Kansas rather unceremoniously captured a share of its 11th straight Big 12 regular season title when Iowa State roared back for a 77-70 win over Oklahoma in Ames Monday night. The Jayhawks came into last night’s home game against West Virginia wanting to be selfish, as head coach Bill Self told the Lawrence Journal-World, “We don’t want to share it.” It took five extra minutes of basketball to get it done, but Kansas clinched the outright Big 12 regular season title with a thrilling overtime victory over the Mountaineeers. The Jayhawks’ 11th Big 12 title in a row (shared or outright) ties Gonzaga’s WCC streak from 2001-11 for the second-longest streak in college basketball history. Nothing else in the modern era of college basketball even comes close. “I will be shocked if it happens again in a major conference,” Self said after the game. The streak, though, doesn’t end here. The number Kansas is chasing is 13 — John Wooden’s UCLA program won every Pac-8/10 conference title from 1967-79.

Before chasing more historical milestones, the Jayhawks must worry about a somewhat cloudy remainder of this season. After an NCAA issue was raised last week, Kansas is still awaiting word on freshman Cliff Alexander’s eligibility. He has missed the last two games and his family has hired an attorney to expedite the investigation, but it remains unclear whether the big man will return to the Jayhawks’ lineup this season. The larger concern is with junior Perry Ellis. Ellis suffered a sprained knee in last night’s game against West Virginia and is likely to miss Saturday’s final regular season game with Oklahoma. Team doctors told Self that Ellis may be able to return in time for the Big 12 Tournament and Kansas will assuredly need its leading scorer at full health if it hopes to make any sort of run in the NCAA Tournament this year.

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Just a few short weeks ago, an 11th straight Big 12 regular season championship seemed like a lock for Bill Self and Kansas. “[I]t would take a monumental collapse for the Jayhawks to miss out on at least a share of another Big 12 title this season,” I wrote back on February 4, as we passed the midpoint of conference play. At the time, Kansas held a two-game lead over its competition and was coming off an impressive home win against Iowa State in Lawrence. Another share of the regular season title seemed like a sure thing for this year’s Jayhawks.

The Big 12 title race is wide open after Kansas lost at Kansas State on Monday night. (KUSports)

Self emphasized the importance of the Jayhawks’ road games after their victory against the Cyclones. Kansas at the time still had five away contests on the remaining schedule and the head coach noted that his team would be in a much more comfortable position if it could steal a few wins away from Allen Fieldhouse. Since those prophetic comments, Kansas has trended downward, going 1-3 on the road with their lone win coming against the league’s worst team, Texas Tech. The Jayhawks laid an egg in the second half against Oklahoma State, turned it over on 26.9 percent of their possessions in Morgantown, and couldn’t get a stop down the stretch against the Wildcats in Manhattan last night. As a result, Kansas has seen its lead in the Big 12 race slip away; now at 11-4, the Jayhawks are just half a game up on the Cyclones as Fred Hoiberg’s bunch takes on Baylor in Ames on Wednesday.

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