Kansas’ Bill Self proving once again he’s the best in college basketball

Each year the Kansas basketball roster looks different. Players graduate, leave for the NBA, or transfer for other opportunities.

Despite all of that change year after year, the expectations for the program never do. The reason for that is due to one constant variable: having the best coach in college basketball.

Bill Self is demonstrating those Hall of Fame talents once again this season.

The Jayhawks currently sit tied atop the Big 12 Conference standings with an 11-4 record. Texas also sits at 11-4 but KU currently owns the tiebreaker thanks to an impressive win over the Longhorns in Allen Fieldhouse earlier this month.

If the Jayhawks win the Big 12, it will be the 17th conference title in 20 seasons under Self.

KU is currently projected as a No. 1 seed in the Midwest region of the NCAA Tournament with just a few weeks remaining until postseason play. The Jayhawks currently lead the country with 14 Quad 1 wins and could end up being the No. 1 overall seed when brackets are revealed on Selection Sunday.

If that holds true, the team may get the chance to play a Sweet 16 and Elite 8 game in front of a home crowd at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, and have a real shot at becoming the first back-to-back national champions since Florida in 2006-2007.

The Jayhawks have accomplished all of this despite losing seven players from last year’s national championship team – six of whom were seniors/super-seniors, three starters (two of whom are now playing in the NBA), and a combined 70% of their scoring.

There is just one senior in this year’s starting lineup in Kevin McCullar Jr., and this is his first year with the team. The bench, which has provided very little production this year, is made up almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores.

Not to mention, the Big 12 Conference is as strong as it’s ever been in several years.

To have this kind of production after losing that much talent and playing in a conference as tough as the Big 12, is nothing short of remarkable.

To many, it may not seem remarkable because the standard has been set so high by Self’s KU teams over the past two decades, but it is.

Self won’t win Coach of the Year honors because that award goes to the coaches whose team overachieves the most based on their preseason projections, and that’s okay, because year after year he’s proven he’s the best coach in the country.