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2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

KU carries torch for conference yet again

Jayhawks own three of league's six all-time Final Four appearances

The Jayhawks hoist the Midwest Regional trophy following their victory over Davidson on Sunday in Detroit. Kansas is trying to become the first league school in the Big 12 era to win a national championship.

The Jayhawks hoist the Midwest Regional trophy following their victory over Davidson on Sunday in Detroit. Kansas is trying to become the first league school in the Big 12 era to win a national championship.

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Full video coverage of the Kansas Jayhawks in the 2008 NCAA Tournament

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The Jayhawks hoist the Midwest Regional trophy following their victory over Davidson on Sunday in Detroit. Kansas is trying to become the first league school in the Big 12 era to win a national championship.

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Press Conferences & Post-Game Interviews

Bill Self's April 1 pre-Final Four press conference

KU coach Bill Self met with the media in Hadl Auditorium Tuesday to discuss the upcoming Final Four, in which his team is part of history, with all four one-seeds having advanced to San Antonio. Self talked in-depth about gameplanning for North Carolina, plus again denied rumors that he will ...

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2008 NCAA Tournament

Get your March Madness fix at KUSports.com.

If Kansas were to capture its third national championship this season, it wouldn't be a stretch to say it would be the most prominent victory in the history of the Big 12 Conference.

Since the Big 12's inception in the 1996-97 season, here's a list of national champions, starting in 1997: Arizona (Pac-10), Kentucky (SEC), Connecticut (Big East), Michigan State (Big 10), Duke (ACC), Maryland (ACC), Syracuse (Big East), Connecticut (Big East), North Carolina (ACC), Florida (SEC) and Florida (SEC).

All major BCS conferences are accounted for on that list, with the exception of the Big 12.

The conference certainly has had its chances. Since 1996-97, six Big 12 teams have made the Final Four.

In fact, that's more than any other conference in the nation.

Kansas (2003, New Orleans) is the only Big 12 team to have played in a national title game.

Here are the other five Big 12 teams, to go along with the 2008 Jayhawks, to reach the Final Four:

2004 Oklahoma State Cowboys (2 seed)

Lost to: Georgia Tech, 67-65, semifinals

Key players: Tony Allen (Boston Celtics guard), Joey Graham (Toronto Raptors guard/forward), John Lucas (Houston Rockets guard)

Record since Final Four: 82-52 (.612)

2003 Kansas Jayhawks (2 seed)

Lost to: Syracuse, 81-78, finals

Key players: Nick Collison (Seattle Sonics forward), Kirk Hinrich (Chicago Bulls guard), Keith Langford (NBADL), Aaron Miles (Europe), Jeff Graves, Michael Lee (KU graduate student manager)

Record since Final Four: 140-32 (.814)

2003 Texas Longhorns (1 seed)

Lost to: Syracuse, 95-84, semifinals

Key players: T.J. Ford (Toronto Raptors guard), Royal Ivey (Milwaukee Bucks guard/forward), James Thomas, Brandon Mouton, Brad Buckman

Record since Final Four: 131-43 (.753)

2002 Kansas Jayhawks (1 seed)

Lost to: Maryland, 97-88, semifinals

Key players: Collison, Drew Gooden (Chicago Bulls forward), Hinrich, Miles, Jeff Boschee

Record since Final Four: 170-40 (.810)

2002 Oklahoma Sooners (2 seed)

Lost to: Indiana, 73-64, semifinals

Key players: Hollis Price, Quannas White, Ebi Ere, Aaron McGhee, Jabahri Brown

Record since Final Four: 131-62 (.679)

Comments

kushaw (anonymous) says...

so basically we're trying to show our failures as a conference. Huh? Maybe this is the year!

April 2, 2008 at 8:03 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

soapboxstew (anonymous) says...

Talk about due...

April 2, 2008 at 11:46 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

TtownHawk (anonymous) says...

no kidding

April 2, 2008 at 2:01 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kupa (anonymous) says...

i love the accuracy of sportswriters. Conference Final Four appearances since 1997: Big 10 (10), acc (8), sec (7), Pac 10 (7). KU was the last Big 12 school to win a championship in 1988, when was the last one prior to that (was it really KU in 52)? Hard to consider the Big 12 an elite B-Ball conference with post-season results like that.

April 3, 2008 at 3:55 a.m. ( | suggest removal )