DES MOINES, Iowa -- History has taken sides, and it has Kansas in the first-round NCAA Tournament game against 16th-seeded Austin Peay on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center.
Not in the history of the tournament has a 16 defeated a 1, and the Jayhawks come with the added luster of being the top overall seed in the field of 64.
But opportunity welcomes Austin Peay (18-17) and coach Dave Loos after the Ohio Valley Conference tournament champions won four games in four nights against teams it had lost to during the regular season.
"It's just more about passion and pride," said Austin Peay senior guard Khalil Davis. "We don't look at it as the No. 1 seed because we (are) brothers and we're family. We were the underdogs coming into the OVC Tournament, and we feel coming in here ... we made history as the OVC Tournament. Who says we can't make history as the 16 seed?"
Davis doesn't need an extra fuel to want to beat Kansas. He's from Kansas City, Mo., and his father, Tyrone Davis, played for Kansas State.
"We've got absolutely nothing to lose," said coach Dave Loos, who has Austin Peay in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in his 26 seasons with the school. "We're playing our best basketball right now. Playing with a lot of confidence. We won four games in four nights in our conference tournament. So they're believing in themselves. We just need to rekindle that."
From the Kansas perspective the view is vastly different.
"I guess you could feel pressure. We have been the No. 1 overall before and haven't performed great the time that we were," Kansas coach Bill Self said.
The Jayhawks enter on a 14-game winning streak that began with a win over Kentucky at Allen Fieldhouse. The last time they were the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament was 2010, and that ended with a 69-67 loss to Northern Iowa in the second round.
With that, Self is preaching to his team that any upset is possible -- even a 16 beating a 1.
"I think it will happen, you know, just hopefully not in 2016," Self said. "But I do think that it's coming. Also, there's been, you know, more than one close call with the 1-16 that was just a possession away from going the other way."
If there is no pressure in being a No. 1 seed, Self at least did admit to feeling some gravity when President Obama revealed his personal bracket with Kansas beating North Carolina in Houston for the national title.
"I wasn't that giddy about it at all," Self said with a chuckle. "He's done that before and then he will blame me for ruining his pool if things don't work out. I think it's fine. This is a unique year for us going into the tournament because I feel like we're whole for the first time in a while, so I'm excited about it. I'm fine with anybody picking us or not picking us. I know none of that matters at all, but I know our guys are chomping at the bit to go play."
