Kansas Basketball: Ranking the last 29 NCAA Tournament teams

28. 2004-05 (23-7) (12-4 Big 12)

The 2004-05 season began with tons of promise and potential for the Jayhawks. They began the preseason as the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Poll with seniors Wayne Simien, Keith Langford and Aaron Miles leading the way.

Simien led the team in scoring and rebounds during the regular season with 20.3 points and 110 rebounds per contest. Miles led the team in assists per game with 7.2 per contest. Langford was the team’s second-leading scorer with 14.4 points per game and one of their best 3-point shooters, shooting 35.2 percent from behind the arc.

The Jayhawks started the season 14-0 before falling to the Villanova Wildcats on the road. Other than that, they were a formidable foe throughout the year. They beat an eighth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats squad 65-59, on the road.

In Big 12 play, they went 12-4, losing four of their final six contests in league play. In the conference tournament, they fell in the semifinals to the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Simien still took home Big 12 Player of the Year honors and the Jayhawks earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

They faced a No. 14 seed in the Bucknell Bison in the first round, which was more than they could handle. The Bison pulled off one of the biggest upsets in history with a 64-63 victory over the Jayhawks. Kansas led 31-28 at halftime, but in the second half, things fell apart. A final shot at the buzzer by Simien was no good, in the end, to give Bucknell the victory.