Kansas Is Overall No. 1 Seed For NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

March 14, 2010

Selection Sunday Press Conference Videos: Coach Self | X. Henry | Collins | Aldrich | Mc. Morris | Taylor

Coach Self and Player Quotes

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas has been named the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament No. 1 overall seed it was announced on Sunday. The Jayhawks will play Lehigh from the Patriot League in Oklahoma City on Thursday, March 18, at approximately 8:40 p.m. KU will conduct its open practice at the Ford Center on Wednesday, March 17, from 5:10-5:50 p.m.

The Jayhawks, who are making their 39th NCAA Tournament appearance, as well as their 21st consecutive trip to the championship, are a No. 1 seed for the ninth time since seeding began in 1979. The Jayhawks were a No. 1 seed in 1986, 92, 95, 97, 98, 2002, 07, 08 and this year.

Kansas, which is ranked No. 1 in both the latest Associated Press and USA Today/Coaches polls, is 32-2 overall after winning both the Big 12 regular season title and Big 12 Tournament title.

The Jayhawks have won six straight Big 12 regular season championships, as well as three of the last four Big 12 Tournament championships. This year KU’s only two losses came at Tennessee (76-68) and at Oklahoma State (85-77). KU has won five straight games, as well as 18 of its last 19 games.

Senior guard Sherron Collins leads the team with a 15.6 scoring average and a 4.4 assists per game average. Freshman guard Xavier Henry has averaged 13.6 points per game, including 15.0 in the last 11 games. Sophomore forward Marcus Morris averages 12.3 points and 6.1 rebounds, while junior center Cole Aldrich averages 11.2 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor contributes 7.4 points and 3.4 assists per game.

Lehigh posted a 22-10 overall record and a 10-4 mark in Patriot League play. The Mountain Hawks won their first Patriot League championship since 2004 with a 74-59 victory against Lafayette on Friday.

CJ McCollum is the team’s leading scorer at 18.9 points per game while Marquis Hall and Zahir Carrington add 11 and 10.8 points per game respectively. Carrington pulls down a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game.

Kansas and Lehigh have never met on the basketball court and in fact, Kansas is 4-2 all-time against members of the Patriot League. KU is 1-0 vs. American and Colgate, while owning a 2-1 mark against Holy Cross and an 0-1 mark against Bucknell. The loss to Bucknell came in the 2005 NCAA Tournament in Oklahoma City.

The winner of the Kansas vs. Lehigh game will meet the winner of the No. 8 UNLV vs. No. 9 Northern Iowa contest. Kansas is 4-0 all-time vs. UNLV and 1-0 against Northern Iowa.

Kansas in the NCAA Tournament Notes

–Kansas’ 39th NCAA Tournament appearance.

–Kansas’ 21-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, from 1990-2010, is the nation’s longest active list and ranks second-best all time. North Carolina had 27 straight from 1975-2001. Note: Arizona had an actual streak of 25 consecutive appearances from 1985-2009 but its 1999 appearance was later vacated.

–Kansas is a No. 1 seed for the ninth time since seeding started in 1979, including three times under head coach Bill Self. KU as No. 1 seed – 2010, 2008, 2007, 2002, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1992 and 1986.

–Kansas is 23-7 as No. 1 seed, including one NCAA National Championship (2008).

–Kansas is making its fourth NCAA Tournament trip to Oklahoma City and is 3-2 in the event in Oklahoma City. This will be Kansas’ first trip to Oklahoma City since 2005 when it lost to Bucknell in the opening round. KU played in the Myriad Convention Center in 1998 and the Ford Center in 2003 and 2005. The 2003 KU squad advanced to the Final Four and the NCAA Championship game.

–Under head coach Bill Self, Kansas is 14-5 (73.7 percent) in the NCAA Tournament, with four Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights, one Final Four and one NCAA National Championship.

–In the last eight NCAA Tournaments, Kansas has a 23-7 (76.7 percent) record with one NCAA National Championship (2008), three Final Four (2002-03-08) and five Elite Eight (2002-03-04-07-08) appearances.

–The Jayhawks’ 39 NCAA Tournament appearances are fourth nationally behind only Kentucky (50), UCLA (41) and North Carolina (41).

–Kansas sports an all-time NCAA Tournament record of 84-37 and the Jayhawks’ 84 wins rank fifth behind North Carolina (102), Kentucky (98), UCLA (94) and Duke (88).

–The Jayhawks will play their 122nd NCAA Tournament game on Thursday, which ranks fourth all-time in NCAA history – Kentucky (142), North Carolina (141) and UCLA (128).

–KU’s NCAA Tournament winning percentage of 69.4 percent ranks fifth all-time – Duke (74.6), UCLA (72.3), North Carolina (72.3) and Florida (26-10). This is for a minimum of 20 games played.

–Kansas coach Bill Self is making his 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament as a head coach.

–KU is one of six schools that has won at least three NCAA Championships. The Jayhawks won the NCAA crown in 1952, 1988 and 2008.

–The Jayhawks have appeared in the Final Four 13 times – making KU one of just six schools to reach the Final Four 10-plus times.

–Kansas has won 11 games in the Final Four, which is sixth-best all time.

–Five different Jayhawks have been named NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, including B.H. Born in 1953 and Wilt Chamberlain in 1957, who won the award even though KU lost in the finals. Clyde Lovellette (1952) and Danny Manning (1988) also won the honor. Mario Chalmers won the Most Outstanding Player Award for the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

–Former Jayhawk player and coach Dick Harp is the only person to play in the Final Four and later coach his alma mater in the Final Four.