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College basketball week 15: 5 important things to know

By Chris Stone

EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 10: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates his made basket late in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Breslin Center on February 10, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - FEBRUARY 10: Miles Bridges #22 of the Michigan State Spartans celebrates his made basket late in the second half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Breslin Center on February 10, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
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WACO, TX – FEBRUARY 18: Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts as Kansas plays Baylor in the first half at the Ferrell Center on February 18, 2017 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
WACO, TX – FEBRUARY 18: Head coach Bill Self of the Kansas Jayhawks reacts as Kansas plays Baylor in the first half at the Ferrell Center on February 18, 2017 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /

4. Kansas’ Big 12 title streak is legitimately at risk

The Jayhawks have won at least a share of 13 straight Big 12 regular season championships, but after an 80-64 loss on the road at Baylor on Saturday, the team’s hopes of extending the streak to 14 are teetering on the ledge. Kansas is now one game behind Texas Tech at the top of the league standings and still has to visit the Red Raiders in Lubbock later this season. This isn’t the first time the Jayhawks have found themselves down a game this late in a season during the streak, but it is obviously the most recent and the team’s performance has been concerning.

Over at barttorvik.com — a great resource for all fans of college basketball — you can view team trends across the full 2017-18 season. The trend line for Kansas’ adjusted defense isn’t great:

Source: barttorvik.com
Source: barttorvik.com /

Although the Jayhawks delivered one of their more impressive defensive performances of the season last week against TCU, that outing is bookended by the team’s two worst — a home loss to Oklahoma State and the aforementioned Baylor defeat.

Head coach Bill Self has frequently expressed frustration with the effort of his players, going as far as playing musical chairs with his lineups. Self has rolled out five different starting lineups this season, including three unique setups in the last three games.

The Hall of Famer continues to try to push the right buttons for his roster, but the bottom line is this: Kansas isn’t as talented as it has been in years past and when there’s a talent drop off — even if the overall talent of the team is still high relative to the rest of the Big 12 — effort and execution become more important. Can the Jayhawks turn things around in time to extend their streak? Only time will tell.