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Kansas Basketball: Ranking the Jayhawks’ 12 Big 12-winning teams

By Matt Ostrowski

Feb 27, 2016; Lawrence, KS, USA; Kansas Jayhawks fans cheer from the stands after the Jayhawks defeating the Texas Tech Red Raiders 67-58 winning their twelfth consecutive Big 12 titles at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 27, 2016; Lawrence, KS, USA; Kansas Jayhawks fans cheer from the stands after the Jayhawks defeating the Texas Tech Red Raiders 67-58 winning their twelfth consecutive Big 12 titles at Allen Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 22, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Wichita State Shockers guard Tekele Cotton (32) drives around Kansas Jayhawks guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (12) during the second half in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at CenturyLink Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Wichita State Shockers guard Tekele Cotton (32) drives around Kansas Jayhawks guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (12) during the second half in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at CenturyLink Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

12. 2014-15 (27-9, 13-5 Big 12)

I honestly wonder every single day how this team managed to come away with sole possession of the Big 12 crown in a season in which the conference came away with the best RPI rating. Just consider all of the unfortunate things that happened to this team:

  1. Conner Frankamp, who was potentially going to be their starting point guard, decided to transfer from the team just a few days before the season started.
  2. Their number one recruit, Cliff Alexander, who was supposed to fill some of the hole left by the departures of Tarik Black and Joel Embiid, played under 17 minutes per game, and didn’t play in a single game from February 28 onward (via sports-reference.com).
  3. Wayne Selden, who was supposed to step up and be the team’s leading scorer along with Perry Ellis, shot just 38% from the floor on the season and didn’t even average double-digit points per game (via sports-reference.com).

Yet, again, they somehow won the conference outright in a season in which the RPI ranked the conference the best in the country. They put seven teams into the NCAA Tournament that season: one two-seed, three three-seeds, one five-seed, one nine-seed, and one 11-seed.

Just about everyone on this team was consistently inconsistent. Kelly Oubre Jr. was either the best player on the floor, or completely invisible. The same could be said for Selden. Devonte Graham, Brannen Greene, and Alexander were all hit or miss off of the bench.

Thankfully, they had Perry Ellis and Frank Mason. Mason rattled off an impressive streak of 21 straight double-digit scoring efforts, and Ellis stepped up when the Jayhawks needed him the most, averaging over 19 points and eight rebounds per game in February when the team went just 5-3. And it would have been more like 3-5 without him.

Somehow, this team found a way to come out on top, in the Big 12 at least. It was no surprise to many people, myself included, when this team lost in the round of 32 to Wichita State. The team was talented, but seemed to always be lacking something. And I think Mark Titus summed it up well in one of his articles from the last month of the season (via Grantland):

"As someone who once wedged Jay Bilas’s book Toughness under the short leg of an uneven table, I know all there is to know about being tough. And way too often this season, Kansas has been the opposite of tough."

Next: 2004-05

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