March Madness is finally here, and the Kansas men’s basketball team (23-10) earned a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face No. 13  California Baptist (25-8) in the first round on Friday in San Diego, the bracket revealed Sunday. 

The Jayhawks are in the East region, where Duke is the No. 1 seed.

Cal Baptist comes from the Western Athletic Conference, where it just won the conference championship against Utah Valley. 

The best players on this team include senior guard Dominique Daniels Jr., senior guard Martel Williams.

The Lancers are known for rebounding as they average 39.9 rebounds a game while Daniels scores 23.2 points on average. 

Kansas finished third in the Big 12 and earned a double-bye in the Big 12 tournament before beating the No. 6 seed TCU in the quarterfinals, then losing to the No. 2 seed Houston in the semifinals. 

The Jayhawks’ most recent game marked their worst shooting performance of the season, as they shot 25% from the field, the team’s lowest shooting percentage in Big 12 tournament history, matching the 33% they shot against Oklahoma in 2002.

Key players for Kansas include freshman star guard Darryn Peterson, senior guard Tre White, sophomore forward Flory Bidunga, senior guard Melvin Council Jr. and freshman forward Bryson Tiller.

All eyes will be on how Peterson plays as he’s projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft while leading the team, averaging 19.8 points despite missing more than 10 games and playing limited minutes this season due to injuries.

Kansas’ key players aside from Peterson will also have a major impact on the game’s outcome. 

The Jayhawks thrive when their bigs in Bidunga and Tiller dominate, but also suffer when each player doesn’t maximize their performance. Both players combined for seven points in the Jayhawks’ last game. 

White has the highest shooting percentage of all starters, shooting 42.1% from beyond the arc, but has also struggled making 3-pointers at times this season. Council is also a huge part of this team, averaging 12.9 points per game, but most recently shot 1-14 from the field.