Where Kansas Landed in CBS Sports’ Bracketology After Arizona Win

There was a point this season when Kansas was unranked three games into conference play. One month later, the Jayhawks are now in conversations to land one of the top seeds in March Madness.

Bill Self's team has won eight in a row since starting conference action 1-2, picking up wins over some of the best teams in the Big 12. The remarkable turnaround has national analysts buying back into KU stock.

As a result, the Jayhawks are skyrocketing in bracketology projections across many outlets. The latest to bump Kansas up is CBS Sports.

As of Feb. 11, KU is listed as a No. 2 seed in the East region. It would hypothetically play No. 15 Harvard in the first round and the winner of No. 7 seed Villanova vs. No. 10 seed Texas.

Kansas' Seed in CBS Sports Bracketology: No. 2 in East Region

The win over No. 1 Arizona this Monday gave CBS Sports' model no choice but to place KU among the four No. 2 seeds. It joins fellow Big 12 contender Iowa State, along with UConn and Illinois, on the two-seed line.

Analysts David Cobb and Jacob Fetner touched on the decision yesterday and explained why a five-loss Kansas team is worthy of a two-seed over other schools with fewer losses.

"Kansas now has seven Quad 1 wins, which is more than anyone else currently not on the No. 1 seed line, and two more than Nebraska," they wrote. "The Jayhawks have five wins over teams ranked inside the top 30 of the NET (Arizona, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Tennessee and NC State). By comparison, Nebraska two such victories (Illinois and Michigan State). The Jayhawks also surpassed the Cornhuskers at KenPom following their victory over Arizona."

Kansas Jayhawks mascot hypes up the crowd during the game against Arizona Wildcats inside Allen Fieldhouse on Feb. 9, 2026. | Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The East region in this projection is quite stacked, starting with No. 1 seed Duke and followed by top programs like Gonzaga and Arkansas, which have accounted for KU's past three NCAA tournament exits. However, a two-seed is likely the best Kansas can earn due its early losses to teams like UCF and West Virginia.

There are still seven games remaining in conference play, several of which will be difficult. The Jayhawks head to Ames this weekend to face Iowa State on the road, with a rematch at Arizona in Tucson two weeks from now.

Although KU may still drop a few more games, its impressive resume so far is undeniable. The Jayhawks have the third-most difficult strength of schedule in the country, meaning their challenging conference slate has paid off thus far.

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