The Kansas Jayhawks are the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, as expected. Kentucky is the second No. 1., Duke the third and Syracuse the fourth.

KU will play out of St. Louis, Kentucky out of Syracuse, Duke out of Houston and Syracuse out of Salt Lake City. KU and Syracuse would play in the national semifinals if both teams advanced to the Final Four.

A win over Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament championship game would have gone down as one of the top moments in the modern era of K-State sports.

It didn't happen, and Wildcats players cried when they realized they missed out on a tremendous opportunity.

But in the grand scheme of things, Saturday's highly competitive loss to the Jayhawks wasn't a season-altering setback. Not even close. Yes, K-State had everything to gain from winning on the Big 12's grandest stage, but it also had nothing to lose.

When everyone thought Texas was good, fans lined up outside Bramlage Coliseum 20 hours before tip-off.

When No. 1 Kansas walked into the Octagon of Doom, the K-State student section was so loud it seemed to double in size.

Excitement was high for both of those must-see games, but today's showdown with the Jayhawks easily surpasses each of them on the exhilaration scale.

Pardon the cliche, but Kansas State's cakewalk over Oklahoma State last night at the Sprint Center was exactly what the doctor ordered.

The two-game lapse the Wildcats experienced at the end of the regular season is history. K-State bounced back in a big way, and played one of its best games of the season. Maybe even THE best.

Jamar Samuels was in a zone, Denis Clemente made fabulous reads all night long and Dominique Sutton was a difference maker.

This just in from Iowa State...

Iowa State head men’s basketball coach Greg McDermott addressed several personnel issues today, including confirming that junior Craig Brackins will bypass his senior season and make himself eligible for the 2010 NBA draft. Brackins is currently in the process of hiring an agent.

The Kansas State basketball team will be out for revenge today against Oklahoma State. It will also be trying to regain its swagger and end a two-game losing streak.

For those reasons, the Wildcats won't need to look ahead to the NCAA Tournament to find motivation at the Big 12 Tournament.

But if they choose to think of seeding implications, no one could blame them. This week's trip to Kansas City could impact their future quite a bit.

Outside the Missouri locker room at Kansas City’s Sprint Center, Tigers Coach Mike Anderson tried to lend perspective to Missouri’s first-round ouster from the Big 12 Tournament.

“The sun will come up tomorrow,” Anderson said, then, perhaps not wanting to tempt the heavens, added: “Hopefully it will come up.”

It did.

Under grey skies over the Power & Light district that matched the gloom of many Missouri basketball fans, but the sun did come up.

Something for K-State fans to think about as they consider their NCAA Tournament trip. It's been assumed for while the Wildcats would be headed to Oklahoma City to open postseason play.

And I believe that destination remains a solid possibility. But keep an eye on New Mexico.

The selection committee gives higher seeded teams location preference _ in order of team strength. And that preference is based on mileage to a site. The closest first-round site to Kansas State is Oklahoma City. It’s also the closest first-round site for New Mexico.

The Big 12 crew of Dave Armstrong and Reid Gettys will call the Kansas-Texas Tech opening game on ESPN2. It was to be Bob Knight and Brent Musburger but with Pat Knight coaching the Red Raiders, it was decided best to avoid the father-son conflict.

A year ago just before the start of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, I had no expectation Missouri would win the tournament.

That Mizzou did was a surprise, even after a quaterfinal round in which the other three teams that - like Mizzou - had received byes in Oklahoma City - lost.

I have no expectation the Tigers will successfully defend that tournament title this time around in Kansas City.