Kansas went into the Big 12 tournament without its two best players — Kevin McCullar Jr. and Hunter Dickinson — and promptly got blown out by Cincinnati. Meanwhile, Marquette announced that All-America point guard Tyler Kolek wouldn’t play in the Big East tournament with his lingering oblique injury. Both teams expressed confidence that their stars would be back and healthy for the NCAA Tournament. But how can we know for sure?
The committee is undoubtedly getting all the latest information on these and other injuries through its conference reporting system. It’s possible, likely even, that Kansas and Marquette have given them more details and assurance than the public has received. Still, this is a tough place to be. Both teams’ losses down the stretch — the Jayhawks lost by 30 at Houston in the regular-season finale and have dropped four of their past five, while the Golden Eagles have lost two of their last three without Kolek — can be attributed partially if not substantially to the injuries. But clearly, neither team is the same without their stars. And the committee won’t have proof that they will in fact be back to full strength before Selection Sunday.
Nor do we have a great idea of what to do here. With the Jayhawks suffering their 10th loss amid such uncertainty, we bumped them down to a No. 4 seed during our fresh scrub of the bracket. But a full-bore Kansas team is deserving of at least a No. 3 seed. Luckily, we’ve got a few more days to think this over.
