Mandatory Credit – USATSI

I might be all wet on this one, but I’m just wondering if you took a random poll in March, if perhaps the Kansas Jayhawks might top the sports popularity list among teams in Kansas City. Is KU basketball more popular than:

• the Royals in spring training
• The Chiefs getting ready for free agency
• Sporting Kansas City set to get the ball rolling and season underway

Let’s put it this way, there will be a lot of eye balls focused on the Crimson and Blue in the next 5 weeks or so.

I’m sure the KU haters will be vocal but basketball in March is still a pretty big deal in this town. I see a lot of Kansas apparel worn by those who live on the other side of the Stateline. The fact Kansas has won another Big 12 title is almost beyond comprehension. To pull off this trick 12 consecutive years automatically puts Bill Self in a category among the top 5 coaches of his era.

Missouri fans must have nightmares every March thinking what could have been. These are awful times to be a Mizzou fan. It’s okay to use Mike Alden’s name in vain when the NCAA Tournament rolls around every year. The former Missouri Athletic Director chose Quin Snyder over Self when Norm Stewart retired in 1999. Let’s be reasonable, had Self been given the job, how long would he have stayed at Missouri? I’ll say five years at the top. Anyhow, Kansas didn’t waste any time in scooping up Self.

In 2003, Roy Williams bailed out for North Carolina after threatening to leave three years earlier. Once he got KU Athletic Director, Al Bohl, fired, Williams vaulted for the North Carolina job. It was one of the best things to happen at Kansas. Roy got too big for his own britches and attempted to run the KU Athletic Department. He did have a firm grip – hiring his handpicked head football coach.

Those days are gone. Bill Self is the best coach in the 118 year history of KU or since the peach basket was invented. There have been only 8 fulltime head coaches in the history of Kansas Basketball. KU’s 37-3 record under self in the National Championship Season in 2008 is the best single season mark in the storied history of the program.

What makes the 12^th consecutive title so impressive? For the first time since 2007, Self had only one player, Kelly Oubre, drafted in the NBA last year.  There’s a good chance no KU player will be drafted this year. That’s happened only twice since Self has been at Kansas. While the streak is alive, Kansas has stumbled the last two years in the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks have failed both of these years to survive the first weekend including last year’s embarrassing 13 point loss to Wichita State. KU has made an early exit three of the last six seasons. Hawks did make it to the National Championship game 4 years ago before losing to Kentucky. Kansas is expected to be a #1 seed for the first time in 3 years for the tournament.

Self’s teams have been either #1 or #2 seeds in the last 6 seasons but don’t have much to show for it. The way college basketball is watered down this year, anything less than a Final 4 appearance would be a major disappointment, particularly if Kansas is the overall #1 seed in the tournament.