College Basketball: Kansas Looks to Learn From Last March

The Jayhawks are approaching the final stretch in familiar territory. Last season Kansas locked up the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles to nab a #1 seed in the Big Dance. March Madness ended abruptly for that Kansas team, this year’s version will be wary of committing the same mistakes.

Finishing on a high
Kansas rounded out the regular season with a string of five straight wins to clinch the Big 12 title outright. They enter this week’s conference tournament as the unquestioned favorite for the title. While the Jayhawks weren’t perfect in conference play, none of their rivals looked as strong as Kansas down the stretch. A win this weekend would deliver a fifth Big 12 tournament title in six years, continuing a remarkable stretch of success that has also seen the Jayhawks win every regular season title since 2005. College Basketball betting fans have seen this kind of dominance from Kansas before but things don’t always go to plan once the NCAA Tournament gets under way.

Remember Farokmanesh
Last year’s Jayhawks entered the tournament as a #1 seed and strolled past Lehigh before running into Northern Iowa. There the Jayhawks were stunned by the super-human performance of Ali Farokmanesh. With the Panthers up by one with 34 seconds on the clock, the son of an Iranian Olympic volleyball player launched a three-pointer to make it 66-62. He added a couple of free throws with 5 seconds left to seal a shocking 69-67 victory. For all their promise, the Jayhawks didn’t even make it to the Sweet Sixteen. That defeat will linger in the memory of Kansas fans as the Jayhawks prepare for their return to March Madness.

The challenge for Bill Self
Kansas have enjoyed so much success in regular season play over the past few years that it’s been tough for the Jayhawks to adapt to the challenges of the NCAA Tournament. Northern Iowa beat Kansas largely because they were able to slow the tempo and get the Jayhawks out of their comfort zone. The task facing Bill Self is making his players more capable of adapting to opponents who can force a change in style. Kansas possess the most accurate offense in the nation and also the best at distributing scoring opportunities. Even when the tempo changes, Kansas must find a way to return to these core strengths. If Self can succeed, there could be another Final Four run in store for Jayhawks fans.