Opinion: Kansas has a shot at going undefeated in Big 12 play

After Kansas defeated Iowa State on Wednesday night, reporters asked Cyclones head coach Fred Hoiberg if Kansas has a shot at running the table.

“Sure, I think so,” said Hoiberg. “If they are hitting shots like that, that is going to be a tough, tough team to beat.”

Kansas is almost half-way through their Big 12 schedule and sitting at 7-0, the Jayhawks have a shot.

Kansas’ toughest remaining games are on the road at Texas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State. They’ve already defeated Oklahoma and Iowa State on the road.

Kenpom.com has KU at a 95% chance they’ll at least win a share of the Big 12 regular season title and an 86.9% of winning it outright. Oklahoma has the next best chance of winning the conference outright at 1.6% and Oklahoma State has the best chance of sharing the title at 5.8%.

Those are ridiculous odds to have on January 31st.

In addition, Kenpom.com ranks the remaining Big 12 games for KU in order of difficulty (the number is KU’s chance of winning):

• at Oklahoma State (43)
• at Texas (58)
• at K-State (60)
• at Baylor (70)
• at West Virginia (71)
• at Texas Tech (77)
• Texas (83)
• Oklahoma (84)
• West Virginia (90)
• Texas Tech (92)
• TCU (98)

Kansas is favored to win 10 of their remaining 11 games and only Oklahoma State stands in their way as their biggest challenge.

If Oklahoma State is still somehow in the Big 12 race in March, Gallagher-Iba Arena will be loud and a difficult environment on March 1st for Kansas. But Oklahoma State’s Travis Ford was recently seen begging fans to come to games. If the Cowboys are playing for second or third place, GIA may not even be full.

Playing in Manhattan on February 10th will be difficult because Kansas State fans always fill up Allen Fieldhouse West for KU games. K-State is still in the hunt for a first round bye in the Big 12 tournament so expect to see K-State ready for the Jayhawks, even though they got stomped on in Lawrence a few weeks ago.

That brings us to Texas, Kansas’ opponent for tomorrow. The Jayhawks have started the past two seasons at 7-0 before stumbling. Last year, KU went on a three-game losing streak after starting 7-0.  Kansas could certainly trip up in Austin this weekend and then also drop their game in Waco against Baylor next week. After that, a hot West Virginia team comes to Lawrence. As long as Kansas keeps playing with their current intensity and passion, they’re not dropping three straight games again. However, it isn’t out of the question.

I believe tomorrow’s game against Texas will truly show if they’re mature enough to run the table in the Big 12, or at least finish with less than three losses in conference play.

Texas is probably the only other team in the Big 12 that can match-up with KU’s big men. The Longhorns lead the Big 12 with 41.7 rebounds per game and they have a +6.8 rebound margin. Texas also leads the conference in blocked shots with 6.5 per game, just ahead of Kansas’ 6.2.  KU will need Joel Embiid to stay out of foul trouble and they need Tarik Black to come back healthy from his foot injury and contribute off the bench.

A dominating performance in Austin would give KU six straight victories against ranked opponents and would almost lock up 10 straight Big 12 titles for the Jayhawks.