For much of the season Kansas looked set to play its first weekend of the NCAA Tournament at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska, the site where it launched some of its most memorable postseasons, including the 2008 national championship run and now-vacated 2018 charge to the Final Four.
Instead, the bracket has placed it at the recently renamed Delta Center in Salt Lake City, home of the Utah Jazz and the site of one undistinguished weekend of postseason play five years ago.
The 2018-19 Kansas team, which like this year’s squad spent an unusually high proportion of conference play ranked in the double digits nationally, breezed past Northeastern by a 34-point margin behind a 25-point, 11-rebound double-double by Dedric Lawson.
In a reversal of fortunes two days later, the Jayhawks trailed by 26 at halftime against Auburn in Salt Lake City and ended up the Tigers’ second victim on their way to a first-ever Final Four appearance.
While several KU players have gone on to play in that arena as members of the Jazz in recent seasons, KU itself has not made another trip to Salt Lake City at any point. However, the Jayhawks did lose to now-conference-foe BYU 80-70 in nearby Provo on Dec. 20, 1960, then beat Utah State 67-61 in Logan exactly eight years later.
The next weekend
If the Jayhawks win twice, they will head to a less familiar destination, Detroit, to play at least one second-weekend game at the Little Caesars Arena, home of the Pistons. Their selection for the Midwest Region, however, might be a good omen, as they won the national championship two of the previous three times they played postseason games in the Detroit area: 1988 and 2008. (Besides one regular-season win at Detroit Mercy in 1986, and a neutral-site victory over Virginia in Auburn Hills, it’s been all tournament action for KU in the Motor City.)
In 1988, “Danny and the Miracles,” technically playing in nearby Pontiac at the Silverdome, beat Vanderbilt and rival Kansas State by 13 points each on their way to the Final Four.
In 2008, Detroit brought a little more drama, as, playing before one of the biggest crowds ever to watch a Kansas men’s basketball game, KU escaped Davidson with a 59-57 win after young Stephen Curry was unable to take a shot on the Wildcats’ final possession and Jason Richards’ last-ditch effort was off the mark. That came after a fairly routine victory over Villanova in the Sweet 16.
The Jayhawks hoist the Midwest Regional trophy following their victory over Davidson on Sunday in Detroit. Kansas is trying to become the first league school in the Big 12 era to win a national championship.
The only other trip to the Detroit area, however, was rather infamous. The Jayhawks’ second consecutive first-round exit came at the Palace of Auburn Hills in 2006 when they lost to 13th-seeded Bradley, 77-73.
Seeding history
KU is a No. 4 seed this season after some lackluster losses in conference play. That’s a relatively uncommon position for the Jayhawks under Self, as they had prior to this year spent as many years as a No. 1 seed (10) as Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds combined (nine). Their prior years as a No. 4 seed were 2003-04, 2005-06 and the aforementioned 2018-19 campaign.
KU found itself on this particular seed line twice in Self’s first three seasons, with drastically different results. The 2003-04 team, a veteran group inherited from Roy Williams, made some significant noise in the tournament, thanks in part to a favorable draw that saw it facing No. 12 and No. 9 seeds in the second and third rounds, both of whom it beat soundly. However, it did lose in the Elite Eight to Georgia Tech in overtime as Jarrett Jack scored 29 points.
The 2005-06 trip was far more ignominious, as it saw the Jayhawks sustain another first-round exit when they lost to Bradley.
Thirteen years later, KU only had slightly more success in that second-round exit to Auburn in Salt Lake City.
Kansas guard Quentin Grimes (5) and Kansas guard K.J. Lawson (13) defend against Auburn guard Will Macoy (22) during the first half on Saturday, March 23, 2019 at Vivint Smart Homes Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
Nick Krug
Nick Krug