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College Basketball Power Rankings: Kansas Now At No. 3

The Jayhawks could be in the hunt for No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament thanks to a blistering streak of wins in the Big 12.

By Steven Godfrey
LAWRENCE, KS - FEBRUARY 01: of the Oklahoma Sooners of the Kansas Jayhawks dring the game on February 1, 2012 at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
LAWRENCE, KS - FEBRUARY 01: of the Oklahoma Sooners of the Kansas Jayhawks dring the game on February 1, 2012 at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Getty Images

With three consecutive conference wins over Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, and a rivalry-evening home "W" against Missouri, Kansas has claimed at least a share of the outright Big 12 title, as well as positioned themselves to be able to compete for a No. 1 seed in the coming NCAA Tournament.

They're also up to No. 3 in SB Nation's latest power rankings, trailing only one-loss Kentucky and one-loss Syracuse. But despite KU's tougher road in early season play, they might be the favorite to win it all... because of the calendar?

Today is Feb. 29, which means 2012 is a leap year. I'm not going to explain the whole phenomenon, just trust me. Kansas has won three national titles in basketball. They occurred in 1952, 1988 and 2008. What do those years have in common? All leap years. The Jayhawks advanced to the title game and were defeated in the non-leap years of 1953, 1957, 1991 and 2002.

I'm not sayin' ... I'm just sayin'. Maybe we should ease up on the criticism of Memphis' free-throw shooting in 2008. The Tigers were working against something bigger than 15 feet.

Check out the rest of the NCAA basketball power rankings here.

For more on the Kansas Jayhawks, check out Rock Chalk Talk and SB Nation's college basketball page.