When 12-0 Oklahoma plays at 12-1 Kansas on Monday night, Allen Fieldhouse will serve as host of the 40th episode in college hoops history featuring a matchup of No. 1 vs. No. 2.
It's a great thing for the Big 12 and college basketball, especially given that this will be the first Monday after college football's bowl season done save for one. This is how you transfer into the second half of the college basketball calendar. This Sooners-Jayhawks clash is a pretty cool thing, so let's embrace and celebrate this even more. After all, who knows when we'll get it next?
Here's the history heading into Monday's monumental matchup:
•This is just the fifth time since the turn of the century that college basketball's top two teams have tipped off. In the 39 previous times the Associated Press poll's No. 1 played No. 2, dating back to 1949, the top-ranked team lost more times than it won. But just barely. Kansas can equal out the all-time series on Monday night: No. 1 is 20-19 against No. 2.
•In terms of the regular season, this will be the 22nd time we've been treated to a 1-2 tilt. History shows you'd rather be the deuce; No. 2 is 12-9.
•As far as intra-conference 1 vs. 2 games are concerned, this is the seventh such clash ever, and the first in the Big 12 since it was known as the Big Eight. Kansas was involved both times then, back in 1990 -- and lost both games. The first came to hated (and dormant) rival Missouri, who upended the Jayhawks at Phog Allen Fieldhouse 77-70 on Feb. 13, 1990. Then, later that season in the Big Eight tournament semis, No. 1 Oklahoma topped No. 2 KU.
•Overall, the No. 2-ranked team is 4-2 in previous intra-league throwdowns.
•Of the 14 previous regular-season top-two tilts that took place in true home/road environments, the home team has gone 7-7.
•The average margin of victory in the regular-season 1 v. 2 games is 11.5 points. The average margin of victory for all 39 prior contests is 10.6.
•Four times has a game gone to overtime, the best of all of them being the 1957 NCAA Tournament title game that ended after three bonus sessions with a 54-53 UNC win over Kansas.
•UCLA (nine) has played in the most 1-against-2 affairs, while Kentucky is one behind (eight).
•The biggest win for a No. 1 over a No. 2: 31 points (Duke over Texas in 2005).
•The biggest win for a No. 2 over a No. 1: 41 points (Kentucky over St. John's in 1951).
• These games have had their share of beatdowns but there's also been a lot of really close endings. Five times a game has ended with a one-point difference, and 16 times (41 percent!) 1 vs. 2 has been decided by five points or less, the most recent coming at the 2013 Champions Classic. Gary Parrish was there; so were Julius Randle, Willie Cauley-Stein, Denzel Valentine and Gary Harris. Here's what Gary Parrish wrote then.
You want the complete case file? Here it is, the record of top-two battles in college basketball since the beginning ...
12.17.51: No. 2 Kentucky def. No. 1 St. John's 81-40
12.21.54: No. 1 Kentucky def. No. 2 Utah 70-65
12.14.64: No. 2 Michigan def. No. 1 Wichita State 87-85
1.20.68: No. 2 Houston def. No. 1 UCLA 71-69
12.15.73: No. 1 UCLA def. No. 2 North Carolina State 84-66
1.19.74: No. 2 Notre Dame def. No. 1 UCLA 71-70
1.26.74: No. 2 UCLA def. No. 1 Notre Dame 94-75
11.29.75: No. 1 Indiana def. No. 2. UCLA 84-64
12.26.81: No. 1 North Carolina def. No. 2 Kentucky 82-69
1.9.82: No. 1 North Carolina def. No. 2 Virginia 65-60
12.15.84: No. 1 Georgetown def. No. 2. DePaul 77-57
2.27.85: No. 2 Georgetown def. No. 1 St. John's 85-69
2.4.86: No. 1 North Carolina def. No. 2 Georgia Tech 78-77 (OT)
2.13.90: No. 2 Missouri def. No. 1 Kansas 77-71
2.10.91: No. 1 UNLV def. No. 2 Arkansas 112-105
2.3.94: No. 2 North Carolina def. No. 1 Duke 89-78
2.5.98: No. 2 North Carolina def. No. 1 Duke 97-73
12.10.05: No. 1 Duke def. No. 2 Texas 97-66
2.25.07: No. 2 Ohio State def. No. 1 Wisconsin 49-48
2.23.08: No. 2 Tennessee def. No. 1 Memphis 66-62
11.12.13: No. 2 Michigan State def. No. 1 Kentucky 78-74
3.26.49: No. 1 Kentucky def. No. 2 Oklahoma A&M 46-36 (national championship)
3.23.57: No. 1 North Carolina def. No. 2 Kansas 54-53 (3OT) (national championship)
3.18.60: No. 2 California def. No. 1 Cincinnati 77-69 (national semifinals)
3.25.61: No. 2 Cincinnati def. No. 1 Ohio State 70-65 (OT) (national championship)
3.24.62: No. 2 Cincinnati def. No. 1 Ohio State 71-59 (national championship)
3.20.65: No. 2 UCLA def. No. 1 Michigan 91-80 (national championship)
3.18.66: No. 1 Kentucky def. No. 2 Duke 83-79 (national semifinals)
3.22.68: No. 2 UCLA def. No. 1 Houston 101-69 (national semifinals)
3.25.74: No. 1 North Carolina State def. No. 2 UCLA 80-77 (2OT) (national semifinals)
3.31.75: No. 1 UCLA def. No. 2 Kentucky 92-85 (national championship)
3.22.76: No. 1 Indiana def. No. 2 Marquette 65-56 (Elite Eight)
4.2.83: No. 1 Houston def. No. Louisville 94-81 (national semifinals)
3.9.85: No. 1 Georgetown def. No. 2 St. John’s 92-80 (Big East tournament championship)
3.29.86: No. 1 Duke def. No. 2. Kansas 71-67 (national semifinals)
3.10.90: No. 1 Oklahoma def. No. 2 Kansas 95-77 (Big Eight tournament semifinals)
3.30.96: No. 2 Kentucky def. No. 1 Massachusetts 81-74 (national semifinals)
3.27.99: No. 1 Duke def. No. 2 Michigan State 68-62 (national semifinals)
4.4.05: No. 2 North Carolina def. No. 1 Illinois 75-70 (national championship)
