Kansas is already a No. 1 seed in our latest NBC NCAA Tournament projections so, following the Jayhawks’ 73-63 win over Texas on Saturday night, the logical question arises: Is No. 3 Kansas in line to cut down the nets in New Orleans?
First, the vital details:
-In what was arguably the toughest conference in the country, the Jayhawks won the Big 12 by two games.
-Along the way, they beat Baylor twice, Missouri, and Ohio State.
-They’ve got National Player of the Year Candidate Thomas Robinson, who is averaging nearly 18 points and 12 rebounds.
But how can they put it all together?
Tyshawn Taylor has found himself since mid-January, only having one game with over four turnovers, and was big on Senior Night, Saturday, with 22 points and four assists.
Making his way from being one of the most oft-criticized players in the country earlier in the season, Taylor’s increased basketball security is part of the reason the Jayhawks are on their way to a top seed in the NCAA Tournament.
More importantly, though, are Kansas’ weaknesses. Having sat near the top of the conference and national polls all season, some softer spots of the Jayhawk attack haven’t always shown.
The biggest critique of Bill Self’s team has been their short bench. Kansas runs with a seven- or eight-man rotation, with Kevin Young and Justin Wesley averaging 10 minutes per game.
That shows up most prominently at the guard position. Outside of Taylor, Elijah Johnson and Conner Teahan are the Jayhawks’ best options, but freshman Naadir Tharpe has struggled in his first season.
Also, which Jeff Withey will show up in March? Will we see the monster who averaged over 20 points and 10 rebounds for a stretch of the conference schedule, or will we see the big man who struggled against Missouri?
When Withey is a legitimate second option on the block, Kansas’ offense runs much smoother, as defenses aren’t able to focus solely on Robinson and collapse on him in the paint.
Am I splitting hairs? When breaking down No. 1 seed, sometimes it can feel like it.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_
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- missouriman4ever - Mar 4, 2012 at 12:37 AM
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How about a mid-major? Kansas loves mid-majors… UNI, VCU, who’s next?
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- arrowheadjayhawk - Mar 4, 2012 at 2:38 AM
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^ Typical MU fan. Can’t make a Final Four so you bring up other teams losses. Enjoy the SEC boys. Kentucky will pick up right where we left off.
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- missouriman4ever - Mar 4, 2012 at 8:47 AM
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^ typical KU fan, only has basketball to look forward to and is heartbroken that MU dumped them… Oh hey, I forgot about Davidson earlier this year. If you mad I brought up the mid-major thing then you should probably try to beat one
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- kckingb - Mar 4, 2012 at 10:19 AM
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hey Mizzou, win a some national titles, at least one and then get at us, rockchalk!
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- arrowheadjayhawk - Mar 4, 2012 at 12:39 PM
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You poor thing. Kansas has been the most dominating basketball program over the last 10 years. Winning a national title and 8 consecutive conference titles in basketball and a BCS bowl game in football. What is the last time you guys won ANYTHING?
You guys bring up football like you are some powerhouse who dominates like Florida, LSU, or Alabama. Which you guys will become all to familiar with soon. You guys are so good at football you have Meineke Car care and the outback steakhouse bowl trophies to back it up.
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- missouriman4ever - Mar 4, 2012 at 4:52 PM
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You don’t have to win Nat’l Championship Games every year to be prominent. We split the series this year and honestly, we handed you guys the win last week. No way you should’ve even been in that game. Sure, you have more basketball titles, but does what happened 5 years ago matter today? No. As for the BCS win in the orange bowl, we beat you guys that year and you didn’t have to play Texas or Oklahoma that season. You beat nobody! We lost to Oklahoma twice and got screwed by the BCS bowl selection committees. Who’s had more 10 win seasons in football the past 8 years? More first round NFL draft picks? Yeah I know, you’re good at basketball, kudos. But try being better at the sport that america really cares about. Until then, your not on MU’s level.
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- arrowheadjayhawk - Mar 4, 2012 at 6:44 PM
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MU has a consistent Football and Basketball program. Never great at either but good to pretty good. KU is great at basketball and poor to average at football in recent years. That’s admitted. But ask yourself this question. Would you rather dominate one sport with titles and be not so good in the other or would you rather be so so in both sports and have really nothing to show for it. Your choice is fair enough. Either has argument but to say we are not on your level shows your stupidity,
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- smartbutlazy - Mar 4, 2012 at 7:10 PM
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And why did MU get “screwed” by the BCS bowl selection committee? Because nobody wants Mizzery’s trashy fanbase descending upon their city. Miami probably paid good money to keep the BCS from awarding the Orange Bowl to MU. Oh, and KU did smoke VT in that game.
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- missouriman4ever - Mar 4, 2012 at 9:04 PM
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We had two losses at the hands of Oklahoma. Neither games were at home. In OU and in San Antonio in the big XII championship game, which by the way we beat Kansas to earn that right. And we were #1 in the BCS going into the big XII championship game. Yes you smoked VT but that was when the Big East was better than the ACC. What a joke. Then we killed Arkansas in the cotton bowl. We got screwed, you got lucky
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- nflpredictor316 - Mar 8, 2012 at 4:40 PM
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You must really be forgetting how Ku got screwed in that game versus missouri. ku was ranked #1 missouri #2 and for some damn reason they changed the venue from at lawrence at 11am to kansas city at 7pm now really how fair is it that they take away a home game from the #1 ranked ku and how do they make it fair they take away missouri’s home game the next year WHEN IT DIDNT MATTER. missouri definitely couldnt beat ku at lawrence in the afternoon. so dont talk about missouri getting screwed. tell me if its really fair to lose your home field advantage and play at chiefs field. seems more like a missouri home game to me. so get your facts straight first. too bad missouri couldnt go to the nit tournament this year, they would probably win that.
