NCAA Tournament reveal: Kansas Jayhawks, K-State Wildcats projected as top 4 seeds

Rich Sugg/rsugg@kcstar.com

The first look at the top 16 teams for the 2023 NCAA Tournament has been released, and both Kansas and Kansas State have landed safely as top-four seeds ... albeit not quite where you’d think.

The No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks, which at one point lost three Big 12 games in a row, still landed as a No. 1 seed. They’re the No. 4-overall team in the bracket, bumping them to the West Region, with the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This is especially notable because the Midwest Region will go through T-Mobile Center in Kansas City this year, but the No. 1 seed in that region was Houston, who Kansas must pass in the rankings to secure a 1-seed in KC.

The reason? Houston is closer to Kansas City than any other regional. The South runs through Louisville, Kentucky, while the East is up in New York.

Look down in the West Region, and slotted as the No. 3 seed is No. 12 Kansas State, which also ranked as the No. 12-overall team (lowest No. 3 seed) in the projection.

The Wildcats, like the Jayhawks, would not be headed to Kansas City in this event, but would be going out west, with Arizona as the No. 2 seed and Gonzaga as the No. 4 in the region.

Here is the list of seeds and tournament rankings, as announced by the NCAA on Saturday. Games played on Saturday were not reflected in the rankings.

South Region (Louisville)

  • No. 1 Alabama (1)

  • No. 2 Baylor (7)

  • No. 3 Virginia (10)

  • No. 4 Indiana (13)

Midwest Region (Kansas City)

  • No. 1 Houston (2)

  • No. 2 Texas (5)

  • No. 3 Tennessee (9)

  • No. 4 Xavier (16)

East Region (New York)

  • No. 1 Purdue (3)

  • No. 2 UCLA (8)

  • No. 3 Iowa State (11)

  • No. 4 Marquette (14)

West Region (Las Vegas)

  • No. 1 Kansas (4)

  • No. 2 Arizona (6)

  • No. 3 Kansas State (12)

  • No. 4 Gonzaga (15)

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