Kansas Basketball: Home loss to Texas Tech leaves fans stunned

Kansas basketball began this season on a quest to win a record 14th straight conference title. That quest took a huge hit with a loss to Texas Tech last night.

The quest for a 14th straight Big 12 title for the Kansas basketball program took a big hit last night. The Kansas Jayhawks dropped a home contest against conference foe Texas Tech. It was the Red Raiders first win at Allen Field House in their last 18 visits. It’s the first conference loss for KU this year, and their third on the season.

Now, three losses isn’t a big deal in itself. Neither is one conference loss. The problem is that the cracks in the KU armor have become increasingly apparent, and teams are not showing they can capitalize. Texas Tech is one of the better teams Kansas has faced this year, but there will be more. Especially in Big 12 competition.

Bill Self is going to have to figure some things out, and quickly. The schedule doesn’t give the Jayhawks any kind of a break from here until the end of the season. Kansas is simply going to have to start playing better basketball.

Big 12 Is Loaded This Year

The Kansas basketball team came into tonight ranked 10th in the country, while Texas Tech was 18th. This Saturday, KU will have to take on 16th ranked TCU. They also have 6th ranked West Virginia and 7th ranked Oklahoma in the conference. That is a very strong Big 12 to have to overcome this year.

The rest of the Big 12 is no pushover either. There is no team in the conference with fewer than nine wins, or more than four losses right now. Granted, a lot of that is going to start to change now that conference play has started up. However, it’s still impressive that so many teams are playing so well right now.

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Kansas isn’t going to be able to rest or regroup themselves. Bill Self has to get his guys motivated on the fly and back into the mix. While the rest of the Big 12 will beat up on each other, there still won’t be much room for error if KU wants to claim that 14th straight title. Something has got to change.

Is Help On The Way?

The change that is needed for this Kansas basketball team might be on the way. Our Chris Taylor has talked about three players who may step into big roles for the Jayhawks down the stretch. Sam Cuncliffe, Billy Preston, and Silvio De Sousa are all players that Bill Self hopes to have on the court later this season.

However, none of that is a given. Sam Cuncliffe is on the roster, but not playing much. Billy Preston has legal issues that are keeping him away. For Silvio De Sousa, it is a matter of him fulfilling his high school requirements. While there is hype around all three players, it’s not a given that any of them will be able to play a major role.

It seems strange that a Kansas basketball team would have to hope for reinforcements to arrive. This is a program that is used to dominating the competition. Now we are seeing a team that is very hollow, and has only a handful of players that can consistently contribute. That is certainly not something that Bill Self has dealt with much at KU.

This isn’t necessarily the beginning of the end for Kansas basketball this season. However it is definitely a big blow to their Big 12 title hopes. Jayhawks fans have been excited about the potential to hit the 14th conference title mark. So to come up short would definitely be a let down of a season. Hopefully KU can bounce back.