The stage is set

By Gary Bedore     Mar 11, 2007

? At 29-4, Kansas University’s basketball team owns one of the best records in the country.

Winners of 10 straight games, the Jayhawks possess one of the longest winning streaks in the land.

So as a reward for beating rival Kansas State, 67-61, Saturday in a Big 12 tournament semifinal at Ford Center, sweeping Bob Huggins’ Wildcats three games to none and advancing to today’s 2 p.m. final against Texas, the Jayhawks will at 5 p.m. be awarded a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, right?

“I don’t know,” KU coach Bill Self said, refusing to classify the tournament selection committee’s decision as a no-brainer. “I listen to the experts a lot. A lot of people say we should be on the 1 line. A lot of people say we don’t belong. We could be (a No. 1). We also could be the sixth team (overall), too. I think our resume is pretty strong.”

The Jayhawks, who had three players in double figures against the Wildcats (Mario Chalmers 16 points, Julian Wright 12, Sherron Collins 10), were planning to lose an hour’s sleep because of the Daylight Savings Time change, not over what’s going to happen during the Selection Sunday show on CBS.

“They are a weird group,” Self said. “We have not talked about it (seeds). These guys, they are excited to get back in the room and play PlayStation. They don’t seem to get rattled, like today.

“There’s no excitement or celebrating in the locker room. It’s like they did what they’re supposed to do, let’s go get our rest and get ready for tomorrow, which is not a bad approach. It’s a businesslike approach.”

Go figure

8 Kansas State’s first-half rebounds21 Kansas’ first-half rebounds23-13 Kansas State’s second-half rebounding edge33-32 K-State’s second-half scoring edge2 Points scored by Kansas State’s reserves23 Points scored by Kansas’ reserves2 p.m. Time of today’s Big 12 championship game against Texas on ESPN5 p.m. Time of today’s NCAA Selection show on CBS

Junior guard Russell Robinson, who had five points and four assists in 33 minutes versus the Wildcats, agreed with his coach that tourney specifics are not on the players’ minds.

“I think the focus is winning the next game, let the chips fall where they may,” Robinson said. “Hopefully things will work out in our best interests.”

Of course, as a proud flock of Jayhawks, the players think they’re deserving of a top seed with the likes of Ohio State, Wisconsin, UCLA, Memphis, Florida and North Carolina.

“I think we deserve it. I think we’re one of the best teams in the country now,” sophomore Brandon Rush said after scoring eight points on a day he missed seven of 10 shots, including five of six threes.

“I think we’re one of the four best teams,” noted sophomore guard Chalmers, who scored a team-leading eight points the first half in helping KU build a 35-28 lead and also cashed two straight threes in a 10-2 spurt that opened a 47-33 advantage.

KU did see its lead dip to four points with 4:11 left, but regained composure form two free throws from Darnell Jackson and a bucket from Darrell Arthur.

“It was a grind-it-out win, which is not bad. It’s the type of game you need to play,” Self said.

There are plenty of things Self can do to prepare his team for today’s conference title clash; there’s nothing he can do about Selection Sunday seeds and the awarding of sites.

“Our goal coming here was to win the tournament,” Self said. “If you play it, you might as well play to win. We look forward to the game. We look forward to everything that goes along with next week. We have bigger fish to fry as well (in NCAAs).”

KU’s fourth-year coach said he’s a believer his team’s fate may have been decided Saturday, with today’s game having nothing to do with KU becoming a No. 1 or not.

“Last year’s game absolutely did not affect our seeding,” said Self, whose Jayhawks beat Texas in the league final and were awarded a No. 3 seed.

“Maybe they can seed them differently based on how the performances go tomorrow. Based on last year, I think it’d be difficult to do. I’d think most would be done tonight.”

Though he won’t be devastated if KU does not get a No. 1 – “You accept it and get excited about it and move on,” he said – he will not say his team isn’t worthy of a top seed.

“I think our nonconference resume is good, with wins over Boston College, Florida, USC a double-digit win. Obviously, we had some bad losses,” Self said. “I look across America, (and) I think everybody has one or two of those. We haven’t had any recently.”

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23901The stage is set