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Selection Sunday 2018: Projected No. 1 seeds for March Madness

By Brandon Jefferson

GREENVILLE, SC - MARCH 19: A detail view of the NCAA March Madness logo during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
GREENVILLE, SC - MARCH 19: A detail view of the NCAA March Madness logo during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2017 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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KANSAS CITY, MO – MARCH 08: Kansas Jayhawks guard Devonte’ Graham (4) and teammates celebrate a charge taken by Mitch Lightfoot (44) in the second half of a quarterfinal game in the Big 12 Basketball Championship between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Kansas Jayhawks on March 8, 2018 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO. Kansas won 82-68. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO – MARCH 08: Kansas Jayhawks guard Devonte’ Graham (4) and teammates celebrate a charge taken by Mitch Lightfoot (44) in the second half of a quarterfinal game in the Big 12 Basketball Championship between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and Kansas Jayhawks on March 8, 2018 at Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO. Kansas won 82-68. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Kansas Jayhawks (25-7)

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Kansas Jayhawks are your Big 12 champions this year. Bill Self was able to one-up John Wooden’s famed UCLA run of 13 consecutive conference titles by grabbing their 14th straight Big 12 regular season title this season. Things haven’t been as smooth for the Jayhawks this year, but in the end they were able to remain atop their conference for another season.

The leadership, poise and performance of senior DeVonte’ Graham is a big reason why this Kansas team was able to recover from some early stumbles. For the second straight season, Self’s team doesn’t run through the post; instead it’s the perimeter players that control the offense. Graham is the head of the snake, but he is helped by LeGerald Vick, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Malik Newman. Throw in the mammoth-sized Udoka Azubuike, and it’s easy to see why teams have had trouble dethroning Kansas for another year.

Seven losses is a head-scratching total for a number one seed — especially given the fact that there are eight other teams in the latest AP top 25 with less defeats — but the Jayhawks played in arguably the toughest conference in college basketball this season. There’s a very real chance that the Big 12 will send nine out of its 10 members to the NCAA Tournament this year. (Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Baylor are on the bubble right now). Kansas lost five of their seven games this year in conference, and it feels wrong to try to punish them for that.

Kansas is likely going to grab the lowest of the one seeds, and given the East-coast bias of the remainder of this list, someone has to be shipped out West. The Jayhawks are likely to be that team. However, Rock Chalk Jayhawk is sure to travel with this team if they make a run to the regional final regardless of location.

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