Loss to Arkansas ends Kansas basketball's bonkers NCAA Tournament streak
03/21/2025 10:56 AM
As the Kansas basketball program lost to the Arkansas Razorbacks, 79-72, on Thursday night in the first round of the March Madness tournament, it broke a long-withstanding streak. While the Kansas basketball team set ugly records during the Big 12 tourney, this new mark is specifically for the national bracket and is eye-opening.
Losing to the Razorbacks in the round of 64, it’s the first time the Jayhawks haven’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2006 which was the second-longest streak according to Jared Benson.
“Kansas fails to win a game in an NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006, ending the 2nd-longest streak of advancing in Tournament history,” Benson wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
According to The Topeka Capital-Journal, head coach Bill Self would speak after the disappointing outing as he would be asked about possible adjustments made in building the roster for next season.
Kansas basketball stars on the disappointing ending to their season
Kansas basketball star Zeke Mayo led the way with 18 points and six rebounds as he spoke about the “mistakes” made by the team which shouldn’t happen since it’s an older team according to Rivals.
"Just basketball mistakes obviously they were made by multiple people including myself," Zeke Mayo said in the locker room. "That's just something that we've got to execute down the stretch, especially with us being seniors, older leaders. We've got to understand the time and situation and take care of the basketball."
Junior guard Rylan Griffen would speak about how the Kansas basketball team was the No.1 team in the preseason poll and how they have fallen since then. He would be realistic in saying that in college basketball, disappointing seasons happen, though he’s frustrated it was this year.
"Yeah, it's disappointing that it didn't really, fully, click, and we weren't ever able to really be the No. 1 team in the country, but I mean, it happens in basketball," Griffen said. "I mean, we've seen North Carolina came in at preseason No. 1 and they didn't make the tournament, and then next year they were in the Sweet 16, they played (Alabama). So, it's obvious that you can turn — sometimes you just have disappointing seasons. And I wish it wasn't this year, but that's just how it works."
At any rate, the Jayhawks completed the season without a national tournament win for the first time since 2006 as said before, finishing at a 21-13 record, 11-9 in conference play. Self and the group look to next season in bouncing back in a huge way.
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