10 teams vulnerable to be upset in the first round of March Madness

Bill Self wisely punted on the Big 12 Tournament, one his Jayhawks had no shot of winning. He went into the tournament without Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar Jr. who account for a mere 36.3 points, 16.8 rebounds, and 6.3 assists. Dickinson and McCullar will likely be healthy for the Round of 64, but the Jayhawks loss to Cincinnati without them crystalized the roster construction flaws with this team. 

This past offseason, Self knew he was set at point guard with Dajuan Harris Jr. and that his frontcourt of Dickinson, McCullar, and K.J. Adams Jr. would be one of the best in the country, so he threw darts at the dartboard to try and fill the shooting guard position. Not a bad idea, but none of Elmarko Jackson, Nicolas Timberlake, or Jamari McDowell panned out in that spot. That left Self with freshman Johnny Furphy in the starting lineup and no depth on the bench.

That lack of depth and more importantly lack of size was exposed without the team’s two leading scorers on the floor. There is nobody that Self can bring off the bench for a spark or to use five fouls in a matchup against an opposing big. Kansas is limping into March Madness and at this point Self will be happy to be put out his misery and go back to the drawing board this offseason.