This might be the moment the doubters were waiting for. Before the season began, the Kansas Jayhawks had many wondering if they lacked the depth and overall talent to repeat in the Big 12, perhaps making way for a program like Baylor. Early losses still failed to create significant doubt since they came against major programs like Kentucky and Duke. But with last night’s home loss to Davidson, the detractors now have their evidence — and Bill Self agrees.
“Other games where you are more talented and somebody beats you, you could consider it an upset. That wasn’t an upset tonight,” the KU head coach said after the game.
“We need to be mentally sharp every night we play. There’s not as much margin for error (this year). We weren’t sharp. This team is not mature enough to understand we have to play really well to beat the teams that maybe they (KU players) don’t think are our equals, which is total crap. This (Davidson) team was our equal. We knew it coming in, and they played like it tonight.
“This is what the reality check is … we’ve got to be really focused, play really hard and play really smart and play to our strengths to have a chance to beat anybody on our schedule.”
The Jayhawks need to use this as a way to establish some momentum and focus, since the schedule only gets more difficult from here. The next game is against USC and then after two more smaller programs, the Big 12 conference play hits. You can believe Kansas State is anxious to knock off the Jayhawks for state-wide bragging rights. For now, Self has his physical evidence to show that Kansas cannot coast one bit this year.