LAWRENCE—Kansas basketball’s stay in the NCAA tournament in recent years hasn’t been very long, for various reasons.
Following the national championship run in 2022, coach Bill Self’s squad hasn’t reached the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. Both 2023 and 2024 saw the Jayhawks drop out in the round of 32, first as a No. 1 seed and then as a No. 4 seed. This past season, in 2025, they didn’t even make it past the round of 64 as a No. 7 seed.
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But with a new season comes new possibilities, as well as a remade roster and adjustments to the coaching staff. The potential for a different outcome next year is up for debate. And while the 2025-26 season opening game has yet to be played, ESPN has already put in a bracketology forecast for what the 2026 NCAA Tournament could look like.
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ESPN’s Joe Lunardi predicted Kansas would be the No. 6 seed in the South region. The Jayhawks would face off against No. 11-seed San Diego State. Whichever team would win that game would face off against either No. 3-seed BYU or No. 14-seed South Dakota State in the round of 32 for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Should this projection hold true, Kansas would be one of eight Big 12 Conference teams in the NCAA tournament in 2026. That would be the third-most teams in the competition behind the Southeastern Conference’s 14 and the Big Ten Conference’s 11. The Jayhawks are set to be led by returning sophomore forward Flory Bidunga and freshman star guard Darryn Peterson.
Jan. 25, 2025; Lawrence, Kansas; Kansas basketball coach Bill Self talks with forward Flory Bidunga (40) during a game against Houston at Allen Fieldhouse.
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Where Kansas basketball is in ESPN’s 2026 NCAA Tournament bracketology
