Mythical March Madness Preview: Kansas Regional

A look at the Kansas Regional in the Pokes Report Mythical March Madness tournament.

STILLWATER – We’re just a little over 24 hours away from the start of the left side of the Pokes Report Mythical March Madness bracket! Robert Allen completed the right side earlier this week, and those games are being played Thursday afternoon. So, we’ll know who’s advancing out of the Gonzaga and Dayton Regionals in just a few short hours.

For those of you who haven’t seen or heard, Pokes Report used the most current KenPom and NCAA NET rankings to come up with our own ‘Mythical March Madness’ tournament. Our games are being played at historical sites such as Allen Fieldhouse, Moody Coliseum, The Palestra, McArthur Court and the Municipal Auditorium. Also, keeping with the current times, all of our games will be played in empty auditoriums other than essential team and game staffs.

Other than Oklahoma State being on the right side of the bracket, I’m pretty excited about the left side. We’re going to be highlighting some of the match ups, starting with the upper left side, the Kansas Regional and Kansas’ match up with No. 16 seed Hampton.

This is a very dangerous Jayhawk team. KU finished atop the Big 12 with a 28-3 overall record and 17-1 in conference play. The Jayhawks are led by Big 12 Player of the Year Udoka Azubuike and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Garrett. KU sophomore Devon Dotson was also tabbed a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team along with Azubuike. Sophomore guard Ochai Agbaji was named an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and freshman Christian Braun was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman team.

Devon Dotson’s averaging 18.1 points per game, while Azubuike’s averaging 13.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

As for Hampton, they went 15-19 overall on the season and 8-10 in conference play. They’re led by senior Jermaine Marrow. Marrow’s averaging 24.8 points per game on 40% shooting from the field. The Pirates are also getting great play out of Ben Stanley, who’s averaging 22 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

While I love a good upset, it’s going to be difficult for the Pirates to get past this KU team.

An interesting match up is the 8-9 game, No. 8 Purdue vs. No. 9 East Tennessee State. ETSU, 30-4 on the season, 16-2 in conference play, rolled through the Southern Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed and beating No. 7 Wofford 72-58. They’re led by guards Tray Boyd, Bo Hodges and Daivien Williamson, who’s averaging a combined 36.7 points per game.

As for Purdue, they’re sitting at 16-15 overall on the season and 9-11 in conference play. Their first-round match up in the Big Ten tournament against Ohio State was cancelled due to COVID-19 precautions.

The Boilermakers were led by forward Trevion Williams, who started in 22-of-31 games for Purdue and averaged 11.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

A regional, and rivalry game Cowboy fans might be interested in is No. 6 Wisconsin against No. 11 OU.

The Badgers finished first in the Big Ten this year with a 21-10 overall record and 14-6 in conference play. They’re led by junior forward Nate Reuvers who had a solid 2019-20 season. Reuvers averaged 13.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, but they also got great play out of Micah Potter and Kobe King. The pair combined for 20.1 points and nine rebounds per game.

As for the Sooners, they finished third in the Big 12 and with a 19-12 overall record, 9-9 in conference play. OU’s led by the trio of Kristian Doolittle, Brady Manek and Austin Reaves. Doolittle, who was named First Team All-Big 12 this season, led the team with 15.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. As for Manek and Reaves, they combined for 29.1 points and 11.5 rebounds.

While that trio of players is strong, Wisconsin’s going to be a tough team to get past.

-No. 1 Kansas takes on No. 16 Hamption

-No. 2 Louisville takes on No. 15 N. Kentucky (Interesting regional/same state match up)

-No. 3 Florida State takes on No. 14 Hofstra

-No. 4 Maryland takes on No. 13 New Mexico State

-No. 5 Arizona takes on No. 12 Cincinnati

-No. 6 Wisconsin takes on No. 11 OU

-No. 7 Auburn takes on No. 10 SFA

-No. 8 Purdue takes on No. 9 East Tennessee State