🏆 Winning The Big 12 No Cake Walk

If you think KU’s success in the Big 12 is due to playing in a non-competitive conference, think again. The stats show that this is anything but the case. Over the last 17 seasons, the Big 12 proved to be one of the toughest league’s in the NCAA, making the Jayhawks’ run of 15 league titles since 2004 even more impressive.

Beginning in the 2003-04 season, the Big 12 has ranked as the nation’s No. 1 conference in the RPI/NET rankings six times and in the top-three on 11 occasions. This year, the league appears to be trending in the same direction, currently sitting as the highest-rated league in the NET rankings as of March 1.

The stoutness of the conference is also highlighted by KU’s strength of schedule during this stretch, which has been among the toughest every season. The Jayhawks posted a top-10 strength of schedule nine times in Bill Self’s first 16 years at KU, which includes the nation’s strongest schedule four times and is heading for a fifth as Kansas’ SOS is currently ranked No. 1.