Kansas Coach Bill Self Discusses Challenging East Region in NCAA Tournament

The NCAA Tournament East Region is loaded with future Hall of Fame coaches and big-name brands.

Kansas Jayhawks coach Bill Self against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Desert Financial Arena. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

If Kansas makes a deep NCAA Tournament run, it will likely have gone through quite a gauntlet.

The Jayhawks received the No. 4 seed in the East region, which sets up a Round of 64 game against No. 13 seed Cal Baptist. Getting to the Elite Eight could require defeating the Big East and ACC champs before facing a future Hall of Fame coach in Dan Hurley or Tom Izzo with a Final Four bid on the line.

That's not to say any NCAA Tournament run should easy or that Kansas got an unfair draw, but coach Bill Self agreed the path looks particularly challenging for a few reasons.

"Well, we got the No. 1 overall seed [Duke], which probably means we were the 16th seed as the four [seed], I would think," Kansas coach Bill Self said on Selection Sunday as he evaluated the East Region.

"You got UConn that's a potential –– I've said all along –– that was [on the] one line just up until, what, three days ago or two days ago. And then you have Michigan State, woof, as a three, and they were obviously –– the worst they could do was a three, and they were talked about being a two."

"And then you have, in my opinion, as hot a five as there is, period. [St. John's] wins the Big East, beat UConn by 20, and they're the fifth seed," Self continued. "So yeah, I think it's hard. But I also think this year, all along that three, four, five, six [line], it seems harder to me this year. It seems like to me there's less separation than maybe there has been in years past."

Why Kansas has a difficult NCAA Tournament path

Duke Blue Devils forward Cameron Boozer (12) talks to head coach Jon Scheyer against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at Cameron Indoor Stadium. | Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Kansas should be able to take care of business against Cal Baptist, as the ESPN Analytics matchup predictor gives the Jayhawks a 92.6% chance of victory. But it's worth noting that Cal Baptist is a top-20 rebounding team, 50th in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency and has the nation's fifth-leading scorer in Dominique Daniels Jr. Kansas cannot take the WAC champions lightly.

With a win, Kansas would face No. 4 seed St. John's or No. 12 seed Northern Iowa. Under coach Ben Jacobsen, Northern Iowa has been a upset threat in the past, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2010 and winning NCAA Tournament games in 2015 and 2016.

In the 2010 Round of 32, No. 9 seed Northern Iowa defeated No. 1 seed Kansas 69-67 behind 16 points from Ali Farokhmanesh. Sure, that was a decade ago, but Northern Iowa also had two MVC titles, an MVC tournament title and four 20-plus win seasons in the last seven seasons.

The more likely matchup with St. John's pins Kansas against one of college basketball's hottest teams. Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino's squad was arguably snubbed by the selection committee as a No. 5 seed, given that they won the Big East regular season title and conference tournament. St. John's is 19-1 since Jan. 6 with their only loss coming against UConn, which they defeated 72-52 in Saturday's Big East championship.

St. John's Red Storm forward Zuby Ejiofor (24) celebrates during the Big East Conference Tournament Championship against the Connecticut Huskies at Madison Square Garden. | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Self has plenty of respect for Pitino and former Kansas center Zuby Ejiofor, the 2025-26 Big East Player of the Year.

"Obviously I believe [Pitino] is as good as our business has. So we'll have to prepare really hard for that if we're fortunate enough to get past and beat Cal Baptist, which we're not gonna look ahead past anybody and certainly not them," Self said.

"But I'm happy for Zuby, a guy that –– we didn't want Zuby to leave. You know, you got Zuby, Ernest [Udeh] was still here at the time, and we recruited Hunter. So he made the right decision for Zuby, but he's a terrific kid and he's had unbelievable success so I'm really happy for him."

If Kansas reaches the Sweet 16, the most likely opponent is the No. 1 overall seeded Duke Blue Devils, who won the ACC regular season and conference tournament. Duke's only losses came on a buzzer beater at North Carolina on Feb. 7 and by one point to a fully healthy Texas Tech team on Dec. 20. Jon Scheyer is one of the nation's best coaches, and Cam Boozer is the national player of the year favorite.

Connecticut Huskies head coach Dan Hurley against the St. John's Red Storm during the Big East Conference Tournament Championship at Madison Square Garden. | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Barring major upsets, a trip to the Elite Eight would likely mean facing No. 2 seed UConn or No. 3 seed Michigan State. Before losing to St. John's in the Big East championship game and at Marquette in its regular season finale, UConn was in good shape to receive a No. 1 seed. They have national championship pedigree still on the roster from the 2023 and 2024 NCAA Tournaments, and Hurley is another elite coach.

Similarly, many considered Michigan State a No. 2 seed before the Spartans lost their only Big Ten Tournament game to UCLA and their season finale at Michigan. They have an All-American candidate in point guard Jeremy Fears, and can always be counted on to defend well and rebound under Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.

If Michigan State or UConn were to get upset, No. 6 seed Louisville is a prime candidate. Louisville is one of just eight teams in the nation that ranks in the top 25 in KenPom's adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency metrics, along with Duke, Arizona, Michigan, Florida, Houston, Iowa State and Michigan State.