NCAA Men's Basketball 2026

[olbriar]

I've been following my normal college basketball teams. The warm up tourneys and games are over and the games are now conference games. Today was a rough day for the teams I root for.
Kansas lost to Central Florida, Kansas State lost to Brigham Young, and Wichita State lost to Charlotte. A sorry way to start the new year!

 

[olbriar]

Neither Kansas nor Wichita State are dominating their conferences. Both have respectable records and some quality wins. Both teams have been known to simply not show up for part or all of a game. Yesterday was a good day for both teams. KU beat their inner state rival KSU and WSU beat Memphis. It was a fun day with a lot of good college basketball on TV.

 

[olbriar]

Tonight is a big night for my Kansas U basketball team. They are hosting #1 Arizona who's record reflects their talented team. At 23 wins and zero losses, I'm not sure home court advantage will help the KU Jayhawks. I'll definitely be rooting for the home team that has lost five games so far this year. Their star player and likely the number one draft pick was battling leg strain/cramps early on but is seeing far more minutes lately. The Jayhawks will be defending home court and a recent win streak of seven games and a number nine ranking in the AP poll. The game will air on ESPN 8:00 PM Central.

 

[olbriar]

Last night's game was a good watch no matter which team you wanted to win. Kansas, without their star player, was able to recover from an eleven point deficient early in the second half to win the game 82-78. Kansas was behind until less than half of the second half remained in the game. It was a hard fought game by both teams with the advantage going to Kansas, the home team. Arizona will host Kansas for a rematch the 28th of February.

 

[olbriar]

The game above was Monday. Today is Saturday and Kansas was absolutely destroyed by the 5th ranked NCAA team, Iowa State, 56 to 74. I guess that's why I'm a fan of college basketball. It's never a given who is going to win.

 

[olbriar]

If you follow college basketball, I'm sure that you've heard or read about KU's incredible basketball player that doesn't play. The Jayhawks seem to play ball if Darryn Peterson is playing or not. He is so very talented. One of the naturals you see once in a great while. However, he seems to be playing the rope-a-dope of basketball. His is ill or suffering cramps or sometimes.. he just takes himself out of games. The sports analysts and mouth pieces of the sports media have had enough and have been quite vocal of late about his hit and run tactics. I know he is likely protecting the fortune that awaits him at the end of the obligatory year of college ball before turning pro. I don't know that I've seen such a blatant lack of commitment from a freshman before. One way or another, the kid is being called out for his sparce playing time. He is so fun to watch, I think the sports world feels cheated when he only plays half games.
Tonight, fourteenth ranked KU will host fifth ranked Houston at Allen Fieldhouse at 8 PM Central. It will be interesting to see just how Kansas responds to all of the negative press. It will be doubly interesting to see if Darryn Peterson checks out early as per usual.

 

[olbriar]

KU responded to the negativity they have been hearing the past week. Darryn Peterson played the entire game. He didn't dominate the game. He played his part as a teammate and let his comrades do their part. I think if anything, the added pressure to perform forced them into a different level of basketball. They played a very good Houston team that is ranked 5th in the AP poll. Kansas was ranked 14th but they had home court advantage. It was a good game that should get the monkey off their back.