Kansas Basketball on Pace to Make Undesirable History This Season

After losing three of its past four games in the heart of conference play, particularly Tuesday's dreadful defeat to Arizona State, the Kansas basketball program has positioned itself for yet another uninspiring finish to the season. The Jayhawks now sit at 21-9 overall and 11-6 in Big 12 play.

Barring a loss from Iowa State in its final game, KU should finish the regular season as the No. 5 seed in the Big 12 Tournament. That means it will compete on the second day of the event and will not receive a bye into the quarterfinals.

This stretch of poor play from the Jayhawks over the past three years is unfamiliar territory for the school. KU is likely to find itself on the wrong side of history once the 2025-26 campaign concludes.

Kansas Jayhawks head coach Bill Self applauds a play against Houston Cougars during the game inside Allen Fieldhouse on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026. | Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Assuming the Jayhawks are not able to win either the Big 12 Tournament or March Madness outright, the team will finish with 11 losses, unless it suffers an unexpected defeat to Kansas State in the regular-season finale. That would mark the third consecutive 11-loss season for Self and Co.

Prior to the 2023-24 season, the program had lost double-digit games just twice in the 2000s, both coming under Self in 2013-14 and 2018-19. Now, it appears more than likely that it will happen again this year.

The last time KU lost 11 or more games in three straight seasons was from 1986-1989, when the team dropped 11, 11, and 12 games, respectively. What that statistic does not mention is that the program won a national championship behind Danny Manning and the Miracles in 1988.

Is Kansas No Longer a Powerhouse?

There is far more nuance to this discussion than a simple yes-or-no answer. The Big 12 as a whole has taken a massive step forward since its expansion, and top programs like Houston and Arizona have dethroned the Jayhawks as the league's standard.

A feat like winning 14 consecutive regular-season conference titles will likely never be replicated in a conference of this caliber, and that is not the bar KU must clear to be considered elite. However, it is evident that the past few seasons of Kansas basketball do not reflect the quality of play fans have grown accustomed to.

Kansas is now 299-93 in conference play in the Bill Self era. 23 of those losses have been in the last 3 seasons. #kubball
— Adam Sullivan (@Sully_2029) March 4, 2026

It has been a difficult adjustment for the Jayhawk faithful who were used to losses being rare and headline-worthy. Now, defeats feel far more common, so much so to the point that some lower-tier schools don't even feel the need to rush the floor after beating KU.

Ultimately, it is no secret that Self's tenure in Lawrence is winding down, and no one truly knows how much longer he plans to coach. He does not seem like someone who wants to exit on a run of mediocre seasons, as the past few have been.

Regardless, the harsh reality is that programs around the country no longer view Kansas as the dominant force it once was. It may still carry blue-blood status because of its deep-rooted history as a program, but the Jayhawks appear headed toward a fourth straight first-weekend exit since winning the national title four years ago.