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Kansas Basketball vs. Houston: What’s at Stake for NCAA Tournament Bids

Originally posted on Kansas Jayhawks on SI
By Nick Shepkowski | Last updated Mar 3, 2025 6:15 PM ET

Kansas basketball has struggled through the 2024-25 regular season (by Kansas standards) and now enters the final week of the regular season. That begins Monday night as perhaps the toughest test of the regular season awaits the Jayhawks: a trip to No. 3 Houston.

The Cougars already have the Big 12 regular season title wrapped up as they have lost just once this conference season. Meanwhile, the Jayhawks are still a tournament team but their final positioning in the Big 12 is anything but determined.

Let's take a quick look at a handful of items that are at stake for both teams Monday night in Houston.

Houston's Hopes of a No. 1 Seed

Houston is right on the line between being a No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A loss to Kansas, who is just 19-10 overall and 7-7 in its last 14 games, would be quite the dent on the resume as every game matters for seeding purposes.

Kansas - As High as a No. 5 Seed?

Kansas has early season wins over Kentucky and Tennessee but when you look at what it's done in the Big 12, that true resume building win just doesn't exist.

Yet.

Beat Houston on the road and the talk of Kansas being a six or seven seed changes to being a five.

How Far Could Kansas Fall in a Blowout?

Joe Lunardi of ESPN currently has Kansas as a six-seed in his latest Bracketology projection.

What if the worst thing possible happens and Houston does to the Jayhawks what BYU did to Kansas a few short weeks ago? Then how far are we looking at Kansas falling in terms of tournament seeding?

All of a sudden the possibility of a seven or eight seed as a regular season date with No. 24 Arizona remains becomes that much more possible - as the difficulty of surviving the opening round of the NCAA Tournament increases.