photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas head coach Bill Self takes questions from media members upon the Jayhawks' arrival at the team hotel, Wednesday, March 21, 2018 in Omaha, Neb.

Omaha, Neb. — Although the interview requests from national outlets have not come quite as fast and furious as in years past — perhaps a product of top-seeded Kansas’ status as a bit of an underdog to Duke here this week — the Jayhawks remain in position to compete for a spot in the Final Four.

And from there, anything is possible.

Talking earlier this week with Omaha-based sports radio host Nick Bahe — a former KU walk-on and Creighton basketball player — Kansas coach Bill Self was asked if his teams that made the deepest NCAA Tournament during his 15 years at KU had any common denominators that could be looked at as a potential predictor of future success.

“I thought some of the most prepared teams we had maybe came up short,” Self admitted.

“We’ve only been to two Final Fours in 14 years, so it’s not like we’re just kicking butt,” Self added. “But we’ve been to a lot of Sweet 16’s. I think this is our 10th one. And quite a few Elite Eights. So we’ve had some success in the tournament, but we haven’t won as many of the biggest games. And that’s the next step. That’s what we’ve got to do.”

In order to do that — and the Jayhawks will get that chance on Sunday if they can get by No. 5 seed Clemson at 6:07 p.m. Friday — Self and company will be looking for this year’s team to replicate some of the things that the 2008 and 2012 teams brought to the table.

Most notably, that includes things like intelligent play, physical and mental toughness, and, of course, a few breaks along the way.

“Usually the teams that are confident, that are healthy, that are fresh, that have fresh legs, those are the teams that have the best chance to win,” Self said.

On the topic of freshness, Self said Wednesday night upon KU’s arrival in Omaha that the Jayhawks were as rested as they have been in months and that sophomore center Udoka Azubuike was back to full speed after a sprained MCL in his left knee limited him substantially in the past couple of weeks.

“There’s a lot of teams that get to this time of year and, by nobody’s fault, they’re limping home,” Self said. “And we’ve had it, too. You’re beat up, you lost a key guy, you haven’t been able to practice. … Usually teams that can catch some breaks and stay healthy and teams you don’t have to crush throughout the year and have fresh legs, those are the teams that have the best chance.”

These Jayhawks have been taxed in many ways throughout the 2017-18 season. But they always have seemed to be in step with what Self demands and requires. And, as with any team, winning games at this time of the year tends to be a big time cure for all types of exhaustion.