Days ago, the UNC Tar Heels stormed the court not once, but twice, after they had a great comeback win against Duke. They were fined for storming the court early, but also faced scrutiny for rushing the court as a blue-blood basketball school. The Kansas Jayhawks on the other hand proved their pedigree but not rushing the court after beating #1 ranked Arizona.
DOWN GOES NUMBER ONE.
— Kansas Men’s Basketball (@KUHoops) February 10, 2026
The much-anticipated game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Crimson and Blue ‘Hawks in Allen Fieldhouse (AFH) was shaping up to be one of the most hyped games of the entire college basketball season. This hype-train was knocked down a couple of notches, unfortunately, after freshman phenom Darryn Peterson was ruled out of the game with flu-like symptoms.
The short-handed Jayhawks did not disappoint the KU faithful, however, going toe-to-toe with the 23-0 Wildcats. Kansas trailed by 11 points early in the 2nd half but came back to win 82-78 to topple the #1 seed. In 99% of college basketball arenas, this would have been the perfect time to storm the court, being underhanded and still pulling off a legendary comeback victory.
The Jayhawks’ “we’ve been here before” attitude, even after the most impressive win of the college basketball season to date, is exactly why Coach Self is a Hall of Famer and why Kansas has one of the best basketball cultures in the nation. Instead of fans storming the court, Self allowed players, such as Melvin Council Jr., to take photos with fans after the game.
In a rare Bill Self move, Coach let the guys run back out on the court after being in the locker room for less than two minutes, so they could thank the remaining fans.
— Brian Hanni (@BHanni) February 10, 2026
Melvin Council, ever a man of the people, was greeted by barking dawg chants and then took time to take a… pic.twitter.com/0qrROGvVhE
Only a championship would allow KU fans to touch the hardwood
While the court in AFH has never been rushed by students/KU fans after regular-season home wins, there have been a couple of times under Coach Self where the Crimson and Blue faithful have had the soles of their shoes touch the hardwood. These moments occurred in the AFH watch party championship celebrations in 2008 and 2022, following the buzzer of the title games.
In 2026, this will be the only time that Kansas’ home court has a chance to be rushed as well. How likely is that to happen at this point? Currently, KU has the 7th or 8th best odds to win March Madness, depending on the specific betting side of your choice. They trail only Arizona, Michigan, Duke, Houston, Illinois, Iowa State, and UConn (some sites).
The Jayhawks probably need a healthy Peterson in order to make a legitimate run through a 68-team field on their way to a Final Four run, but it is relieving to see that they continue to take care of business when they do not have their star freshman on the court.
Kansas will now face off with Iowa State on Saturday, who will be hungry for a win over KU after they lost their first game of the season in AFH. With the Cyclones facing off with TCU on Tuesday night and Peterson being anything but a certainty to suit up against ISU, it will be very interesting to see how that game shapes up.
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