Kansas Basketball: Ranking the last 29 NCAA Tournament teams

16. 1994-95 (25-6) (11-3 Big 8)

The Jayhawks began the 1994-95 campaign with tons of promise. They entered the year ranked No. 11 in the preseason AP Poll and hovered in the Top 10 and above for much of the regular season.

They started the season 9-1 before Big 8 play began. In conference play, they dominated. Kansas went 11-3 in conference action winning five of the final six contests during the regular season to take home the regular season title.

Led by senior Greg Ostertag, sophomores Jacque Vaughn, Jerod Haase and Scott Pollard, along with freshman Raef LaFrentz, the Jayhawks proved to be solid Big 8 squad. They ranked in the Top 3 of the AP Poll for six of the final seven weeks of the regular season before the conference tournament kicked off.

The Jayhawks lost in the conference tournament semifinals to the Iowa State Cyclones in overtime, a team that always seems to give them trouble in the conference tournament.

Kansas still earned No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and in the opening round, they won 82-68 over the Colgate Raiders. The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers stood in the way in the second round, but Kansas escaped with a 75-70 victory thanks to 17 points from Sean Pearson and 12 points and 11 rebounds off the bench from Pollard.

In the Sweet 16, the Jayhawks lost to Harold Deane, Curtis Staples and the No. 4 seeded Virginia Cavaliers. It was Kansas’ second-straight loss in the Sweet 16 under Roy Williams. They would get over the hump eventually, but it showed just how difficult it is to win in the NCAA Tournament in the month of March.