Top 25 And 1: Kansas continues impressive Monday streak with win over Houston
Kansas coach Bill Self entered Monday’s showdown with Houston with a 40-0 record in Big Monday games at Allen Fieldhouse. It’s a fact that sounds like a lie, but it’s true. Either way, oddsmakers have the Jayhawks as slight underdogs on Big Monday at home against Kelvin Sampson’s Cougars — and, to be clear, I get it. Algorithms are algorithms. But, ultimately, all algorithms will have to find a way to take into account the reality that the Self represents. Never loses at home on Big Monday.
Final score: Kansas 69, Houston 56.
So now Self is 41-0 at home on Big Monday.
Absolutely incredible.
As noted by the “Aint No Seats” podcast on X, the Jayhawks have actually been underdogs three times in the last two months at Allen Fieldhouse. These games went like this:
- 01/13/26: Kansas 84, Iowa State 63 (despite the Jayhawks closing as 3.5-point underdogs).
- 02/09/26: Kansas 82, Arizona 78 (despite the Jayhawks closing as 5-point underdogs and playing without Darryn Peterson, the favorite to go No. 1 in the 2026 NBA Draft).
- 02/23/26: Kansas 69, Houston 56 (although the Jayhawks closed as 2.5-point underdogs and just two days removed from a double-digit home loss to a Cincinnati team that went just 1-9 in Quadrant-1 opportunities).
Ultimately, Allen Fieldhouse is a special place — despite what happened Saturday. The Jayhawks lose sometimes, of course. But, at this point, under this coach, that should probably never be the expected outcome.
Kansas is No. 11 in the daily CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 college basketball rankings updated Tuesday morning, where Duke remains No. 1 for the third straight day. Houston is ranked 6th. Next up for the Jayhawks is Saturday’s game against Arizona. FYI: These two teams now have the third-best odds (Arizona) and ninth-best odds (Kansas) to win the 2026 NCAA Tournament, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Rankings Top 25 And 1
