Kansas’ defense of NCAA title would come through Las Vegas

Kansas forward Jalen Wilson (10) shoots over Texas forward Dillon Mitchell (23) throughout the very first half of the NCAA college basketball national championship of the Big 12 Conference tournament Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Kansas guard Gradey Dick, left, passes the ball to guard Bobby Pettiford Jr. (0) throughout the first half of the NCAA college basketball championship game versus Texas in the Big 12 Conference tournament Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Texas forward Dillon Mitchell (23) shoots over Kansas forward Jalen Wilson (10) during the first half of the NCAA college basketball national championship of the Big 12 Conference tournament Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Kansas guard Gradey Dick, left, attempts to take the ball from Texas guard Tyrese Hunter throughout the first half of the NCAA college basketball championship game of the Big 12 Conference tournament Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel).
There have actually been just two groups to duplicate as NCAA Tournament champions in the past 5 decades. Kansas will try to end up being the 3rd.

The Jayhawks will have to go through Las Vegas to make such a shot if so.

Kansas was tabbed the No. 1 seed Sunday for the West Region, of which the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be played at T-Mobile Arena on March 23 and 25. Kansas was the 3rd No. 1 general seed.

The Jayhawks open their title defense Thursday against No. 16 seed Howard Bison out of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. This is the school's very first NCAA appearance in 31 years.

You can make this argument: The West might be the hardest region in the bracket.

It's packed with groups that might advance to the Final Four.

UCLA is the No. 2 seed and Gonzaga No. 3, establishing a possible Sweet 16 game in Las Vegas and rematch of the Zags' timeless Final Four win over the Bruins 2 years back.

Connecticut, a popular choice to make a deep March run and at one time perhaps the country's best team, is a 4 seed against No. 13 Iona and coach Rick Pitino. It's the highest seed for UConn since 2011.

St. Mary's out of the West Coast Conference is the region's 5 seed and will open against a difficult No. 12 in Virginia Commonwealth.

2 teams from the Mountain West reside in the area. Boise State is a 10 seed and plays No. 7 Northwestern, and UNR deals with Arizona State in a first-four video game. The winner as an 11 seed slides into the main bracket opposite No. 6 Texas Christian.

All have much to play for.

None more so than Kansas.

It won the Big 12 regular-season title before falling to Texas 76-56 in the conference tournament last Saturday without coach Bill Self.

Self was released from a health center Sunday after having a "standard heart catheterization and had actually two stents positioned for the treatment of obstructed arteries," according to a university declaration. He's anticipated to return to the sidelines for the tournament.

Should the Jayhawks do as expected and defeat the Bison, they would deal with the winner of an excellent 8-9 matchup in between Arkansas and Illinois.

" I like Arkansas over Illinois," previous Villanova coach and now CBS analyst Jay Wright said. "Arkansas compares with Kansas truly well. Their length and speed … … they might provide Kansas a problem.".

If not, the Jayhawks would be Las Vegas bound.

With lots of history for which to play.

Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.