Kansas, Villanova, Virginia and Xavier — the No. 1 seeds in this year’s NCAA Tournament — should remember the Alamo.
Especially the Jayhawks.
The last time all four No. 1 seeds made it to the Final Four was 10 years ago. That was the last time the NCAA Tournament wrapped up in San Antonio, and the last time coach Bill Self and Kansas cut down the nets as national champions.
Before getting to this season’s Final Four, there are 64 NCAA Tournament games to be played over the next two weeks to determine if the Alamodome will be filled with No. 1 seeds again. Or if some lower seeds, or even a potential Cinderella, make it to those national semifinal games March 31.
Here are a few things to watch with the NCAA Tournament about to get underway:
— AGAIN AND AGAIN: Coach K, Self and Tom Izzo keep going back to the NCAA Tournament. All have won national titles, and they’re in the same regional this season.
Mike Krzyzewski and Duke are in the NCAA Tournament for the 23rd year in a row, two more than Izzo and Michigan State.
The school with the most consecutive appearances is Kansas, which stretched its active streak to 29 in a row as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Regional.
Self is in his 20th NCAA Tournament in a row, the 15th with Kansas after the Jayhawks won their unprecedented 14th straight Big 12 Conference championship. Before that, Self went to the NCAA twice with Tulsa and three times with Illinois.
The Spartans (29-4) are the No. 3 seed and get to stay in their home state for Friday’s game against Bucknell. Kansas (27-7) also has a short trip for the opening weekend, staying in the Sunflower State to play Penn on Thursday in Wichita, Kansas.
The Jayhawks last year beat Michigan State in the second round of the Midwest Regional, but the only way to meet this year would be if both make it to the regional final in Omaha, Nebraska.
Duke (26-7), the No. 2 seed that plays Iona on Thursday, could face a potential Sweet 16 matchup against Michigan State.
— WHERE ARE THE 1s?: Only twice since the 2008 tournament has the NCAA title game even been a matchup of No. 1 seeds.
That included last season in Arizona when North Carolina beat Gonzaga, a year after the Tar Heels were the national runner-up. UNC tied the 2016 title game in Texas on a double-clutch 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds left before Villanova won on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
Duke beat Wisconsin for the 2015 championship, the only other title game matchup of No. 1 seeds since the Jayhawks’ overtime win over Memphis in 2008. North Carolina and UCLA were the other No. 1 seeds in San Antonio.