That was a day after Kansas University’s players danced and pranced in the locker room – with no trophy to hoist as a prop – following the Jayhawks’ co-title-clinching victory over Kansas State in Manhattan.

Big 12 officials shipped a trophy to Texas, but didn’t make the same arrangements for the Jayhawks.

“I thought it was bush league, to be candid,” Self said Monday, hours after phoning the Big 12 office to complain after seeing a picture of UT’s players celebrating with the trophy on page 1C of Monday’s Journal-World.

“I think it was obviously handled poorly, because Texas had a chance to celebrate, and we didn’t. I don’t have anything against Texas doing that. I just think if one school could do it, then both should be able to do it. I don’t think that mistake will occur again in the league.”

Self spoke to Big 12 associate commissioner of championships Dru Hancock and assistant commissioner John Underwood – who both apologized for the trophy being available for one co-champ and not the other.

“It turns out there was an error on our part. There was a chance the team that had the trophy, which was Texas, might not win (at least a share of the title Sunday). So it should not have been sent there,” Big 12 director of communications Rob Carolla said.

According to league policy, championship trophies are made available to teams on game night only if – in the event of a loss – the contending team could do no worse than tie for the title.

A loss at K-State would not have guaranteed KU a share of the league title, just as a Texas loss to Oklahoma would not have guaranteed the Longhorns a share of the crown. Thus, this weekend, no Big 12 trophy should have been in Austin or Manhattan.

“This is not an excuse, (but) basically the person who handles these awards normally is no longer working here,” Carolla said of Suraj Jagannathan, assistant director of championships who left the league a couple weeks ago.

“Texas called before the A&M game and said (to somebody other than Jagannathan), ‘Can we get a trophy if we win?’ and that did not take place, obviously.”

The Longhorns lost to A&M three days before their finale against Oklahoma.

“(After the A&M game) the person who handled it on our end inadvertently had the trophy shipped to Texas when it should not have been. The person handling it was not as experienced, and some wrong information got transmitted and the trophy got sent out. Kansas is getting a trophy by tomorrow,” Carolla said.

Had a trophy been available to KU in Manhattan, the Jayhawks would definitely have posed with it in the locker room, not on the home team’s court in compliance with league rules.

“It would have been nice to have a picture made with the trophy or something like that. There won’t be any more celebrating concerning that until maybe after the season,” Self said.

The more Self thought about the issue Monday, the more emotional he became. On his Hawk Talk radio show Monday night, he mentioned the fact Texas could gain a recruiting advantage by sending pictures of the trophy celebration to recruits.

“They (Longhorns) don’t need any more mailouts than we do,” Self said. “We recruit the same kids. I didn’t think that was right from the league’s perspective.

“Whoever wins the league … it is a big enough deal to have a trophy, and (the team) deserves to have somebody there from the league to present it.”

Some conferences have league officials bring trophies to games and retrieve them if the contending team indeed wins and wraps up the crown.

“In other leagues I’ve been in, obviously each team that finished with at least a share was presented the trophy following the game,” Self said.

“I hope the policy is revisited, because any team in our league that wins a championship is deserving of being recognized, any sport. Whatever championship it is, you should be recognized by your conference. Obviously, we were not.”

All the Jayhawks can do now is try to win this weekend’s Big 12 Tournament in Dallas and earn another trophy.

“I didn’t know that happened,” KU freshman Mario Chalmers said Monday of Texas receiving the prize and KU not. “We should have had a trophy, too. We just have to go to (Dallas) and play hard and try to win the title there.”