Kansas Jayhawks NCAA Tournament History, Notable Facts
The Kansas Jayhawks have a long history in the NCAA Tournament. Here we dive into that history and other notable facts about the Jayhawks’ appearances in March Madness.
Kansas Jayhawks
NCAA Tournament Appearances: 1940, 1942, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1960, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021.
Final Four Appearances: 1940, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1971, 1974, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2012, 2018.
National Championship Game Appearances: 1940, 1953, 1957, 1991, 2003, 2012.
National Titles: 1952, 1988, 2008 (Pre-Tournament Helms Championships in 1922 and 1923).
Remember This About Kansas in the NCAA Tournament
What is a Helms Championship?: Up until the NCAA Tournament began in 1939, the national champion in collegiate basketball was decided in, let’s say, a variety of ways. There actually was no Associated Press poll back then, either. So while the Helms Championships the Jayhawks won in 1922 and 1923 under head coach Phog Allen are not NCAA titles, the Jayhawks have banners for both at Allen Fieldhouse. But the history is intriguing. The Helms Athletic Foundation was founded in 1936 by Bill Schroeder and Paul Helms (yes, after 1922 and 1923), and the foundation was subsidized by the Los Angeles-based Helms Bakery (which featured the official bread of the 1932 Summer Olympics). Schroeder was the one that actually picked Helms Foundation-sponsored national champions and all-America teams, and even retroactively awarded national titles in football and basketball. So while the HAC recognizes Kansas as its 1922 and 1923 national champions, the Jayhawks didn’t received those titles until well after those seasons ended.
READ MORE: March Madness Big 12 Conference Rewind: 2008
READ MORE: March Madness Big 12 Conference Rewind: 2018
Five Most Outstanding Players: Five different Jayhawks have been named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Players. But only three of them earned their MOPs on national champions — Clyde Lovellette (1952), Danny Manning (1988), and Mario Chalmers (2008). The other two? One was B.H. Born, who was the MOP in 1953, despite the Jayhawks losing in the national championship game to Indiana. Now, Born won a title with the 1952 team, and he went on to be a third-round pick of the Fort Wayne Pistons (later Detroit Pistons). Instead of going pro, he played five years on an AAU team, the Peoria Caterpillars, and was a two-time AAU All-American. He also connects to the other MOP that won the award without winning a title — Wilt Chamberlain in 1957. Born, after leaving Kansas, played some AAU games in the Catskills and played against Chamberlain (Red Auerbach was one of the coaches). Born eventually helped the Jayhawks lure Chamberlain to Kansas, where he led Kansas to the 1957 National Championship game, where they lost to North Carolina in triple overtime.
The Four First-Round Bounces: Kansas has such a storied history that it’s hard to believe that they’ve ever been bounced from the NCAA Tournament in the first round. But it’s happened four times. In the 1970s, the Jayhawks lost in the first round in 1975 and 1978. But those losses were to major programs. In 1975 the Jayhawks lost to Notre Dame, and in 1978 the Jayhawks lost to UCLA. The other two first-round losses were major upsets at the time. In back-to-back tournaments, in 2005 and 2006, the Jayhawks lost as a No. 3 seed. First in 2005, Kansas lost to Bucknell, 64-63. Then, in 2006, Kansas lost to Bradley, 77-73. Two years later, the Jayhawks won their third NCAA crown.
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