The last time Kansas failed to win the Big 12 title, man was just climbing out of the primordial ooze. Before every season we naively ask: "Will this be the year that someone knocks Kansas off its lofty perch?"

The Jayhawks are coming off a 25-10 season in which they won the Big 12 with a 14-4 conference record and entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 2 seed. Coach Bill Self lost two players, Andrew Wiggins and Joel Embiid, to the NBA draft, along with his starting point guard, Naadir Tharpe. And, without the late-season injuries to Embiid, one could argue that Kansas' postseason results would have been much better.

But the cupboard is hardly bare. It is fully stocked with young talent, and Kansas will be the favorite to win the Big 12 yet again and have a legitimate chance to be even better