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#pounditFriday, March 29, 2024

Committee explains why Houston was ranked ahead of Kansas

Kelvin Sampson smiling

Mar 28, 2019; Kansas City, MO, United States; Houston Cougars head coach Kelvin Sampson speaks during a press conference for the midwest regional of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Sprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Fans of the Kansas Jayhawks were not happy with the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee for ranking Houston ahead of the Jayhawks in their seedings.

The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee made Alabama the No. 1 overall seed. The Crimson Tide are in the South Region, with their first two scheduled games located in Birmingham, Ala.

The Houston Cougars got the No. 2 overall seed and are the top seed in the Midwest Region. They too will play their first two games at Birmingham, though their region semifinal and region final games are scheduled to be played in Kansas City.

Kansas got the No. 3 overall seed and are the top seed in the West Region. Their first two games are located in Des Moines, Iowa, while their regional semifinal and regional final games are set for Las Vegas, Nevada.

Kansas fans thought that having the opportunity to play their regional semis and regional final games in Kansas City — so long as they made it that far — would have been a nice advantage, so they’re ticked off that Houston was chosen ahead of them.

NCAA Tournament Selection Committee Chairman Chris Reynolds said in an interview on CBS Sunday that they chose Houston ahead of Kansas because of the Cougars’ combined 15-2 record in quad 1 and quad 2 games. They favored those numbers ahead of Kansas’ 17-7 record in quad 1 games.

The Jayhawks’ 17 quad 1 wins set a record, but they weren’t enough to overtake the Cougars in the committee’s mind. The committee also rewarded Houston for being competitive in their losses (except for Sunday’s defeat to Memphis).

Here is how Kansas and Houston’s respective resumes stack up. The Jayhawks have the No. 1 strength of schedule.

Kansas’ competition in the West Region is recognized as being pretty tough.

The Jayhawks went 27-7 this season and did well against tough opponents. They will have to keep doing well against tough competition in the NCAA Tournament.

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