Can Kansas Reclaim Its Form—And NCAA Glory?

Before you put down your beer, get up from your barstool, and ask me to step outside for a little conversation, let me first say one thing first, Jayhawks fans. The answer to the question in the headline of this article is—unequivocally yes.

Yes, the University of Kansas Jayhawks can return to their normal form as a powerhouse in college basketball. After all, it was just three years ago that coach Bill Self’s team tore through March Madness with relative ease to reach the 2021-2022 final, eventually beating North Carolina with a barrage of three-pointers to win the men’s NCAA Championship 72-69.

ForbesNCAA Tournament 2025: How March Madness WorksBy Jack Magruder

For certain, today’s Jayhawks team still has all its original pieces in place that it did at the beginning of this season when they were ranked No. 1. With a little bit of luck—and some drive and focus—Kansas has a good shot at going far into the March Madness, and certainly a darkhorse’s chance at another NCAA title, despite what pundits say.

But as you know already, it’s been a strange year at KU and in college basketball in general. Let’s back up for a minute and look things over.

ForbesNCAA Tournament West Region: Florida Opens As Slight Favorite To Win It AllBy Jack Magruder

Kansas Jayhawks’ Fundamentals And Flaws

ooting, almost as any team out there noth named Duke, Houston, or St. John’s. The Jayhawks’ three best players all boast nice numbers on the court, with 7-foot-2 center Hunter Dickinson as a standout.

Dickinson alone leads KU in both points and rebounds, finishing the regular season and Big 12 Tournament with 17.6 ppg and 10.0 rebounds. Next, fellow Jayhawks starter and point guard Zeke Mayo is good for 14.5 ppg, while forward KJ Adams and guard Dujuan Harris Jr. are both just under double digits, both with 9.2 ppg.

This set of seniors accounts for most of the Jayhawks production and finesse going into March Madness, and if consistent could be what regains KU a spot in later rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Exciting things also happen in KU’s game whenever Flory Bidunga gets on the floor. Bidunga, the crafty 6-foot-9 forward who is reminiscent of such great past players as Luol Deng and the late Dikembe Mutombo, often changes the momentum for Kansas with timely rebounds and well-place shot blocks. But at 5.9 ppg, the Congolese freshman probably won’t have a greater impact than he has now until at least next season. Then again, anything can happen.

Yet, despite the Jayhawks’ inarguable strengths, there were times throughout the current season when Self’s men looked lackluster, tossing on-court discipline and good form to the wind. Other times, particularly when down by eight to 10 points, the Jayhawks did not look terribly driven. Both were the case during their last dozen games.

The February 18 blowout at BYU showed an unusual Kansas team that was not cohesive or competent when faced with an early game deficit against the Cougars. Dickinson, Mayo, and Harris combined for only 20 total points during a matchup in which Kansas found themselves down by 20 at halftime and bested by 34 points in the end.

Meanwhile, that evening in Provo, Utah, other key players seemed disconnected. Bidunga, a starter in that game, only logged two points. Adams looked lost most of the game, unable to pick up an offensive rebound or work his way into the offense while only contributing four points. Mayo lost possession of the ball to unforced errors. Even Dickinson, the Jayhawks’ most pivotal player, seemed to lack hustle.

BYU took what was for them a season’s turning point of a win, 91-57, in turn marking the Jayhawks’ most devastating loss during the season. Kansas played much the same in losses to other Big 12 rivals in late February and early March.

Losses at Baylor (Feb. 1, 81-70), Kansas State (Feb. 8, 81-73, and Utah (Feb. 15, 74-67)—all in the first half of February—seemed to show that the current Kansas squad is a reliable road team. The bad stretch caused the Jayhawks to fall out of the AP Top 25 right before they posted an at-home loss versus Texas Tech on March 1, followed by a low-scoring loss at Houston March 3.

While some the Jayhawks’ season-end win versus Arizona on March 8, 83-76, knocked Arizona from the AP Top 25 rankings, their rematch five days later in the Big 12 Tournament saw Kansas’ season-long shortcomings resurface. Arizona won that context 88-77 and ended up in the Big 12 title game against No. 2 Houston.

An Odd Year In NCAA Hoops

If you look around at where we are in college hoops, it’s clear that the 2024-2025 season is not a normal one. Not only has Kansas underperformed, but many stalwarts have as well.

Ranked in the Top 25 until a month ago, both Kansas and two-time national champions UConn are not ranked going into the postseason. Kansas faces Arkansas on March 20 after nabbing a 7-seed.

For Kansas, their new status as a sub-Top 25 team breaks a 78-game streak in which they were among the raked elite in college basketball. As for UConn, the two-time NCAA Champions finished out strong with a 23-10 record overall, making up for a whimpering midseason, to face Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament on March 21.

Many other perennial challengers are not factors this year, while past champions of the past few years struggle to find footing.

Usual ACC contenders such as North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, and Virginia all finished in the bottom half of the conference’s standings this season. All three made ACC Tournament finals appearances in the last three years. Meanwhile, Syracuse hasn’t made a postseason appearance since 2021, since before Jim Boeheim retired, and the Miami Hurricanes went dead last in the ACC and couldn’t fashion more than three conference wins.

Over in the Big East, Villanova eeked out a winning record this season at 19-14 overall and 11-9 in the conference, but so far, it seems that the Wildcats have not adjusted to life without Jay Wright as their coach. That said, Nova did make the postseason—which will consist of a first-round matchup versus Colorado in the inaugural Crown Tournament on April 1.

And Kentucky, who are nationally ranked the the AP Top 25 poll at No. 18. After a tough season in the SEC, the Wildcats will play their first postseason in 15 years without John Calipari as their coach.

Calipari is over at Arkansas, who will face Kansas in the first round, in what may not only be a pass to the next round of March Madness but also a test of meddle for two of college basketball’s best-regarded coaches.