In just a few hours, the Kansas Jayhawks will have their biggest opportunity to right this season. Usually, the grind of a weekday conference matchup in the early year would not be filled with much intensity. However, as Iowa State continues to climb the rankings to the No. 2 spot, along with Kansas' consistent decline from the spotlight, the need for a win grows greater.
Listen, things have not been all bad this season, but the fact that the Jayhawks started 1-2 in conference play, with an 81-75 loss to UCF and the most recent 86-75 loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers, sandwiching a come-from-behind 104-100 win against TCU, it does leave a bit of a stale taste in the mouth of Kansas fans.
In Joe Lunardi’s recent weekly bracketology release, the Jayhawks were dropped to a projected sixth seed. Earlier this season, Kansas was consistently a fourth seed; however, after a 1-1 last week, the nation appears to be down on the Jayhawks.
Assuming this model holds, Kansas would face off against and beat the No. 11-seeded George Mason team before facing the No. 3 Nebraska Cornhuskers, whom they would ultimately fall to.
George Mason is currently sitting with a strong 16-1 record with an undefeated conference start in the Atlantic 10. The Cornhuskers are off to their own lungbusting start with a 16-0 record, which sees a 5-0 start in the Big 10 under head coach Fred Hoiberg.
Tuesday night’s matchup against the Cyclones will not be the end-all if Kansas wins or loses, as there are still months ahead of Big 12 basketball for Kansas to play. A win or even a close loss would propel Kansas back into the limelight. If Kansas suffers another big loss as it did against the first-year Mountaineer, head coach Ross Hodge, last Saturday, the pressure to pick things up is amplified. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT with streaming available on ESPN.
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