14. Kansas (9-3)
During the opening weeks of the season, Kansas didn’t dissuade the early doubters, falling by double figures to both North Carolina and Duke. Since then, the last month has been much better and included impressive wins in Las Vegas, including against Tennessee. Last weekend saw these Jayhawks continue their strong push with an overtime win at NC State but can this team legitimately contend for a Big 12 title once again?
The Jayhawks were at home this week but still found their way to a third-straight win, taking care of Towson 73-49 with relative east. That Tuesday win featured a fantastic performance from Kansas’s defense. Flory Bidunga continued his strong season with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Tre White added 16 points while stuffing the stat sheet as well against the Tigers.
Fresh off some great showings and a close call loss to UConn, Kansas is trending in the right direction near the end of nonconference play. A program that stumbled a bit more than usual these last two seasons looks the part of a contender, but it depends on how far Bidunga and others can lead this team. Davidson comes to town for the final nonconference battle this Tuesday and then there’s a very long break before Big 12 play begins in the New Year.