Kansas Vaults To No. 1 Seed in 2024 Bracketology After Acquiring Hunter Dickinson
The Kansas Jayhawks instantly became serious national title contenders in 2023 the moment that they added Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson last week.
The 7-1, 260-pound center out of Alexandria, Virginia, immediately becomes one of the top players in the nation’s best basketball conference. In 2022-23, Dickinson averaged 18.5 points, nine rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game for the Wolverines, but UM managed just a fifth-place finish in the Big Ten with an 18-16 overall record.
In Joe Lunardi’s most recent bracketology, the Jayhawks jumped to the top line of seeding, leapfrogging the likes of defending national champs UConn in doing so.
We should have known all along it would be Kansas to break into the club of preseason No. 1 seeds,” Lunardi writes. “After all, the Jayhawks have been a top seed a staggering 10 times under Bill Self. All it took was the nation’s top transfer — Hunter Dickinson — for KU to leapfrog defending national champion UConn (among others) to reach the first line in our latest update. The initial numbers after Dickinson’s commitment had Kansas as a 2-seed, but a deeper look elevates the Jayhawks to third overall, behind Duke and Michigan State.
Kansas is listed as the No. 1 seed in the South, which is set in Dallas. K-State also finds itself in that region as the No. 6 seed, where it would have a play-in game against No. 11 seed Illinois as one of the last four in.
Texas is listed as a No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region, along with No. 8 seed Baylor. Across the bracket in the East Region, West Virginia is listed as a No. 6 seed and TCU is down to a No. 8 seed.
Finally, in the West Region, Houston comes in as a No. 3 seed and Iowa State makes the tournament as a No. 8 seed.
Texas Tech is listed as a “Next Four Out” member for now, with Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati, BYU, and UCF off the bubble.
