Last mauling of the year.
Kansas Jayhawk News
Lets get started some with Superlatives following the non-conference portion of the season:
By the time KU and UCF face off on Saturday, it will have been an 11 day layoff. To wrap up non-conference play, we’ll do some player superlatives.
The Lady Jayhawks open Big 12 play hosting West Virginia on New Year’s Day.
Kansas enters the contest with a record of 10-3 (0-1 Big 12) on the season. The Jayhawks are 7-0 at Allen Fieldhouse this season and finished non-conference play with a 107-39 victory over Haskell on Dec. 17. That win extended KU’s non-conference home winning streak to 40 consecutive games, dating back to 2020.
Through the Phog checks in with some mid-season grades:
Tiller’s performances are never too loud on the court. As a matter of fact, Tiller has honestly gone underrated. Through his 13 games so far this season, Tiller has averaged nine points, 5.8 rebounds, .5 assists, on a 46.8% field goal rate.
Joshua Schulman wonders if Kansas can overcome the road woes we’ve seen in the previous few seasons.
However, in recent years, Bill Self and Co. have struggled to win away from home. The Jayhawks posted an abysmal 7-15 road record (6-13 in Big 12 games) across the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons combined.
Wrapping up the KU news with some information on the transfer portal as it is set to officially open on January 2nd.
A total of 18 players on the Kansas football roster have announced their intention to enter the transfer portal once the official window opens on Jan. 2, 2026. That leaves Lance Leipold and his coaching staff with a lot of faces to replace heading into the upcoming campaign.
Other Links
Joe Lunardi continues to have the Jayhawks as a 4 seed in his latest Bracketology over at ESPN.
John Calipari is not happy with the current state of NCAA basketball:
“Does anybody care what this is doing for 17- and 18-year-old American kids? Do you know what this opportunity has done for them and their families? There aren’t going to be any high school kids,” Calipari said after Arkansas’ 103-74 win over James Madison. “Who other than dumb people like me are going to recruit high school kids? I get so much satisfaction out of coaching young kids and seeing them grow and make it — and their family and life changes — that I’m going to keep doing it. But why would anybody else, if you can get NBA players, G League players, guys that are 28 years old, guys from Europe? Do we really know their transcript? Do we have somebody over there? Do we really know their birth certificate or don’t we?
“We’ve got no rules.”
Charlie Baker is saying players with NBA contracts are not and will be eligible to play NCAA basketball:
“The NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract (including a two-way contract),” Baker said in a statement.
TCU had a fun win in the Alama Bowl.
QOTD: With tomorrow being the start of a new year, are you a resolutions person? I’m not and never have been but what I have been really big on the last 5 or so years is to set down and write out at least 4 goals for the new year. This has been pretty successful for myself as it gives a little bit of time and forgiveness if something pops up and I get knocked off track. My goals are below, if you have anything for the new year share it with us in the comments!
- 4 new experiences with my wife: new concerts, travel destinations, restaurants, whatever. Just 4 things we haven’t done already.
- Compete at least 3 times: 5k, 10k, half-marathon, golf league or individual tournament, just anything that forces me to focus on something and work to get better.
- Read 6 books in 2026. I can do this easily if I count audiobooks but I want to actually read this year.
- This is a continuation from 2025: if I have work, I work out that day. I successfully pulled that off in 2025 and hope to continue it in 2026.
Category: General Sports
