MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2017 | VOLUME 133 ISSUE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Dzwierzynski: Don't count Kansas out
BRENDAN DZWIERZYNSKI
@BrendanDzw
Nobody is ever going to call Kansas basketball an underdog. However, some fans and pundits still like to discredit the program's success and will write it off when the NCAA tournament comes around. It's undeniable that the Jayhawks have suffered some unfortunate tournament losses before, but that's no indication of the team's current situation.
Why can't this year be the year?
You can come up with as many rationalizations as you want for why you don't think Kansas will win the national championship, but each can be easily refuted.
Concern over depth down low for the Jayhawks is overblown. Sure, only one big man sees the floor for the vast majority of the game, but senior center Landen Lucas has been absolutely phenomenal in that role. It's hard to be concerned when that big man was the second-leading rebounder in Big 12 play and is an excellent defender.
To add to that, Kansas has the best guard play in the country and it's not even close. Led by arguably
the top player in the country in senior Frank Mason III, and the top freshman in the country in Josh Jackson, the Jayhawks have the guard-play advantage over every other team in the field. With Mason running the point and Lucas manning the paint, it's hard to be concerned about depth.
It's also relatively foolish to just expect Kansas to be knocked off because it's happened in the past. Kansas has the second-most tournament wins of any program since coach Bill Self took over the team in 2003-04. If you still insist that Self isn't a good coach in March, you're just not paying attention.
The Bucknell loss is years in the past. The same can be said for VCU, Northern Iowa and even Wichita State. Those games are old news, down notes in an otherwise spectacular career for Self at Kansas. Those were wildly different teams than this current Jayhawks squad, and there's no reason to believe there will be a similar result this season.
Kansas' early exit from the Big 12 Tournament may also cause some fear, considering the Jayhawks lost to an inferior opponent, but it's hard to consider the loss
a big deal for anyone other than TCU. The Horned Frogs were trying to play their way into the big dance, while the Jayhawks just needed to stay healthy entering it.
Since Kansas' last national title, five of the eight championship-winning teams didn't win their conference tournament, including each of the last four. Needless to say, conference tournaments don't mean a whole lot for elite programs.
Don't lose sight of the fact that the NCAA tournament is impossible to predict. It's called "March Madness" for a reason. Chaotic upsets happen every year, but there's no reason to think the Jayhawks are prime candidates for one of those letdowns in 2017.
Forget the past; all that matters is this season. The fact is that Kansas has the best team in the country, led by the best player in the country, with one of the best coaches in the country at the helm. With all that working for the Jayhawks, there's no reason to believe Kansas can't bring home a sixth national championship this season.
- Edited by Paola Alor
Mario Chalmers cuts down the net after the 2008 National Championship game.
File Photo/KANSAN
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