Austin, Texas ? It’s the time of year again when just about every day a game can be found on television that has implications for Kansas University’s soon-to-be third-ranked basketball team.
Seeding for the NCAA Tournament creeps into the mind about now. Every play of every tight game involving an elite team on the tube gets run through the filter of what it means for KU’s chances of landing a No. 1 seed for the second year in a row. Preferably, a high enough No. 1 seed that it won’t have to face the nation’s best No. 2 seed in the Elite Eight, as was the case in San Jose, Calif., when UCLA eliminated the Jayhawks.
At the moment, KU is in line for a No. 1 seed and can hold serve tonight with a Big Monday victory against Texas in the Frank Erwin Center, the only Big 12 arena in which Bill Self hasn’t yet coached Kansas to a victory.
Baylor scored 90 points Saturday night against Kansas, but that didn’t keep the Jayhawks from holding serve because they scored 100 points (64 in the second half) without a three-pointer.
Between the Baylor and Texas games for KU, a couple of wild televised Sunday contests resulted in a split for the Jayhawks’ fortunes.
North Carolina and UCLA, regardless of how they both fared Sunday, would have been ranked behind Kansas in the national rankings to be released today. Still, it never hurts to build a cushion, and both are among the top handful of teams in the nation. That’s reason enough for KU fans to root against both schools, unless one of them is facing another top-five team.
In the first game of a Fox Sports doubleheader Sunday, UCLA, which features the country’s most talented, balanced starting five, suffered its third loss, on the road against Washington.
When North Carolina’s home game against Clemson was joined in progress, the Tar Heels, still playing without injured point guard Ty Lawson, trailed 10-2. Clemson led by as much as 15 points in the second half and by 14 points with 7:33 remaining, only to lose in double overtime.
The Kansas players and coaches don’t worry about what goes on around them, but it does add intrigue to the college basketball season for those emotionally invested in the team.
Today’s polls likely will have Memphis ranked first, Duke second, Kansas third and North Carolina fourth. If the first three spots remain pretty much the same, it would mean Memphis likely would get the No. 1 seed in the South, Duke in the East, Kansas in the Midwest.
Omaha, Neb., is a lock for the first two rounds of the tournament for Kansas. Then, if KU is in the Midwest region, Detroit would be the site.
Plenty of time remains to ponder all that. For now, a guard-driven Longhorns team stands in the way of Kansas holding securely to its No. 1 seed. Oddsmakers made the Jayhawks 41â2-point favorites tonight, which sounds about right, give or take a half a point.
Home crowds tend to enhance a team’s stamina, but KU counteracts that advantage with superior depth. Guards D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams, who combine for 49 percent of the Longhorns’ scoring, average 37 and 36 minutes a game. Mario Chalmers is KU’s only player to average as many as 29 minutes. Fresh legs make for accurate late-game shooting.
