Keegan: For KU, 8 wins in reach

By Tom Keegan Aug 28, 2007

It seems as if every sports gossip in town agrees on the magic number for Kansas University football coach Mark Mangino to maintain job security.

Hint: Mangino is behind the 8-ball in this, his sixth season in charge of a program he inherited from Terry Allen.

The football training facility under construction was a dream of Mangino’s from the moment he took over the program. It comes with a price in terms of expectations. Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins, aided in such a significant way in fundraising efforts for the facility by John Hadl, isn’t interested in the football program staying on the treadmill that is mediocrity. Neither is Mangino, so it’s not as if the neighbors are at each other’s throats.

Having an unspoken standard of eight victories this season won’t freak out Mangino, who has enough confidence in this team to believe it can reach that mark. As for the players, they don’t think about things such as a coach’s job status. They think about executing their assignments so they don’t get an earful from the coach and don’t get replaced by a teammate.

The likelihood of this being a make-or-break season for the coach shouldn’t be a distraction for anyone. That excuse doesn’t cut it.

Can the Jayhawks get to eight victories? Sure, why not? Either a 7-5 regular season with a victory in a bowl game or an 8-4 regular season gets the job done.

Consider the eight most winnable games on the schedule in chronological order:

Central Michigan: Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Chippewas won 10 games a year ago and won a bowl game, as a freshman quarterback Dan LeFevour set school records for touchdown passes (26) and passing yards (3,031). Still, at the end of the day, Central Michigan is a MAC team playing on the road against a Big 12 team. That means it’s time for a no-excuses victory.
Southeastern Louisiana: This is how these games are negotiated: “We’ll give you this much money to show up so that we can beat you badly.”
Toledo: Pay-back time for a KU team that gave away the game in Toledo for the most embarrassing loss of the season.
Florida International: Even before the mass suspensions from the brawl in the Miami game, this was a horrible football team. Forty-six lettermen return from an 0-12 team. The Golden Panthers know how to lose, and they know how to brawl.
At Kansas State: Winning in Manhattan never is easy, but who said they all have to be easy? Imagine KU’s confidence level should it emerge from this game 5-0. Imagine the team’s confidence in quarterback Todd Reesing.
Baylor: See Toledo game.
At Colorado: Dan Hawkins’ success at Boise State suggests he will turn around the mess left him, but it’s going to take more than two years to do it.
Iowa State: Worst team in the Big 12.

Kansas can lose at Texas A&M, at home to Nebraska, on the road to Oklahoma State and at Arrowhead Stadium against Missouri and still achieve eight victories.

Mangino has gone 2-18 in Big 12 road games, but that doesn’t mean he can’t go 2-2 this season. KU’s best record in 11 Big 12 seasons is 3-5. That doesn’t mean the Jayhawks can’t go 4-4 in this pivotal season.