Kansas Basketball Has Been A Big Surprise This Season

For the first time in his career at Kansas, head coach Brandon Schneider has the Jayhawks in the thick of the conference race past the halfway point of the conference season. They are currently in 4th place at 7-4, only two games back of the Oklahoma Sooners and Iowa State Cyclones (and one back of the Baylor Bears), with games against each of them in the coming weeks. They are in the midst of a four game winning streak in conference play.

With the way the team is playing, it's hard to imagine at this point that they won't finish with a record above .500, which would be the first time they have accomplished that feat since Marion Washington's 1999-2000 team that went 11-5 and also finished 4th in the conference.

And he's doing all this in what's likely the most competitive Big 12 women's conference in more than a decade. Currently, 6 teams are within 3 games of the conference lead (Kansas State is 2.5 games back and Texas is 3 games back). The last time that the season ended with more than one team within 3 games of the conference leader was the 2007-08 season, when five teams were bunched at the top of the conference standings.

That the team is doing all this after a 3-15 record and last-place finish from the prior season is even more impressive. Coming into the season, there was a lot of excitement among people close to the program, a fact that was evident to those in attendance at Big 12 Media Days.

However, given the first seven seasons of the Brandon Schneider era, fans were rightly skeptical. Fast starts in non-conference play have happened before, but his prior teams faded quickly in conference play. This team has not only held steady, they have picked up big wins to show improvement throughout the season and are poised for their first postseason berth since back-to-back NCAA Tournament bids in 2013 and 2014.

The strong record has not only solidified Schneider's job with Kansas Basketball, but his players have given him a strong argument to pick up Big 12 Coach of the Year honors this season.

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