As the clock strikes 12, welcoming 2026 in the coming days, the No. 17 Kansas Jayhawks' focus will fully be on Big 12 play. A conference that has seen the No. 8 Houston Cougars snatch the last two regular-season conference titles.
However, the story of the season so far has largely revolved around the health of former five-star guard Darryn Peterson. Peterson has dealt with several injuries, which have caused a stop-start career for the potential No. 1 draft pick in the upcoming 2026 NBA Draft.
Despite Peterson’s injuries, Kansas has maintained a strong 10-3 record, with losses coming to No. 25 UNC in an 87-74 loss, a 78-66 loss to No. 5 Duke, and a 61-56 loss to No. 5 UConn; the latter two were without Peterson.
“If you look at the record before the season started, I would say probably say a B-,” quoted head coach Bill Self.
“If you look at it, that we played it without DP, I'd say probably a B+. I think the guys got better, you know, Carolina would be a hard game regardless, but losing to Duke and Connecticut. I'm not saying we would have won, but I think, having a full compliment of players, I think, you know, could have been a different situation, but guys are learning to play through it, and hopefully we'll be better for it.”
Against Duke, the score was settled at 67-64 in favor of the Blue Devils before a late run over the last five minutes just pushed things into double digits. When the Huskies came to Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks took a 55-54 deficit into the final 4:37 before sputtering towards the end again.
To relay Self’s statements, it is no guarantee Kansas would have won both games, but it is hard to imagine a potential top-pick not having an impact in either of those matchups.
Now, Peterson should not bear all the blame for these two losses in particular. The Jayhawks’ bench was outscored 37-18 across their two losses. A pretty massive margin that had things been tweaked even slightly more, those two results could have seen a different scoreline had Kansas’ bench been more active on the scoreline.
Another concerning factor through the early stretch of the season, has been Kansas’ lack of consistent scoring. The Jayhawks currently sit 159th in the nation with 75.8 points per game. The Jayhawks’ shooting numbers do look a lot better when their 46.8% from the field sits 91st, meaning they hit shots at a somewhat consistent rate.
Kansas’ defense has been where they have asserted themselves as a dominant force. Kansas currently sits 11th-best in the nation with a strong 63.3 points per game allowed, while holding opposition field goal rates at a stifling 36.6%. The fourth-best in the nation.
The next chance to see the Jayhawks take the court is January 3rd against the UCF Golden Knights in what will be the conference-opener. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT with streaming available on Peacock.
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