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Kansas Jayhawks: Remembering Big 12 Titles From Bill Self Era

By Collin Stirling

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Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

2008-2009 Season

After the national championship year, the Jayhawks lost a total of eight players. Five of the players were seniors and three (Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, and Darrell Arthur) were underclassmen that declared for the NBA draft.

Although a lot of players had left KU, Self still had a dangerous team. He brought in a whopping seven recruits to play for his national championship defending team.

These seven players were point guard Tyrone Appleton, small forward Mario Little, power forwards (and twins) Marcus and Markieff Morris, shooting guard Travis Releford, point guard Tyshawn Taylor, and power forward Quintrell Thomas.

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    • We all know the contribution that the Morris twins, Taylor, and Releford gave to us over the years, but that’s for another season.

    Because KU had lost so many key players, the AP had the Jayhawks at a preseason rank of 24. Things didn’t look so good for Self to win a fifth straight conference championship.

    He did though.

    This season had its highs and lows. A big win for KU this season was when they defeated the #3 ranked Oklahoma Sooners.

    Just when I thought all hope was gone, Bill Self worked his basketball magic and got KU on the winning path. By the end of the season, the Jayhawks had actually clawed their way back up to the top 10.

    The Jayhawks finished conference play with a 14-2 record, giving them their fifth straight regular season Big 12 championship. Their magic ended in the Big 12 tournament, losing the first game to Baylor.

    In the national tournament, the Jayhawks made a Sweet Sixteen appearance, only to be bested by Michigan State 62-67. The Jayhawks would finish this season with a 27-8 record and their fifth consecutive regular season conference title.

    Next: Starting Off Ranked Number One

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