'I Want Them To Know We're Better Than Them' - College Basketball Always Needs A Villain And Hunter Dickinson Is The Perfect One

It's by no means a surprise that Kansas was the preseason No. 1 team in the country. Everyone around put them there. You bring in a guy like Hunter Dickinson, you return guys plus their recruiting class and it's Bill Self again. But this isn't necessarily about that. It's about Hunter Dickinson being the perfect villain in college basketball. He started that role at Michigan. But Michigan ain't Kansas. Kansas is expected to win a title every year or at least be on the shortlist of teams that can win a title. 

Here's the key. A great college basketball villain works only on a team that is relevant. Not even relevant, you need to be on a damn good team for the whole villain thing to work. Kansas is that. It doesn't matter, Bill Self is going to be a top-2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He does it every year. 

Even more important is that college basketball needs this. The sport needs characters. Think throughout history. We've had players fill this void. College basketball's personality is too dominated by coaches and programs. I get it. You only have 4 years max with a guy. But having an All-American come out publicly and say he wants everyone to know Kansas is better than them is a quote that should be said. The AP poll is fucking pointless, but if that No. 1 is next to Kansas, Hunter should be running his mouth. 

I'm well aware that outside of diehards, college basketball tends to be a niche sport. People are caught up in football season and aren't tuning in to see Kansas play someone like Northwestern State on a Tuesday night. That's even more of a reason why we need a villain like Hunter Dickinson. Kansas fans will go to the depths of hell for him, assuming he plays well. Everyone else will want to see Kansas fail. It's what makes this sport awesome. 

No doubt this quote is used any time Kansas loses. It will be on social media, other players will say it. It will be everywhere.