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LAWRENCE, Kan. — The 14-year run of Big 12 basketball championships ended two weeks ago, when Kansas’s crown passed to Texas Tech and Kansas State. A yearlong reign as conference tournament champions came to a close last weekend, with the Jayhawks beaten by Iowa State in the final.
There will be no flashy Big 12 championship rings to pass out to the players next season, no new year to add to the league championship banner in the Allen Fieldhouse rafters.
At Kansas, a fixture in the N.C.A.A. tournament, a season that began with great and usual expectations — and with the Jayhawks being ranked No.