Kansas Basketball: Big 12 title streak officially ends at 14

After a loss to Oklahoma in Norman on Tuesday night, it’s official: Kansas basketball’s conference title streak ends at 14.

For the first time since Bill Self’s first year at the helm in Lawrence, the Kansas Jayhawks aren’t Big 12 champions. It’s a weird feeling, isn’t it? For years, Jayhawk fans have grown accustom to the program winning the conference.

Year after year, even in some “tough” times, KU would persevere and end the regular season at the top of the conference. This year did not go Kansas’ way at all. After beating TCU in overtime on the road, it really did seem like KU might be able to turn things around and claim conference title number 15.

Some fans might point to Udoka Azubuike‘s injury being the main reason why Kansas didn’t win the Big 12 this year. While Azubuike going down wasn’t good for the Jayhawks, the biggest reason they’re not winning their 15th straight conference title is because this team was downright terrible on the road.

The loss to Oklahoma highlighted all of the Jayhawks’ road woes. Not only did they get shellacked by the Sooners (81-68 was the final score), but Dedric Lawson and David McCormack were the only ones doing anything for KU, both scoring 18 points a piece.

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Some could try to put a positive spin on all of this, but simply put – It’s difficult to win a conference title when a team goes 3-8 away from home. Kansas has one of the best home field advantages in all of college sports, but that’s not going to do them any good when they’re playing outside of Lawrence.

Azubuike getting injured wasn’t good for the team, but there’s no reason the Jayhawks should have imploded this badly when he went down. The depth wasn’t there and it showed. If Dedric Lawson wasn’t having a good night, neither was the team.

So, where does Kansas go from here?

Well, they won’t win the Big 12, but they can still go for broke and win the conference tournament in Kansas City next week. They’re not as talented as teams like Kansas State or Texas Tech, but with Lawrence being just under an hour away, it’ll sound like a home game for KU.

After the Big 12 Tournament, it’ll be March Madness time for the Jayhawks! This will be the first time in several years where they’re not a one or two seed (Joe Lunardi currently has them projected as a three-seed), but that doesn’t mean they’ll be one and done in the big dance.

Obviously it sucks that the streak is over, but winning 14 straight conference titles was really impressive. The 2019-2020 season will be when the Jayhawks start a new streak!