Photo by Nathan Morgan/Daily News Western Kentucky University basketball players Eddie Alcantara (top left), Brandon Harris (left) and George Fant peek from behind a curtain in E. A. Diddle Arena, Sunday as they wait to be announced during a watch party, March 17, 2013 in Bowling Green, Ky. The Hilltoppers, who received the No. 16 seed in the South Region of the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, will take on the No. 1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Friday at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

    Western Kentucky is a 16 seed again, but this time things are entirely different.

    The Hilltoppers (20-15) learned their NCAA Tournament plans Sunday, and those plans include traveling to Kansas City, Mo., to face top-seeded Kansas at approximately 9 p.m. on Friday.

    “About what we anticipated,” WKU coach Ray Harper said. “It’s close enough we will be able to have some fans travel. Now it’s about getting some tape together. Obviously it’s a team we’ve seen play a bunch this season, now it’s trying to get prepared for Friday night.”

    Unlike last season, when WKU had to bus to Dayton, Ohio, moments after the official draw on a Sunday, beat Mississippi Valley State on a Tuesday night, then bus to Louisville to play eventual national champion Kentucky on a Thursday, the Tops will have plenty of time to dissect one of the top teams in the nation.

    They last met the Jayhawks (29-5) in 1997, losing 75-62 in Lawrence, Kan.

    “Great program, great team,” Harper said. “(Coach) Bill Self does a good of a job as anyone in the country. Big challenge, but like I said earlier, I know our guys will go compete.”

    The Hilltoppers were hopeful going into Sunday of maybe being awarded a 15 seed. Instead, it’s back to being considered one of the six weakest teams in the field of 68.

    A 16 seed has never defeated a one seed in the NCAA Tournament, so the Tops will be faced with the unavoidable question all week of why they believe they can be the first ones to do it.

    “Our number got called, saw Kansas, that’s who we play, so we just got to get ready and I’m pretty sure we will be ready,” WKU senior point guard Jamal Crook said. “Just knowing we got the fight in us, it doesn’t matter who you put in front of us, we’re going to give them our all.”

    Kansas has won 10 of 11, including Saturday’s Big XII tournament championship 70-54 over Kansas State.

    The Jayhawks’ five losses have come against Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Texas Christian, Oklahoma and Baylor.

    “If you look at their personnel, they’ve got two for sure first-round draft picks and a lottery pick in Ben McLemore,” Harper said. “Perry Ellis was one of the top five players in the country coming out of high school and he doesn’t start. It’s an extremely talented group and a group capable of winning the national championship.”

    Western Kentucky is coming off its second straight Sun Belt Conference title after defeating Florida International 65-63 on Monday.

    Harper said they’ll resume their normal schedule Monday and leave for Missouri on Wednesday.

     “Last year it wasn’t unexpected for us,” the second-year coach said. “We approached it like the same way we did last year. If you’re going to be successful, you approach it one way – it’s prepare as hard as you possibly can and believe in what you’re doing. I know these guys do. Even when we went through those tough times we knew that if we got some guys back that we had a chance.

    “If we had this entire group for the entire season, we would have had five or six more wins. We didn’t, so it is what it is. I think we’re playing our best basketball right now and this is the time of year you want to be playing your best basketball.”