I'd agree with you if it weren't for the fact that KU's Final Fours and title game appearances are up there with most blue bloods. The difference between KU having 4 titles or 7/8 is only a few points. They've just lost a few close games in the title game. I wouldn't say it's ever been about fouls. Besides which, every analysis on the topic has shown that KU is almost always in the bottom half of the Big XII in foul disparity. As many calls as we get at home, we get the shaft on the road.
Calls have not been KU's issue in the tournament. KU got plenty of calls against Syracuse. They shot under 50% from three, and McNamara hit like 8 three pointers and had the best game of his career. And KU still only lost by 3. That was a good old fashioned choke job and one player playing out of his mind. Most of KU's "upsets" have been due to unreal three point shooting performances, not fouls.
Though we have lost a few notable ones due to not getting calls, the EE game against VCU being one of the more notable, where they slapped and threw elbows all game and the officials refused to call anything. But that's more of a sign of modern basketball than anything. Big men do not get calls in the tourney, and KU used to center their teams around post play. Which works in the regular season, but not in the tourney when refs swallow the whistle due to time constraints. Tournament officiating favors guard play. This is why Purdue has struggled so much in the tourney, and other big-men oriented teams have struggled come tourney time. The NCAA tourney doesn't bode well for teams that center their game around post play. It was after 2011 or 2012 that Self started to move towards smaller teams as he saw how it was playing out. This year's KU team is an anomaly in that regard. I don't think Self intended to center the team around post play, but our guard play has been so bad outside of McCullar and Harris, that he's had no choice but to rely on post play this year, which is why I don't see them making the FF this year and they're likely a huge risk for an early exit.