I’m Derek Schmidt: This is why I want Kansas’ vote in the midterm election
Derek Schmidt, top, speaks with Bill Self after the team’s 106-91 loss to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tournament at the Sprint Center. The No. 3-seed Jayhawks won game 7 in overtime.
Credit John Munson/The Star-LedgerKANSAS CITY — The man charged with heading up the NCAA Tournament selection committee is a high-ranking KU official, and he has expressed a great deal of confidence in what his team has been doing over the past few seasons.
As is the case for any power-conference basketball team, it’s not even close to where this team belongs.
So far this season, in the opinion of some of the most respected coaches in basketball, KU is the nation’s No. 1 team in basketball. They’re in the Big 12 tournament and will face No. 2 seed Oklahoma in one semifinal and then advance to national stage by beating No. 3 seed Baylor.
This is a story with a little less than a month left before the conclusion of the regular season.
Some people have it easy.
You know the ones who have it easy — they don’t have to get to work. They sit in front of the TV every night and don’t have to worry about their kids. Their kids work, too, and so they can sit on their couch and watch the game.
They’re watching the Jayhawks, the national champions. And they’re in the process of making their own decision to vote in the national championship game.
“I have a son in the basketball program, and I have to talk to him about college,” said John Munson, the Star-Ledger’s sports editor for two decades, who spent Wednesday volunteering his time to assist Derek Schmidt, the chairman of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee charged with making the difficult decision when the season ends.
“I think that most parents in most families are at some point in their lives in that situation. You find some families where parents don’t watch, and they don’t have to worry about their children