The Jayhawks came back from 22 points down to win the Big 12 Conference Tournament championship in overtime against the team with arguably the best player in the country and with the most important TV show of the college basketball season just a few minutes away.

Even coach Bill Self, in the midst of prodding his team to the 88-84 victory, had to wonder whether his guys could finish the job in time to plop in front of the TVs and watch the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Selection Show to find out where they'd be going for spring break.

"I checked my watch," Self acknowledged afterward.

Turns out it's Chicago, for a Friday game against the winner of the tournament's first game: Tuesday's tilt pitting Florida A&M and Niagara for the right to become a No. 16 seed in the field of 64.

Kansas is a No. 1 seed in the tournament's West region, a designation that brought cheers from many of the 400 or so fans who stuck around to watch the selection show on the Ford Center's scoreboard screens.

But it soon spurred groans from Chris Harding, who's already looking ahead to a regional final match-up with No. 2 UCLA in San Jose, Calif.

"We get UCLA on the west coast - that's really unfair," he said, peering up at the screen. "But at least we don't play a team that has a 'B.'"

Bucknell and Bradley universities cut the Jayhawks' last two postseasons short with first-round NCAA Tournament victories over KU.

But the Jayhawks could see a second-round bout with Kentucky or Villanova, and a potential Sweet 16 clash with Illinois, Self's former team. Others in the region include longtime nemesis Duke, tradition-rich power Indiana and Big East bruiser Pittsburgh.

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Big 12 Tourney: KU vs UT

But Nancy Kisner isn't worried. The 1986 KU graduate simply wants to find enough NCAA tickets to keep her family's run of karma going - and good vibes for the Jayhawks.

"It just feels like our year," said Kisner, who helped herd 14 family members to the Big 12 Tournament, and has hopes for more games in the coming weeks. "The momentum is going our way. So many years, we feel like, 'Oh, we're just lucky to get out of here.' This year just doesn't feel like that.

"We're going all the way."