Kansas is one of two Big 12 teams that earned top seeds for March Madness. Bill Self's Jayhawks come in red-hot, having won their last five games as well as the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Assuredly, Self was happy to see his team in the Midwest. In 2016, the Jayhawks made a run to the Elite Eight, and in 2017 reached the Final Four via the Midwest region.

The Midwest also features a dangerous No. 2 seed in Auburn led by recently-extended head coach Bruce Pearl, who took down Self's Jayhawks during Auburn's run to the Final Four in 2019 in a 4-5 seeded matchup. Pearl's team followed up that win with two more victories against the top two seeds in this region but fell in a one-point loss to Virginia on the doorstep of the championship game.

The region isn't lacking for interesting double-digit seeds either. South Dakota State ran the table in the Summit Conference and is coming off a thrilling conference tournament final. Colgate shook off an abysmal start to the season to take a 15-game winning streak into the tournament. Richmond showed nerves of steel to battle back from multiple 15-point deficits in their conference tournament to eventually earn the A-10 crown and the automatic bid that comes with it.

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Before you lock in your bracket, here's everything you should consider about the Midwest Region.

More regional breakdowns: West | Midwest | East | South

Who wins the Midwest Regional? And which team has a better chance than expected of knocking out Kansas early? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out what you need to know about the Midwest Regional before filling out your bracket, all from the SportsLine expert who is 410-357-19 (+1826) all-time on his college basketball ATS picks!