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Kansas basketball should claim the national championship

By Patrick Schmidt

LAWRENCE, KANSAS - MARCH 04: Udoka Azubuike #35 of the Kansas Jayhawks holds the Big 12 Championship Trophy alongside teammates after defeating the TCU Horned Frogs to win the game at Allen Fieldhouse on March 04, 2020 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KANSAS - MARCH 04: Udoka Azubuike #35 of the Kansas Jayhawks holds the Big 12 Championship Trophy alongside teammates after defeating the TCU Horned Frogs to win the game at Allen Fieldhouse on March 04, 2020 in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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There was no March Madness in college basketball this year, so should the last No. 1 team be crowned as national champions? That would be Kansas basketball.

Kansas basketball finished the year as the No. 1 team in the final AP Poll, receiving 63 of a possible 65 votes. Since there wasn’t an NCAA Tournament this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, does Bill Self’s Jayhawks team have a right to claim the national title?

Yes, indeed they do.

Kansas was playing the best basketball down the stretch and was in line to be the No. 1 overall seed if there was a March Madness bracket this year. Unfortunately, there was no bracket, no March Madness and no definitive way for Kansas basketball or any other team to prove they are the undisputed champions.

But Kansas basketball can certainly be the disputed national champions.

Claiming national championships is commonplace in college football before the advent of the BCS and later the College Football Playoff. It’s been a running joke for years about Alabama claiming national titles, even when they had absolutely no business claiming national championships.

It comes with the territory, but college basketball is a little different considering they’ve had a postseason tournament that crowns their national champions on the court.

College football next had that until 1998 so it led to co-champions and multiple teams claiming national titles based on the various poll that had them as the No. 1 team at the end of the year.

Let’s consider the criteria for Kansas basketball to crown themselves as kings of college basketball.

The Jayhawks are the No. 1 team in the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll.

Kansas is also the No. 1 team according to KenPom’s ranking. They’re also the No. 1 team in adjusted efficiency margin.

And they’re the No. 1 team, according to Bart Torvik’s metrics.

They come in at No. 2, behind Gonzaga, according to the NCAA’s NET rankings.

But considering Kansas is No. 1 according to the media, the coaches and the analytics, they have the best argument to make why they should claim the national championship.

Gonzaga has an argument to make, Dayton has a lesser argument to make and Baylor really lost their argument after losing to Kansas in their last meeting.

It’s unfortunate the teams won’t get a 68-team tournament that’ll take place over the next several weeks to determine the champion on the court. In lieu of the tournament, Kansas basketball has the best case why the record books should reflect the 2019-2020 national champion.

It would be the second national title for Self at Kansas and the first since 2008. It would also be the sixth in program history for the storied program in Lawrence.

I’m happy to present their case to the NCAA why Kansas basketball should be recognized for their accomplishments.

Of course, there won’t be a national champion crowned. Just as there was no World Series winner ni 1994 during the strike and why there was no Stanley Cup champion in 2005.

Despite that, let the record show no one was better than Kansas basketball in 2019-2020. They won’t be remembered as national champions and we’ll never know what would have happened in March Madness.

That shouldn’t stop Kansas from hanging another banner in Allen Fieldhouse.

Next. 20 biggest upsets in the history of March Madness. dark

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