Bill Self has had a legendary career at Kansas, serving as head coach since 2003. Throughout his tenure, he has proven himself to be a championship-winning coach, accumulating 24 Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles. On the national stage, Self has guided the Jayhawks to two national championships. Kansas has long been a blue-blood program.
However, for reasons unknown, this year’s Jayhawk team has struggled to find its rhythm. Despite being one of the top teams in the country, they’ve dropped four of their last six games. Worse still, Kansas has gone from being the top-ranked team in the nation to falling out of the top 25 after another blowout loss.
Currently, Kansas is projected to be a five seed in the March Madness Tournament—a shocking fall for such a prestigious program. Following their 34-point loss at BYU, fans are furious with the state of the Jayhawks. Tuesday night’s game was never competitive, as Kansas seemed out of the fight from the start. The defeat marked the largest margin of loss in Bill Self’s tenure.
This embarrassing setback comes just after John Fanta suggested that retirement for Self might be closer than the basketball world realizes. If this indeed marks the end of his illustrious career at Kansas, these recent performances aren’t the way to go out.
The basketball world responded to the dismal loss, with some making wild claims. However, one college basketball insider took a direct shot at Self.
“If this isn’t the low point of the Bill Self era at Kansas, it feels pretty close,” Jon Rothstein posted.
Rothstein’s assessment comes with good reason after such a forgettable defeat. Self hasn’t endured a loss of this magnitude in a long time, and the path forward may be difficult to navigate for the veteran coach. While Kansas will still make the tournament, it could be a one-and-done type of postseason.