The Kansas Jayhawks defeated the Tennessee Volunteers, 81-76, in the third place championship game of the Players Era Festival, a tournament that has come under scrutiny due to its seeding format. Count Kansas head coach Bill Self as one of the voices suggesting that a change in the format of the Players Era tournament could be good, as per Jordan Guskey of The Topeka Capital-Journal.
Bill Self had major praise for the Players Era tournament amid Kansas’ third place finish, and he was not in a rush to say the format was bad, albeit agreeing that it could be changed a bit.
“It’s been a good tournament for us. The matchups have been good for us, different styles, it’s a first class event. And obviously the national media has treated it like it’s the premiere basketball event so far this year, which I think is true,” Self said. “The format to me is fine, but the format can be tweaked. You can still go by point differential but you can’t penalize teams for going 2-0. Everybody should get a piece of it even if only four play on the last day. . .but it’s first class. This thing is gonna continue to grow and get better.”
Point differential and tie-breakers were the determining factors in how teams were ultimately seeded and advanced. Kansas went 2-0 in their first two games, defeating Notre Dame and Syracuse, but that undefeated record put them in the third place game due to the format.
As Kansas moves on to the next part of their schedule, a huge matchup against UConn early next week, the Jayhawks received potentially positive news about Darryn Peterson as the freshman guard attempts to work his way through a hamstring injury.
