Oklahoma City ? Kansas University basketball players Mario Chalmers, Sherron Collins and Russell Robinson thrust their right index fingers into the air late Sunday afternoon in a meeting room deep in the basement of Ford Center.

The Jayhawks, who had just dusted off Texas, 88-84 in overtime in the Big 12 tournament championship game, were beaming with pride after learning via the Selection Sunday show on CBS that they’d been awarded a No. 1 seed in the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament.

“It means a lot,” sophomore forward Julian Wright told the media after the TV show had ended. “We put ourselves back up there as one of the top teams in the nation. We’ll do the best we can to go as far as we can.”

For KU, the Road to the Final Four starts in Wright and Sherron Collins‘ hometown of Chicago. KU will meet the winner of Tuesday’s play-in game between Florida A&M and Niagara at 6:10 p.m. Friday in the United Center.

If KU wins, it would meet either Villanova or Kentucky approximately 4 p.m. Sunday, with the winner of that game advancing to the Sweet 16 in San Jose, Calif., for Thursday-Saturday games. KU could meet Illinois, Virginia Tech, Southern Illinois or Holy Cross in the Sweet 16. UCLA and Pittsburgh are the top teams on the bottom part of the bracket looming as Elite Eight possibilities.

“I thought we’d get a No. 1 seed if we won today,” said KU coach Bill Self, whose 30-4 Jayhawks earned their seventh top seed in history and first since 2002, when KU reached the Final Four and lost to Maryland in the semis.

“Of course if they made the selection before the game was over that had a chance to hurt our seed being down 22 (points).”

That wasn’t a factor as the Jayhawks blazed to victory and joined North Carolina (East), Ohio State (South) and Florida (Midwest) as No. 1 seeds.

“It’s great. It’s where we want to be,” junior Sasha Kaun said. “That was one of our goals. We’re really excited for Julian and Sherron going home. I think we deserve it the way things turned out here.”

Both Collins and Wright downplayed heading to the Windy City.

“It will be good since my mother and grandmother can go,” Collins said, “but it doesn’t really matter. I just think it’s great we’re a top seed. I think we deserved more respect than they were giving us all season.”

“It doesn’t really matter if it was Anchorage, Alaska, or wherever,” Wright said. “We’re just happy to be in the tournament. It is nice to be in your hometown, but it could be any city.”

Self said he was pleased KU already had one game in the Chicago area – a loss to DePaul in December in All-State Arena in Rosemont.

“I’m glad we went once, though I wish we’d won the game. It was not a great trip for us,” Self said. “Julian and Sherron will have to make some adjustments in their mindset this time. We’ll talk about it.”

As far as being placed in the West, Self wasn’t totally shocked.

“Who knows what to expect?” he said. “Kansas has a great contingent of fans out West. If we’re fortunate enough to go there, I’m sure they will buy their allotment. Our fans find a way to get there.”

The matter at hand now is the play-in game winner. KU won’t know its foe until Tuesday night. Will it hurt game preparation?

“I don’t think so,” Self said. “If you know who you are playing tonight, your focus in all on them. I think we need to step back, get our batteries recharged and start Wednesday.”

He said the Jayhawks never looked past an opponent, so he could actually spend a bit of time looking at Villanova and Kentucky as well as the play-in participants, since he knows not whom the Jayhawks will play in Round One.

“We’ll watch tape on both those teams (Florida A&M, Niagara),” Self said, “but I think sometimes you can have too much time to spend on an opponent. I think this may break it up and be a good thing for us. We did it at Illinois, and it wasn’t bad.”

In 2001, his Illinois team beat Northwestern State, the play-in winner.

Self said the West Regional looked mighty tough to him. He was asked about tradition-rich UCLA, plus Pitt and Illinois being in the region.

“What about Kentucky and Villanova?” Self said. “You look at the 8, 9 seeds. They’re tough teams. Every year you look at the bracket and say it’s the toughest and that you get no favors. The truth is parity has set in. The difference – there are more upsets – is everybody has good guys.”

As far as his team being upset in the first round the last two years, he said he wouldn’t ignore the issue.

“I’ll talk to the players about it. There’s no reason to shy away from it. They’ll ask,” he said of media.

¢Self was upset Kansas State did not make the tourney field.

“I’m not surprised Texas Tech got in. They deserved it. It is disappointing K-State did not get in,” he said. “If you watch our league … how can a 10-6 team not get in? It’s ridiculous.”

¢KU could play Self’s former school, Illinois, in the Sweet 16. That game would be in San Jose.

“I hope we play Illinois. It means we both would have won two games,” he said. “It wouldn’t be much fun playing Illinois in Chicago. If there was a matchup, there’d be some talk about it I’m sure.”

¢Self noticed the Selection Committee was near the end of its meeting as KU and Texas played into overtime close to the start of the 5 p.m. show. “I checked my watch. I said, ‘We’ve got to end this now,'” Self quipped of the game.

¢Self knows little about Niagara of the Metro Atlantic Conference and Florida A&M of the MEAC. “I know Florida A&M ran a great side out play to score the other night,” he said. “I’ll know a lot more.”