Joe Lunardi projects Kansas' NCAA Tournament seed after loss to Houston

Kansas droped to 19-11 on the season after losing to No. 3 Houston 65-59 on the road on Monday night.

The Jayhawks have now dropped four of their last six matchups, and have witnessed a rapid descent in the NCAA Tournament projects during that time. After origninally being slated as a top 16 seed in the initial committee reveal last month, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi revealed his latest projection for Kansas after another tough loss.

“I’ve got them as a seven [seed] right now, coming off this loss tonight at Houston,” Lunardi told Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter. “I still think that their range is six or seven on Selection Sunday, I get the sense that you’re thinking eight-nine. Maybe, but I just don’t think the committee will drop them that far. And if you look at them side by side with the other teams in that range, the eight-nine range, they’re still a good step above them.

“I will say this, Bill Self has never been worse than a four-seed ever in 20 years at Kansas. So you have to tip your hat to that, while also saying something is not right in Lawrence.”

Currently on a two-game losing streak, Kansas has lost by five points and six points, respectively to ranked opponents. They dropped last Saturday’s home game against No. 10 Texas Tech 78-73 before suffering the low-scoring defeat to the Cougars just 48 hours later.

Head coach Bill Self said that he was “not worried” about his team’s confidence after the loss to the Red Raiders. However, he believes his team has room to improve in close, late-game situations.

Looking ahead, Kansas will look to clean that up as they have an opportunity to win its 20th game of the season when they host No. 24 Arizona on Saturday afternoon in Lawrence.

A victory over a Quad 1 opponent would be massive for the Jayhawks ahead the Big 12 Conference Tournament. At this point in the season, Kansas is currently 5-8 against such opponents, and have wins over the likes of Michigan State and Duke. However, Kansas is also 1-5 in their last six tries against Quad 1 competition — evidence of their late-season decline.

Tip-off between the Jayhawks and Wildcats is set for Saturday, March 8 at 4:30 p.m. ET live on ESPN. The matchup will serve as senior day for Kansas, who will be looking to round out their season at The Phog on a high note.