Early this evening the Kansas Jayhawks will tip off in Tulsa Oklahoma as the number one seed in the Southwest region. Their opponent for game one is the sixteenth seeded Boston Terriers, and if history is any indication the Jayhawks should have little trouble.
Never in the history of the tournament has a no. 16 beaten a no. 1 and that doesn't look likely to change tonight. When taking a quick glance at Boston it becomes pretty apparent that this isn't a very good offensive team. While the Terriers are on an eleven game winning streak dating back to January, they just don't have the firepower to keep pace with a Kansas team that ranks near the top of college basketball in terms of offensive efficiency.
Perhaps the biggest advantage that the Jayhawks will take into this one is on the interior. The Terriers don't list a player over 6'8" on their roster and the starting lineup tops out at 6'7". Throw in the struggles by Boston in keeping opponents off the offensive glass and this is shaping up to be a game where Kansas can and should let the Morris twins go to work.
Game one, round one and the Jayhawks should roll. What Kansas fans will probably be taking particular note of however is the attitude and focus that the Jayhawks show. While one game doesn't always act as an indicator of the next, many are hoping to see a Jayhawk team that carry's over some of that killer instinct and attitude from the Big 12 championship game against Texas. If Kansas can do that, the Southwest region is setting up very nicely for the Jayhawks to find themselves in a position to play for a Final Four bid a few games from now.
One game at a time, one day at a time and tonight it's Kansas against Boston in the first game of the evening session. The Jayhawks tip at 5:50pm CST on TBS.