KU blows the biggest lead in program history.
So let’s recap.
Preseason #1. (For the second year in a row.) Dispatched North Carolina, Michigan State, and Duke, all before Thanksgiving.
BUT – since starting the season 7-0, KU is just 8-6.
The Jayhawks were not competitive in road loses at Iowa State, Creighton, and Missouri. Let’s be honest with ourselves here – KU was run out of the gym in these.
At home against West Virginia, KU had to come back from 15 points down only to lose by a point anyway.
K-State, sporting losses to Drake, Wichita State, and a not-good Oklahoma State team, kept it close inside the old barn.
A week ago in Lawrence, the Jayhawks improbably blew a 6-point lead with just 1:19 left in regulation against Houston, then lost in double overtime. KU had a scoring drought that lasted 6:21 during the second half.
And now the kicker – on February 1, 2025, the Kansas Jayhawks set a new program record by blowing a 21-point lead against Baylor, ultimately falling 81-70. A scoring drought of 4:36 plagued the Jayhawks late in the second half of this one.
If nothing else, KU basketball fans are world renowned for their rationality, especially following a loss. So – what is going on? Are the players simply not good enough? Is it that NIL/free agency is killing Bill Self (and/or college basketball)? Is Bill Self not adapting to modern basketball? Is the sky falling?
Who here is smarter than Bill Self? I’m not even smart enough to know if I’m asking the right questions. What are the right questions to even be asking right now?
Things don’t get any easier next week, with #3 Iowa State coming to town for Big Monday (and coming off an embarrassing home loss), followed by a trip to Manhattan for K-State’s only sellout of the year. By this time next Saturday, KU could very likely be .500 in conference play in February since… ? (My guess is 1989.)
Discuss.