Don't Mess With the Kansas Jayhawks

I forgot to mention Kansas the other day in my blog about NCAA basketball national championship contenders.

The only reminder I needed was watching the Kansas-Baylor game Monday night on ESPN. The Jayhawks destroyed the Bears like they do to most teams appearing in Allen Fieldhouse.

This was supposed to be a down year (don’t use the rebuilding word) at Kansas. Some down year. The Jayhawks are ranked No. 4 with just one loss. They are posed to take their ninth straight Big 12 Conference title. Can you say domination?

It’s difficult to stop Kansas because it has a sold inside-outside game. Center Jeff Withey is a solid inside scorer who also blocks shots. The outside game comes from the likes of Elijah Johnson, Ben McLemore and Travis Releford. McLemore is the prize of that group and he went down with an injury against Baylor, so we’ll see if that has an effect on the Jayhawks. I think they have enough weapons to withstand a brief McLemore absence.

The long-term question is does Kansas possess the toughness to survive a grinding NCAA tournament? Are they tested enough in a league this year having a down cycle? Are they susceptible to a hot mid-major team in the NCCAA tournament?