All Kansas needed, in order wrap up their eleventh straight Big 12 regular season title, was one win. Trailing by as many as 18 points in the second half at home against West Virginia on Tuesday night, it looked like KU’s celebration would have to wait, if it were to happen at all.
But as they so often have under Bill Self, the Jayhawks rallied, eventually pulling out the 76-69 OT win over the Mountaineers. After the game, Self said the win was his best at Phog Allen, an arena where he has won 109 games.
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So many times, college basketball fans take sustained greatness for granted. No, Kansas doesn’t have another blue-blood in conference to deal with like Duke does. Nonetheless, the Big 12 has been more than formidable during this stretch of time that Kansas has dominated it.
Even programs like UCLA, North Carolina and Kentucky suffered through excruciatingly difficult seasons while KU rolled on, year after year. Their local recruiting base doesn’t have the advantages of UCLA and North Carolina. They don’t have Drake coming into the locker room and wearing their warm ups like Kentucky.
Kansas wins, that’s it.
Like the head coach, the arena borders on being understated. The media coverage is intense, but not nearly the same as comparable programs further East. It’s different in Lawrence, yet the goals are no different than any other blue-blood. Championships.
Kansas wins, that’s it. Now, they’ve won the Big 12 for the eleventh time in a row, further cementing the legacy of Self as one of the nation’s most under appreciated, yet vexingly good, head coaches.
