2. Kansas (8-2)
Last season the Jayhawks finished 5th in the Big 12 which is widely considered a disappointing season. What would be impressive for many teams in this league just wasn’t enough for a talented, powerful Blue Blood program. Fortunately, Kansas returned and added even more talent and has a team that can be a factor deep into March and into early April, but are reasons for concern cropping up in recent weeks?
The obvious player to watch is again Hunter Dickinson, the fifth-year All-American center who continues to average a double-double and has had a largely productive collegiate career. He’s joined as always by veteran point guard Dajuan Harris Jr., one of the craftiest guards in the nation with decent stats through ten games. Among the new pieces added in the offseason, the highlight is probably Zeke Mayo, the former South Dakota State star who’s a Lawrence native and is averaging more than 12 points a game right now.
The Jayhawks didn’t have a big holiday tournament but still found ways to build their resume, picking up wins over North Carolina, Michigan State, and Duke back in November. They handled their business in other games at home, including a 15-point win over NC State but recently dropped back-to-back road outings at Creighton and Missouri.
While far from perfect, the Jayhawks and their talented rotation have beaten some very talented teams and are proving that they can make major noise again this season. This is a team that doesn’t live and die by the 3-pointer and has gotten great numbers out of Dickinson, but this offense still can stagnate at times and they’ll need a little bit more from the rest of the defense if they want to win another Big 12 crown this season.