Monday Miscellany: My Defending Champion Kansas Jayhawks Unsoundly Edge My Alma Mater UMKC Roos

I knew the Jayhawks were going to enter the season as a young, green basketball team. Never did I imagine though, that they would open the season at home, against the University of Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos, and toy with the idea of losing.

A look at the schedule by non-KU fans would see this game and call it a bogus match, a way to get an easy win. And one would struggle to mount an argument against that theory. One might not've noticed however, who was slated to start for this Jayhawks squad. Have a look here, here, here, here, and here. That's three sophomores, one junior, one senior, and, uh, four of the whitest guys on the planet.

Even still, I was surprised when the Roos hit the floor and drained a couple of early threes for their first lead of the game, one they would hold until late in the first half. The clubs entered the break at a tie, but I was practically convinced that this would be the first upset of the season for KU. Twas not to be, though, as the Jayhawks came out strong in the second, and finished with a 71-56 victory. No surprise that Sherron "Keep it in Your Pants" Collins led all scorers with 16. Aldrich and Reed weren't far behind with 13, 12 respectively. Markieff Morris threw in some surprises of his own as he pulled down 15 boards. One win down; 30 to go.