Tuesday night brought the Kansas Jayhawks their third loss in four games by way of a 91-57 bloodbath on the road at BYU. All three L’s have come to unranked teams. Their mauling by BYU tied the worst margin of defeat in coach Bill Self’s 20-year tenure.
Ranked #1 in preseason polls, the Jayhawks have plummeted to 23rd and are likely to fall further, regardless of what they do Saturday versus 12-13 Oklahoma State, after Tuesday’s clobbering.
17-9 overall, they are just 8-7 in Big 12 play, in 6th place behind Houston, Arizona, Iowa State, Texas Tech, and BYU. Kansas is fading fast from public and AP Poll favor. If they don’t turn things around, they will enter March Madness primed for a first round exit.
As head coach of a program with a pedigree like the Jayhawks’, Bill Self has been the butt of more than a few social media meme-athons.
Embarrassed by BYU Cougars, This Year’s Kansas Jayhawks Are Failing Bill Self Era Standards
In his two decades at the helm, Self has won two national titles, the latest in 2022 with a 34-6 team, and appeared in the championship game six times total. The past two seasons, though, Kansas has bowed out of the tournament in the second round, as number 4 and number 1 seeds in their regional bracket of 16.
Last year too they began the season ranked #1 in the country, dropping to 19th by March. Since 2013-14, they have carried a top 5 preseason ranking all but once, when they came in at #6.
Naturally, expectations scrape the sky every year at Kansas. And when the sky comes falling down, there’s hell to pay.
In any case, a lot of people have a lot of fun at your expense.
Bill Self after this season: pic.twitter.com/XXYRkqWmkJ
— the wheel (real) 2 (@thewheelreal2) February 19, 2025
Bill Self has a plan to win it all from a 14 seed spot in the tournament. pic.twitter.com/o7Ks7VOVcg
— @KansasHoops (@KansasHoops) February 19, 2025
What is happening to Jayhawk basketball pic.twitter.com/kxYFHZdmQt
— BillSelfMeDad (@BillSelfMeDad) February 19, 2025
Bill Self after this season pic.twitter.com/5SGzsSR4Q2
— the wheel (real) 2 (@thewheelreal2) February 19, 2025
Unfair Fight from the Get-Go
As poorly as Kansas performed, BYU played an outstanding game of basketball. Led by 22 points from junior guard Richie Saunders, the Cougars shot 51.5% from the field, a full 15% better than the Jayhawks, and 24 of their 34 buckets came off assists.
They dominated both outside, where they held a 38.9% to 28.1% advantage from three, and in the paint, where they outscored Kansas 32 to 22.
BYU bested the Jayhawks on the glass, in the turnover battle, and at the free throw line. They sprinted to a 22-7 advantage and never relinquished a double-digit lead. It simply wasn’t close.
In his postgame presser, Self acknowledged both sides of the story, his own team’s failure and the adversary’s A-game. “Well, I thought we were awful, and I thought they were great,” Self marveled. “I think BYU could have beat anybody tonight. They were great. And we didn’t do anything to make them play less great.”
But his comments were hardly enough to staunch the flood of Self-centered trolls.
Bill Self postgame remarks: pic.twitter.com/pyNCq52wcA
— retzlaff12_for_heisman (@mvp30_curry) February 19, 2025
Reminder that Bill Self spent the last month of last season fantasizing about this one. Whoops. https://t.co/G0RDWDZqMU
— No Escalators (@NoEscalators) February 19, 2025
Bill Self makes over $9M this year. pic.twitter.com/udyMD26YIH
— Jonathan Tavernari (@For3JT) February 19, 2025
Bill Self after this game… pic.twitter.com/a0Bu7b9Mx0
— Jonny Linehan (@jlinehan9) February 19, 2025
After a pair of (presumed) cupcake matches with OK State and Colorado, Kansas will have the chance to, *cough*, redeem themselves in their three-game slate to end the season: home vs #9 Texas Tech, @ #5 Houston, and home vs #19 Arizona.
On the other hand, things could get ugly.
If they do, a lot more Self hate should be touching down in Kansas.
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