KU basketball is trending toward a NCAA tournament No. 1 seed, surprising even Bill Self

FORT WORTH, Texas — This game Monday meant something to Kansas basketball’s players, more so than was let on at times in the lead-up to it.

Just take a look at redshirt junior guard Dajuan Harris Jr. postgame, well after the final buzzer, still holding the game ball.

Just take a look at freshman guard Gradey Dick, wearing one of the “Funky Town” shirts TCU provided to fans in attendance — with a “W” added on because the Jayhawks had just topped the Horned Frogs in a 63-58 win.

Considering the way those guys and more saw TCU’s players react to the drubbing they handed Kansas inside Allen Fieldhouse earlier this season, this group of Jayhawks was going to have some fun of its own now.

But perhaps more significant than settling a score, No. 4 Kansas kept itself trending toward a No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament with this victory. Despite all the talent the Jayhawks lost from last season’s national championship squad, and the number of players who had to step up into new roles, they’re putting themselves in position to start the NCAA tournament just how coach Bill Self and company did last year.

And that’s even come as a surprise to Self.

“I didn’t think that would be something that would be realistic,” Self said. “So, yeah, I’m proud of this team. They’ve done great. We haven’t accomplished jack, but we’ve put ourselves in a favorable position to maybe do something. But this league is so hard, and to — everybody talked about our sky’s falling when we lost three in a row. In this league, that can happen easily. So, but, we’ve recovered pretty good since then.”

Self continued: “I think we’ve got a nice team. I don’t know that we’ve got a great team, or exceptional team. But I think I’d stack our metrics up against anybody right now.”

The Division I Men’s Basketball Committee had already slotted Kansas as one of the four No. 1 seeds Saturday, before the Jayhawks had even played Baylor that day. The committee viewed Kansas as the fourth overall seed, in its reveal of the top 16 teams to that point in the season. Then the Jayhawks picked up a top 10 win against the now-No. 10 Bears at home before adding a road victory Monday against another future NCAA tournament team in the Horned Frogs.

Like Self mentioned, it wasn’t long ago that some were starting to write off Kansas as a contender, even in the Big 12 Conference, because of a three-game losing streak that included losses against both TCU and Baylor. Since, the Jayhawks have gone 7-1 with a 6-1 mark against conference opponents. Kansas is now playing like the team putting pressure on others to keep up, instead of things being the other way around.

Harris, along with redshirt senior guard Kevin McCullar Jr., were critical Monday in what they were able to accomplish defensively against a Horned Frogs (18-10, 7-8 in Big 12) team that won 83-60 when the two sides played in Allen Fieldhouse. With redshirt junior forward Jalen Wilson struggling, Dick led the Jayhawks with 19 points to lessen the blow of that offensive shortfall.

Kansas made its opponent play worse, to get through the issues the Jayhawks encountered themselves, as it embodied a style Self has championed this season as at times being vital.

“We’ve got to trust our coaches,” said Harris, reacting to his team’s potential NCAA tournament seed. “Coach Self has been doing this for a long time, longer than half of my players, teammates, have been alive. So, he knows what he’s doing. We’ve just got to continue to keep trusting him and keep working together.”

Kansas (23-5, 11-4 in Big 12) now has three games left on its Big 12 slate before the conference tournament. It’s at home against West Virginia and Texas Tech, before it closes out the season on the road at No. 8 Texas. At the moment, the Jayhawks control their own destiny.

Kansas probably doesn’t need to win out and win the conference tournament in order to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament for a second-straight year. Its resume is already among the best in the nation, if not the best, and it’s unlikely one loss or even two — depending on when that second one comes — would change that.

But should the Jayhawks be able to do that, or come close to doing that, it’ll enter the NCAA tournament with a level of momentum that even last season’s team didn’t have when Kansas tipped off in the round of 64 in 2022 against Texas Southern.

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas basketball is trending toward a No. 1 seed in NCAA tournament