Kansas Basketball: Jayhawks earns one seed in Midwest Region

KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 10: Devonte' Graham #4 of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrate after scoring during the Big 12 Basketball Tournament Championship against the West Virginia Mountaineers game at Sprint Center on March 10, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 10: Devonte' Graham #4 of the Kansas Jayhawks celebrate after scoring during the Big 12 Basketball Tournament Championship against the West Virginia Mountaineers game at Sprint Center on March 10, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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Kansas Basketball earned themselves the number 1 seed in the Midwest region. In what appears to be the toughest region, the Jayhawks may face familiar foes.

It has been an exciting and improbable season for Kansas Basketball. Through eligibility issues and the smallest bench Bill Self has ever had at Kansas, the Jayhawks came out on top. Their efforts give them the number 1 seed in the Midwest. A very crowded Midwest.

The Midwest region is loaded with quality teams, Big 12 teams, and old fashioned blueblood teams. The Jayhawks do however get to play “at home” in Wichita for the first weekend of play.

Two Big 12 teams are in the bracket. Both TCU and Oklahoma found themselves placed in the bottom of the region. Those bluebloods, those happen to be Duke and Michigan State. The toughness of this region is absurdly difficult. Which seems to be right up the Jayhawks alley.

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Kansas opens up play on Thursday against Pennsylvania. A team that if you’ve seen them, you come away quite impressed. Pennsylvania, and Ivy league school, finished 24-8 on the season and made the tournament by defeating Harvard in the Ivy League Championship.

If the Jayhawks get passed Penn, they will face either Seton Hall or NC State. Both teams are quality opponents. Assuming that the Jayhawks get past the first weekend, barring any major upsets the opponent should be either Auburn or Clemson. Again, it’s the big dance so upsets will happen and don’t fill out a bracket using this piece.

The bottom half of the Midwest is led by 2 seed Duke. The 3 seed happens to be the Spartans of Michigan State. The matchup of Duke and MSU in the sweet sixteen is enticing for sure. The Spartans should look out for their first round opponent in Bucknell. Kansas fans remember Bucknell.

If Kansas survives the north side of this bracket their Elite eight opponent should either be the Spartans or the BlueDevils. The road may be tough, both on paper and in reality, but this season has been a season of tough.

These Jayhawks just don’t know how bad some of the experts think they are. The rise of Silvio De Sousa has sparked some very much needed energy and depth. Along with the hot hands of Malik Newman and the hopeful return of Udoka Azubuike, this team is playing its best basketball of the season right now.

Next: Worst March Madness losses for Kansas

Don’t forget about a couple seniors named Devonte’ Graham and Svi Mykhailiuk.