2003 EERIE COMPARISON TO 1988 - If past history is any guide, we should be a lock for another National Championship this year. There are many similarities between this basketball season and the championship run for KU in 1988. 

• First of all, the '88 Jayhawks were highly ranked in the preseason polls, as was KU this fall.  In '88, the Hawks lost two of their first three games in a preseason tourney, as well as incurring some midseason losses to high-profile teams, as did KU this year.
• The 1988 team featured great senior leadership (Danny Manning, Archie Marshall and Chris Piper) as do the current Jayhawks with Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich.  Swing forward Milt Newton was a prototype of Keith Langford and Kevin Pritchard had the same gutsy style as Hinrich.
• Both teams featured significant contributions from a juco transfer and a sophomore.  In '88 it was transfer Otis Livingston and soph Jeff Gueldner who stepped in with good minutes off the bench, while this year Jeff Graves and Michael Lee have held up their ends.
• Both teams lost starting forwards to season-ending injury, Archie Marshall in '88 and Wayne Simien in '03.
• Just before the Final Four in '88, KU coach Larry Brown was reported to be courted by UCLA.  Guess what, there are identical rumors about Coach Williams this year.
• Revenge was sweet in the '88 tournament, as the Jayhawks were able to knock off Duke, as they did again this year.
• Two other conference teams (K-State and Oklahoma) joined KU in the Elite Eight, just like this year with OU and Texas, and two conference teams entered the Final Four.
• In the '88 Championship game, KU met a highly-rated conference foe in Oklahoma, and whipped them in a memorable tight game.  Hopefully, this year the Jayhawks will meet Big 12 enemy Texas in the final, and take them again, as they did (90-87) this past January 27.

Ken Johnson, www.HoopsZone.net

Even with a 3-3 start and missing Wayne Simien for more than half the season, the Jayhawks made an incredible run all the way to the national championship game. Despite losing to Syracuse in the title tilt, the Jayhawks had many highlights during the season — a stunning, 33-point victory over Marquette in the Final Four, a crushing victory over Arizona State in the NCAA Tournament's second round, a tough-fought Big Monday victory over Texas and a come-from-behind victory over rival Missouri in Columbia, Mo.

Of course, it wasn't all good news for KU. Besides Simien's shoulder injury, the Jayhawks suffered a one-point defeat to Colorado that ended KU's Big 12 regular-season winning streak at 23, a tough loss to Missouri in the Big 12 semifinals and a horrible second-half collapse in a regular-season loss to Arizona. Not to mention the championship-game loss.
Source:  KUSports.com

HIGHLIGHTS:

KU finished with over 30 wins, the sixth time in school history.

The Jayhawks played in the NCAA Championship game for the seventh time in school history.

KU won the regular season conference title for the second straight year, and the 47th in school history.

Kansas won seven games against ranked opponents.

KU finished the year ranked first in the country in scoring margin (+15.8), second in rebound margin (+7.9), third in scoring offense (82.7), seventh in assists (17.2) and ninth in steals (9.8).

The Jayhawks became only the third school in Div. 1 men's basketball history to win 1,800 games.

YOU TUBE VIDEOS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jp2mj1yNiI  KU vs Ariz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGZrfPDLlFQ   Highlights