No need to look at the calendar to check the month. Kansas University basketball fans will remind you by saying what they say annually in early March. “You know,” they start, “I think this is Bill Self’s best coaching job yet.”
Since that’s such a hot topic, I decided to take a stab at ranking Self’s most impressive coaching jobs during this run of 11 consecutive Big 12 regular-season titles. Naturally, because the NCAA tournament hasn’t been played yet, the ranking for this season is subject to change. I’ll release one every 15 minutes, starting at No. 11 and working my way down to No. 1.
1. 2004-05: Coaching players recruited by a previous coach generally isn’t an ideal circumstance, but Self, in his second season at KU, got off to a 20-1 start. As the season wore on, injuries mounted and the magic wore off. Kansas went 3-6 at the end, capping it off with an opening-round loss to Bucknell and Self was staring at a massive rebuilding job after losing seniors wayne Simien, Keith Langford and Aaron Miles. Sophomore J.R. Giddens, stabbed in the Moon Bar incident, didn’t return either.
**Big 12 standings:**
Kansas 12-4
Oklahoma State 11-5
Texas Tech 10-6
Iowa State 9-7
Texas 9-7
Texas A&M 8-8
Missouri 7-9
Nebraska 7-9
Kansas State 6-10
Colorado 4-12
Baylor 1-15
*Check back at 2:30 for No. 10.*
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