The Kansas Jayhawks should be ranked No. 1 in the next AP Poll

There have been times this season that the Kansas Jayhawks have looked like they were having a National Championship hangover, but the team has become much more coherent lately. An argument can be made that they are the best team in the country.

It should not matter if their overall record is not as good as Alabama’s or Houston’s, because they have had the hardest strength of schedule in the country thus far. Their +13.03 SOS rating is the highest in the country. That signifies that the Jayhawks schedule has been tougher than any other school in college hoops.

Not only have they played difficult games, but they also have taken care of business all season. Their 14 Quadrant 1 wins are the highest in the country, and they are undefeated versus Quadrant 2, 3, and 4 teams.

According to AP, a Quadrant 1 win counts for contests versus a top 30 NET team at home, a top 50 NET team on a neutral site, or a top 75 NET team on the road. KU is 14-5 in those types of games and could move to 15-5 with a victory over West Virginia, who is No. 27 in NET rating.

There is a real chance that Kansas breaks the record for the amount of Quadrant 1 wins by the end of the Big 12 Tournament. Not to take anything away from Houston’s terrific season, but they are just 4-1 in Quadrant 1 games and have the country’s 99th-highest strength of schedule.

Houston simply has not done enough this season to be ranked No. 1 in all of college basketball. They have two ranked wins this season, and it has been months since they garnered their last one.  The Cougars are the only team ranked in the top 5 of the AP Poll that has a Quadrant 3 loss. That came to Temple, which is 15-13 and ranks in the middle of its mediocre mid-major conference. In comparison, all of KU’s losses have come against a ranked team.

There should be more of a repercussion for losing to a team like Temple, let alone having it happen in your home court. KenPom ranks Temple as the 115th-best team in the country.

Purdue is a great team, and they almost definitely have the Wooden Award winner on their side, but they have won just two of their last five contests. It should not be a question of who deserves a higher ranking between them and KU, a team that is riding a five-game winning streak with wins against some of the best teams.

They have not reached the top spot in the AP Poll yet this season but assuming they can take down West Virginia at home, they should be No. 1 for the first time this year. The Jayhawks are getting hot at the right time and could take their momentum into the NCAA Tournament to repeat as National Champions.