Monday, March 17, 2008
Russell Robinson enjoyed his team’s Big 12 tournament championship for all of 20 minutes on Sunday. All the senior had time for was quick cutting-down-of-the-nets and a hot shower. That was about it.
“Now we’re back to business,” Robinson said, after he learned that Kansas had secured a No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year.
The Jayhawks earned the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region, and will travel to Omaha, Neb., to play Portland State on Thursday.
If Kansas wins, they’ll play the winner of the UNLV – Kent State match-up on Saturday.
“We’re fortunate to get a one seed and now the story begins,” Robinson said.
Robinson said he didn’t know much about Portland State, the champions of the Big Sky conference. Portland State finished 23-9 and 14-2 in winning the Big Sky regular season championship. They followed that up with a 67-51 victory against Northern Arizona in the Big Sky tournament championship. Kansas beat Northern Arizona 87-46 on Nov. 21.
“We don’t know much about them now, but we will in the next 24 hours,” Robinson said.
For the third consecutive year, Kansas won the Big 12 tournament. And for the second consecutive year, that victory propelled the Jayhawks to a No. 1 seed.
Senior forward Sasha Kaun said last year’s experience would help Kansas deal with the pressures that came with having a No. 1 placed aside your name.
“Being No. 1 doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for us,” Kaun said. “It makes it a little bit tougher in a way. Everybody is going to try to knock down No. 1 and play even harder against us.”
In an oddity of the NCAA tournament bracket, Kansas will play in the same First and Second round location as Kansas State, who earned its first NCAA tournament bid since 1996.
Kansas State is the 11th seed and plays the sixth seed, USC, on Thursday.
“I’m sure we’ll have all the Wildcat faithful cheering for us,” Kansas coach Bill Self joked. “We should make a pact with them. We’ll cheer for them, if they cheer for us.”
Kansas and K-State were just two of the six Big 12 teams in the NCAA tournament field.
Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Baylor also heard its name called on Selection Sunday.
Bill Self said he was surprised, but happy the conference placed six teams in the tournament.
Georgetown is the No. 2 seed in the Midwest, while the Big 10 tournament champions, Wisconsin, earned the No. 3 seed.
Self said Wisconsic could benefit from playing the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds in nearby Detroit, Mich.
Speaking of Detroit, if Kansas fans think Kansas’ potential path to the Final Four looks familiar, that’s because it is. When Kansas won the National Championship in 1988, the Jayhawks played their first two rounds in Lincoln, Neb., before advancing to the Final Four in Detroit, Mich.
“We’ve actually talked about that with our players,” Self said.
But talk of the Final Four might be a little premature. The Jayhawks’ focus is now squarely on Portland State.
“The number one seed was never the goal,” Self said. “The goal was to give yourself a good path to advance in the tournament.”
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