Kansas Jayhawks: Remembering Big 12 Titles From Bill Self Era

Kansas Jayhawks guard Kelly Oubre (12), guard Wayne Selden, Jr. (1), forward Perry Ellis (34), guard Frank Mason (0) and forward Cliff Alexander (2)  Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-USA TODAY Sports

2005-2006 Season

With the poor showing at the end of the previous season, the Jayhawks actually began the second year of their Big 12 dynasty unranked. They were, however, able to land some more very familiar recruits.

In 2005, the Kansas Jayhawks recruited point guard Mario Chalmers, small forward Micah Downs, point guard Brandon Rush, and small forward Julian Wright. All of these recruits contributed immediately to team, which saw one of the youngest starting fives, according to RealGM, in the NCAA with three freshmen and two sophomores.

Although they came out strong against Idaho State in their season opener, winning 90-66, they took a stumble right out of the gate. In their first seven games, KU held a mediocre record of 3-4. My father and I were slowly losing faith that the Kansas Jayhawks would recapture the glory that had won a season ago.

Either the planets aligned just right or Bill Self is the best motivational speaker in the world because the Jayhawks would come alive after their 3-4 start. They went on to win 19 of their next 21 games.

For the regular season finale, Kansas would avenge a rare home loss to Kansas State, beating them at Bramlage Colisseum 66-52.

With a Big 12 conference record of 13-3, Self and his Jayhawks won a share of their second regular season Big 12 conference championship. They tied with the Texas Longhorns.

When the Big 12 tournament came around, KU had gotten themselves up to a ranking of 18th. The Jayhawks would make their case for being the best team in the Big 12 by beating the Longhorns in the tournament finals, winning their first Big 12 tournament under Bill Self.

This tournament win would give the Jayhawks a new ranking of 12th and a fourth seed in their bracket. They would unfortunately lose to Bradley and finish the season with a record of 25-8.

Even though it was sad to see my favorite team lose early in the NCAA tournament again, I did enjoy getting to see them win their conference tournament as well as a second regular season conference championship.

Next: An Elite Eight Finish