Kansas Jayhawks: Remembering Big 12 Titles From Bill Self Era
Kansas Jayhawks guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1) Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
2006-2007 Season
This season was a great one for Bill Self and company. For starters, all of the key players from the previous year were coming back plus a few more talented players.
The recruits for this season were point guard Sherron Collins, shooting guard Brady Morningstar, and power forward Darrell Arthur. Again, more players that we all saw in that magical championship season. However that’s not for another season.
Because of the success they had the previous year, the AP Poll had the Jayhawks at a preseason rank of #3.
As much as this pains me to remember, KU did lose more than once at home this particular season. They lost to Oral Roberts in the second game of the season and then to Texas A&M.
Hopefully, it will lessen the sting when I bring up that the loss to Texas A&M would end up being the last time the Jayhawks would lose in Allen Fieldhouse until 2011, accumulating a 69-game winning streak at home.
The starting five was getting better and better with every game. It appeared as though we had a sincere chance at the National Championship.
The Kansas Jayhawks ended the season with a 33-5 record. This was only the seventh time the Jayhawks won over 30 games in a season.
I can remember that this season was the first season that I actually could watch a full game basketball with my dad and understand why he would get so angry at them. Even now I catch myself doing it with any sports team I watch.
A few mid-season losses wound up knocking this talented Jayhawks team down to a ranking of 12th in the nation. The Jayhawks would take advantage of an eight game winning streak which concluded with defeating the #15 Texas Longhorns (always a pleasure to watch KU beat Texas).
At the conclusion of the regular season, KU held a conference record of 14-2, good enough for their first outright conference championship under Bill Self.
KU also won the Big 12 tournament that year, but Kevin Durant’s Longhorns made the finale an incredible game. At one point, the Jayhawks were down 32-10 in the first half. This is where I think Self is a basketball whisperer or something because the Jayhawks came back and won the game 88-84 in overtime.
My vocal chords cringe when I talk about this game.
Contrary to the previous two years, KU went deep into the NCAA tournament. They made it all the way to the Elite Eight before being knocked off by the UCLA Bruins 68-55.
The Kansas Jayhawks ended the season with a 33-5 record. This was only the seventh time the Jayhawks won over 30 games in a season.
At the end of the season, Julian Wright decided to declare for the NBA draft. Brandon Rush almost did too, but an ACL tear he suffered in a pickup game of basketball persuaded him otherwise.
The next season still gives me the shivers. Oh what a time it was to be a Jayhawk fan.
Next: Mario's Miracle