Oklahoma State-Kansas Preview: Jayhawks Aim to Continue Home Win Streak

The Kansas Jayhawks (18-4 ovr. 7-0 conf.) host the Oklahoma State Cowboys (14-7 ovr. 3-4 conf.) on Saturday afternoon in a game that can be seen on ABC. Last year, the Cowboys beat the Jayhawks, 61-60, in Stillwater, one of the Jayhawks' three losses in their championship season.

This year should be a different story. The defending champions are just now garnering some support and "props" from national media outlets. They've appeared on the cover of ESPN.com this week, proving to be a lock for the tournament in March. Kansas just broke into the rankings this week after being absent for, according to KU standards, is a lengthy amount of time.

THE STREAK

Kansas has been out of the national spotlight all year, thanks to a team that boasts no senior starters. Notre Dame began its horrendous run of defeats with a loss at home, which gave the Jayhawks the nation's longest home winning streak. The winning streak currently sits at 36, which is just the third-longest in school history.

The last home loss came to Texas A&M when Acie Law IV took over with just under two minutes to play, hitting a miraculous shot to give the Jayhawks the loss.

Juniors Brady Morningstar and Sherron Collins have only experienced two home court losses in their tenures at KU. The other loss came during a stunning upset early on in the season, when KU had a squad similar in age to the current one, losing to Oral Roberts.

As I previously mentioned, this is only the third-longest in school history. This streak has to survive 20 more games before it breaks the second-place streak of 55 straight home wins. The longest streak in school history is 62, during Roy Williams' golden era, where the program possessed the likes of Paul "The Truth" Pierce and Jacques Vaughn, among others.

According to a story in one of the best student papers in the country, the University Daily Kansan, Bill Self couldn't care less about streaks. In fact, he doesn't even mention the fact that the players have the streak going when preparing for home games. I can somewhat respect that; however, you must know that the players know about the streak, and to them, it's very important.

That being said, I highly doubt that when Bill Self is forced to call a timeout in the second because one of the Morris twins has made a patented freshman error that caused the Cowboys cut into a lead, his purple face won't be a reminder to all of the players just how important the game is.

For the players, they know this game isn't just about taking an 8-0 conference record to Columbia, Missouri, on Monday night, or that it has the implications for the Jayhawks to break into the Top 20 in the rankings. Pride comes with a winning streak like this, and I am sure for most of the players keeping this streak going is what they care about most, in the material sense.

WORTHY FOE

Oklahoma State will not be a pushover, either. They have played the Big 12's top teams hard, taking Oklahoma and Missouri to the wire before being defeated. They have the talent to be in this game for the full 40 minutes. If they can keep Cole Aldrich off the boards for a decent amount of time and fluster him when he gets the ball on the offensive end, they may have a shot at the upset.

Just like the Jayhawk players, the Oklahoma State players are aware of the streak and are aware that they chance of getting the credit for ending it.

More importantly for the Cowboys is that they are currently sitting on a bubble-esque record. 14-7 is not spectacular, but they have enough winnable games on their schedule that could get them to 20 wins. Right now they don't have any impressive in-conference wins, and a victory over a ranked opponent and conference co-leader on Saturday would do well to get them back into Joe Lunardi's "Last Four In" column on ESPN's weekly "Bracketology."

GAME KEYS

KU has to get off to a better start than they have in the last three games. They sputtered mightily out of the gate in Lincoln and struggled early against Colorado. Oklahoma State has the talent to keep a lead should the Jayhawks have a problem scoring the ball early on in Saturday's contest.

Cole Aldrich will have to be more successful in battling the demons of his face mask. Mario Little has come on strong, and if he has a good game on Saturday, Oklahoma State will have a tough time keeping up with Kansas.

Rebounds will be key as always. KU has singlehandedly won games by winning the rebound battle. If the Morris twins can come up with contributions similar to those they came up with in the Baylor game, Oklahoma State won't have much of a shot.

Conversely, if Oklahoma State can weather the storm and take advantage of the period of time where KU's offense starts to sputter (which tends to happen a couple times a game), they can keep the game close. Perimeter defense will be key, as KU loves to shoot the three this year, especially at home.

REMEMBER THIS?

After winning the national title, Kansas coach Bill Self was offered a grandiose contract from billionaire and Oklahoma State pocketbook T. Boone Pickens. I don't know what Self's exact thought process was, but I am sure it included weighing the option of coaching his alma mater's program vs. coaching at arguably the most historic program in the entire sport.

It's my guess that had he gone to bed thinking positively about going to Oklahoma State to coach. But he more than likely woke up from the dreams of launching himself into OSU theology saying, "Without Kansas basketball, Kentucky basketball doesn't exist and North Carolina Basketball doesn't exist. I better stay at Kansas, where they will pay me millions and I can get new facilities immediately."

PREDICTION

I think, more than anyone, the fans will be cognizant of the home court winning streak. I've been in Allen Fieldhouse for these trap games where a thought of a loss comes into my head for a second, then I couldn't even hear myself think such a thought because it was too loud to do so. I think the game will be close for most of the way, but tens of thousands of people wearing blue will tilt the game in the Jayhawks' favor.

Kansas 82, Oklahoma State 73