Why Kansas’ record-breaking 14th Big 12 title attempt will be its hardest yet

From 1967-1979, UCLA basketball won its conference every season. That 13-year streak persisted as the longest in college basketball history until Kansas tied it last season.

Kansas’ incredible dominance in the Big 12 stretches back to Bill Self’s second year in charge and spans players like Wayne Simien, Mario Chalmers, the Morris twins, Joel Embiid, Perry Ellis and Frank Mason III. If the Jayhawks win the Big 12 again this season, they will have the longest conference winning streak of all time.

But it just so happens that this year might be their biggest challenge yet.

The Big 12 is loaded with talented teams capable of dethroning a Jayhawks squad that already took a pair of losses in the non-conference schedule. Yes, Kansas is getting better, but Big 12 title No. 14 in a row is far from preordained. This sure looks like the toughest conference in America right now.

There are no off nights in the Big 12. Kansas will have a home-and-home against every team in the conference and few of those games will be easy. Consider:

The national player of the year race is just getting started, but it’s clear that Oklahoma freshman point guard Trae Young is the leading candidate right now. He’s essentially lapping the field according to KenPom:

All Young is doing at the moment is leading college basketball in points per game (29.6) and assists per game (10.7). He’s leading the country in advanced metrics like box plus-minus, offensive win shares, and PER, too.

We’ve never seen someone do what Young is currently doing. He’s dropped 43 points on Oregon, tied an NCAA record with 22 assists (in 29 minutes!) against Northwestern State, and just put up 39 points and 14 assists against No. 10 TCU on the road on Saturday.

Kansas plays Oklahoma at Oklahoma for the first time on Jan. 23. The Jayhawks also host the Sooners on Feb. 19. Program your DVR immediately.

TCU hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 1998. Before last season, the Horned Frogs had finished under .500 in nine of their last 10 seasons. That started to change when Jamie Dixon took over ahead of last year, when TCU finished with 24 victories and won the NIT.

The Horned Frogs are legit good this year, moving their way up to No. 10 in the rankings last week before the Trae Young Show handed them a one-point loss to end their undefeated start. TCU has the No. 11 offense in the country right now behind senior forward Kenrich Williams and sophomore point guard Jaylen Fisher. The Horned Frogs are going to be tough all year.

Texas Tech might be even better. The Red Raiders are also 12-1 in Chris Beard’s second season, but they do it with an elite defense captained by an ultra-athletic starting unit. Texas Tech currently has the No. 4 defense in the country, per KenPom, thanks to an aggressive scheme that forces turnovers like crazy and denies three-point shots.

Texas Tech has been to the NCAA tournament only once in the last 10 years, but the Red Raiders are all the way up to No. 7 on the KenPom rankings right now. We haven’t even mentioned West Virginia yet, a legitimate top-10 team that currently ranks in the top 20 of both offensive and defensive efficiency.

The Big 12 is the toughest conference in the country by a wide margin, according to KenPom. The Jayhawks remain the favorite until they are finally dethroned, but this season is shaping up to be one of their most difficult runs ever.