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Bracketology 2020 Projected Field: Baylor, Kansas on the No. 1 seed line

By Lukas Harkins

LAWRENCE, KANSAS - JANUARY 11: Jared Butler #12 and Davion Mitchell #45 of the Baylor Bears smile as Baylor defeats the Kansas Jayhawks to win the game at Allen Fieldhouse on January 11, 2020 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KANSAS - JANUARY 11: Jared Butler #12 and Davion Mitchell #45 of the Baylor Bears smile as Baylor defeats the Kansas Jayhawks to win the game at Allen Fieldhouse on January 11, 2020 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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EAST LANSING, MI – DECEMBER 08: Young of the Rutgers handles. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI – DECEMBER 08: Young of the Rutgers handles. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

Midwest Region (Indianapolis, IN)

(1) Kansas vs. (16) Norfolk State/St. Francis-PA

(8) Indiana vs. (9) BYU

(4) Michigan State vs. (13) Akron

(5) Auburn vs. (12) Memphis/Richmond

(6) Rutgers vs. (11) NC State

(3) Butler vs. (14) New Mexico State

(7) Arizona vs. (10) Oklahoma

(2) Duke vs. (15) Wright State

Although the brawl at the end of its win over K-State has taken center stage, Kansas remains on the No. 1 seed line with back-to-back strong performances. The Jayhawks have launched out to a 15-3 record so far this season and their eight Q1 wins leads the entire nation (and by a margin). Their ability to consistently take down top-tier competition is impressive as this team has proven that it is definitely capable of cutting down the nets as national champions this season. The Big 12 is very top-heavy with three dominant squads this season and Kansas is (unsurprisingly) one of them.

In contrast to Kansas’ status as a blueblood, Rutgers also appears safely within this region as a No. 6 seed. The Scarlet Knights are not often invited to the Big Dance but it appears as though they will hear their name called in a couple of months. Rutgers is defending at a very high level while Ron Harper Jr. is emerging as a star. The team holds a 15-4 (5-3 B10) record that is very impressive and head coach Steve Pikiell deserves a lot of credit for pushing the program to a great season thus far.

At the back-end of at-larges in this region, Memphis is currently one of my last teams in the field. The Tigers have talent, no doubt about that, but their resume simply isn’t all that great. They rank outside of the Top 35 in every single metric and are below-.500 in Q1+2 games. Memphis still has a solid shot at dancing but it needs to pick up its level of play as the AAC season progresses. Tigers were embarrassed by Tulsa during this past week and their efficiency numbers plummeted as a result.

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