The win over Kansas State in the Big 12 Tournament Championship went the extra mile to secure Kansas a No. 1 overall seed in the 2013 NCAA Tournament when seeds were announced Sunday, March 17, 2013.
Kansas will share the No. 1 seed position with overall No. 1 seeds Louisville, Gonzaga and Indiana. Each team has spent time ranked No. 1 in the country during the regular season.
This comes as somewhat of a surprise at the end of a tumultuous season for the Jayhawks. They came into the 2012-2013 with high expectations and many college basketball pundits tabbing KU to end up with a No. 1 seed and possibly playing in the 2013 Final Four in Atlanta. That expectation was tempered when Kansas went on a 3 game losing skid during Big 12 conference play while breaking the country’s longest home court winning streak. They even dropped a game on the road to TCU, who only garnered one Big 12 win, over Kansas.
Kansas rebounded with convincing wins to recapture a share if the Big 12 lead tied with Kansas State. It all came down to the final game of the regular season in Waco, Texas, against the Baylor Bears. Baylor was having a down season with high expectations, and the game seemed to be an easy win to secure KU the lone claim to the Big 12 Conference title. Baylor had other plans and pasted the floor with the Hawks. Kansas ended up sharing the title with Kansas State and came into the Big 12 Tournament with a chip on their shoulder to prove they were better than their last performance and needed a winning streak to take into selection Sunday for seeding.
Kansas came through and walked through the Big 12 Tournament to beat Kansas State in the title game by 16. They secured the Big 12 Conference and Tournament title, and that was enough for the selection committee.
Kansas will face Western Kentucky on Friday, March 22, at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. If they beat Western Kentucky, then they could face North Carolina and former KU coach Roy Williams in the second round should North Carolina win their opening round game.
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