They are certainly a regional power

Posted on: October 6, 2016 at 09:49:08 CT

I haven't been following them since the conference collapsed, but this detailing up until that point is obviously still relevant since I believe they have since shared a championship with KSU.

2004-05: ku ties atop the league standings with OU. They lost the head to head matchup with OU. They benefited greatly from unbalanced scheduling to reach their final record by playing in a very weak North division. ku was the only North team to finish in the top 4, and only ISU joined them in the top 7 of conference finishers. Despite being on the losing end of the tiebreaker, ku claims conf title.

2005-06: ku ties atop the league standings with Texas. They lost the head to head matchup with Texas. They benefited greatly from unbalanced scheduling to reach their final record by playing in a weaker North division. ku was the only North team to finish in the top 4 of the Big 12. Despite being on the losing end of the tiebreaker, ku claims conf title.

2006-07: ku finishes one game ahead of A&M for their first outright title under Self, again benefiting from playing in a weaker North as the South features two 12+ conf win teams.

2007-08: ku finishes tied atop the league standings with Texas. They lost the head to head matchup with Texas. They benefited greatly from unbalanced scheduling to reach their final record by playing in a weaker North division. Other than ku, only one other North team finished in the top 6 and all three of the bottom teams in conference come from the North. Despite being on the losing end of the tiebreaker, ku claims conf title.

2008-09: ku finishes one game ahead of second place OU for their second outright title under Self. They play OU without Conference Player of the Year and #1 overall draft pick Blake Griffin who is injured. They finish the season as the 3rd highest ranked Big 12 school in the national polls, behind both OU and MU.

2009-10: ku is legitimately far and away the best team in conference, finishing 4 games ahead of the second place finisher.

2010-11: ku finishes one game ahead of second place Texas. The conf race is all but conceded to Texas after their 11-0 start including a double digit beating of ku in Lawrence and no ranked opponents remaining on the schedule, until they falter down the stretch losing 3 of their last 5 allowing ku to back into the conf championship.

2011-12: ku finishes 2 games ahead of second place Missouri. They are dominated on their home court by a superior Tiger club until an abomination to the game of basketball takes place in terms of officiating, cresting with a shot to conclude regulation being thwarted successfully by Thomas Robinson’s open field tackle. The outcome of this single play decides the 2 game spread in conference standings, due to the abomination of officiating that led up to it.

Verdict: In the 8 individual seasons, ku was the best team in conf twice (2006-07 and 2009-10). They were dominating in conference once (2009-10). They were consistently among the best teams in our conf and enjoy an officiating advantage particularly at home but also on the road that is difficult to overcome but on an individual season by season assessment very rarely have they dominated the Big 12, and only somewhat rarely have they even been the best team, during this recent 8 year run.