Who Are the Potential Top Seeds in This Year's NCAA Basketball Tournament?

Kansas Jayhawks

The Jayhawks are the first team our numbers disagree with ESPN's Joe Lunardi on. He has Kansas currently slotted as (what appears to be) the top 2 seed in the tournament, but we have Kansas as the third 1 seed, behind Kentucky and Virginia. With a record of 21-5, Kansas is just eighth in the AP Poll and ninth in our very own rankings. So what gives?

The Jayhawks have a very impressive resume, therefore they have a very strong case for a 1 seed. Kansas has six wins against the current AP top-25, and they have the top strength of schedule in all the land. They also have the second-best RPI in the nation and a nERD of 16.57 -- the highest among all Big 12 teams.

So it's clear that the Jayhawks really challenged themselves this year, and that they've had a really successful season, despite a rigorous schedule. They do lead the Big 12 conference -- which is, by the numbers and as a whole, the best conference in all of college hoops -- with an in-conference record of 10-3.

Unlike the other two teams before them, the Jayhwaks aren't among the elite (90-plus percentiles) in both offensive and defensive efficiency. But, considering their ridiculously difficult schedule in the Big 12, they're still really good both offensively and defensively. They fall in the 87th and 74th percentile among all college offenses and defenses, respectively.

When you take a good long, hard look at the Jayhawks it's easier to see that they're deserving of a 1 seed. And, accordingly, Vegas gives them 25-1 odds to win the championship.