NCAA Tournament 2018: 5 reasons Kansas won’t win it all
By Chris Stone
1. These Jayhawks have laid some eggs this season
Do Jayhawks lay eggs? It’s obviously impossible to determine if a mythical bird does or does not lay eggs, but this Kansas roster — the human iteration of Jayhawks — certainly has a tendency to. The Jayhawks have seven losses this season. Six of them came against teams ranked outside of the top 30 at KenPom. Here’s a quick reminder:
- Way back in December Kansas was handled easily by a Washington team that finished 10-8 in a Pac-12 that got just three teams into the March field. The Huskies played a 2-3 zone with elevated wings designed to challenge 3-point attempts and force Lagerald Vick to beat them in the middle. It worked like a charm.
- Immediately after that, Arizona State — a team that barely made the NCAA Tournament — came into Allen Fieldhouse, shot the lights out and left with a victory. The Jayhawks couldn’t contain the Sun Devils’ guards off the bounce and gave up plenty of drive and kick opportunities.
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- Then there were five conference losses, many of which are explainable except for a home loss to Oklahoma State. Sure, the Cowboys almost made the field of 68, but that came mostly on the strength of their quality wins. Two of those came against Kansas. At the time of Oklahoma State’s win at Allen Fieldhouse, it was ranked outside the top 70 at KenPom.
So, even though the Jayhawks might be good, they’re prone to the occasional rough 40 minutes and in March, all it takes is one to send you packing.