ESPN Men's Basketball

The Big 12 preseason poll, as voted on by the league's coaches, featured a familiar theme: Don't bet against Kansas.

Despite losing the Morris twins to the first round of the NBA draft and adding seven newcomers, the Jayhawks tied with a veteran Texas A&M team as picks to finish first. That apparently surprised Kansas.

"I didn't actually see that, but Coach (Bill Self) mentioned it in the locker room," guard Tyshawn Taylor told reporters. "That's pretty cool. I think we were all actually surprised. I mean, it's a compliment so we’re excited about it. We're going to take that and run with it."

Said Self: "Yeah, I'm surprised. I always say that the coaches know more than the media, but I'm not sure that's the case in our league right now. Last year we had the twins and (Brady) Morningstar, Tyrel Reed and (Josh) Selby and I think the coaches picked us third. Well now, we don't have any of those guys, but that doesn't bother me. We've kind of gone into the season with tempered expectations, to be honest with you, and I've tried to do that with our fans a little bit. I think it's fine and we’re kind of used to being in the situation where people expect us to be decent and we won’t shy away from that."

To correct Self, Kansas was actually picked second last season, behind Kansas State. Of course, the Jayhawks ended up Big 12 champions anyway, so the coaches might have been shy about going against them as favorites this season.

The biggest snub would seem to be Baylor, which was picked third despite having preseason player of the year Perry Jones III. To show how far the Bears have come in terms of expectations, third was actually the highest the program has ever been picked.

Oddly, Self seemed somewhat confused about which team he picked, since coaches can't choose their own teams first.

"I know Texas A&M is going to be good and personally I picked Baylor to finish first in league and I think I picked A&M, too," Self said. "What I picked and what anyone else picked this time of year doesn’t mean anything."

Technically, every college basketball player is a student-athlete. But that distinction can oftentimes be misleading. Oftentimes, for a variety of reasons, "athlete" vastly outweighs "student," even when that student-athlete is doing enough to maintain his academic eligibility during his time in school. I am not describing a new problem. Anyone who has spent any time paying attention to college sports knows this is the case. It's just kind of how things work these days. Sometimes people complain, but as long as the games remain entertaining and the home team stays successful -- and one of college hoops' biggest stars doesn't insinuate that he can graduate in three years without ever having to read a book -- no one complains too much.

Still, even if fans understand this, they do like to be reminded that "student-athlete" can still be a meaningful term. There's something pure about the well-rounded, educationally inclined college athlete, something less cynical than the usual reality. It's refreshing and noteworthy. Maybe it shouldn't be, but it is.

Which brings us to the Kansas state legislature and Tyrel Reed, and the former's decision to publicly honor the latter on the floor of the state House and Senate chambers Wednesday. From the Lawrence Journal-World:

Reed, accompanied by his parents, Stacy and Debbie Reed, was commended in both the House and Senate for his athletic and academic achievements and for being a role model to young people. “Tyrel Reed exemplifies excellence in basketball, academics and life,” said Sen. Jeff King, who serves Kansas’ 15th District, which includes Burlington, Reed’s hometown. “I am honored to join Senator Jeff Longbine in recognizing Tyrel’s many accomplishments and the fine example he sets for Kansas kids.”

Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, introduced the Reeds on the floor of the House of Representatives. The three-time academic all-Big 12 pick who graduated from KU in 3 1/2 years as a pre-physical therapy and exercise science major with a 3.65 GPA received a standing ovation.

Reed is one those guys for whom everything seems to come easy. He was 95-4 in his high school career in Burlington, Kan., when he made three state playoff appearances and won one state title. Then, he went to Kansas, where by his senior year he found himself playing starter minutes in a deep backcourt on one of the best teams in the nation. All the while, he excelled enough off the court to maintain that sterling GPA and get himself accepted into the postgraduate physical therapy program at the KU Medical Center.

This is deeply irritating. I'm kidding, but just barely. The universe is supposed to mete these things out evenly: You get to be the jock, I get to be good at words, this other kid gets to be good at math and we all live out our destinies accordingly. When someone has all of those things in one package -- when someone seems this effortlessly put together, even though effort is a required component to any such success -- it's not only worthy of honor. It's also downright enviable.

SAN ANTONIO – Previewing the Kansas-Richmond Southwest Regional semifinal:

No. 12 seed Richmond (29-7) vs. No. 1 seed Kansas (34-2), 7:27 p.m. ET (TBS)

What to watch: How do the Spiders handle the big stage? Richmond’s average home attendance this season was 5,959. Its average road attendance was 5,110. Neutral floor: 6,143. Now they move into a domed stadium that will be set up for around 30,000 fans -- most of them rooting for Kansas. This is, by every measure, a significant step up in class for the Spiders -- but this also is a team with four senior starters. If any group of collegians from a mid-major program is going to handle the inevitable butterflies and sweaty palms that accompany this assignment, you’ve got to like Richmond’s chances.

Conversely, how do the Jayhawks handle the pressure? They’re such prohibitive favorites -- in this game, and in this entire broken-bracket regional -- that domination will be the expectation. Anything less than that -- particularly a slow start against milk-the-clock Richmond -- will only feed the hope of the underdog and the anxiety of the Kansas legions in attendance. The Jayhawks believe they rid themselves of a significant upset demon by getting past the round of 32 (where they lost last year to Northern Iowa as the overall No. 1 seed), but now there are more massive underdogs ahead. They can afford to play pressure-free, while Kansas cannot.

Who to watch: For Richmond, the key players are forward Justin Harper and guard Kevin Anderson. Harper has transformed himself from a late bloomer who was more adept at playing the saxophone in the high school band than basketball. The 6-foot-10 senior is averaged 17.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and is shooting a deadly 45 percent from 3-point range. Anderson has been the program's heartbeat for four seasons. The school's No. 2 all-time scorer is averaging 16.7 points and leads the team in assists, steals and minutes.

For Kansas, the key players are the Morris twins, Marcus and Markieff. The brotherly bruisers are combining to average 31.2 points and 15.7 rebounds -- and those numbers swelled to 36 points and 20.5 rebounds in two NCAA tournament games in Tulsa. Everyone knows they have to stop the Morrises, and nobody has been able to do it.

Richmond wins if... : It can avoid being slaughtered on the glass and hit a lot of 3-pointers. The Spiders have been outrebounded on the season, and they’re going up against a Kansas team that has dominated the boards. The Jayhawks are sixth nationally in rebound margin at plus-7.9 per game. Richmond has done a better job on the boards lately, and that will have to continue Friday. To counteract what seems like an inevitable rebounding deficit, UR must shoot well from the outside. The Spiders are a 40 percent 3-point shooting team and have made 104 more 3s than their opposition -- whatever open looks they get Friday night, they need to make. Last year, Northern Iowa withstood KU's eight-rebound advantage by outscoring the Jayhawks by nine from the 3-point arc.

Kansas wins if... : It plays up to its capabilities. It’s really that simple for the Jayhawks -- they’re the better team. If they play inside-out with the Morris twins, hit a few timely 3s to keep the defense honest, take care of the ball and play with their customary defensive intensity, this outcome shouldn’t be in doubt in the final 10 minutes. If Kansas struggles to start and doesn’t cover Richmond outside the arc, it could get tense.

What they’re saying: Richmond guard Kevin Anderson, dreaming big: “Our focus is to get a national championship and Kansas is in the way right now, so we have to go out there and handle our business. … You don’t get to the Sweet 16 and decide that’s good enough. That’s not really a goal. I don’t want to sell our hard work short. Everyone’s saying we’re lucky to be in the Sweet 16, we’re lucky Morehead State beat Louisville. We want to prove those people wrong. What better way to do that than by beating Kansas?”

Bill Self, cautioning against seed-based overconfidence: “The field here is strong. It may not appear from a seeding standpoint to be as strong as 1, 2, 3 and 4 that are left, but I guarantee that there will be nobody that will be looking forward to playing anybody in this field right now. Once you get to the Sweet 16, you expect to play a great team. And we certainly have an opportunity to play a great one [Friday].”

Notable: Kansas certainly has fond memories of playing in the Alamodome. It won the 2008 national title here, courtesy of Mario Chalmers’ last-second 3-pointer that capped a miraculous rally against Memphis to send the game into overtime. “We were all walking together last night on the RiverWalk and just remembering the good times we had,” said senior guard Tyrel Reed, one of three Jayhawks who were on the ’08 team. … Richmond is 5-1 against teams from big-six conferences this season, beating Purdue, Arizona State, Seton Hall, Wake Forest and Vanderbilt and losing to Georgia Tech.

TULSA, Okla. -- Bruce Weber had the famous mock funeral for Bill Self eight years ago at Illinois.

Sunday night, Self and the Kansas Jayhawks got to perform a two-for-one burial. First they did away with No. 9 seed Illinois 73-59. Then they interred the year-old demon named Northern Iowa.

Ever since being shocked by the Panthers last March in the round of 32 as the overall No. 1 seed, Kansas has carried the burden of that underachievement. The Jayhawks had been reminded of it by fans, media and even their own coaching staff, which put copies of the Sports Illustrated cover celebrating Northern Iowa’s upset in every player’s locker last week.

Now, after this victory over stubborn Illinois on Sunday night, this group of players has broken through. The Northern Iowa loss is 6 feet under at last.

“It definitely takes a lot of pressure off our shoulders [to] know we’ve gotten past the first weekend now,” said Marcus Morris, whose 17 points and 12 rebounds made him only the second-most-productive Morris on the night.

“I just feel like now that we’ve gotten past this weekend, we got over the hump,” said twin brother Markieff Morris, who went off for 24 points and 12 rebounds. “We’re ready for next weekend.”

Next weekend, the No. 1 seed Jayhawks walk into a shattered bracket in San Antonio. Their Friday Sweet 16 opponent will be No. 12 seed Richmond. If they win that, their Sunday opponent will be either No. 10 seed Florida State or No. 11 seed VCU.

By seeding, Kansas is set up to play zero teams in the top half of the tournament until it reaches Houston and the Final Four. That is what’s called a free pass.

Then again, you can find plenty of grandparents and bracketologists ready to caution that there’s really no such thing as a free pass.

“Any seed this time of year, they’ve got to be playing good to advance this far in the tournament,” said guard Tyrel Reed. “You can’t take anyone lightly and have to respect your opponent every time out.”

That, actually, is one lasting lesson Kansas can take with it from the Northern Iowa loss. But at least now the Jayhawks don’t have to hear about it constantly. That’s dead and buried.

TULSA, Okla. -- This has become the Bill Self Subregional.

The Kansas coach is everywhere or, more accurately, his past is everywhere.

He’s an Oklahoma native and Oklahoma State alum whose first two head-coaching jobs were in this city, at Oral Roberts and Tulsa. Then he went to Illinois, where he succeeded Lon Kruger and preceded Bruce Weber.

Kruger played Weber Friday for the right to face Self Sunday. Weber won, which pits Self and Kansas against Weber and Illinois. And that means the subject of the mock funeral Weber held for Self early in his Illinois tenure -- in an effort to get players and fans alike to quit talking about the departed coach -- came up Saturday.

This also marks the second straight year that Self has faced an underdog that defeated UNLV to get to the Jayhawks. Last year it was Northern Iowa, and you know how that turned out -- also in a game played in Oklahoma.

But despite all the Self connections, that’s only half the matchup here. And the potential exists for two excellent games at the BOK Center Sunday night.

No. 5 seed Arizona (28-7) vs. No. 4 seed Texas (28-7), 6:10 p.m. ET (TNT)

What to watch: Can the Wildcats’ efficient offense produce against the Longhorns’ relentless defense? Arizona shoots 51.6 percent from two-point range and 39.6 percent from 3. Texas allows opponents to shoot only 42 percent and 28.7 percent, respectively. Whoever gets the advantage in that strength-on-strength matchup will probably win the game.

Who to watch: Arizona forward Derrick Williams against Texas’ Tristan Thompson. Williams is the guy who makes Arizona go, an All-American who has cranked his play up even higher -- through four postseason games he is averaging 22 points and 8.5 rebounds. Williams also had the spectacular blocked shot that clinched the game against Memphis on Friday -- but Thompson is the guy who swats shots in bunches. The freshman rejected a career-high seven of them against Oakland, and he’s likely to get the first defensive call against Williams.

Why to watch: Arizona has been must-see TV its past two games, winning one (Memphis) and losing one (Washington in the Pac-10 tournament final) at the very end. Texas has at times looked like the best team in the nation, including for about 30 minutes against Oakland on Friday. And there will be plenty of future NBA players on the floor, whenever they decide to turn pro.

What they’re saying: “I’m coming back next year. I’ve already signed up for summer classes.” -- Texas’ Thompson, who projects as a lottery pick but delivered that news in the Longhorns locker room Saturday. Now we’ll wait and see whether he really means it.

“He’s not going to like this, but he took a lot of shots. That’s just his game. Any kind of shot is a good shot for him.” -- Williams on former AAU teammate Jordan Hamilton, volume-shooting forward for Texas.

“It’s overwhelming as a coach that’s getting ready to play against Texas to watch him offensive rebound. … He might be the nation’s best offensive rebounder.” -- Arizona coach Sean Miller on Thompson.

Of note: Both schools have demonstrated impressive recruiting reach. Arizona has two players from New York and one from St. Louis in its probable starting lineup, plus a pair of Californians. Texas starts one Texan, Gary Johnson, but otherwise fills out its first five with two Canadians, a Turk and a Californian.

No. 9 seed Illinois (20-13) vs. No. 1 seed Kansas (33-2), 8:40 p.m. ET (TNT)

What to watch: Last year at this stage, the top-seeded Jayhawks felt the pressure and played tightly against underdog Northern Iowa in a shocking loss. Self said he wants this year’s team to relax and enjoy the NCAA experience, but acknowledged that he thought Kansas was again tight for a half against Boston University on Friday. Illinois, meanwhile, should be afforded the chance to play with a relaxed attitude. The seasoned Illini are significant underdogs with nothing to lose, and a victory would redeem what has been a disappointing season. Kansas has the better team, but also the greater pressure.

Who to watch: Illinois point guard Demetri McCamey. Leading his team in both scoring (14.9 points per game) and assists (6.1), he’s vital to the Illini’s chances. Especially his distributing. They’re 15-0 this year when McCamey dishes out seven or more assists. For Kansas, the focal point of Self’s pound-it-in offensive approach is the Morris twins, Marcus and Markieff. They’ll take their muscular physiques and all-court games up against an Illinois front line that has an abundance of length but not the same amount of girth.

Why to watch: After what happened last year to KU in the round of 32, miss this game at your peril. But also because Illinois, if it plays the way it did Friday against UNLV, could have a legitimate chance to win.

What they’re saying: “Last year we were kind of No. 1 the whole season, and everyone had us picked as the favorite. I don’t know if that was more of a burden to us than a good thing. We’re not trying to hold onto anything this year. We don’t have anything to hold onto.” -- Kansas guard Tyrel Reed, on the (slightly) lesser pressure on the Jayhawks this season.

“When he plays and plays well, we’re a top team in the country. We can compete with anybody.” -- Weber on McCamey

“I wouldn’t say he’s one of my best friends, but we have a cordial relationship.” -- Weber on Self.

“I have total respect for him as a coach. … But we’re not close. We don’t talk.” -- Self on Weber.

Of note: One of the things that makes Kansas so hard to cover is the shooting ability of its guards. If defenses distort themselves too much to collapse on the Morris twins inside, they risk leaving Reed, Brady Morningstar and Tyshawn Taylor (among others) open on the perimeter. And lately, that’s been a bad trade-off. In KU's past two games, the Big 12 title game against Texas and the NCAA opener against BU, the Reed-Morningstar-Taylor trio has made 12 of 25 3-point shots. ... Weber had no update on the status of swingman Jereme Richmond, who was suspended for the UNLV game for what the coach termed a violation of "athletic department team rules." Weber said the school will discuss Richmond's status privately Saturday and make an announcement on his status Sunday.

BERKELEY, Calif. -- The nasty pileup on the floor featured two players who didn't like each other, some apparent extracurricular elbowing and tempers flaring.

Cal's Jorge Gutierrez was literally dragged away by a teammate and restrained by his coach after a loose ball situation resulted in the feisty Bears guard getting tangled up with Kansas forward Thomas Robinson for a second time.

And out of the scrum, there was Josh Selby trying to calm his teammate down with a bear hug.

"To make sure he keeps his composure," explained Selby, Kansas' freshman sensation.

The Jayhawks ultimately prevailed 78-63 on Thursday at Haas Pavilion in their first true road game of the season to improve to 11-0. In a chippy game that saw KU's leading scorer Marcus Morris get ejected, three technical fouls and Robinson's intentional foul, they learned that there is plenty of room to grow.

"If you're competing, you beat 'em on the scoreboard, not by getting the last word in," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "We have to mature. We don't have a mature team, and we have known that from the beginning. They are competitive, though."

Kansas got big performances off the bench from Markieff Morris, who had a career-high 21 points and 10 rebounds, along with 18 points from Selby, who was masterful with his first-half shooting in only the second game of his career.

But the attention was soon focused on two teams that couldn't keep their hands off each other. Robinson got whistled for an intentional foul on Gutierrez in the first half, and it went from there.

Marcus Morris was ejected with 17:23 left for a flagrant foul of Harper Kamp, with Self agreeing afterward that Morris "got what he deserved." About a minute later, it was Gutierrez and Robinson going at it again and getting called for double technical fouls. Kamp and coach Mike Montgomery pulled Gutierrez out of the pile.

"You have to love Jorge," Montgomery said. "He's the greatest. But he's a stubborn son of a gun. And if you attack him, he's going to come back at you. It's just his nature. It's what makes him so good."

Said Robinson: "It's a physical game. I don't really remember what happened. I went after the ball. He went after the ball."

The incidents only served to fire up Cal, and the Bears were able to whittle a 17-point deficit down to three. But the technical on Gutierrez was also a fourth personal foul, and Kansas was able pull away behind Markieff Morris' dominance inside and Tyrel Reed's career highs of 18 points and seven rebounds.

Self said there's "a great chance" Selby would make his first career start once the Jayhawks return to action next week. The freshman has had the hot hand since coming off an NCAA suspension to sink USC with a game-winning 3-pointer. Against Cal, he finished 6-of-13 from the floor, making three from beyond the arc and also contributing four assists while playing good defense.

"He is a guy that can score when we don't really have a good offense," Self said.

So while Self used words like "disappointed" and "ridiculous" to describe some of his team's antics (Brady Morningstar was later assessed a technical for knocking the ball out of Gary Franklin's hands after a called timeout), the Jayhawks also had plenty of fun wearing their road blues and going at it in front of 11,250.

Kansas fans showered their team with chants and booed Gutierrez on his home court. They got to see Selby light it up and provide a glimpse of what's to come.

Yes, the Jayhawks still have to incorporate their star and have been shaky at times this season even with Selby in uniform.

"We got to be smarter," Reed said. " We've got to keep our cool and be mature about it."

But thus far, Kansas has come out on top in every challenge it has faced and gotten the last laugh.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- I took a left out of the triumphant Northern Iowa locker room and saw the saddest sight of the NCAA tournament to date.

Kansas Jayhawks Cole Aldrich and Tyrel Reed were walking down the hallway toward their locker room after doing the post-shocker news conference. Aldrich had his left arm draped over Reed’s shoulders. Reed had his right arm around Aldrich’s waist. Their eyes were on the floor and their mouths were silent.

This was more a case of misery needing company, than loving it. It looked for all the world as though the teammates might sit down and cry if they didn’t have each other to lean on.

“We had a good season,” Reed said. “Just didn’t end the way we wanted it to.”

That is the cruel reality of the Big Dance. The outcome here can completely alter perceptions of an entire season -- for better or worse. And for Kansas, it is immeasurably worse.

Thirty-three wins, all but wasted. All that time ranked No. 1, and the No. 1 overall NCAA seed? Virtually worthless.

And now all those tickets Kansas fans already had bought for the Midwest Regional in St. Louis next week? Almost worthless as well. Good luck getting those sold for decent value.

A shocking upset ending to a Kansas season is not unusual -- no team can match the school’s three second-round defeats as a No. 1 seed. The losses in 1994 to UTEP and ‘98 to Rhode Island -- those were on Roy Williams’ record. This one belongs to Bill Self.

And it marks the third ghastly NCAA upset for Self since he’s been in Lawrence. In 2005, the third-seeded Jayhawks lost in the first round to No. 14 Bucknell, and in ’06 as a No. 4 seed to No. 13 Bradley. This time, Kansas lost to a better team -- but this was a better Jayhawks team, too.

No wonder Self told his staff afterward that this was the toughest loss of his career.

“You operate under duress, you operate under pressures the whole year that a lot of teams don’t operate under because of where we were ranked and the expectations,” Self said. “And to put ourselves in a position that we were in, they don’t come around every year. You got to make the most of those opportunities when you’re granted them. That’s probably what stings the most.”

In the stinging end, KU fans are left to recriminate over a night of poor shooting (just 6-of-23 from 3-point range, with Sherron Collins and Tyshawn Taylor combining to go 0-for-11). And a night of sloppy ball handling (15 turnovers). And a night of questionable strategy.

Knowing that Northern Iowa’s best weapon would be its slow-down tempo, Kansas played directly into the Panthers’ hands for most of the night. Even though UNLV nearly eliminated Northern Iowa on Thursday with full-game pressure defense, the Jayhawks didn’t turn to that option until late in the game and were well behind.

When they did, it worked wonders. UNI handled the pressure atrociously, nearly giving away the game in the final minutes. But it turned out to be too little and way too late.

“We would love to get after them, love to pressure, love to press,” Self said. “But when they were in the bonus at the under-12 timeout (of the first half), it maybe took a little aggressiveness out of us.”

It’s also fair to wonder whether Kansas was lacking some aggressiveness from the opening tip due to overconfidence. Aldrich and Reed both said that wasn’t the case.

“I don’t think we overlooked them at all,” Reed said. “I think we knew what they were capable of. They’re just a great all-around team, play in a tough league, and they’ve got a lot of great players.”

So did this Kansas team. And now its great season has been sullied by a disastrous early exit.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas took its most significant step toward winning a second NCAA title in three seasons with a Big 12 tournament championship after winning the top-rated conference by four full games during the regular season.

This was a coronation for the Big 12. Now it’s on to the NCAA tournament, where Kansas will likely be the top seed overall, protected in Oklahoma City for the opening rounds before heading to St. Louis for the regional finals.

Some quick thoughts here courtside at the Sprint Center where Kansas fans have once again gobbled up the tickets faster and in more numbers than probably any other team in the country save Kentucky.

• Kansas’ Sherron Collins is arguably the best closer heading into the tournament. If you want a big shot then you can take your pick of Kentucky’s John Wall, West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler or Ohio State’s Evan Turner. But Collins is the one that tends to take over the game. He was sensational down the stretch in the 72-64 win over Kansas State. He played the role of Lucy from Peanuts, constantly pulling that football from Charlie Brown Saturday night. Every time Kansas State had this feeling that it could get close, Collins was there to yank KU back in front. Collins finished with 12 points, seven assists and two turnovers in 36 minutes.

• The Morris twins may be the most underrated role players in the country. Marcus and Markieff each have a significant role on this squad in winning the national title. Marcus Morris seems to finish plays, especially broken ones, with 18 points while Markieff was able to get to the free-throw line for five free throws and grab six boards.

• A sleeper contributor that doesn’t get much play is Tyrel Reed. Reed was 7-of-9 from the free-throw line. He could prove vital in a late-game situation in the NCAAs. While Xavier Henry came up with quality 3s in the semifinal win over Texas A&M on Friday, he struggled to make his mark Saturday going 1-of-7. Henry could be a difference maker for the Jayhawks, but it’s clear they can win without him being the most significant second option.

• Kansas State did show it’s more than just Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente, as Curtis Kelly made a few key plays, including a blocked shot, and Jamar Samuels proved he can be a big-time player when asked to do so. Samuels scored 27 points in the quarterfinal win over Oklahoma State off the bench and then made four 3s in a reserve role against Kansas.

• The Wildcats should be fine once they’re rid of Kansas and the rest of the Big 12 teams. K-State’s toughness should prove valuable once the Wildcats get into the NCAAs.

• This week did wonders for the K-State nation. The Wildcats can feel like they’ve closed the gap with the rest of the Big 12 to a second or third position (with Baylor and Texas A&M right there with them, and of course Texas can never be dismissed). But until the Wildcats knock off Kansas they will still be treated as if they are a step below.

Bill Self was expecting a grind-it-out game, a game in which every possession would matter, a game in which his top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks would have "their manhood" tested for the first time.

He just expected it a game ago.

Kansas got the sort of gutcheck game it hadn't experienced since the season opener against Memphis, but not at Temple as Self expected. KU got it instead from a Cornell team that went to Allen Fieldhouse and took Kansas to the very brink of disaster before the Jayhawks could escape, 71-66.

Know this much: nobody wants to be seeing (Big) Red come March.

And know this as well: as tough as that game might have been to sit through for the Kansas faithful, it's the sort of game Self wanted to see. There's a little bit of masochist in every college basketball coach -- they want to win, they don't mind winning easy, but their morbid curiosity always has them wondering how their players will handle adversity. Self got his answer. Sherron Collins stole the headlines, scoring a career-high 33 points, including pivotal freebies in the final minute to remind everyone that player of the year honors haven't been decided yet.

But what was maybe as impressive as Collins' light-up night was the way Cole Aldrich and Tyrel Reed came up big for Kansas at crucial minutes. Aldrich scored on a baby hook shot to cut Cornell's lead to 60-58 and then swatted a Louis Dale shot on the other end. After Jeff Foote traveled for Cornell, Reed hit his only bucket of the night, a 3-pointer that gave KU the lead.

Self left Philadelphia impressed with how hard his team played and more than pleased, but still wondering how tough they would be when things got rough. With one more non-conference game before the tough Big 12 season opens, he might have gotten his answer.

Just a game later than expected.