Was the 2012 Kansas team more memorable than 2008?

It’s never surprising to hear about a coach refusing to watch the tape of a title game that he lost.

What’s the point of torturing yourself like that?

If you’re good enough to make it that far in the NCAA tournament, than I think it is reasonable to say that you are going to lose a significant amount to the NBA. And if you lose significant pieces to the NBA, than rewatching the tape won’t be a way to learn about the team you have coming back as much as it will be a chance to fret over the small mistakes made that cost you that ring.

Which is why I’m not surprised to stumble upon stories like this, from Rustin Dodd:

For the first seven weeks, he didn’t bother to relive the disappointment. There just wasn’t a reason. Bill Self has seen just a few clips from that Monday night in New Orleans. And for now, that’s enough.

It’s been 61 days since No. 2 seed Kansas’ amazing NCAA Tournament run came to an end in a 67-59 loss to Kentucky in the NCAA championship game at the Superdome on April 2; 61 days since the Jayhawks ran out of time, their final comeback falling a few baskets short in the waning minutes.

“I haven’t watched the game,” Self says.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t anything in that story worth reading.

Frankly, I was shocked to see Self quoted saying this:

“I think if we’d have won it, I’d still think I wouldn’t have reflected as much,” Self says. “Because that ’08 deal was just so fresh and new, and it’d been so long since it’d happened around here — it just made it that much extra special.”

I get it. 2008 was his first Final Four and his first national title. Prior to that year, Self had been to four Elite 8′s without making a Final Four. Two of those Elite 8′s came in his first four years in Lawrence. The other two years he had been knocked out in the first round of the tournament as a No. 3 and a No. 4 seed. Pressure and criticism were starting to mount, and that 2008 season got him over the hump.

But Kansas was expected to have that kind of success. They had a roster that was so talented that Cole Aldrich, a future lottery pick, couldn’t get playing time and Sherron Collins, a future first-team all-american, was buried as the seventh-man. The Jayhawks were supposed to succeed. Anything less would have been a disappointment.

Last season was different. Kansas lost three recruits to eligibility issues and had the majority of their key players leave, either due to graduation or early entry. They returned a roster that featured the enigmatic Tyshawn Taylor, the inspirational Thomas Robinson and a slew formerly high-ranking recruits that had been disappointments early in their careers. That was supposed to be the Kansas team that ended the streak of consecutive Big 12 titles.

Instead, the Jayhawks not only won the Big 12 by two games and ended their rivalry with Missouri with a 19 point, come back win, but they rode that success all the way to the national title game. The Jayhawks were the underdogs this year. They didn’t quite win against all odds — this is still Kansas, after all — but this was the least likely Jayhawk team to go this far since 2008.

Given everything that surrounded this group of players — Robinson’s pursuit of becoming the caretaker to his little sister; Taylor overcoming his inconsistencies on and off the court; Elijah Johnson, Jeff Withey, Travis Releford and Connor Teahan all becoming vital pieces of a conference champion — they were quite an amazing story.

Even if they lost to Kentucky two months ago.

I’m sure this team meant a lot to the good folks of Lawrence. It’s surprising Self would go on record, even if it is out of context, saying something to the contrary.

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.