The somber end to Kansas' season on Saturday night showed how cruel March can be. The NCAA tournament's best overall team is no more.
An argument could be made that the Jayhawks' 64-59 loss to Villanova felt like a Final Four matchup.
Except it wasn't. Costly turnovers and bad shot selection doomed this veteran-laden team.
There's no denying Kansas' success behind coach Bill Self. The 12 consecutive Big 12 regular-season championships have all come under his watch, and that's one of the best streaks in the history of college basketball. Period.
There's also no denying how difficult it is to win a national title in an unkind single-elimination NCAA tournament. Michigan State was a Final Four favorite but was stunned by Middle Tennessee State in the first round. And as great as Kentucky was all of last season, the Wildcats' quest at perfection was shattered in the Final Four by Wisconsin.
All that being said, Kansas' underachievement in the NCAA tournament over the past decade — because that's exactly what it has been — should not go unnoticed. The Jayhawks were the top overall seed in this tournament and had won 17 games in a row as the favorite to win the national championship. And yet, they're not going to Houston.
Consider these two stats:
► In the last eight years, the Jayhawks have been a No. 1, No. 2, No. 2, No. 1, No. 2, No. 1, No. 1 and No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. And they turned those great regular season résumés into only one Final Four run.
► Kansas' loss to Villanova was Bill Self's ninth NCAA tournament loss as the better seed, tied with Mike Krzyzewski for the most since 2004, Self's first season at Kansas.
Senior Perry Ellis graduates, and some of the other players from this talented squad will test NBA waters. Self no doubt will have another impressive recruiting class coming in, and Kansas will likely be a preseason top 10 team. But until this program starts excelling in March, its elite status will always have a blemish.
MARCH SADNESS: THE AGONY OF DEFEAT IN THE NCAAS
