Kansas Men’s Basketball Schedule Could Include 15 Postseason Teams from Last Year
2013-14 Kansas Men’s Basketball Schedule
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas’ 2013-14 men’s basketball schedule potentially includes 15 opponents which advanced to the 2013 postseason (12 NCAA, three NIT), including six foes that either won its regular-season or conference tournament titles last year as the Big 12 announced its schedule Thursday.
The 12 NCAA participants on the KU schedule for 2013-14 include: Colorado, Duke, Georgetown, Florida, Iona, Iowa State, Kansas State, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, San Diego State and possibly Villanova. Baylor won the 2013 NIT while Iowa and Tennessee, like Villanova, who are in the Battle 4 Atlantis event, also played in last season’s NIT.
The Jayhawks will have 19 of their 31 regular-season games televised on the ESPN family of networks, four contests on Jayhawk TV, three on the Big 12 Network, three on either NBC Sports Network or AXS TV and two each on CBS. In addition, the Jayhawks’ two exhibition games will appear on Jayhawk TV in the Kansas City area and in the state of Kansas (and on ESPN3 elsewhere).
Kansas released its non-conference schedule in April and it is loaded. The Jayhawks will face Duke in the Champions Classic, encounter Wake Forest in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis, play at former Big 12 foe Colorado and at Florida in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. KU will host national powers Georgetown and San Diego State in Allen Fieldhouse prior to Big 12 competition. KU will then open conference play at Oklahoma on Jan. 8 on ESPN. As released Aug. 7, for the eighth-consecutive year, Kansas will be featured in four contests on ESPN’s Big Monday in 2013-14.
In June, Kansas Athletics announced an agreement under which Time Warner Cable will annually air 50 KU contests – including two exhibition and four non-conference men’s basketball games – exclusively on Metro Sports in Kansas City and across the state of Kansas. ESPN3 will deliver those 50 events nationally outside that territory. In addition to the Oct. 29 vs. Pittsburg State and Nov. 5 vs. Fort Hays State exhibition contests, the other Jayhawk TV men’s basketball games include Nov. 8 vs. Louisiana Monroe, Nov. 19 vs. Iona, Nov. 22 vs. Towson and Dec. 30 vs. Toledo.
Kansas went 31-6 in 2012-13 and won its unprecedented ninth-straight Big 12 and NCAA-leading 56th regular-season conference championship. Head coach Bill Self brings back 10 letterwinners, but no starters, from the team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 last season.
Reloading in a hurry, Self and his staff welcome eight newcomers to the 2013-14 roster, including the nation’s No. 1 recruit in guard Andrew Wiggins. Together, KU’s class of 2013 comprises the second-ranked recruiting class in the country. KU is ranked as high as fifth in the 2013-14 national preseason polls.
Kansas has won five of the last seven Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships including the 2013 title. This year’s event will again be held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., March 12-15 and NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday will be Sunday, March 16.
Season ticket sales for KU’s 18 home games, the 17 in Allen Fieldhouse and the Dec. 14 game against New Mexico in the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., are now on sale. To order tickets fans must be active members of the Williams Education Fund, which can be done by making a minimum gift pledge of $100.
Kansas Schedule Notables:
–For the eighth-straight year and 14th time since the inception of the Big 12, KU will be featured on ESPN’s Big Monday four times: Jan. 13 at Iowa State, Jan. 20 vs. Baylor, Feb. 10 at Kansas State and Feb. 24 vs. Oklahoma. Kansas is 49-16 all-time on Big Monday (27-1 at home, 22-15 on the road), including 30-8 under head coach Bill Self.
–KU will make multiple regular-season appearances on CBS for the 13th-straight year hosting San Diego State on Jan. 5 and Oklahoma State on Jan. 18. Under Self, the Jayhawks have appeared on CBS 50 times, amassing a 38-12 record (10-1 home, 9-5 away, 19-6 neutral). Last season KU went 5-0 on CBS televised games.
–Kansas will play six opponents that won or tied for first in their respective league and/or conference tournament titles in 2013: Florida (SEC), Georgetown (BIG EAST), Iona (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference), Kansas State (tied Kansas for the Big 12), New Mexico (Mountain West) and Toledo (Mid-American West).
–For the third-consecutive, year the Jayhawks will play as part of the Champions Classic when they go up against Duke in Chicago’s United Center on Nov. 12. The last time KU and Duke met was in the title game of the 2011 Maui Invitational. Michigan State will play Kentucky in the other Champions Classic contest.
–In May, the Big 12 and Southeastern Conferences announced an annual men’s basketball challenge that will begin during the 2013-14 season. KU’s first opponent in the challenge will be Florida in Gainesville on Dec. 10.
–Kansas is the only school in the Big 12 to have a winning series record against every conference team in men’s basketball.
–KU is first in the conference in wins with a 231-45 record in Big 12 regular-season games. Texas is next at 183-95. Including the league postseason championship, Kansas is tops at 266-53, while Texas is second at 204-111.
–Big 12 basketball has been ranked among the top five conferences in final RPI (post-NCAA Championship) in six-straight seasons and 11 of the last 12 years (since 2002).
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