Another year will be added to the banners in Allen Fieldhouse
With an 87-68 win over the TCU Horned Frogs on Wednesday night, the Kansas Jayhawks clinched at least a share of their 13th straight Big 12 regular season title. The streak ties a Division I record set by the UCLA Bruins from 1967-79. Unlike John Wooden, though, Bill Self piloted the program for each of the Jayhawks’ title runs.
This campaign — once expected to be a sure thing — has been a difficult one for Kansas. Both the Baylor Bears and West Virginia Mountaineers have been better than many analysts expected in the preseason. The additions of Brad Underwood at Oklahoma State and Jamie Dixon at TCU have also shored up the strength of some of the league’s less consistent programs. Need more evidence? Nine of the Jayhawks’ 13 conference wins have come by single digits.
For those reasons and more, this may be Kansas’s most impressive title run. The Jayhawks lost freshman center Udoka Azubuike just 11 games into the season, Self has had to adjust to playing a small ball lineup for the first time in his coaching career and the head coach has even rolled out a zone defense with more regularity to adjust to his team’s lack of depth.
If there is one criticism of Kansas’ title run, it’s this: If the Jayhawks can win the league every single year, how good can the league really be? The answer’s simple. It’s been really, really good. For seven of the 13 seasons that Kansas has won the Big 12 title, the conference has been one of the top two ranked leagues in the country according to KenPom’s adjusted efficiency margin. It has been number one for each of the last four. And this season, the Big 12 — not the vaunted ACC — is the highest rated conference on the site since 2004 and 36.5 percent of its games having been decided by four points or less.
It has become a point of pride in Lawrence to avoid being the team to end the streak and that’s no longer a burden that this set of Jayhawks will have to carry as they shift their focus towards a deep March run. Kansas hasn’t been to the Final Four since 2012, but this team is well-equipped to do so. It gets great guard play from Frank Mason and Devonte’ Graham and has one of the nation’s best freshman in Josh Jackson. Whatever happens on the road to Phoenix, though, No. 13 will always be in the rearview mirror.