The Midwest regional No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks will play No. 16 UC Davis Aggies in their first NCAA tournament game, after the Aggies beat NC Central in a First Four game on Wednesday.
NCAA Tournament 2017, Kansas vs. UC Davis: Tipoff time, TV channel, and live stream for March Madness
The Jayhawks’ tournament journey starts on Friday.
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The game will tip at 6:50 p.m. ET Friday in Tulsa, Okla. It will be televised on TNT. On the call will be broadcasters Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller, Dan Bonner, and Dana Jacobson. You can stream the action on the NCAA’s official site.
A No. 1 seed has never lost to a No. 16, and it’s unlikely (to say the least) that Kansas will be the first. The Jayhawks will be heavy favorites once oddsmakers settle on a spread, and if the game is remotely close, it will come as a surprise. Only a handful of 16th seeds have ever stayed close to a No. 1 much past halftime.
Kansas has a leading candidate for National Player of the Year in point guard Frank Mason, a future NBA star in freshman wing Josh Jackson, a couple of good interior players in Landen Lucas and Carlton Bragg, and an extra good scoring guard in Devonte’ Graham. The top-end college talent on this roster is some of the best anywhere.
It won’t hurt Kansas in the first game, but Bill Self’s team isn’t loaded with depth. The Jayhawks effectively use a seven-man rotation, with only two bench players seeing significant time in any given game.
Self has played around with different starting lineups in each of KU’s last three games, but the most common look has been to rotate 6’8 wing Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and 6’5 guard LaGerald Vick in and out of a lineup with Mason, Graham, Jackson, and Lucas.
It’s worked well, but if even one Jayhawk gets hurt, a six-game title run will be unlikely. There just aren’t that many reinforcements, especially with freshman center Udoka Azubuike gone for the year with a left wrist injury.
The Midwest region sets up well for Kansas if it can stay healthy and energized. Neither No. 8 Miami nor No. 9 Michigan State should be a threat in the round of 32.
Potential Sweet Sixteen matchups with No. 4 Purdue or No. 5 Iowa State are intriguing — the Cyclones did beat the Jayhawks in Lawrence this year — but Kansas would be a heavy favorite against either.
All of that has to start with a win on Friday, though. It probably will.
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