NCAA Basketball: Arizona, Iowa State, Houston rise in latest top 25 power rankings
By Joey Loose
6. Kansas (19-5)
The Jayhawks looked impressive in wins over Tennessee, Connecticut, Houston, and Kentucky. There’s no denying that this Kansas team is one of the best in the nation this year. However, things have been a bit unsteady this season for Kansas. They’ve been shakier than usual in conference play, having already dropped questionable road games at UCF and West Virginia back in January. This past week was a combination of impressive and unsteady.
The shakiness was on display on Monday, as the Jayhawks fell 75-70 in overtime on the road against Kansas State, their fourth loss already in Big 12 play. Hunter Dickinson had 21 points and 12 rebounds but the Jayhawks shot poorly from outside the arc and couldn’t survive the trip to Manhattan. They managed to find a way to survive on Sunday, outlasting Baylor 64-61 in a thriller in Lawrence. Most of the offense came from the five starters, headlined by a 15-point, 7-rebound effort from Dickinson.
Road games in league play are difficult in any conference, but should Kansas have dropped all of these chances away from home? Make no mistake, they’ve been outstanding in those aforementioned wins, and now you can include Baylor in that number. It wasn’t the best week for the Jayhawks, especially on offense, but we’ve seen that they have a really high ceiling. We’ll see if they can conquer their road troubles with trips to Texas Tech and Oklahoma.