Kansas Jayhawks: Week-Long Break Comes At Right Time

You may be asking yourself, how could a week long break after rolling to a perfect 9-0 start be a good thing?

Sure, I know conventional basketball wisdom might say this is exactly when you don't  want to have a week-long break in your schedule. With an underachieving, yet extremely talented Michigan team lingers next on the schedule, one might think you need to continue to roll right into the game. 

For Kansas, the break coincides with the school's first semester final exams. It happens every year, at every school, and basketball must be put on hold.

Unlike some of the previous seasons, Kansas has come off of finals to face the likes of a Sun Belt team, or one of those teams you only hear about when they have a 15 or 16 in front of their names in March.

This year the break comes just before arguably Kansas's toughest stretch of games.

KU will host Michigan this coming Saturday and will turn around and face the Cal Bears on Monday night.  

After those two games, the Jayhawks will host perennial tournament team Belmont before a trip to Temple (essentially the same, but much improved squad that beat the Jayhawks last year in Kansas City).

The fun won't end there, as the Jayhawks will have to host Ivy League co-favorite Cornell, a team that won't be a pushover.

The final game of this tough run will be a trip to Knoxville to take on the free-wheeling offense of Tennessee. The Volunteers will likely have just one loss and be a top five team going into that game. 

So, when you look at the schedule that awaits the Jayhawks in the coming weeks, I think the break is coming at a perfect time this season. 

The guys can focus on their school work, harder than they typically do, for a week. They can use their afternoon workouts and practices to get better, become more disciplined, and study their next couple of opponent's tendencies. 

Since my hypothesis is what it is, I am expecting the Jayhawks to be ready come Saturday morning. Yep, morning. 

The nation will get to see Allen Fieldhouse at what I consider to be the best time of day. Tip-off is at 11:00 AM local time, and the natural light will be pouring in from the windows that form the south end of the Fieldhouse.

It will be a perfect setting for some of the younger players to experience, and I think they will elevate their games a little because of the setting. 

Of course, there may very well be the chance that the Jayhawks come out a little too overzealous, or just plain flat. But with a week to prepare, and think about something other than basketball 24/7, the Jayhawks should come out flying against the Wolverines on Saturday.