Chicago — Back on Selection Sunday, Kansas basketball coach Bill Self took a quick trip down Memory Lane to recall the last time the Jayhawks gave it “a great run in the tournament.”
The year was 2018 — now four years ago — and that team, led by Devonte’ Graham, rolled all the way to the Final Four in San Antonio.
Self’s Jayhawks have not made it out of the first weekend since then, losing in 2019 to Auburn and 2021 to USC while watching the 2020 NCAA Tournament get canceled altogether because of the pandemic.
By Kansas standards, three consecutive years without a trip to the second weekend is considered a heck of a drought. That’s been especially true during Self’s 19 seasons in charge.
Under Self, Kansas has failed to reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament seven times in 18 tries — in 2005, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2021.
But while that featured back-to-back misses on two occasions, it never reached three in a row until the recent stretch that was snapped this year.
Perhaps that’s what has made this year’s run so enjoyable and rewarding for the Jayhawks, who enter Friday night’s clash with No. 4 seed Providence — 6:29 p.m. tipoff on TBS — as the favorite to reach the Final Four in New Orleans from the Midwest region.
“It’s great to get into the tournament, it’s great to win a game in the tournament, but there’s nothing like getting further in the tournament so you can really experience what this thing is really all about,” Self said Wednesday [shortly after arriving at the team hotel in Chicago.][1]
While winning games and keeping one’s title hopes alive as long as possible no doubt plays a huge role in that, Self said the increased excitement that begins in the Sweet 16 adds to the experience, as well.
“That thing’s narrowed down to 16 (teams) real fast,” Self said Friday. “Really, the tournament, from an exposure standpoint, doesn’t start until the second weekend.”
As the highest remaining seed in the Midwest region and a bona fide college basketball blueblood, the Jayhawks figure to get plenty of exposure and attention here in Chicago this week.
And they’re hoping there’s a third weekend awaiting them after this stop.
“We’ve got everybody playing well and we’re just excited,” KU junior Christian Braun said Tuesday. “This is what we all play for; this is the weekend we’ve been wanting to get to. We’re going to take one at a time, but we’ve got two games to get to the Final Four and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Stay in touch with KUsports.com throughout the day and night for complete coverage from Chicago.
**Here’s a look at our coverage from the Windy City so far:**
• Game Day Breakdown: Kansas vs. Providence
• Sweet 16 Notebook: Jayhawks, Friars mirror each other
“>• Photo gallery from Thursday’s open practices
• Providence eager to face college basketball blue blood
• Bill Self on leaving Illinois: ‘It’s worked out well for us’
• Basketball Friends breaks down what’s at stake for KU in Chicago
• Experienced transfers lead Providence to Sweet 16
• Top-seeded Kansas arrives in Chicago
[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2022/mar/23/top-seeded-kansas-basketball-team-greeted-good-vib/?c=2715722
