The KU men will tipoff off at 1 p.m. on CBS and the KU women are scheduled for a 4 p.m. start on ESPN+.

For both programs, the goal is the same — find a way to increase the intensity to the point that they’re prepared to dive into the grind that is the 18-game, double-round-robin Big 12 schedule.

For Self’s squad, that means taking care of business at home, which Self’s teams always emphasized during their unprecedented run of success in winning Big 12 title after Big 12 title.

“You’ve got to hold serve at home,” Self said Friday. “Let’s just call it like it is. Teams that win the league, they may lose at home, but they don’t lose often.”

At home or away, the Jayhawks have won 31 consecutive conference openers dating back to the 1991-92 season. Twelve of those wins have come at home and 19 of them have been on the road.

There are enough veterans on this Kansas team to share with the young player why and how Big 12 play is different. But KU freshman Gradey Dick, who has racked up serious success in just about every first he has faced so far this season, said Friday that

“We realize what’s at stake,” Dick said of the streak. “Our goal is) just keeping that going and keep playing the way we play.”

Self said he’s eager to see just how ready this team is for the “second season.”

“We’re just trying to educate our guys that the intensity’s going to (go) up a few notches,” he said. “It always is when you get to league play. And (we want to) let them know that the first season (non-conference) has very little relevance in the big scheme of things when you talk about successful seasons. … Nobody’s going to look back at a season and say, ‘Hey, we were good in the non-conference.’ Nobody. They’re going to look back at how you did in the postseason and how you did in the league.”

The Oklahoma State men enter Saturday’s game at 8-4 overall but with the 17th-ranked defense per KenPom.com’s defensive efficiency rankings. One of the big reasons for that is the presence of big man Moussa Cisse, who enters averaging 9 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks per game.

Self said Cisse has a chance to do something with points, rebounds and blocks that no big man has done in decades. And he knows dealing with him will be a tough challenge for his team entering this one, much like dealing with Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis was at Allen Fieldhouse, where Jackson-Davis blocked nine shots in the KU victory.

“Them and Tennessee are probably the two best defensive teams we’ve played against this year,” Self said of the Cowboys, who played second-ranked UConn to within 10 points earlier this month. “They have shot blockers that we haven’t really gone against this year with the exception of one guy. They pressure, they’re quick and they sprinkle in some zone, so we’re going to have to be ready for that.”

Dick said KU learned a lot by facing Jackson-Davis and he thinks those lessons, along with the extra time they’ve had to spend on Oklahoma State, should have KU ready.

“We have a game plan for every team we play,” Dick said. “And we’ve already started getting prepared for them since last week. Obviously, he’s an amazing center, (but we just have to) move that ball. We can’t just drive and take the first shot.”

The KU women will head to Stillwater, Oklahoma, looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season, a triple-overtime setback on Dec. 21 at Nebraska.

Although the loss stung because of how they played and the number of chances they had to win, KU coach Brandon Schneider said the 10-1 Jayhawks learned a lot from the defeat, particularly in the areas of sticking to the scouting report and executing after timeouts.

“Those things are important,” Schneider said.

Like Self, Schneider also has reminded his team about the extra effort and focus it takes to win in the Big 12, and he believes the Jayhawks (10-1) are ready to get back on the court after the loss to Nebraska.

The OSU women’s team, which features eight transfers, enters the game at 10-2, having won four games in a row, all by double digits.

“They are really good offensively and they shoot a bunch of 3s,” Schneider said. “They’re more talented than they were a year ago without question.”

As for opening Big 12 play on the road, Schneider said his team did not have a preference of playing this one at home or away.

“I think that the best road team usually wins the Big 12 title,” Schneider said. “Everybody’s going to preach that you’ve got to win your home games, but at the end of (on the road is) where you really celebrate yourself, by having a little extra edge about you when you’re in a different environment. Everybody always talks about one game at a time, but the way our schedule typically lines up is you get two days to prepare and a game, so it’s three days at a time. And you have to be really locked in for all three days and then go do it again.”