Kansas Jayhawks: Big XII Champions!!!

• Phog Allen

  What a season for the Kansas Jayhawks! Outright Big XII regular seasonion champions at 15-1. Their 6th straight Big XII regular season championship. Big XII tournament champions at 18-1. Their 4th Big XII tournament championship in the last 5 years. The fourth time in the last 5 years Kansas has won the undisputed Big XII championship (by sweeping the regular season and tournament titles). A 3rd #1 seed in the last 4 years. The #1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. The #1 ranked team in the country to start the year, the #1 team for all but 3 weeks of the season, and the #1 ranked team heading into the NCAA tournament.
  
  This has been a special year for the Jayhawk faithful and now it has a chance to get even better. If KU does win a 2nd national championship in 3 years this team will unseat the 2008 KU national championship team as the single season winningest team in Kansas and college basketball history. The 2008 team finished 37-3. The 2010 squad sits at 32-2 and with 6 more wins and a national title would end at 38-2. Wow!
  
  Coach Self deserves so much credit for what he has done at KU. In my opinion, what he has done at KU rivals the run Coach K had at Duke in the ACC in the late 90s and early 00s with all the ACC titles. Its a big if but if KU does win the national title I would say that feat (Coach Self leading KU to 2 national titles in 3 years) with 2 totally different teams would be more impressive than the back to back titles Florida won.
  
  Regardless of what happens in March and early April what a special season for Kansas!
  
  ROCK CHALK KANSAS JAYHAWKS BIG XII CHAMPIONS!!!!!
• centralbucksfan

  I have to admit that after watching Kansas more towards the end of the season, that they are in fact a pretty clear cut FAVORITE going into the NCAA. They have a very, very good team, and all the parts you need. More I have watched, the more I have been impressed. Collins makes them go. With this experience....he will be their driving force.
• reclegend22

  

  Self is the clear second best coach in the country (based on current success), and probably will overtake Kryzewski (whom I still consider to be the best) in that position if Self were to lead KU to a second title in three seasons. As hank said, those two championships, with almost completely different clubs (sans Aldrich and Collins), would be one of the more impressive feats in recent college basketball history.
  
  What Self has done in the Big 12 certainly rivals what K has done in the ACC over the past decade. One could argue that one conference or the other was more competitive or whatever during their respective runs, but the fact remains that both Kansas and Duke have dominated their conferences over the past decade. Coach K is looking to win his ninth ACC title in the past 12 years today, while Self has won six in a row in the Big 12. IMO, those feats are near equal. For Self to already be compared with K this early in his tenure at KU is an incredible testament to Self's ability as a coach.
  
  As I have said before, I think Self is close to surpassing even Phog Allen as the greatest coach in KU history. Incredible what he's accomplishing.
• Cleveland Buck

  

  Overall #1 seed and my pick to take it down.
• ironman02

  Cleveland Buck wrote: Overall #1 seed and my pick to take it down.

  This. I'll be surprised if the Jayhawks aren't cutting down the nets in April.
• slingshot4ever

  I hope all of you are right.
• slingshot4ever

  reclegend22 wrote: Self is the clear second best coach in the country (based on current success), and probably will overtake Kryzewski (whom I still consider to be the best) in that position if Self were to lead KU to a second title in three seasons. As hank said, those two championships, with almost completely different clubs (sans Aldrich and Collins), would be one of the more impressive feats in recent college basketball history.
  
  What Self has done in the Big 12 certainly rivals what K has done in the ACC over the past decade. One could argue that one conference or the other was more competitive or whatever during their respective runs, but the fact remains that both Kansas and Duke have dominated their conferences over the past decade. Coach K is looking to win his ninth ACC title in the past 12 years today, while Self has won six in a row in the Big 12. IMO, those feats are near equal. For Self to already be compared with K this early in his tenure at KU is an incredible testament to Self's ability as a coach.
  
  As I have said before, I think Self is close to surpassing even Phog Allen as the greatest coach in KU history. Incredible what he's accomplishing.

  Where are the UNC fans to defend what they think is the #1 coach in the country?
• ironman02

  slingshot,
  
  I don't necessarily believe you can call any coach the definitive #1 coach in the country. Krzyzewski, Williams, and Self (and maybe others) are all great coaches and their records and accolades support that. As a Carolina fan, I'm glad that Roy Williams is running my favorite program. He's an unbelievable recruiter and he has had a ton of success at both Kansas and North Carolina. He didn't win a title at KU (he would have if his team would have made FTs), but he got over the hump at Carolina and that's what matters to me. Self will continue to do a good job at Kansas, and I'm sure Williams will have Carolina back at the top soon as well.
  
  Congrats to KU on their regular season and conference tournament titles, win #2000 and beyond, and good luck in the NCAAs. Kansas has had, and will continue to have, one of the best programs in college basketball, and I have a great deal of respect for that.
• slingshot4ever

  ^^^^
  
  Wildcats thinks Williams is definitvely the best coach in the country. He has stated that on numerous threads this season.
• ironman02

  He's entitled to his opinion, and it's certainly not out of the question. Again though, it's hard to make a definitive choice.
  
  Since Roy came home, he has been very impressive (this season excluded) in the ACC, in the NCAA Tournament, and on the recruiting trail. However, the same can be said for several other coaches as well. It all comes down to the fact that a Carolina fan is going to prefer Roy, a KU fan will prefer Self, and a Duke fan will prefer K. Simple as that, I would say.
• reclegend22

  

  Not to hate on UNC anymore than I have all year (and it has been quite enjoyable), Williams is a great basketball coach, but not the best in the country. The best coach in the country, in my own opinion, of course, does not lose a team with so much talent (and the Heels did, no matter what anyone says, have enough talent to get to the NCAAs) mid season and have it end in a potential CBI birth with a probable 17 losses. That is unacceptable.
  
  Yes, I am basing his not being the best in the country on one season. It never should have happened. Not to this degree. He's still a top five coach, obviously. But can't be considered the best.
  
  It's not hating either. If K did this, this late in his established career at Duke, I'd agree that his position as the best is out of the question. Maybe I'm being too hard on Roy because I hate the guy, but 16-16 and no tournament is not befitting of "the top coach."
• ironman02

  I agree that Roy did an awful job with this year's team...no doubt about that. I don't know how much one bad season should tarnish what he has done throughout his career, but it certainly doesn't help his cause. This Carolina team definitely had the talent to be much better, but they were mentally weak. That is partly Roy's fault, but it's more of an indictment on the players in my opinion. They just lost it upstairs after losing to C of C and Clemson, and no matter what Roy did after that, they didn't respond. It's up to a coach to find a way to reach his players, and that's where Roy is at fault, but I honestly don't know what else he could have done. I think we'll learn a lot about how good Roy Williams truly is by watching next year's team. If he can bring Carolina back to where they belong after such a dismal year, then we'll see, even better, where he stands among the nation's elite coaches.
• Phog Allen

  Coach K, Izzo, Roy Williams, Coach Self and a few others are right there with each other. I do find it funny that only a few years ago both Roy and Coach Self were tagged as underachievers due to NCAA "failures". Even Coach K had to deal with that non-sense. Its called March Madness for a reason. I believe a coach proves their worth in conference play and what Coach K and Coach Self has done with Duke and KU over the past few years is pretty unreal.