Kansas basketball has had an uncharacteristically difficult season. The Jayhawks didn't win the Big 12 conference regular season title, and the team has the most losses in conference of any team the school has had since the 1980s. The Jayhawks are headed to the NCAA tournament, but they are definitely vulnerable. Here are a few scenarios the Kansas basketball team is hoping they don't have to face in March Madness this year.
ANOTHER BIG 12 SCHOOL EARLY ON
There are now 14 teams in the Big 12 Conference this year, and around 10 are definitely headed to the NCAA tournament. There could be even more than that when the dust settles from the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City. The last thing Kansas wants to see is a Big 12 team that they have already played, especially one that they may have played twice or even three times before, if you count the upcoming conference tournament.
Kansas basketball has seven conference losses this season, at the time of writing. That is the most they have had since the 1988-89 season, when Roy Williams was coaching the team in the Big 8 Conference. Coach Bill Self has never lost this many games in a conference season, and running up against one of the team's conference foes in the first two rounds could lead to an early exit for the Jayhawks.
Kansas definitely doesn't match up well against some of the other conference schools. The Jayhawks have struggled away from home this season, losing at West Virginia and UCF. Baylor was a very hard matchup for the Jayhawks, in the two games the teams played. The most embarrassing loss though was to Texas Tech, who defeated the Jayhawks by nearly 30 points earlier this season. Despite their conference frustrations, there is an ever stronger nightmare scenario facing the team.
3-POINT LINE ISSUES
The greatest weakness of this team, arguably, is at the three-point line. Kansas basketball is 11th out of 14 teams in the Big 12 in three-point shooting. Kansas is making 32 percent of its threes, with only three other conference teams doing worse than the Jayhawks. Those schools are Oklahoma State, UCF and Cincinnati, who are all somewhat likely to miss the tournament.
The team is also 11th in the league in three-point defense, per conference stats. The team struggles to defend the three, giving up a 35 point percentage to other teams. An outstanding perimeter shooting team could absolutely doom the Jayhawks in March Madness. Some teams certainly to make the tournament that excel at the three are: Purdue, Kentucky, and Duke. Jayhawks' fans should not be happy to see Kansas face any of those teams at any point of the tournament.
Kansas still has plenty of strengths. The team has one of the best rebounders in the country in Hunter Dickinson. The team also has the best assist to turnover ratio of any team in the Big 12, with a 1.64 mark. The Jayhawks are still a force to be reckoned with, despite their struggles.
Kansas basketball closes out the regular season with a game against Houston on Saturday. The game tips off at 4:00 Eastern. The Big 12 tournament in Kansas City begins on March 12. Kansas enters Saturday's game with a 22-8 overall record.
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