Rock Chalk Mailbag: Pre Football Edition

Football season is just around the corner and content will be moving that way for a couple months (so see you guys in October) but for now it's time for a quick end of season mailbag. As always, if you have any questions for a follow up mailbag you can tweet @rockchalktalk or email rockchalkmailbag at gmail.

@rockchalktalk How do you guys feel about B12/SEC challenge getting pushed to the end of January? GameDay will be there for sure

— Blue State Podcast (@BlueStatePod) August 21, 2015

I personally am not a huge fan. I know a lot of Kansas fans, and probably more Kentucky fans, will be treating that game as the most important one on the schedule, but for me I'd rather the team concentrate on the Big 12 schedule. What makes the timing of the Kentucky game worse is that the next game is at Iowa State in what could end up the biggest game on the schedule. Kansas has a couple other tough games to start the conference slate, but if they can win at Ames it will probably pretty much end any talk of someone else winning the league.

Now that you have seen the conference schedule, what is your prediction for a record?

-Jeff M

The schedule can be found here, and it has some good and bad things about it. Opening against Baylor and Oklahoma is tough, but with both being at home it does give the team a chance to immediately go up a game on two of its biggest competitors. I also think, despite the challenge of playing at West Virginia and Oklahoma State, there is a slight chance the team goes into that game at Iowa State sitting at 7-0 in the league, which would mean that a win over the Cyclones in Ames would wrap up the league pretty much no matter what happened on the back end.

On the other hand, there is a possibility the team loses to Baylor or OU at home, especially given that students won't be back yet, and also maybe drops one or two of those road games and then all of a sudden they will need a huge second half of the league slate to win.

I will say this: roughly judging on how I think the teams will end up this season, Kansas doesn't have many easy weeks, but they don't have many impossible weeks either. There are four very tough games: at ISU, at OU, at Baylor and at WVU. I also think we will struggle at OSU and at UT because of how we usually play there and the fact that Austin should be rocking for the first KU visit of the Shaka Smart era. And, no matter how awful they will be, we can't rule out a horrible effort in Manhattan. The nature of being the giant of the league is that every time Kansas goes somewhere, they get the best atmosphere of the season and get the opponents' best effort. I am tentatively going to go with 14-4, which I think will be enough for at least a share of the league.

@rockchalktalk How many KU players will get drafted before Selden goes?

— Rasher2 (@CamRasher) August 19, 2015

I noted that DraftExpress has both Selden and Brannen Greene being drafted late in their just released 2017 mock draft. However, I am not ruling out the possibility of a big Selden season that builds on what he did in the World University Games and then becoming a first rounder or early second rounder in 2016. (/guzzles kool aid). Regardless of whether he stays or goes, however, I think he is third in line behind Cheick Diallo and Svi Mykhailiuk in terms of the NBA Draft. I do think Brannen Greene is a prospect and I think there is a (very) slight chance a team takes a flier on either Perry Ellis or Frank Mason, but Selden is in front of either of those.

@rockchalktalk which conference team not named Iowa State does KU football have the best shot at knocking off in 2015?

— Michael Plank (@mikevilleKS) August 20, 2015

Uhhh. Texas Tech is pretty awful so I am going with them but a lot has to go right for Kansas to win any game this year, even the opener against South Dakota State.