Kansas’ men’s basketball regular season schedule is now complete with the release of Big 12 schedule and the release of the bracket for the EA Sports Maui Invitational, which were both announced Thursday. The season’s highlights include two games on CBS as well as 21 games on the ESPN family of networks, which include four Big Monday appearances and two ESPN Saturday primetime games.
The Jayhawks’ schedule will feature at least 11 games against teams that played in last year’s NCAA tournament, and at least 19 games against schools that were in the top-100 of last season’s RPI rankings.
“I believe this is the hardest schedule we have played since I’ve been here,” explained ninth year head coach Bill Self. “Our strength of schedule and RPI have been in the top 10 almost yearly, but this will be the hardest schedule not only because of Kentucky, the three games in Maui, South Florida, Ohio State, Long Beach State, Davidson and USC, but on top of that you play everyone in the Big 12 twice, which makes the league that much harder.”
November looks to be a challenging month for the Jayhawks. On Nov. 15 they will travel to New York for a contest against the Kentucky Wildcats in Madison Square Garden. Six days later the team will make the trip to Maui, Hawaii for what is sure to be an entertaining EA Sports Maui Invitational. Kansas will go up against the Georgetown Hoyas in the first game and could face the likes of UCLA, Duke, Memphis, Tennessee or Michigan in the later rounds.
“The Maui field is good every year but this year it’s exceptional,” said Self. “We play Georgetown. Their style is totally different. The rest of the field – with UCLA and Chaminade on our side and, with Duke, Tennessee, Michigan and Memphis – certainly makes for the best field any tournament will have this year.”
Besides the network and national cable telecasts, four KU games will air on the Big 12 Network, while three contests will be shown on the in-state Jayhawk Television Network (JTV). The Big 12 Network and JTV contests will be available nationally on ESPN’s Full Court package. Additionally, KU’s two exhibition contests will also air on JTV but will not be shown nationally.
Kansas TV Notables
· For the sixth-straight season and 12th time in the 16-year history of the Big 12 conference, the Jayhawks will play in four ESPN Big Monday games. KU’s ESPN Big Monday contests will be Jan. 16 against Baylor, Jan. 23 against Texas A&M, Feb. 13 at Kansas State and Feb. 27 at Oklahoma State. Kansas is 41-16 all-time on Big Monday (23-1 at home, 18-15 on the road), including 22-8 under head coach Bill Self.
· Kansas will make multiple regular season appearances on CBS for the 11th-straight year, dating back to the 2000-01 season. Under Self, the Jayhawks have appeared on CBS 45 times, amassing a 33-12 record (8-1 home, 7-5 away, 18-6 neutral).
· The Jayhawks will appear on Fox Sports Net (FSN) for the fifth-consecutive season as a part of the Big 12/Pac 12 Challenge against USC on Dec. 22. KU is 3-1 in contests televised by FSN.
Other Kansas 2011-12 Schedule Notables
· Kansas will play a total of 24 games against schools from BCS conferences – two from the Big East, one from the Big Ten, one from the SEC, one from the Pac 12, one yet to be determined in the Maui Classic and 18 from the Big 12.
· Kansas will play four non-conference opponents that won their respective league titles in 2011 – Kentucky (SEC), Florida Atlantic (Sun Belt), Long Beach State (Big West) and Ohio State (Big Ten).
· Two of the most storied programs in college basketball history will meet in one of the world’s most historic arenas on Nov. 15 when Kansas takes on the Kentucky Wildcats in Madison Square Garden as part of the Champions Classic. Kentucky leads the all-time series 19-6, however, the Jayhawks have claimed victories in the last three meetings. KU also boasts a 21-13 all-time record in New York.
· The Jayhawks will play one of the toughest fields ever assembled at the 2011 Maui Classic. Duke, Georgetown, Memphis, Michigan, Tennessee, UCLA and Kansas, all of which played in the NCAA tournament last season, will highlight the three day tournament set to take place in Hawaii Nov. 21-23.
· When the Jayhawks face Davidson Dec. 19, it will be for the first time since the thrilling 2008 regional final victory that propelled KU to an eventual national championship. The rematch will be played in Kansas City’s Sprint Center, making this the fourth-consecutive season Kansas will host a game in the venue. KU has garnered a 13-2 record at the Sprint Center, including wins in the last eight contests.
· Kansas is the only school in the Big 12 to have a winning series record against every conference team in men’s basketball.
· The Big 12 is coming off another outstanding season in which it ranked No. 3 in the RPI rankings, had six teams with 23 or more victories and had five teams advance to the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Kansas won the 2011 Big 12 regular-season championship with a 14-2 record.
· Kansas and Texas, the two winningest programs in Big 12 history, will square off twice in the regular season for the first time ever. The Longhorns will host the first match-up at 3 p.m., Jan. 21 on CBS. The series will then move to Lawrence on the last day of the regular season (March 3) at 8 p.m. on ESPN. Kansas is first in the conference with a combined 232-46 record against Big 12 competition (regular-season and league tourney play), while Texas is next at 187-88. Kansas has won the last seven Big 12 regular-season titles, yet Texas tied KU for two of those in (2006 and 2008) and the two teams met in four of the last six Big 12 Championship title games, all won by the Jayhawks.
The 2011-12 Jayhawks will be a team filled with much youth but great potential as they welcome eight newcomers (six of which are freshmen) and return just one starter – Tyshawn Taylor – and eight additional letterwinners from last year’s 35-3 team that won the Big 12 regular-season title with a 14-2 record, the postseason Big 12 Championship and was a No. 1 seed in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.
“We know that this is going to be a young team, much like that team was the year after we won the national championship,” said Self. “We know we’re going to have to grow up fast but this should be a great way to force us to do so.”
Along with Taylor, another leading contributor returning from the 2010 campaign is junior forward Thomas Robinson, who was the Jayhawks leading scorer and rebounder off the bench last season. The Washington, D.C., native saw action in 33 games and averaged 14.6 mpg.
Kansas has won five of the last six Phillips 66 Big 12 Championships, including the 2011 title. This year’s event will be held at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., March 7-10 and NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday will be Sunday, March 11.
Kansas Men’s Basketball 2011-12 Schedule
(Home games in CAPS; times are Central; *Big 12 Conference game)
Date (Day) – Opponent, Site, TV, Time
Nov. 1 (Tuesday) – PITTSBURGH STATE (Exhibition), Lawrence, Kan., JTV, 7 p.m.
Nov. 8 (Tuesday) – FORT HAYS STATE (Exhibition), Lawrence, Kan., JTV, 7 p.m.
Nov. 11 (Friday) – TOWSON (EA Sports Maui Invitational), Lawrence, Kan., JTV, 7 p.m.
Nov. 15 (Tuesday) – Kentucky (Champions Classic), New York, N.Y., ESPN, TBA
Nov. 21 (Monday) – Georgetown (EA Sports Maui Invitational), Maui, Hawaii, ESPN2, TBA
Nov. 22 (Tuesday) – UCLA/Chaminade (EA Sports Maui Invitational) Maui, Hawaii, ESPN/ESPNU, TBA
Nov. 23 (Wednesday) – Final/Consolations (EA Sports Maui Invitational), Maui, Hawaii ESPN/ESPN2/ESPNU, TBA
Nov. 30 (Wednesday) – FLORIDA ATLANTIC, Lawrence, Kan., JTV, 7 p.m.
Dec. 3 (Saturday) – SOUTH FLORIDA, Lawrence, Kan., ESPN2, 5:30 p.m.
Dec. 6 (Tuesday) – LONG BEACH STATE, Lawrence, Kan., ESPNU, TBA
Dec. 10 (Saturday) – OHIO STATE, Lawrence, Kan., ESPN, 2:15 p.m.
Dec. 19 (Monday) – DAVIDSON (M&I Bank Kansas City Shootout), Kansas City, Mo., ESPNU, 8 p.m.
Dec. 22 (Thursday) – at USC (Big 12/Pac 12 Hardwood Series), Los Angeles, Calif., FSN, TBA
Dec. 29 (Thursday) – HOWARD, Lawrence, Kan., JTV, 7 p.m.
Dec. 31 (Saturday) – NORTH DAKOTA, Lawrence, Kan., ESPNU, TBA
Jan. 4 (Wednesday) – *KANSAS STATE, Lawrence, Kan., Big 12, 7 p.m.
Jan. 7 (Saturday) – *at Oklahoma, Norman, Okla., ESPNU, 1 p.m.
Jan. 11 (Wednesday) – *at Texas Tech, Lubbock, Texas, ESPNU, 8 p.m.
Jan. 14 (Saturday) – *IOWA STATE, Lawrence, Kan., Big 12, 3 p.m.
Jan. 16 (Monday) – *BAYLOR, Lawrence, Kan., ESPN, 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 21 (Saturday) – *at Texas, Austin, Texas, CBS, 3 p.m.
Jan. 23 (Monday) – *TEXAS A&M, Lawrence, Kan., ESPN, 8 p.m.
Jan. 28 (Saturday) – *at Iowa State, Ames, Iowa, ESPN/ESPN2, 1 p.m.
Feb. 1 (Wednesday) – *OKLAHOMA, Lawrence, Kan., ESPNU, 8 p.m.
Feb. 4 (Saturday) – *at Missouri, Columbia, Mo., ESPN, 8 p.m.
Feb. 8 (Wednesday) – *at Baylor, Waco, Texas, ESPN/ESPN2, 6 p.m.
Feb. 11 (Saturday) – *OKLAHOMA STATE, Lawrence, Kan., Big 12, 3 p.m.
Feb. 13 (Monday) – *at Kansas State, Manhattan, Kan., ESPN, 8 p.m.
Feb. 18 (Saturday) – *TEXAS TECH, Lawrence, Kan., Big 12, 7 p.m.
Feb. 22 (Wednesday) – *at Texas A&M, College Station, Texas, ESPN2, 8 p.m.
Feb. 25 (Saturday) – *MISSOURI, Lawrence, Kan., CBS, 3 p.m.
Feb. 27 (Monday) – *at Oklahoma State, Stillwater, Okla., ESPN, 8 p.m.
March 3 (Saturday) – *TEXAS, Lawrence, Kan., ESPN, 8 p.m.
March 7-10 (Wed.-Sat.) – Big 12 Championship, (Sprint Center) Kansas City, Mo.
— KU Sports Information —
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