As suspected, Wichita State already has moved up a line or two from the last Watchetology update we did, taking them out of the 8-9 game in KU’s region.
Whether that’s good news for KU or not, it definitely qualifies as noteworthy.
With that in mind, [Joe Lunardi’s most recent updated Bracketology (from March 2)][1] still has KU as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest regional, with a second-round match-up against the winner of Colorado vs. Syracuse looming.
CU and the ‘Cuse both are teams with which KU has a significant amount of history and both would make for intriguing — but not necessarily difficult — second-round match-ups for the Jayhawks, who still appear to be Lunardi’s No. 1 overall seed.
KU’s updated regional includes the following teams: 2. Xavier, 3. Indiana, 4. Duke and 5. Iowa.
That potential Duke-Kansas Sweet 16 match-up is certainly interesting and easily the one thing from this updated version of the bracket that jumps off the page at me.
KU would likely be a substantial favorite in that match-up, but Duke, even with its non-existent bench, would be an incredibly tough third-round opponent, with Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram being two of the more talented offensive players in college basketball and Coach K being one of the all-time great coaches and tournament coaches. It’s a match-up I’m sure KU would rather not see that early.
Wichita State remains in the Midwest as the No. 7 seed and, the Big 12 kept its stranglehold on the top half of the bracket with all seven Big 12 teams in the tournament being on the 8 line or higher.
Here’s a look:
**1. Kansas**
2. Oklahoma
3. West Virginia
4. Iowa State
6. Baylor
6. Texas
8. Texas Tech
KU will wrap up the regular season with Senior Day against Iowa State at 3 p.m. on Saturday and then it will be on to the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, with just one week standing between the end of the regular season and Selction Sunday on March 13.
It’s almost time.
[1]: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology
