College basketball rankings: Kansas clinches share of Big 12 title as Bill Self continues to cement his legacy
Self has made a strong case for coach of the year after losing key pieces from last year's national title-winning team
By
Gary Parrish
•
2 min read
The national coach of the year race is fluid and remains undecided. A reasonable case could be made for Marquette's Shaka Smart, Purdue's Matt Painter, Kansas State's Jerome Tang, Houston's Kelvin Sampson or UCLA's Mick Cronin. But, as I explained during "Inside College Basketball" on Tuesday night, if I had to submit a ballot right now I would put Bill Self's name on it.
What he's doing continues to be incredible.
The Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame coach secured at least a share of yet another Big 12 title late Tuesday with a 67-63 win over Texas Tech. If Texas loses at TCU on Wednesday, or if Kansas wins at Texas on Saturday, the Jayhawks will have the outright league championship despite Self losing six of the top eight scorers, including two first-round picks in the 2022 NBA Draft, from last season's team that won the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
"I always envision us having good years ... but if you would've told me before the year that this team would do what they've done this year, and accomplish what they've accomplished so far this year, I would've said that would've probably been a little bit of a reach," Self said. "We [were] 6-4 [in the league] and [had to] go run off seven in a row to put us in a position to get at least a share of [the Big 12 championship]. That didn't seem very likely at the time. But the kids are tough. They find a way to win even when we're not very good."
If you're keeping track, that's now 17 Big 12 regular-season titles for Self in 20 years at KU. For some context, consider that Mike Krzyzewski, widely regarded as the GOAT of college basketball coaching, won 13 regular-season conference titles in 42 years at Duke. So Self has four more than that at Kansas in 22 fewer seasons with the Jayhawks. He also won two WAC regular-season titles (at Tulsa) and two Big Ten regular-season titles at Illinois, which means the following is true: Bill Self has coached in three different leagues in the past 25 years and won 21 regular-season conference championships in that span.
Amazing.
Kansas remains No. 3 in Wednesday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. Houston is No. 1 for the 13th consecutive day while Alabama is still No. 2. If things continue this way, the NCAA Tournament selection committee will eventually have to decide what it values most -- the computer numbers that largely favor Houston and Alabama over Kansas or the fact that the Jayhawks are likely to be outright champions of the sport's best league and in possession of way more Q1 wins than everybody else when Selection Sunday arrives.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
3
Tennessee
4
Indiana
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Marcus Sasser finished with 22 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 76-57 win at East Carolina. The Cougars' next game is Thursday against Wichita State. | -- | 11-1 |
| 2 |  | Brandon Miller finished with 24 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 86-83 win over Arkansas. The Crimson Tide's next game is Wednesday against Auburn. | -- | 9-3 |
| 3 | | Jalen Wilson finished with 21 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 67-63 win over Texas Tech. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday at Texas. | -- | 9-3 |
| 4 |  | Jamie Jaquez Jr. finished with 17 points and five rebounds in Sunday's 60-56 win at Colorado. The Bruins' next game is Thursday against Arizona State. | -- | 9-3 |
| 5 |  | Braden Smith was 2 of 11 from the field in Saturday's 79-71 loss to Indiana. The Boilermakers' next game is Thursday at Wisconsin. | -- | 11-1 |
| 6 |  | Texas allowed the Bears to shoot 50.0% from the field in Saturday's 81-72 loss at Baylor. The Longhorns' next game is Wednesday at TCU. | -- | 8-4 |
| 7 |  | Markquis Nowell finished with 22 points and eight assists in Saturday's 73-68 win at Oklahoma State. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday against Oklahoma. | -- | 8-4 |
| 8 |  | LJ Cryer finished with 15 points and three rebounds in Monday's 74-68 win at Oklahoma State. The Bears' next game is Saturday against Iowa State. | -- | 9-2 |
| 9 |  | Tyler Kolek finished with 21 points and 10 assists in Tuesday's 72-56 win at Butler. The Golden Eagles' next game is Saturday against St. John's. | -- | 5-8 |
| 10 |  | Drew Timme finished with 19 points and six rebounds in Saturday's 77-68 win over Saint Mary's. The Zags' next game is Wednesday against Chicago State. | -- | 12-1 |
| 11 |  | Arizona allowed the Sun Devils to shoot 53.7% from the field in Saturday's 89-88 loss to Arizona State. The Wildcats' next game is Thursday at USC. | -- | 11-0 |
| 12 |  | Jordan Hawkins finished with 20 points and three steals in Saturday's 95-86 win at St. John's. The Huskies' next game is Wednesday against DePaul. | 1 | 12-1 |
| 13 |  | Darrion Trammell was 2 of 9 from the field in Tuesday's 66-60 loss at Boise State. The Aztecs' next game is Saturday against Wyoming. | 1 | 7-4 |
| 14 |  | Santiago Vescovi finished with 14 points and five assists in Tuesday's 75-57 win over Arkansas. The Vols' next game is Saturday at Auburn. | 3 | 9-3 |
| 15 |  | Aidan Mahaney was 2 of 10 from the field in Saturday's 77-68 loss at Gonzaga. The Gaels' next game is Monday in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament. | -- | 10-2 |
| 16 |  | Souley Boum finished with 23 points and three assists in Friday's 82-60 win at Seton Hall. The Musketeers' next game is Wednesday at Providence. | -- | 9-4 |
| 17 |  | Boo Buie was 1 of 9 from the field in Sunday's 75-59 loss at Maryland. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday against Penn State. | 1 | 7-5 |
| 18 |  | Indiana shot 18.2% from 3-point range in Tuesday's 90-68 loss to Iowa. The Hoosiers' next game is Sunday against Michigan. | 4 | 10-3 |
| 19 |  | Miami blew a 25-point lead in Saturday's 85-84 loss to Florida State. The Hurricanes' next game is Saturday against Pitt. | -- | 11-2 |
| 20 |  | Jayden Gardner finished with 12 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday's 64-57 win over Clemson. The Cavaliers' next game is Saturday against Louisville. | -- | 11-1 |
| 21 |  | Mile Miles Jr. finished with 24 points and two rebounds in Saturday's 83-82 win at Texas Tech. The Horned Frogs' next game is Wednesday against Texas. | -- | 9-3 |
| 22 |  | Tyrece Radford finished with 13 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 69-61 win at Ole Miss. The Aggies' next game is Saturday against Alabama. | -- | 9-3 |
| 23 |  | Jeremy Roach finished with 20 points and two assists in Tuesday's 71-67 win over NC State. The Blue Devils' next game is Saturday at North Carolina. | -- | 11-1 |
| 24 |  | Ed Crosswell finished with 25 points and 13 rebounds in Sunday's 88-68 win at Georgetown. The Friars' next game is Wednesday against Xavier. | -- | 7-6 |
| 25 |  | Jahmir Young finished with 18 points and three rebounds in Sunday's 75-59 win over Northwestern. The Terrapins' next game is Wednesday at Ohio State. | -- | 6-6 |
| 26 |  | D'Moi Hodge finished with 18 points and two assists in Saturday's 85-63 win at Georgia. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday at LSU. | -- | 10-2 |
