Kansas Basketball: Jayhawks' nearly-perfect offseason makes them '24-25 title contenders

When you're a blue-blood program, everything from expectations to results to recruiting and the fanbase all hit differently. When things are going well the frenzy surrounding all of these things rises but seemingly not as much as when things don’t go well, even that downturn could just be a blip on the radar and not an insight into the future.

When the results aren’t what people have become accustomed to, even if just for a year or two the pressure builds to return to that greatness. As outsiders, we hear from the external pressures brought on by fanbases and boosters, but the pressure those involved in the day-to-day of these programs put upon themselves to return to greatness is likely much stronger.

The latest case in point is Kansas Basketball. They are the last non-UConn team to win the national championship back in 2022. Since then they have lost as a No. 1 in the second round of the Big Dance in 2023 and followed that up by failing to claim at least a share of the Big 12 title for just the 3rd time since 2005 and once again winning just one game in the NCAA Tournament.

This isn’t to say that Kansas is going to slip into the middle of the strongest conference in the country. On the contrary, the Jayhawks are still one of the best programs in the country, and the offseason they have had thus far portrays a team that wants to return to the top of college basketball. The Jayhawks have had a nearly perfect offseason and it’s only June.