The No. 19 Kansas Jayhawks have seen steady improvement all season long. While the Jayhawks lagged to a 3-2 start with questions flying around the future of freshman Darryn Peterson, the Jayhawks were able to gather control of their tempo and win four of their next five, all against teams in the top-63 of the Kenpom.
Off the heels of a narrow 61-56 loss against the No. 5 UConn Huskies and a 20-point 80-60 win over the Missouri Tigers, the Jayhawks have shown their resilience both with Peterson on and off the court.
In Peterson’s return last Sunday, the former five-star saw 17 points, on 6-14 shooting, to go with three rebounds, one assist, and one steal, and while it was probably his worst performance on the young season, Kansas fans were just happy to see him on the court.
Things changed for Kansas in their travels out west to the Players Era Championship, where the Jayhawks notched wins over Notre Dame, Syracuse, and Tennessee, each showing more resolve than the last en route to a third-place finish.
While Kansas then suffered the aforementioned tight loss to the Huskies, Sunday showed much more positive momentum as a blowout win over your biggest rival always will.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology release saw the Jayhawks jump up to the No. 4 seed, with Bill Self’s squad looking as strong as it had been all season.
If you assume each higher seed would have won in the tournament, the Jayhawks would take on East Tennessee State and Tennessee before falling to the Michigan Wolverines in the Sweet 16.
These are higher projections than normally seen throughout the season. Before the Players Era, the Jayhawks might have even been given a 7th seed.
Kansas’ offense still struggles to consistently score as the Jayhawks rank 178th in the nation with 74.6 points per game; however, Self’s defensive prowess has kept Kansas in nearly every game this season, as 63.7 points allowed per game ranks 11th in the nation, a superb number considering the influx of talent Kansas has faced so far this season.
Before Kansas kicks off Big 12 play, the Jayhawks must take on NC State, Towson, and Davidson before a trip to UCF in early January kicks off the new year.