Hit or Miss: What Could Make or Break Kansas Basketball’s Title Hopes

Coming off three consecutive first-weekend exits in March Madness, Bill Self is determined to lead the Kansas Jayhawks back to national prominence after the program's championship run in 2022.

He completely reloaded KU's roster with a slew of new pieces headlined by projected No. 1 draft pick Darryn Peterson and several transfers.

This team could be better than Jayhawks squads of the past few years, but it is also a brand-new group that will take time to gel together.

Multiple factors must come into play for KU to truly reach its full potential. Here are a few things that could make or break KU's title hopes in the 2025–26 campaign.

Flory Bidunga's Breakout Season

After sitting behind Hunter Dickinson for a year, Flory Bidunga nearly transferred away before ultimately withdrawing his name from the portal and running it back in Lawrence.

The 6-foot-9 defensive phenom from the Democratic Republic of Congo was highly effective in limited action as a freshman, averaging 1.6 blocks per game and serving as a defensive stalwart in the paint.

MORE: CBS Sports’ Ranks Best CBB Defenders: Flory Bidunga Makes the List

He will be asked to take on a much bigger role as the starting center this season. For the Jayhawks to truly become title contenders, Bidunga will need to take a massive jump from where he was a year ago.

Despite his standout defense, he often found himself in foul trouble and struggled to catch passes at the rim and convert free throws. He won't need to post up and score 15 points a night, but he will need to embrace his role as a defense-first lob threat who anchors the paint.

Darryn Peterson Being as Good as Advertised

The former Prolific Prep superstar is widely regarded as one of the best guard prospects in recent memory. He is as fluid a scorer as they come, whether it is at the rim, from the 3-point line, or at the charity stripe.

The difference between this Kansas team and many other Bill Self-led squads is that a freshman will be running the show.

The last time a freshman truly starred in Lawrence was the 2013-14 season, when "Maple Jordan" Andrew Wiggins played his lone year at KU. That team paired with big man Joel Embiid was incredible at times, but it didn't have the college experience to make a deep run in March.

For a team to go far in the tournament like Cooper Flagg and Duke did this past year, the freshman — in this case, Peterson — has to be an absolute game-changer. Peterson is undoubtedly going to put up All-American caliber numbers, but it remains to be seen whether those numbers will translate to wins.

The Play of Peterson’s Supporting Cast

Yes, Peterson needs to be a top-five player in the country for KU to be considered a great team. But basketball is a 5-on-5 game, and there is only so much one man can do.

That is why the play of transfer additions like Tre White, Jayden Dawson, and Melvin Council Jr. will be pivotal in determining the Jayhawks’ success in 2025–26.

Right now, KU has a multitude of strong defenders and athletes who can make plays on both ends. However, the Jayhawks do not have a clear second option who can consistently go get a bucket the way Peterson can.

Fellow freshmen Kohl Rosario and Samis Calderon could also play key roles for the second unit, while returning redshirt sophomore guard Elmarko Jackson has an opportunity to contribute coming back from a torn patellar tendon.

Bill Self's Coaching Ability

Self is the greatest coach in school history and one of the greatest to ever do it at the college level. But in year 23 coming off multiple disappointing tournament finishes, it is reasonable to wonder whether he can still keep up and if he has started to fizzle out in the NIL era.

We have already seen it with countless coaches who simply could not adapt to the new landscape of college basketball. Self has landed a number of highly touted transfer portal recruits, but the majority of them have not panned out.

At 62 years old, he surely will not be coaching for many more years. The sudden retirement of former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, along with others like Jay Wright and Jim Boeheim in recent seasons, shows how quickly the new game can pass even the best coaches by.

Self's time is not over just yet, but if the Jayhawks' season ends in a similar fashion in 2025-26, it might finally be time to have that conversation.