Spiders probably needed just to make the 68-team field.

Other teams heating up at the right time include 14-seed Colgate, which has won 15 straight, including its romp to the Patriot League tourney title; and 13th-seeded South Dakota State, which put together a gaudy 30-4 record and hasn’t lost a game since Dec. 15.

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