Study asks fans in each state who will win NCAA Tourney. KU is the pick in Missouri

Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.

Sports aficionados in the Kansas City area know all about the rivalry between the Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks. The intensity of that disdain may have cooled a bit since Mizzou left for the SEC, but there is no love lost among fans of those schools.

So it was interesting to see the results of a study that asked fans in each state to pick which school they think will win this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament. The Kansas Jayhawks are the pick for the state of Missouri, according to SolitaireBliss.com.

The Jayhawks also are the choice for the state of Kansas, but that was to be expected.

The study’s authors said they contacted people in every state through and online market research platform. Fans were asked to pick a likely NCAA Tournament winner from a list of 68 teams who were most expected to make the Big Dance.

This study was conducted before the NCAA Tournament field was announced, which means it was also done before KU coach Bill Self said Kevin McCullar Jr. would miss the tournament.