Bracketology 2024: South Carolina, Butler, and Nebraska among week's biggest winners
By Joey Loose
Kansas
With the addition of Hunter Dickinson and plenty of returning talent, Kansas entered the season as one of the national favorites this season. The lone nonconference loss came to Marquette and the Jayhawks certainly looked to be living up to expectations, but Big 12 play has been different. Kansas has already lost true road games to UCF, West Virginia, and Iowa State, and that shocker against the Mountaineers is a Quad 3 loss.
The Jayhawks may have entered this week just 4-3 in the conference but left it leaving all questions answered. First, the Jayhawks got a lopsided 83-54 win at home over Oklahoma State, playing great on both sides of the ball. More impressively, Kansas then dominated on Saturday in a major matchup with new rival Houston, considered one of the best teams in the nation. The Jayhawks won by 13 points in a game that may not have been that close.
The Jayhawks have been playing inspired offense in recent weeks and have their metrics in better shape, with a NET right around 11. Their performance against Houston, the top-rated team in the NET, does major work for the resume of a team that’s still hoping it can be a 1-seed again. There’s still plenty of work ahead for a Jayhawks team that has 5 Quad 1 wins, but just two in league play.