Kansas Jayhawks Basketball Predictions: North Texas Mean Green

It’s the beginning of the annual Thanksgiving Day Tournaments, and the Kansas Jayhawks are taking on the North Texas Mean Green in the first round of the ESPN Events Invitational down in Orlando, FL. Is there any worry that the Jayhawks won’t get the tournament started off right with a big win?

Take a look at what our staff thinks, and then leave your own GIF prediction in the comments below!

Fizzle406: Fun Orlando fact. It used to be named Port St Maria. In the early ‘80s the singer Tony Orlando was in the navy and was stationed in Port St Maria. In his off time he liked to hit up the local open mic to sing. One night an A&R guy from capital records happened to be in the audience. He was so blown away by Tony’s performance he signed him immediately to a contract. Tony’s career took off. About this same time, Walt Disney was looking for a place to launch his upcoming Disney World Theme park. After reading a profile about Tony Orlando in a Life Magazine feature, Walt took out a map and thought Port St Maria would be a good location. The only problem was the name. No one wanted to vacation in a city named Port St Maria, FL. So he met with the mayor of the city. The mayor agreed to change the name on the condition that Disney World would come to Port St Maria and they would name the planned dome building after his cat who had just died, Mr Epcot. While brainstorming the new name, Tony Orlando’s new single “The Lady in You” came on the radio. The rest is history. Well almost, Tony Orlando sued the new city of Orlando and they settled out of court for an unspecified amount. Kansas 88, North Texas 56

Mike.Plank: I… what? Disney World was opened in the early 1970s… I think all of that is #FakeHistory. Fizzle has been watching too much drunk history. Anyway. Kansas good. North Texas probably not as good. Not really worried about this one. Kansas 91, North Texas 70.

Kyle_Davis21: I don’t know how I’m supposed to top Fizzle’s Orlando “history” lesson, so I’ll stick to the hoops. North Texas is interesting because while it is one of the best teams nationally at forcing turnovers (which feels disrespectful on a day like Thanksgiving, but I guess that’s why they’re the Mean Green), it plays at a Virginia-like pace on offense. Meanwhile, Kansas has been one of the best in the country at scoring in transition. And now Jalen Wilson returns to make that fast-paced offense even more deadly. Even if North Texas can force turnovers, UNT doesn’t shoot it well from any place on the floor, so I can’t see the Mean Green scoring enough to keep it close. Kansas 75, North Texas 59

dnoll5:

Andy Mitts: I’m going to be honest, Fizzle’s fake history is probably more interesting than this game is going to be. There might be a few hiccups as Jalen Wilson gets integrated back into the lineup, but Kansas should roll in this one. Kansas 87, North Texas 61