Way back in the ’40s when heavyweight champion Joe Louis was dispatching foes with regularity, a long-forgotten sportswriter opined that Louis was waging a “Bum-of-the-Month” campaign.
That’s more or less what Kansas University’s men’s basketball team has been doing for the last couple of weeks.
The Jayhawks have spindled two NCAA Div. II teams Washburn and North Dakota and mutilated two semi-majors Boise State and Middle Tennessee State by an average score of 96-61.
On Thursday night, Roy Williams’ string of “bums” will end when Illinois State, a Missouri Valley Conference school coming off a 10-20 season, becomes the fifth straight punching bag to venture into the Allen Fieldhouse ring.
It will be the Jayhawks’ seventh home game in November counting the two exhibitions and ninth overall. Does anybody remember when the NCAA mandated no opener earlier than Dec. 1?
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but after playing all these November games, the Jayhawks have only one home game scheduled in December. That’s right. One. It’s against Tulsa on Dec. 16, a Saturday night during the final examination period.
It’s true the Jayhawks will meet Southwest Missouri State on Dec. 30 in Kansas City’s Kemper Arena, their home away from home, but still one game in Allen Fieldhouse in an entire month is unusual.
Another oddity: Kansas has only five games scheduled during December, including their first official road games Wake Forest on the 7th, DePaul on the 12th and Ohio State on the 23rd.
In theory, the Jayhawks’ only games outside of Allen Fieldhouse have been on a neutral floor, but the clash in Madison Square Garden against St. John’s for the Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic championship was really a road game because the crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Red Storm.
Technically, KU’s first road outing will be at Wake Forest where in a neutral mode in the NCAA Tournament last March the Jayhawks escaped DePaul, 81-77, before bowing to Duke, 69-64.
Since this is more or less the same Kansas team that played in Winston-Salem last year, KU will have the benefit of the familiarity factor, if not a noise edge. The Demon Deacons are currently unbeaten and ranked No. 12 in the AP poll.
Then it’s off to another familiar arena Chicago’s United Center to meet a veteran DePaul team sans Quentin Richardson who left early for the NBA.
Finally, two days before Christmas, the Jayhawks will play at Ohio State in the Kenny Gregory homecoming game. None of the Jayhawks have ever played in OSU’s huge Value City Arena. The Buckeyes’ barn seats 19,100 and I doubt the bulk will be cheering for Gregory.
This Kansas University edition not only still has to show the poll voters it can win on the road, but it has to avoid such road embarrassments as last year at Missouri (81-59) and Oklahoma State (86-53).
Don’t be fooled by the euphoria of the “Bum-of-the-Month” campaign. It has been a valuable time for Williams because it has enabled him to establish a player rotation. Otherwise, the games have been little more than hoot-and-holler fests for the fans.
Kansas may have only five games in December, but three will be in hostile environments, and if the Jayhawks win all three whether by KO, TKO or on points they should go unbeaten into 2001.
A November to remember will be nice, but a December to remember will be even better
