Despite the number 1 tag, things are not looking bright for Kansas Jayhawks. Previously, coach Bill Self denied his involvement in avoiding any non-conference road-games scheduling choices. “I’ve never heard that. My scheduler never shared that with me.” This was after some of the sources claimed Self “clearly didn’t want it.” But the man, who has been eager for a rematch, recently stated the discussions that are happening behind closed doors.

“Dan Hurley said UConn has been in conversations with Kansas about a potential 2- or 4-year home-and-home series.” Joe Arruda of the Hartford Courant reported on X. This has been not smooth sailing for the Huskies coach either. In span of one week, they lost 23 spots in the Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll. Currently ranked 25th and played the last two games without captain and top scorer Alex Karaban.

At least nobody is questioning their sporting intent, unlike the Jayhawks and their coach. Mark Zannetto, host of Locked on UConn, had multiple jabs at the Kansas program. “Blue bloods like Kansas have a long history of avoiding true road games in non-conference play. Unless they’re a part of a specific event, like the Big East-Big 12 battle. And in this case, they manipulated where they got to play.” But that was not all.

He added, “These schools rarely step into hostile environments outside of those orchestrated by themselves or corporate sponsorships. Kansas, in particular, almost never takes on true road games before the Big 12 slate because it’s all about minimizing risk.”

However, Hurley also mentioned on Saturday, “I was never told I was playing Kansas. We were told, I think, or we were assuming, that we would play a Baylor or a Kansas, or – one of the top teams from the Big 12, a Houston. … That was never something that we were told and then they flipped it on us, at least from my standpoint.” These words resonate with what Self too explained mentioning how it is the conference and not the coaches or the schools that decide who gets to play who.

Interestingly, it was not only Zannetto who had similar observations.

Dan Hurley’s comments come after backlash towards Bill Self

Last year’s game at Allen Fieldhouse was an instant classic, so the missed rematch disappointed many fans. The Jayhawks got over the line 69-65, and there was hope for a rematch between the recent national champions. But that never happened for eagerly waiting at UConn’s XL Center, instead, they faced Baylor.

Even Matt Norlander on The Eye on College Basketball podcast had similar thoughts about Kansas ducking challenges. “UConn went to Kansas last year; Kansas got the win. Then the idea was that Kansas would do the return trip to UConn this season, but that didn’t happen,” he said.

“Kansas has to play at Missouri this upcoming weekend, and perhaps to cut down on distance of travel, Kansas was not looking to have that game be returned. So Baylor got slotted in instead.”

With Dan Hurley now stating that conversations are on with the Jayhawks, does it mean the game will surely happen? Or does it further point towards Bill Self, picking and choosing certain games for his program?