Despite an impressive resume with several wins over premier schools, Kansas basketball has shown time and time again that they are an extremely flawed team. Self-inflicted wounds have taken them from the preseason No. 1 to likely No. 4 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
KU was blown out by Cincinnati in its only game in the Big 12 Tournament as they were missing star players Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar. But according to one college basketball analyst, Kansas is the most likely school to be upset in the first round of March Madness — even with the impending return of the conference's two leading scorers.
"Kansas is limping into March Madness and at this point Self will be happy to be put out his misery and go back to the drawing board this offseason," writes Josh Yourish, a staff writer for our FanSided affiliate Busting Brackets.
"This past offseason, Self knew he was set at point guard with Dajuan Harris Jr. and that his frontcourt of Dickinson, McCullar, and K.J. Adams Jr. would be one of the best in the country, so he threw darts at the dartboard to try and fill the shooting guard position. Not a bad idea, but none of Elmarko Jackson, Nicolas Timberlake, or Jamari McDowell panned out in that spot. That left Self with freshman Johnny Furphy in the starting lineup and no depth on the bench," Yourish said.
In Yourish's list of ten teams who could possibly be upset, the Jayhawks landed on top among the likes of Kentucky, Iowa State, South Carolina, and Illinois, all of which were listed subsequently after Kansas.
From an outsider's perspective, it is easy to see why Kansas basketball is viewed as an upset candidate. They have been playing terribly in the contests leading into the tournament. However, the team has some impressive wins when it is at full strength, so it remains to be seen how the Jayhawks will look when they are healthier than they have been.