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Kansas makes dubious March Madness history as preseason No. 1 team
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Kansas is in a club all by itself that it would rather not be a part of once, much less twice.
There were high expectations in 2024-25 for the Jayhawks. Bill Self’s team opened the year as the preseason No. 1 in the AP Top 25. KU’s season ends well below expectations, as the Jayhawks are out of the March Madness mix thanks to an opening-round loss to Arkansas.
Only twice has the preseason AP No. 1 lost in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Both times, it has been Kansas. It happened to the Jayhawks in 2005 and again on Thursday night.
Kansas becomes the second AP preseason No. 1 to lose in the first round of the men's NCAA tournament, joining themselves in 2005. pic.twitter.com/931KAO33jA
— ESPN (@espn) March 21, 2025
Kansas looked like the No. 1 team to open the 2024-25. The Jayhawks got off to a 7-0 start that included nonconference wins over North Carolina, Michigan and Duke. There were signs of trouble, though, when the Jayhawks picked up back-to-back losses to Creighton and Missouri. KU would enter Big 12 play 9-2 and go 11-9 against conference competition in the regular season.
The Jayhawks finish the year 21-13 and will look to bounce back in 2025-26.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
