Kansas Jayhawk News and Notes 3.18.13

Kansas Basketball

Kansas will open NCAA Tournament at Sprint Center as No. 1 seed - KansasCity.com
“I told (the team) that we were probably gonna be 50-50, a one or a two,” Self said. But just past 5 p.m., when Self saw Duke pop up as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, Self began to re-calculate.

KU earns No. 1 seed in South region | KUsports.com
“We’re the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament — the No. 2 overall seed. Who would have ever thought that would be the case with this team?”

Opinion: Under Bill Self, KU dazzlingly consistent | KUsports.com
In that seven-year span, Self’s teams entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed five times, a phenomenal total in any era and even more impressive in the age of one-and-done elite players and impatient high school stars who impulsively transfer more now than ever. Only North Carolina can compare, with four No. 1 seeds in the past seven seasons.

Could this be the year when a No. 1 loses to a No. 16? - KansasCity.com
A 16 seed beating a 1 is the bomb that hasn’t yet detonated, and if you talk to college basketball obsessives — coaches, analysts, stat guys, whoever — you will hear surprise that it hasn’t. In a college basketball season dominated by talk of parity and shocking upsets, this year might be the best chance it does.

Western Kentucky has two of three traits that huge underdogs want | Five-minute Scout | KUsports.com
This is the second characteristic that Cinderellas often have, as shooting lots of threes is another strategy that has the potential to reward an underdog in a one-game setting. The Hilltoppers rank 78th nationally in percentage of three-pointers taken, as 36.4 percent of their field goals are threes.

Hilltopper ‘owes’ Elijah Johnson | KUsports.com
“I owe him,” he told the Bowling Green (Ky.) Daily News on Sunday, moments after the match-up was revealed. “I played him in my debut, and they beat us. I’ll remember that game in the back of my head as we go down there and take this ride.”

2013 NCAA tournament -- Louisville Cardinals named top overall seed - ESPN
While the Big East champion Cardinals surged to the top of the 68-team bracket released Sunday, joined by fellow No. 1 seeds Kansas, Indiana and Gonzaga, the school that won it all a year ago was left out of the field. Kentucky was hoping the committee would overlook a dismal performance in the Southeastern Conference tournament, but the Wildcats had to settle for a spot in the second-tier National Invitation Tournament.

Sweet science of crazy season extends into March Madness - 2013 NCAA men's basketball tournament - ESPN
At their best, Bill Self's Kansas teams are a joy: a mix of stifling defense with rhythmic high-low motion offense. That has not been this season. The Jayhawks have stamped out challengers primarily on the defensive end, where Jeff Withey remains the nation's best shot-blocker, but the offense has had some real stinkers

2013 NCAA tournament: Could Otto Porter-led Hoyas top tough South? - March Madness 2013 - Andy Staples - SI.com
Not a lot of Kansas talk out of the South as far as SI is concerned.