Last time the Jayhawks met Iowa State they nearly were dealt an unthinkable loss in Lawrence, and with Iowa State having one of the more famed home courts (at least to Big 12 fans) I don't think any Kansas fans would be surprised if they were dealt their first loss of Big 12 play in Ames.

The biggest way Kansas can maximize its chances of winning is by limiting Royce White as much as possible. White has gone from problem child at Minnesota, where he never played a game, to one of the best players in the conference. He leads the Big 12 in FT rate, ranks first in usage rate and is second in both defensive rebounding percentage and assist rate.

White gets most of his points from two, as he's only taken 5 threes on the year, but he is extremely good at getting to the hoop with 63% of his field goals coming at the rim. Only a third of those are assisted, so he does a lot of the work himself.

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Thursday afternoon Bill Self held his weekly press conference where he talked about Jeff Withey, Thomas Robinson, winning on the road in the Big 12 and of course Iowa State.

In addition Jeff Withey, Tyshawn Taylor and Connor Teahan all sat in from the player side.

Kansas Head Coach Bill Self

On Jeff Withey's development this season compared to other players:

"I think he's probably well ahead of most. Thomas (Robinson) has really developed a lot this year, from the beginning. But Jeff has developed as much as anybody for us. He's become quite a presence in there, defensively. We need him to be active and play well, and when he does, I think he keys our success about as much as anybody. He makes it awfully hard to score on us inside when he's blocking and altering (shots) like he is right now."

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Kansas Basketball

Kansas Football

Chat with Matt Tait | KUsports.com
Tait's done these the last couple weeks.

Upcoming Opponent Talk

NCB - Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg has the Cyclones rolling thanks to transfers - ESPN The Magazine - ESPN
In ESPN The Magazine, Ryan McGee writes that Iowa State's Fred Hoiberg is showing his coaching counterparts there's more than one way to recruit.

Iowa State's Royce White and the battle within -- college basketball - ESPN
In terms of opponents, the big men in the Big 12 are nothing compared to the gripping anxiety disorder that so often made Royce White a shell of himself. But now he's getting help -- and he wants others to as well.

Royce White morphs into Cyclones' leader - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN
All things considered, this was a rough start to the week for Iowa State forward Royce White.

College Football

Top recruits like Yuri Wright need to be careful on Twitter - Andy Staples - SI.com
A look at social media and athletes. Specifically recruits. You certainly don't hear many positives surrounding this.

I know we have a crew out there that really enjoys baseball season and I'm sure some would pay a little bit more attention if they knew where to find it. Well you're in luck. This really is a pretty sweet deal in for the team and fans and it shows some positive strides in trying to extend the reach of the sport among the Kansas fanbase. Certainly I'd encourage everyone to take at least one trip out to the ballpark to catch the Jayhawks during your college tenure. Who knows, you might just find you like it.

For the first time in program history, all 56 Kansas baseball regular season games during the 2012 season will air on Jayhawk All-Access or KLWN Radio (1320 AM). The addition makes more than 225 events Jayhawk All-Access will produce during the 2011-12 academic year.

It also marks the first time that the entire baseball schedule has been carried via live broadcast.

Jayhawk All-Access will carry audio for 26 games throughout the season with free video coverage available for a majority of the home contests. KLWN Radio will pick up coverage on Tuesday, March 27 for the game at Missouri State at 6:30 p.m., and continue throughout the regular season. Fans can still tune in to Jayhawk All-Access for video coverage during KU home games.

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If time travel was a thing, people reading Rock Chalk Talk a year ago would be shocked to see the title of this post. But despite his reputation as a careless, problematic player, there is no doubt that Tyshawn Taylor has been one of the best players on the team, in the conference, and perhaps even the country.

Because neither we as KU fans nor voters can be biased, for entirely different reasons, I instead present a blind item. Here are the lines of some players generally thought to be the best point guards in the country, along with Tyshawn Taylor.

A couple notes: this mostly leaves defense out. I debated using defensive win shares from BB Ref but I'm not really a fan of trying to boil down defensive contributions to one number. (I think Aaron Craft is the best defensive PG in the country and Kendal Marshall the worst among the elite offensive ones. I would put Tyshawn close to the top, so take that for what it's worth.) Lastly, I would personally look at the numbers that are components of ORtg and PER, but that is mostly your discretion.

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Kansas Basketball

Teahan working to correct three-point woes | KUsports.com
Yes please. Not sure what happened here but this was supposed to be what he brought to the table. It's sporadic at best.

Kansas Women's Basketball

Dynamite Davis: KU’s No. 21 blows out 21st-ranked Texas Tech | KUsports.com
Big win for the women's team. Still working toward a national ranking, this helps.

Kansas women on track for tourney appearance | KUsports.com
This would be an exciting development. It's been awhile.

Big12

Oklahoma State upsets No. 2 Missouri 79-72 - KansasCity.com
This is pretty big at the moment. Saturday's game presents a huge opportunity. Take care of business in Ames, hold serve against Oklahoma at home and we head to Columbia at 9-0 with a 2 game lead half way through the conference season. Sounds great, but boy does that game in Ames on Saturday worry me.

Big 12 Expansion: Louisville, BYU Could Follow West Virginia, According To Report - SBNation.com
I'd be good with both of these additions myself. I wonder how Jake Heaps would feel about the possibility of playing his former school.

Big 12 Conference Reopens Expansion Talk - Players - The Chronicle of Higher Education
and more on expansion

College Football

Which Seven College Football Bowl Games Should Be Done Away With? - SBNation.com
This would raise the stakes.

Guys Who Used To Play Football

Brock Berglund, former Kansas, Valor Christian QB, assault charges dismissed | — The Denver Post
Looks like the court case was just now actually resolved.