Kansas wary of No. 11 seed North Carolina State

"I think we are a Cinderella team," he said. "Nobody expected us to be here. We just keep believing in ourselves that we're going to make it to at least the Final Four."

That's the expectation every season at Kansas.

Still, even coach Bill Self tried to temper high hopes this year. The Jayhawks lost a bevy of talent from last season's team, and the returning players included a former walk-on in Teahan and a couple of guys who'd spent most of their careers riding the bench.

Then March rolled around and the Jayhawks were ready for another NCAA tournament.

"One thing about coaching at my school is even though faces change, expectations don't," Self said. "They have great pride, and I really think between their ears and their effort and all those things have had as much to do with our team's success as it has been raw talent."

Kansas secured its eighth straight Big 12 regular-season title and was seeded third or better in the NCAA tournament for the sixth consecutive year.

Not that seeds matter all that much.

The Jayhawks know that as well as anybody.

"I don't think there's really any upsets this time of year, like a lot of the so-called prognosticators think there is," Self said. "Once you get to the weekend, all the teams are good."