Propped up by its big win at Oklahoma over the weekend, the Kansas University men’s basketball team jumped back onto the No. 1 seed line in [Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology update.][1]
KU, a No. 1 seed in the Midwest, where it would play the first two rounds in Des Moines and then move to Chicago if it advanced, joins Villanova (East), Oklahoma (West) and North Carolina (South) as Lunardi’s current No. 1 seeds.
Four days ago, prior to the big win over OU, Lunardi had Kansas as a No. 1 but sent the Jayhawks to the west regional.
Three days before that, KU was a No. 2 seed in the west, with North Carolina as the No. 1 seed in that region. We’ve seen that before. 2012 ring a bell?
KU currently has more wins over the RPI Top 50 (9) than any other team in Lunardi’s projected field. And the Jayhawks also benefit from having just one loss (at Oklahoma State) come from outside of the RPI Top 16.
Thanks to KU’s huge week last week, when it went 2-0 with wins over West Virginia (a No. 3 seed in the East) and Oklahoma (No. 1 West), the Jayhawks have put themselves in position to control their own destiny the rest of way.
Not only does KU’s play from here on out determine whether Bill Self and company make it Big 12 title No. 12 in a row, it also will go a long way toward determining whether KU enters March Madness as a No. 1 seed once again.
Winning the Big 12 and taking care of business in the Big 12 Tournament — even with a loss in the championship game — might be good enough to deliver a No. 1 seed for the Jayhawks during a year when it looks like there are 6-10 teams worthy of being in that No. 1 seed conversation.
We’ll try to update this as regularly as Lunardi updates his field, so fasten your seat belts and get ready for a wild few weeks.
As if you weren’t already.
[1]: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology/_/iteration/230
