For the second year in a row, the Kansas Jayhawks entered the college basketball season with some lofty expectations. Yet, once again, they fell dramatically short of their goals.
Kansas was heralded as the No. 1 team in the country during the preseason but struggled throughout the year. They entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 7 seed but suffered an upset 79–72 defeat against Arkansas in the first round on Thursday night.
It marked the first time since 2006 that the Jayhawks failed to escape the first round of the tournament, while simultaneously extending a rather inexplicable streak of the program's.
Kansas has entered a college basketball season as the No. 1 team in the country in five seasons. In each of those years, they failed to advance past the Sweet 16, per Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.
Kansas was previously the preseason No. 1 in 2004-05, 2009-10, 2018-19, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
In the 2005 NCAA tournament, the Jayhawks were a No. 3 seed and were bounced in the first round by No. 14 Bucknell. In 2010, Kansas, a No. 1 seed, lost in the round of 32 to No. 9 Northern Iowa. In 2019, as a No.4 seed, Bill Self's squad was bounced by No. 5 Arizona in the second round. During the 2024 NCAA tournament, No. 4 Kansas lost to No. 5 Gonzaga in the second round. Now, in '25, the Jayhawks failed to get out of the first round, having been upended by John Calipari and Arkansas.
For whatever reason, the preseason No. 1 ranking has not boded well for Kansas, as they've struggled to make any kind of run in the tournament when entering the season as the top dogs in college hoops.
More March Madness on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kansas's Early Tournament Exit Extends Inexplicable Streak After Being Preseason No. 1.
