Kentucky has secured a spot at the top of the men’s basketball polls and has a good chance of running the table in the Southeastern Conference. But their biggest rival for the tournament won’t be Syracuse or even Ohio State — it will be Kansas.

Just like every season, much debate ensues over which conference is the best. As is normally the case, the Big East takes that honor again this year, although the Big 10 is giving Georgetown’s conference a run for its money. The Big 12 and ACC have strong upper echelons, placing a combined five teams in the top 10, but aren’t as strong in their lower ranks. No one would argue for the SEC, which counts only Kentucky and Florida as top-tier teams this year, or the Pac-12, which is as miserable as ever.

But out of all these conferences, the Big 12 is stacked with the best top tier. Missouri appears to have come out on top of a three-way battle with Kansas and Baylor for conference supremacy. But examining past performance and present talent, Kansas sticks out as a virtual lock for the Elite Eight and has a very good chance to reach the Final Four.

In assessing teams come tournament time, it’s advisable to look at squads in the same way that the men’s basketball committee does when it determines the NCAA tournament’s bracket: by examining the whole body of work. For the Jayhawks, this means looking both at their early season travails and their present success.

Bill Self’s squad did not play particularly well early in the season, losing to Kentucky by 10 in a neutral-site game at Madison Square Garden and falling in the Maui Invitational title game to Duke, although Kansas did have to bounce Georgetown en route to the finals. A home loss to Davidson, while not humiliating – as the Wildcats lead the Southern Conference and came close to beating other top teams – is certainly not a positive on the Jayhawks’ resume.

Led by senior guard Tyshawn Taylor and junior forward Thomas Robinson, Kansas seems to have overcome these difficulties. In the Big 12, which has seen a great deal of upsets, especially on the road, the Jayhawks have only lost twice — once to surging Iowa State in Ames and once to Missouri, also one of the nation’s top teams, at Columbia in a heated Border War matchup.

Taylor has always been an impact player for the Jayhawks, but he has really stepped up his game this season by transitioning from the paint to the perimeter. This versatility has allowed him to become the second-leading scorer on the squad, and he now averages 1.7-made three-pointers per game. But he also distributes the ball well enough to average 5.1 assists per game.

Robinson averages a double-double and had 15 points and 11 rebounds in what was perhaps Kansas’ best win: a 68-54 beatdown at Baylor. The 6-foot-10, fundamentally sound big man has helped the Jayhawks out tremendously in the post.

Kansas has also gotten a major assist from redshirt junior guard Travis Releford, who took a major step up to average 9 points per game this season. But in games the Jayhawks have dropped, their opponents have successfully limited Releford. In the loss against Missouri, for instance, he scored only five points but picked up four fouls.

Still, Releford combines with Taylor and Robinson to give Kansas three scoring threats and cause opponents to scramble on both offense and defense. Bill Self, one of the greatest active coaches, has been able to harness these weapons effectively, and it is increasingly likely that the Jayhawks will be hot come March.

Despite three disappointing early exits in 2005, 2006 and 2010, Kansas has been a team that consistently reaches the Elite Eight. And this year, if they can put everything together – which they seem to be doing – they should go beyond that and reach the Final Four.

In 2008, the last time the Jayhawks reached championship weekend, Self outwitted John Calipari, then the head coach at Memphis, in the national title game, shepherding Kansas to a 75-68 win over the Tigers.

Since Calipari moved to Lexington three seasons ago, Kentucky has been the most talented team in the tournament but has failed to hang an eighth banner at Rupp Arena. But after three years of similar futility, the Jayhawks are just as hungry as the Wildcats.

Lots of things can happen in the Big Dance; that’s why they play the games. But looking at it today, a Kansas-Kentucky final seems possible, even likely. And that would be a game fitting of its location at the Louisiana Superdome.

Evan Hollander is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service and Deputy Sports Editor. TOP OF THE KEY appears every Friday.