The Olympic men’s hockey gold medal game promised to be an epic showdown between the United States and Canada. And it delivered.

Following goals by Team USA’s Matt Boldy and Canada’s Cale Makar in regulation — and a slew of incredible saves by Team USA’s Connor Hellebuyck and Canada’s Jordan Binnington — the game went into overtime Sunday.

In that extra session, Jack Hughes took a pass from Zach Werenski and buried it past Binnington, giving the U.S. a 2-1 victory and its first gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980.

Here’s what went right and wrong for both teams, the MVP of the game, and what this result means for the rivalry moving forward.

Why Team USA won

It would be easy to write the words “Connor Hellebuyck” and leave it at that.

The Winnipeg Jets star is the reigning NHL MVP and winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender. He cemented himself as the best netminder in the world with a gold medal game performance for the ages.

He stopped 41 of 42 shots against Canada, 27 of them coming from the slot and 17 of them coming from the inner slot, according to Hockey Stats. His paddle save on Devon Toews on a point-blank chance was the best stop by a goalie in the tournament. His breakaway stop on Macklin Celebrini was equally as clutch. The Americans have had great performances from goalies in their history, from Jim Craig in the Miracle on Ice to Ryan Miller in Vancouver. None of them top what Hellebuyck gave the Americans in this gold medal game.

THAT WAS ONE HELLE-BUYCK OF A STOP. 😳 pic.twitter.com/N3wCimdBGw

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 22, 2026

But if we’re being honest, leaning on Hellebuyck to be their best player was not exactly an ideal scenario for Team USA against Canada, who basically carried play for the final two periods with a 33-18 shot advantage.

Both Canada and the U.S. probably didn’t anticipate their special teams needing to be so vital in the championship final, but their penalty kills were also a key to the game. The Americans killed off a 5-on-3 power play for 1:42 in the second period against the best offensive talent in the world. After the U.S. failed to score on a double-minor high sticking penalty issued to Canada’s Sam Bennett late in the third period, they had to then kill off a Canadian power play after Hughes was whistled for a high stick.

There were times in which it looked like the Americans were falling back into their old role as the team trying not to lose to Canada instead of trying to win. That could have spelled the same kind of disaster they experienced in Sochi, for example. But Hellebuyck prevented the dam from breaking.

The U.S. won gold for the first time since 1980 because it converted in the 3-on-3 overtime. This format is, of course, entirely unfair to the two teams that battled for 60 minutes in a traditional hockey game. Let’s face it: There’s a reality in the multiverse in which the U.S. and Canada don’t even make the gold medal game if their 3-on-3 luck was different in the quarterfinals.

But if there’s going to be 3-on-3 to decide the gold medal, there are few American players you want out there more than Hughes. The New Jersey Devils star is fast and creative and has been a force in the NHL overtime with nine game winners in 404 games, the second most in team history.

JACK HUGHES DELIVERS AMERICA’S GOLDEN MOMENT IN OVERTIME. pic.twitter.com/4foFDOri53

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 22, 2026

Hughes’ goal doesn’t happen without a great forechecking play by Werenski, who knocked Nathan MacKinnon off the puck and then slid a pass to the streaking Hughes for the golden goal.

The American players brought out the late Johnny Gaudreau’s Team USA jersey on the ice during their celebration. Werenski was a teammate and a close friend. That’s one of those “hockey family” moments you won’t forget.

For Johnny Gaudreau. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/rWycdK8NUo

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 22, 2026

Hellebuyck was the story of the gold medal game for Team USA. Jack Hughes was the story of the tournament for the Americans. He was maligned by critics for his play in the 4 Nations Face-Off, looking overwhelmed after shifting from center to wing. He started on the fourth line for Team USA, was arguably the team’s best forward in group play and earned a larger role in the elimination tournament. That he scored the golden goal was only appropriate.

Move over, Mike Eruzione. No, it wasn’t a miracle. But it was the most consequential goal ever scored in American hockey history.

Why Canada lost

There’s little question that the Canadians were “goalied” by Hellebuyck in the gold medal game, but they also had a multitude of chances that they should’ve cashed in on — even against otherworldly goaltending. MacKinnon missed a gaping net. Celebrini had six shots on goal, including a breakaway chance, but the 19-year-old couldn’t conjure the magic that he had earlier in the tournament.

Coach Jon Cooper put his lines in a blender during the game, hoping to spark something that would lead to a potential game-winning goal. He never found the right mix.

Some credit has to go to the American defense corps. While the goaltending disparity between these team got the most attention, it was the depth of Team USA’s defense that was its greatest advantage. In the first period, those defenders did a great job of disrupting plays in the attacking zone. The rest of the game was bending, not breaking, and then having Hellebuyck clean up the rest. They didn’t really activate offensively enough because of their responsibility in the D zone, but in the end, that group won out against the Canadians’ incredible offensive forces.

But let’s face it: There is also a Sidney Crosby-sized caveat to the Americans’ victory. The Team Canada captain and Pittsburgh Penguins star sustained a lower-body injury against Czechia, missed the Canadians’ semifinal game against Finland and was questionable for the gold medal game. That he couldn’t go was a surprise — Hockey Canada was using his photo to promote the game, for what it’s worth — and his absence was felt heavily.

Nick Suzuki, Crosby’s replacement between Mitch Marner and Mark Stone, lost six of seven faceoffs in the game. It’s hard not to believe that one of those Canadian power plays might have converted with the Penguins star out there; Crosby is 12th in NHL history with 607 power-play points. That’s not to mention the loss of his leadership. In such a tight game, having a two-time gold medal winner — capturing one of those golds against the Americans in overtime, no less — could have made a difference.

For a year, American fans have talked about not having Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy or a healthy Matthew Tkachuk in the final of the 4 Nations Face-Off. That Crosby didn’t play in this gold medal game might serve as the same asterisk for Canadian fans.

There has also been some early quibbling about the officiating from Canadian fans, including a slash on McDavid that was ignored and a non-call on a Team USA too many men penalty. But they had ample chances to beat Hellebuyck and couldn’t. They had the puck in overtime and couldn’t find a hero until Hughes accepted the mantle for the Americans.

The Canadians deserved gold with this effort. The Americans ended up with the medal around their necks. Now it’s a real rivalry.

Gold medal game MVP: Connor Hellebuyck

As Jack Hughes caught his breath in a postgame interview with NBC, the only thing he praised more than the brotherhood of USA Hockey was the play of his goaltender.

“He was our best player today by a mile. That was a ballsy, gutsy win. That’s American hockey right there,” Hughes said.

Hellebuyck played well in the 4 Nations Face-Off, but losing the title game conjured up past criticisms from his NHL career, claiming he doesn’t play his best when the pressure is turned up in the playoffs. Team USA management shook that off and made Hellebuyck the starter for the 2026 Olympics, outside of a failed audition by Jeremy Swayman in group play.

Hellebuyck had a .947 save percentage heading into the gold medal game and ends the tournament at .956. His goals saved above average was 5.92, the most of any goalie in the Olympics and indicative of how incredible he was in the gold medal game.

It was expected the Americans would have the goaltending advantage over Canada. That was mostly a criticism of Canada’s depth, and the suspicion that Binnington might cost them eventually. Instead, the advantage turned out to be that the Americans had a goaltender who could carry them to the gold medal on his own. As Hughes said, Hellebuyck was Team USA’s best player “by a mile.” And the reason its anthem played.

State of the U.S.-Canada rivalry

The state of the rivalry is that it’s now actually a rivalry.

The U.S. and Canada women’s rivalry became the most heated one in hockey because they are seen as equals. The U.S. won in Nagano, Canada won four straight gold medals, and now the U.S. has won two of the past three Olympics. The Americans won 11 of the past 16 IIHF world championships. Both teams had strong talent pipelines (we’ll see your Hayley Wickenheiser and raise you a Hilary Knight). Every game was one battle after another, and the winner was never predestined — even in Milan, with the U.S. almost squandering its best roster ever against its archrivals.

The U.S. and Canada men’s rivalry had, for the most part, been extremely lopsided since the NHL started sending players to the Olympics in 1998. Canada won Olympic gold in Salt Lake City against Team USA in 2002. The Canadians famously beat the U.S. in 2010 in Vancouver on Crosby’s golden goal in overtime. They sent the U.S. to the bronze medal game in Sochi in 2014. They won the World Cup of Hockey in 2016, where the U.S. was a nonfactor. They won the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025 on McDavid’s golden goal in overtime.

Outside of preliminary-round wins in Vancouver and in that fight-filled game at 4 Nations, there weren’t many best-on-best moments for the Americans in this rivalry. Team USA was a yapping puppy, an annoying little brother, a team that entered games with Canada convinced it was the lesser of the two hockey superpowers — and frequently played that way.

But bubbling under the surface over the past two decades was a rich pipeline of American hockey talent. The Americans made inroads in the IIHF world junior championship tournament, winning more gold medals (six) than Canada (five) since 2010. The players they were churning out from their national development program weren’t the blue-collar grinders that USA Hockey felt it needed to produce in the penumbra of the Miracle on Ice. They were players like Patrick Kane and eventually the Hughes brothers, the Tkachuk brothers, Jack Eichel and Auston Matthews. Elite, skilled talents that are among the brightest offensive stars in the NHL.

And so the Americans entered the 2026 Olympics believing, for the first time in this rivalry’s history, that they were equals to the Canadians. Not necessarily based on on-ice results — although forcing overtime in 4 Nations while missing Quinn Hughes, McAvoy and having an injured Matthew Tkachuk certainly inspired confidence — but on the deepest hockey talent pool the country had ever created.

But they needed to beat Canada for any of this to matter, and now the Americans own the gold medal in men’s hockey for the first time since the miracle.

Canadian fans are already resting on the twin crutches of Crosby’s absence and Hellebuyck having the game of his life, and that’s fantastic for this rivalry. The Americans have the gold. The Canadians still have their arrogance of hockey superiority by birthright. All that means is that we’re going to be doing this dance together for a very long time, except now on equal footing.

As Jack Hughes said after winning Olympic gold for the Americans: “We wanted to go through Canada and beat them.”

Now it’s a rivalry.

Spring training camps are underway, which means it is time to look at the state of baseball. As part of our 2026 MLB season preview, ESPN’s Buster Olney surveyed those around the industry to help him rank the top 10 players at every position as part of his annual positional ranking series.

Today, we rank the best of the best at second base.

The objective of this exercise is to identify the best players for the 2026 season, not who might be best in five years or over their career. We will roll out a position per day over the next two weeks. Here’s the rest of the schedule: starting pitchers (Monday), relief pitchers (Tuesday), catchers (Wednesday), first basemen (Thursday), third basemen (Feb. 23), shortstops (Feb. 24), corner outfielders (Feb. 25), center fielders (Feb. 26), designated hitters (Feb. 27).

The most coveted free agent in the fall will be Tarik Skubal, probably commanding offers that might well shatter the record for a starting pitcher — the $325 million contract signed by Yoshinobu Yamamoto in 2023. But as for impending free agent position players, Jazz Chisholm Jr. would seem to be a candidate to land the biggest deal, with some gaudy numbers on his résumé.

He was a 30-30 player for the Yankees last season, with 31 homers and 31 stolen bases, after swiping 40 bases in 2024. He has been an All-Star twice and won a Silver Slugger Award. He has been on the cover of MLB: The Show. The speed, the power, it’s all there. One evaluator says Chisholm could hit 40 homers in a season: “The strength in his wrists — just incredible.” He ranks fourth among all second basemen in Fangraphs’ defensive metric, just behind Xavier Edwards and just ahead of Bryson Stott.

But what Chisholm has lacked — what he needs in the season ahead, as he builds interest in his upcoming free agency — is consistency: a season with more peak performances and fewer valleys, longer stretches when he’s affecting games. Last April, he batted .151/.279/.312 with 35 strikeouts in 27 games. Then, in 23 games from June 16 to July 11, he hit .315/.390/.652. In 21 games from Aug. 10 through Sept. 2, he mashed .271/.398/.700 with nine homers and 16 walks. Over the final 31 games — including seven in the postseason — he scored only 10 runs and batted .207. Underneath that 30-30 accomplishment, his triple slash was .242/.332/.481 for an OPS of .813.

Look, slumps are inevitable — Shohei Ohtani, the greatest player we’ve ever seen, went through one during the playoffs last year. But the feedback from evaluators around the sport is they just want to see Chisholm’s talent affect games more often.

He’s going to get paid when he hits free agency, undoubtedly. Whether he gets a monster deal could largely depend on how consistently he hits this season; he probably has as much — or more — at stake than any position player in the big leagues.

Chisholm ranks high among the top 10 second basemen in the game entering the 2026 season.

Top 10 second basemen

1. Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks

You can understand why Arizona maintained a high asking price on Marte before deciding not to trade him. Over the past three seasons, he has produced about 15 fWAR, or about $135 million in value, while making $40 million under the terms of his contract. Even in a season in which he invited scrutiny by going AWOL after the All-Star break following his home being robbed — a decision for which he eventually apologized to his team — he was still an incredibly effective player, with 28 homers, 87 runs and a 145 OPS+ in 126 games. He excels offensively, and while the numbers suggest he is just average defensively, he continues to be the preeminent player at this position.

2. Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs

He led all second basemen in fWAR last season, doing what he does best — excelling on defense and winning his second Gold Glove Award; scoring 89 runs in 156 games; and stealing bases at a high rate (29 in 35 attempts). Hoerner hit .297 and his strikeout rate was 7.6%, third lowest in the big leagues (behind Luis Arraez and Jacob Wilson).

3. Jazz Chisholm Jr., New York Yankees

Based on Chisholm’s production in WAR, ESPN analyst Paul Hembekides says he believes his contract value as a free agent could look like this — $80 million over two years, or $140 million over four years. But Chisholm probably needs to balance his home/road splits to draw heightened interest from teams other than the Yankees. These were his 2025 numbers:

In Yankee Stadium: .277/.364/.528, for a 150 wRC+
In all other parks: .207/.299/.432, for a 101 wRC+

Again: Consistency. Teams will pay for it.

4. Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers

He was one of MLB’s breakout stars last season, performing so well that he earned some down-ballot support in the National League MVP voting. Turang scored 97 runs in 156 games, with an OPS+ of 121, and he continues to improve in his power production — he had 28 doubles and 18 home runs to go with 24 stolen bases in 2025. That was all part of a larger design: Turang’s exit velocity jumped from 85.1 mph to 89.2 mph (with his strikeout rate also spiking). His defensive numbers dipped last year, with his defensive runs saved falling from a remarkable 22 in 2024 to seven last season.

5. Brendan Donovan, Seattle Mariners

He could play some third early in the season, or get some time in the outfield, but if the Mariners decide to play top prospect Cole Emerson on the left side of the infield, Donovan could get a lot of games at second. No matter where he lands, he’s going to get on base and he’s going to create opportunities for runs. He had a 119 OPS+, with 32 doubles and 10 homers in 119 games, and he appears to be a prime candidate to lead off for Seattle against right-handed pitching. Last year, Donovan hit .315 with a .383 OBP against right-handers.

6. Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers

That Torres accepting a one-year qualifying offer from Detroit is a strong indication that he knows he needs a strong offensive performance to set himself up for a multiyear contract (with the benefit of breaking away from draft pick compensation). As Torres has gained experience, he’s drawing more walks and getting on base at a higher rate — he accumulated 136 hits and a career-high 85 walks last season, while reducing his strikeout rate from 20.1% in ’24 to 16.1%.

7. Xavier Edwards, Miami Marlins

The shift from shortstop to second base seemed to really benefit him last season — he had 12 defensive runs saved and nine outs above average while playing only 96 games at second. The 26-year-old accumulated 159 hits and 49 walks in 139 games last season, for a .343 on-base percentage.

8. Marcus Semien, New York Mets

He’s still a high-end defender and now part of David Stearns’s effort to improve the Mets’ run prevention, even at age 35. But the Rangers made him available for a trade largely because of the decline in his offense the past two seasons:

2023: 126 OPS+
2024: 103 OPS+
2025: 97 OPS+

9. Bryson Stott, Philadelphia Phillies

If the Phillies had acquired Bo Bichette — and they thought they were going to get him — then Bichette probably would’ve played second base for Philadelphia, with Stott moving to third. Stott will hit for some power and steal some bases (24 last season), but his struggles against lefties were acute last year: a .225/.287/.575 slash line, with one homer in 123 plate appearances.

10. Ernie Clement, Toronto Blue Jays

He makes this list on the strength of how well he performed this past October. Facing the best pitching under the most pressure, Clement made contact, batting .411 over 18 games in the postseason. With Bichette’s departure and the shift of Andres Gimenez to shortstop, Clement takes over second, a spot where he excelled last year, with 10 defensive runs saved in only 423 innings.

Honorable mentions

Jose Altuve, Houston Astros: Houston is obviously well aware of his defensive issues at second base, which is why they tried him in left field. But Altuve can still do damage offensively — he hit 26 homers and had an adjusted OPS of 112.

Luis Arraez, San Francisco Giants: He wants to return to his former position, so he signed with the Giants, who are buying into his goal of becoming playable at second base — and into his ability to make contact.

Jackson Holliday, Baltimore Orioles: Still just 22 years old, he improved in his second year in the majors, hitting 17 homers and becoming more of a threat against left-handed pitching. But he’ll probably sit out the start of the season after suffering a hand (hamate bone) injury.

Brandon Lowe, Pittsburgh Pirates: Here’s the good stuff: 31 homers and a slugging percentage of .477 last season. The not-so-good stuff: minus-14 defensive runs saved and minus-13 outs above average.

Luke Keaschall, Minnesota Twins: You could make a reasonable case that he should already be in the top 10 after his strong showing in 49 games last year, when the former second-round pick hit .302 and generated 2.0 bWAR.

Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves: He remained largely injury-free last year, playing in 157 games, but he dipped to a .671 OPS and 89 OPS+. The Braves hold a $7 million club option for 2027.

Chase Meidroth, Chicago White Sox: One of the players acquired in the Garrett Crochet trade, Meidroth mustered 1.3 bWAR over 122 games in his rookie season of 2025.

LAWRENCE, KAN. — Bill Self isn’t the touchy-feely type. So when he bounced around the Allen Fieldhouse court after Kansas upset then-No. 1 Arizona on Feb. 9, embracing his players as if the clock had just struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, it shocked them.

“That’s three hugs in my career,” sophomore Flory Bidunga said after the game. “He’s giving hugs now? We’ve got to cut him off.”

Rare as it is, Self’s celebration matched the moment: The Jayhawks had just handed the 23-0 Wildcats their first loss of the season. And they did it without their biggest star, Darryn Peterson — the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA draft — who was a late scratch because of flu-like symptoms.

It was just the latest chapter in the most unpredictable season of Self’s career. A precautionary hospitalization that cost him the trip to Kansas’ Jan. 20 date at Colorado has been a secondary headline for a team that has dealt with the perpetual question of Peterson’s game-to-game availability. The freshman has sat out 11 of the Jayhawks’ 27 games and has played fewer than 25 minutes in seven of his 16 appearances as a result of hamstring and ankle injuries, including persistent cramping.

The saga took on a new life nine days after the win over Arizona, when Peterson benched himself in the second half last Wednesday in a victory at Oklahoma State, Self’s alma mater. It was Peterson’s shortest outing yet (18 minutes), sparking a cycle of national media criticism, including ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith even discouraging NBA teams from selecting the top prospect No. 1 in the upcoming draft.

“I thought we were past it, but obviously we’re not,” Self told reporters after the game in Stillwater. “It’s certainly a concern. You get into the NCAA tournament, you’re playing a team just as good as you and you need to have all your best players available, so to speak. All it takes is for one day like that to derail not only a game, but a season.”

It’s all out in the open now: Kansas has struggled to establish chemistry and rhythm while riding the will-he-won’t-he roller coaster of Peterson’s availability. That much was evident when the Jayhawks lost to a middling Cincinnati team on their home court Saturday, scoring only 68 points with Peterson playing 32 minutes compared to the 82 they scored without him against Arizona. Now with No. 2 Houston in town on Monday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) — and less than a month until the NCAA tournament — the question becomes how this season has developed into a tale of two teams in Lawrence and what all of this means come March.

It’s complicated, even for Self.

By this point in most seasons, the 23-year Kansas coach is typically secure in his team’s potential. Without his best player on the court consistently this season, though, he’s uncertain. Two national championships and 644 wins with the Jayhawks make him an expert on what it takes to capitalize in the final month of the regular season to prepare for the grind of the NCAA tournament. Yet while he’s confident that this season’s team has the goods to chase a third title under him, he needs Peterson to be ready for the long haul. “The time is now,” Self told ESPN after the win over Arizona.

“He’s great, but I have told [Peterson], in all honesty, ‘Have I really had a chance to coach you yet?'” Self later added. “Have I had a chance to say, ‘Hey, this is totally unacceptable. This is how we’re doing it.’ Have I had a chance to really make points to him?”

TWO DAYS after he sat out his team’s biggest win of the season, Peterson walked into Allen Fieldhouse with his same neutral demeanor.

“On the court, no, I probably don’t smile,” he said. “I think I smile a good amount off the court.”

Jayhawks fans haven’t smiled much this season, either, as Peterson has been bombarded with criticism from fans and pundits alike. And he understands why. He wants to play more and get into a better rhythm with his teammates, acknowledging it has been difficult to achieve so far.

“Everybody’s got an opinion on it,” Peterson told ESPN between the Arizona and Oklahoma State games. “But basketball is my life. If I could have been out there every game this year, I would have. If you would have asked me last year, what were my goals for this year, I would never mention missing games. So all this stuff kind of just happened, but I’ve got to deal with it.”

Things haven’t gone according to plan for Peterson, either. Before the season, he told ESPN he believed he could lift the Jayhawks to another level.

“I think I bring a leader and a hard worker. I lead by example, trying to do all the right stuff both on and off the court,” he said at Big 12 media day in October. “I think that’s good for a team, to see a young guy coming in and doing that. Hopefully, I can try to bring those guys to a standard.”

Fast-forward four months, and Peterson’s 27.2 minutes per game are a stark contrast to his peers at the top of ESPN’s 2026 NBA draft big board, with BYU’s AJ Dybantsa and Duke’s Cameron Boozer each averaging north of 30. Boozer has played 34 or more minutes in 15 games — a mark that Peterson has reached only once. “If they need me to play 40 minutes, I’ll play 40 minutes,” Dybantsa told reporters after he played the entirety of the Cougars’ crucial win over Iowa State on Saturday.

If Peterson were to be picked No. 1, he would be only the third such player since 2000 to have sat out more than 10 college games, behind only Kenyon Martin (17 over multiple seasons) and Kyrie Irving (26 in his lone injury-riddled season), per ESPN Research. In addition to the 11 games missed, midgame cramping has forced Peterson to the bench multiple times, where he has been seen using a massage gun. He said he wishes he could play more but didn’t offer specifics regarding what is happening in those moments.

The narrative that Peterson is willingly sitting out games confuses him because it sounds like a critique of his work ethic, which he has never felt challenged on until now. His father would make him toss passes into garbage cans after school when he was a kid in their own spin on an all-star skills challenge in his hometown of Canton, Ohio. That was easy compared to the 108 steps at Monument Park he would have to run on weekends, even on the coldest days of the Midwest winter.

“That kind of stuff, I didn’t like,” Peterson said. “We probably ran up 20 times. Run up it, jump up it, spring up it. One foot hops up it. It always was crazy stuff.”

Peterson isn’t engaged on social media but can hear the chatter — chatter that challenges his integrity as a player and athlete — and that’s where he pushes back. He says he has never feared adversity. But the question remains: Can anyone predict if he’ll be available in March, when the games matter most?

“Let’s do it,” Peterson said when asked for the message he would give to Kansas fans who might worry about whether he’ll play in the NCAA tournament. “That’s the goal.”

In some ways, the question isn’t only about whether Peterson will be available in March. It’s also about whether he’ll be available enough to develop the chemistry needed when he’s on the court with a team that is 9-2 without him. That’s why the clock is ticking, Self acknowledges, for a Kansas squad with big dreams and an unpredictable roster.

Peterson is a scoring savant on a team that defers to him when he’s out there. The Jayhawks have more experience and thus chemistry together when he’s not. Self, with three weeks until Selection Sunday, is trying to merge the two versions — quickly.

“I think that it’s a two different teams mindset when Darryn has been healthy because the guys all want him to do well and the guys know he’s gifted, but still yet I think they take away some of their own personal aggressiveness when he’s out there,” Self told ESPN after the Arizona game. “We’ve got to find a way to where he’s aggressive, but he can make others better and the other guys can be aggressive, too.

“That’s why I’ve said many times that I don’t know that it’s two teams, but I don’t think that we’re close to being where we could potentially be if all things fell together.”

FOR 327 DAYS, Self did not win a game.

He was a first-year head coach at Oral Roberts during the 1993-94 season when his team lost 15 games in a row, a losing streak that bled into the first three games of the next season. On one trip, the coaches played the team in a scrimmage — and the coaches won. The stress piqued that season when Self was pulling all-nighters and a doctor told him he had to relax.

All wasn’t lost, though. That team’s spirits remained high and taught Self a lesson that he has applied to the 2025-26 season.

“It showed me a lot,” he said. “They just loved each other and played for each other. It was so much fun.”

Self said last season’s team liked but didn’t play for each other, playing a role in their first-round exit in the NCAA tournament last March. This season, he has trusted his emotional and competitive leaders, Bidunga and Melvin Council Jr., to help his team avoid a similar letdown.

“[Council] is so much fun because he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know and he just plays downhill and he’s fast,” Self said. “And he doesn’t know ‘up by four points under two minutes’ and maybe this needs to happen. He’s going to go one against three, he’s going to try to make a shot. But when he does that, it ends up benefiting you.

“I love his attitude.”

These players have weathered the adversity of the season by relying on one another and building a camaraderie that begins with Council, Bidunga and Bryson Tiller, a blossoming redshirt freshman who scored 16 of the Jayhawks’ first 22 points against Arizona. Self has described Council as “the most popular” player on campus while Bidunga is analytically the most important — Kansas has a plus-27.3 point differential per 100 possessions when Bidunga is on the court, per advanced analytics site EvanMiya.

“I’m telling you, bro, you need to pass the rock,” Bidunga joked to Council before the postgame news conference after the win over Arizona.

play

Flory Bidunga brings down the house with a filthy throwdown

Flory Bidunga rocks the rim on an alley-oop jam for Kansas.

Because they’ve played without Peterson nearly a dozen times this season, they do not fear that scenario. Nine of Bidunga’s 11 double-doubles have come in games in which Peterson hasn’t played (six) or has played fewer than 25 minutes (three). The Jayhawks won three games in the Players Era Festival without Peterson during Feast Week. Since then, the unknown has been the foundation for a stronger bond within a team that has jelled over Hibachi trips and bowling and tennis matches on Nintendo’s Wii U, which was released when most of Kansas’ players were in elementary school.

“I tell everybody, I feel like I’ve known these guys longer than how long I’ve been here,” said Council, a first-year transfer from St. Bonaventure. “Feels like I’ve known these guys for like four years. We just jelled together.”

But it’s not all fun for this crew.

After a recent loss to West Virginia, there was a players-only meeting to demand more of one another. That meeting led to more wins — and still did not solve the team’s most pressing issue.

“I feel like we really can be special,” Bidunga said. “We just have to find our identity.”

The national champions of the past? They all knew theirs by this point in the season, putting Kansas more than a few steps behind. The Jayhawks are also a top-10 defensive team and their offensive output is comparable with or without Peterson (KU is just plus-0.7 points better per 100 possessions when he’s on the court, per EvanMiya). The win over Arizona established that the Jayhawks can excel in March even with the questions surrounding Peterson’s availability.

“Guys, Kansas is a hell of a team,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said after his team’s loss in Lawrence. “Let’s not make this about Darryn Peterson. He didn’t play because he was sick. They beat the No. 1 team in the country at home. They did a hell of a job, and their coach did a hell of a job. That should be the story.”

AFTER A SERIES of health concerns, Self said he’s no longer focused on the small stuff.

The past few years cost him some of his “joy,” made him feel as if he were just going through the motions while navigating a pair of tough seasons, on and off the court. Those hugs and smiles this season? They’ve come from a coach who has grappled with his own mortality over the past three years.

“I think I am stressing the little things a lot less for the most part,” he said. “But the big things, I still stress like I always have.”

At the top of that list of stressors is the lingering concern that Peterson continues to sit out games for myriad reasons, complicating Self’s ability to help his team grow together as Selection Sunday approaches. Against Arizona, Self didn’t even know Peterson was out until he exited the locker room before the announcement of starting lineups.

“I didn’t feel good really the whole day, but I was like, ‘I’m going to try to go out and warm up and see if I can — I don’t know, [I thought] the fans yelling or something would maybe give me a little extra boost or something,” Peterson said about sitting out the game. “But it just didn’t work [that night]. My legs were heavy and stuff and I was like, ‘Before I’m out here being a liability, I’d rather just let someone else [play] that can give it 100%.'”

Self has made the most of less talented teams a few times in his career, but he knows that a team can’t fake the continuity Kansas will need to make a run in March. He’s not sure it’s even possible unless he has his full roster going forward.

“You know what I worry about is, to me, with all the uncertainties of a season, primarily postseason, ‘Are you prepared for what can happen in the postseason?'” Self said. “Because you might as well expect the unexpected: foul problems, somebody gets hurt last second. There is no excuse. There is no tomorrow, so you’ve got to win that game. Can you just turn it on if you haven’t been together and gone through the stuff together?”

That’s the problem.

Just weeks before Selection Sunday, Kansas can’t be sure which version of the team Self will take into the NCAA tournament. “The best player” he has had is worth the chaos, Self said. Peterson has a usage rate that’s comparable to Stephen Curry’s this season — and he’s shooting better from the (albeit shorter) 3-point line than the NBA All-Star (43.1% for Peterson vs. 39.1% for Curry). Few players in recent college basketball history have matched Peterson’s on-court effectiveness. But consistently turning that talent into winning basketball is a work in progress.

“He could score 16 in a game and dominate, or he can get 30 in a game and dominate, but what’s best for us?” Self said. “And I think it’s got to be that happy medium because we’re going to need him to do it. In [postseason] games, you don’t score off your plays, you score off players. And it’s good to have that guy that can go get it.”

The second half of the win over Arizona highlighted the delicate path this group has walked with the drama around a likely No. 1 pick and their potential regardless of who is ready to play in March. Against the Wildcats, the Jayhawks had to figure it out without Peterson — again. And they did. Down 55-44 with 17:02 to play, a short-handed Kansas outscored an undefeated team 38-23 the rest of the way.

With the help of a crowd that was nearly as loud as a jet engine (128 decibels), the Jayhawks prevailed against the odds, becoming the first team in the past 30 seasons to beat a No. 1 team without a player who averages at least 20 points, according to ESPN Research.

When it was all over and Self had hugged folks he’d rarely hugged before, he walked through the tunnel in Allen Fieldhouse, slowly. As he approached the locker room, he stared at the ground and repeated “wow, wow, wow, wow, wow” while he shook his head and fans cheered around him.

It has been that kind of a season for Kansas, one full of letdowns, unlikely victories and surprises — and perhaps more unknowns ahead.

“We still have a job to do. We still have to compete,” Bidunga said after the game. “We’ve played some games without [Peterson]. And that made us strong. Even though he wasn’t there — I mean, we wish he was there for the game — but unfortunately, he wasn’t. But we still have a job to do, and we did pretty good.”