If Kansas can make it out of Salt Lake City and progress past the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament to get to Detroit, there are a few familiar faces from this season in Kansas’ quarter of the bracket.
The good news for the Jayhawks is that they’ve beaten them all — the Midwest Region includes No. 2 Tennessee, No. 7 Texas and No. 9 TCU.
KU beat Tennessee 69-60 on the final day of the Maui Invitational, just 13 hours after the Jayhawks had lost their first game of the season to Marquette. Despite the minimal rest, they held the Volunteers to 31.0% shooting on the day in Honolulu while center Hunter Dickinson turned in a 17-point, 20-rebound performance.
Texas and TCU were two of the conference opponents that KU got only at home; it did not have to travel to Austin or Fort Worth this season. The Jayhawks’ victories nearly bookended conference play.
The Horned Frogs were threatening to pull off a second straight victory in Allen Fieldhouse, up two with a minute left, on Jan. 6 when former Jayhawk Ernest Udeh Jr. appeared to have a steal on an entry pass. But upon review he was ruled to have committed a flagrant foul against Dickinson by hitting him with his elbow. Dickinson made two free throws and eventually, by the end of the game, a game-winning contested layup.
The Texas game was never that close, as KU, despite playing without Kevin McCullar Jr., led by 20 at halftime and cruised to an 86-67 victory. The Jayhawks held Texas stars Max Abmas and Dylan Disu to five and eight points, respectively, and sent the Longhorns out of the Big 12 Conference in dominant fashion.
TCU center Ernest Udeh Jr. (8) a transfer from Kansas, congratulates Kansas center Hunter Dickinson (1) following the Jayhawks’ 83-81 win on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024 at Allen Fieldhouse. Photo by Nick Krug
Kansas guards Nicolas Timberlake and Jamari McDowell celebrate after a basket Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, against Texas.
Several Jayhawks have experience with the other teams in the region. The top seed in this year’s region, Purdue, was a frequent nemesis of Dickinson’s during his Michigan tenure, as he played the Boilermakers four times and at times dueled with their decorated big man Zach Edey.
KU played and lost to No. 5 Gonzaga in the first game of Dajuan Harris Jr.’s freshman season, 2020-21, McCullar also played against them during his tenure at Texas Tech and Parker Braun had them as a conference foe at Santa Clara.
Harris and the Jayhawks also beat Creighton (a No. 3 seed in the region) in 2020-21 at Allen Fieldhouse and again on their way to the 2021-22 national title.
Other history includes, but is not limited to, McCullar’s Red Raiders taking on Utah State (a No. 8 seed facing TCU) during the 2020-21 season and Grambling and Montana State (both potential No. 16 seeds competing in the First Four) in 2021-22, and Braun’s Missouri team facing conference foe South Carolina (a No. 6 seed) in 2019-20 and both the Gamecocks and Oregon (a No. 11 seed) in 2020-21.
Full Midwest Region (Detroit)
No. 1 Purdue
No. 2 Tennessee
No. 3 Creighton
No. 4 Kansas
No. 5 Gonzaga
No. 6 South Carolina
No. 7 Texas
No. 8 Utah State
No. 9 TCU
No. 10 Virginia/Colorado State
No. 11 Oregon
No. 12 McNeese
No. 13 Samford
No. 14 Akron
No. 15 Saint Peter’s
No. 16 Montana State/Grambling State
The rest of the bracket
East Region (Boston)
No. 1 UConn
No. 2 Iowa State
No. 3 Illinois
No. 4 Auburn
No. 5 San Diego State
No. 6 BYU
No. 7 Washington State
No. 8 Florida Atlantic
No. 9 Northwestern
No. 10 Drake
No. 11 Duquesne
No. 12 UAB
No. 13 Yale
No. 14 Morehead State
No. 15 South Dakota State
No. 16 Stetson
South Region (Dallas)
No. 1 Houston
No. 2 Marquette
No. 3 Kentucky
No. 4 Duke
No. 5 Wisconsin
No. 6 Texas Tech
No. 7 Florida
No. 8 Nebraska
No. 9 Texas A&M
No. 10 Boise State/Colorado
No. 11 NC State
No. 12 James Madison
No. 13 Vermont
No. 14 Oakland
No. 15 Western Kentucky
No. 16 Longwood
West Region (Los Angeles)
No. 1 North Carolina
No. 2 Arizona
No. 3 Baylor
No. 4 Alabama
No. 5 Saint Mary’s
No. 6 Clemson
No. 7 Dayton
No. 8 Mississippi State
No. 9 Michigan State
No. 10 Nevada
No. 11 New Mexico
No. 12 Grand Canyon
No. 13 Charleston
No. 14 Colgate
No. 15 Long Beach State
No. 16 Howard/Wagner
2024 NCAA Tournament Preview
A look at the rest of the Midwest Region
Why KU men’s basketball could or could not win the NCAA title
Forgotten regular-season moments
Venues, seeding could make for atypical postseason run
KU progresses toward milestones affected by IARP
Can Johnny Furphy come of age in the tournament?
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