Local teams arrive for NCAA Tournament

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Some teams are traveling across the country for the NCAA tournament. Bill Self and his Kansas Jayhawks just had to cross the state line.

"Yeah, it was a tough travel day. It probably took 45 minutes, instead of 40 coming over here today. Traffic in Lawrence was awful."

The Jayhawks will play as close to home as possible. That is their reward for being a No. 1 seed. However, Self warns that being this close to home can lead to more distractions from friends and family.

"Still, I think the positives far outweigh the negatives when you are talking about the familiarity with the court and the arena and, of course, hopefully a great fan base."

Kansas State is hoping to have plenty of fan support as well. The Wildcats arrived later Wednesday evening. Head coach Bruce Weber felt like his team was rested and ready for the madness of March.

"My number one wish was to play on Friday. I thought (we had) three tough games. We have some guys that have been injured. They got an extra day of rest. Then, to come to Kansas City was our biggest wish. "

The Wildcats hustled to their hotel rooms to turn on the Boise State and La Salle game. Less than 48 hours before their first game, Weber was still waiting to see who his team would face.

"It's a little frustrating because you couldn't do total preparation, and that's one thing we've always taken a lot of pride in."

La Salle beat Boise State Wednesday night. Kansas State is slated to play the Explorers at 2:10 p.m. Friday at Sprint Center. Kansas will face Western Kentucky at 8:50 p.m. on Friday.