Kansas Basketball: Ranking the last 29 NCAA Tournament teams

10. 2006-07 (33-5) (14-2 Big 12)

The Jayhawks saw a lot of success during the 2006-07 season. It marked the first season that head coach Bill Self eclipsed the 30-win plateau as the Jayhawks head coach, among other things.

Self had quite the variety of talent at his disposal with Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Russell Robinson, Julian Wright, Sherron Collins and Sasha Kaun in the rotation.

Rush, Chalmers and Wright all averaged over 12.0 points per game during the regular season. Over eight players on the roster averaged over 15.0 minutes per game of playing time. Their rank in the AP Poll dipped below the Top 10 briefly after early losses to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles and the DePaul Blue Demons, but they won 10-straight towards the end of January to get back into the Top 8.

By the end of the regular season, they were back in the Top 2, winning their last eight games in Big 12 play. They finished 14-2 in conference action, winning their second consecutive regular season title. The Jayhawks pushed their undisputed streak in the conference tournament as well with their second consecutive victory in the Big 12 title game.

Kansas entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1 seed. The Jayhawks delivered as a top squad in the opening round per usual with a 106-67 victory over the Niagra Purple Eagles. In the second round, they beat the Kentucky Wildcats 88-76 off of 21 points from Julian Wright, 19 from Brandon Rush and 16 from Mario Chalmers.

In the Sweet 16, the Southern Illinois Salukis, a pest in the mid-major ranks, pushed Kansas to the edge in a 61-58 victory. 22 points from the bench proved to be enough to keep the Jayhawks afloat.

Their title hopes would sink in the Elite Eight against the UCLA Bruins. Behind 24 points from Arron Afflalo and 14 points and five steals from Darren Collison, UCLA got a 68-55 victory in the end. It wouldn’t be the last run to the title the Jayhawks would make though, as it fueled the flame for the 2007-08 season.