It's March with means the Madness is right around the corner, and this year the local college basketball scene poses some key questions and incredible potential for NCAA Tournament hopes. Before any other team can be discussed, however, one must first look at the positive fortunes of the Kansas Jayhawks. Certainly any discussion of title contenders includes the Jayhawks, but the question we pose here is this: Is Kansas guaranteed a No. 1 seed?
As of his latest Bracketology update over at ESPN.com, Joe Lunardi has the Jayhawks seeded No. 1 in the Southwest region and Bill Self's squad is in control of its own destiny at this point. But what if the Jayhawks encounter a hiccup in the slight schedule they have left. Saturday, after all, presents a very worthy opponent with the Missouri Tigers on the road, and that doesn't even include the Big 12 conference tournament.
Some might disagree that Missouri is a team to worry about. After all, Kansas handled the Tigers quite impressively in their contest at home, winning by 17 and eclipsing the 100 point mark for the second time all season (after a season opening 113 points against Longwood). The Jayhawks broke open that game in the second half and had five scorers in double figures, with Marcus Morris at 22 leading the way. KU has won four in a row, including a solid win over another ranked team in the win against Texas A&M the other night.
Missouri, meanwhile, has lost their last two games and five of their last ten, ending the season on the worst possible note with no discernible momentum heading into the conference tournament. The Tigers need this win to close out the regular season and that only happens if Mike Anderson has his kids' heads in the game for all 40 minutes. KU could possibly lose this contest and still come out with a top seed in the tournament. After all, a #1 RPI ranking to go with the No. 12 strength of schedule in the country is an amazing task and shows just how talented and deep this Jayhawk team is.
With BYU's recent loss and KU's stellar performance throughout the entire season, the Jayhawks should still be fairly confident in their ability to earn that No. 1 seed -- even if they lose to Missouri this weekend. Perhaps if Kansas loses early in the conference tournament and drops Saturday's game, then you might have an argument. For now, KU should be considered a lock.