Kansas To Make Four Appearances on Big Monday in 2014

The Big 12 sure knows where its bread is buttered. The schedule for ESPN's Big Monday was released today, and for the 8th straight season, Kansas will make four appearances on Big Monday out of 8 possible weeks. Of course, that is still one year shorter than the number of Big 12 titles Kansas has won in a row, but I digress.

Kansas begins on January 13th with a trip to Ames, where tensions will no doubt run high after some poor foul calls in last year's contest (seriously there's no way Withey committed so many touch fouls) and the Cyclones should be one of the top challengers for the Big 12 title this year.

Kansas hosts Baylor the next week, with one of Scott Drew's most talented teams coming into Lawrence. Will it be like the last two meetings in Lawrence, with the Jayhawks overwhelming the Bears with a pumped up crowd behind them? Or will Isaiah Austin be able to lead Baylor to an upset?

The next contest is February 10th when Kansas travels to Manhattan. Playing at Kansas State has always been a tough road game for the Jayhawks, though they have won the previous two meetings in Manhattan.

Finally, Kansas rounds things out by hosting Oklahoma on February 24th. Without Romero Osby the Sooners will probably take a step back from last year, but Buddy Hield had a summer to get better and Sooners fans are counting on him to improve. If he does, Oklahoma could finish in the top half of the league and they could be a tough challenge indeed.

Absent from this list, of course, is Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks and Cowboys will likely be a Saturday showcase game on CBS, or look for one of Lawrence or Stillwater to host ESPN's College Gameday when the other comes to town.

Personally of the four Big Monday games I'm most looking forward to going to Ames, because of the hype that should surround it thanks to last year's game, and their games always seem to be exciting. Perhaps a bit too exciting.