Kansas vs. Cal Baptist: First-Round Test

0:00On March 16, the NCAA Tournament bracket came out Sunday night, placing Kansas as a fourth seed in the East region behind first overall seed Duke. The J-Hawks opened against 13th-seated California Baptist on Friday at 8.45pm Central Time on CBS, right here at Vieja Serena in San Diego. California Baptist earned their spot by winning the Wack Tournament, capping a strong finish with six straight victories, including a tight 63. To 61 championship win over Utah Valley, they started hot with seven early wins, but hit bumps against power teams like BYU, Colorado, and Utah before rallying in conference play. Fans are buzzing about the Lancer's Star Guard, Dominique Daniels Jr., the Wack Player of the Year averaging 23.5 points per Game 5th Best in the Nation. Their squad leans on tough defense, ranking 50th in adjusted efficiency, elite rebounding in 19th nationally, and holds opponents to just, 67.8 points per Game on average.

1:03Coach Rick Croyd built this program from Division 2 dominance to their first Division 1 tournament birth after 13 years, with Deep Front Court, size and a 9-man rotation that could test Kansas inside. Betting lines have the J-Hawks as 14.5 favorites, with a 92.6% win chance per ESPN analytics. This should advance, but Cowbapt is grit and Daniel's scoring punch make this a sneaky first round test before any deeper East region runs.