Ken Davis

The target sits squarely on the backs of the Kansas Jayhawks. They are the consensus preseason pick as the No. 1 team in college basketball for 2009-10. If there is a publication or poll that has selected another No. 1, it has been done quietly and without much thought.

Before North Carolina cut down the nets at the Final Four in Detroit, we were already selecting Kansas as the next team to beat. The prediction was conditionally based on the return of senior point guard Sherron Collins and junior center Cole Aldrich. When those two announced they were having too much fun in Lawrence and wouldn’t enter the 2009 NBA draft, the deal was complete. The addition of freshman Xavier Henry was gravy — very significant gravy.

Collins and Aldrich are determined to win back the national trophy they carted away from San Antonio in 2008 and, in the process, become the first Jayhawks ever to wear two championship rings.

“It’s one of the best feelings you could ever have as a player,” Aldrich said of his emotions after beating Memphis in the 2008 title game. “It’s a feeling that you continue wanting to have. That’s really what drives people, even guys that have never done it. With our team, we’re telling the younger guys that this is as much fun as you will ever have playing sports.”

Aldrich and Collins are first-team preseason All-America choices. In the Big 12, they share preseason player of year honors. If that doesn’t impress you, consider this statement from Kansas coach Bill Self.

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“Cole has a chance, in my opinion, to be the best true big man Kansas has had since Wilt (Chamberlain),” Self said at Big 12 media day. “Danny (Manning) wasn’t a center. Raef (LaFrentz) wasn’t a center. That’s a pretty big statement for 50-plus years.”

Self also has supreme confidence in Collins, who shouldered a huge load last season as the Jayhawks regrouped after losing all the starters from that championship team. “Last year I pretty much had to be on top of my game or we would lose,” Collins said. But he knows it won’t as demanding this time around. Tyshawn Taylor is better. So are the Morris twins: Marcus and Markieff.

Kansas has so much depth that Self is considering redshirt seasons for Mario Little and Travis Releford. Little fought off injuries and averaged 4.7 points and 3.2 rebounds in 23 games last season. Releford, a two-time high school All-American, played in 32 games as a freshman. Reserve Conner Teahan might also sit out the season, but Self would still have enough for an extremely talented nine-man rotation.

Of the newcomers, Henry has received the most publicity, and he might be the first one-and-done player in Kansas history. His outside shooting and rebounding will be a big boost. But remember the name Thomas Robinson. The 6-foot-9 freshman has made a big impression in the practice.

“His motor is different than what we’ve had,” Self said. “Thomas has changed practice more than anybody else.”

Unlike last season, when the Jayhawks did better than anyone expected, Aldrich and Collins have a strong supporting cast this season. Are they good enough to live up to the ultra-high expectations? Only time will tell.

That’s our first storyline of the season. Here are some others to think about before the first tip-off:

Will Coach Cal lead Kentucky back to the Promised Land?
John Calipari was part rock star, part TV minister and part politician at Kentucky’s Midnight Madness. The fans at Rupp Arena loved every Big Blue moment. Calipari, who will be referred to here from time to time as Coach Vacate (in honor of those missing Final Four appearances at UMass and Memphis), is going to win games with a system that feeds talented players into the NBA. Kentucky fans are going to be thrilled with freshmen John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe, and Patrick Patterson is a monster inside.

The Wildcats might return to the Final Four this season. If they don’t, will the Kentucky fans be patient? They weren’t with Billy Gillispie. The first step is getting back to the NCAA Tournament and that’s a lock.

Could North Carolina repeat?

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The Tar Heels are going to be in the hunt, but it is so tough to win back-to-back national championships in this day and age. Roy Williams brought in another terrific recruiting class (get used to hearing the names of twins David and Travis Wear). But losing that nucleus of Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green is hard to overcome. Sophomore Ed Davis is ready to be a star and Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson are no slouches. North Carolina might reach the Elite Eight but don’t schedule any national championship parades for Franklin Street.

Who has the toughest conference?
Last season, the Big East talked about toughness in historic proportions. The predictions came true. The regular season was a beast, and the conference tournament was a dogfight that included the classic six-overtime game between Syracuse and UConn. The Huskies and Villanova made it to the Final Four.

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This season, the Big 12 could send Kansas and Texas to the final weekend. The Longhorns should be ecstatic that everyone is talking about Kansas. When Oklahoma State’s James Anderson is talked about as the sixth best player in the league — behind Aldrich, Collins, Damion James of Texas, Willie Warren of Oklahoma, and Craig Brackins of Iowa State — you’ve got some real talent. The Southeastern Conference will be the most improved conference. That’s almost a lock, because the SEC was awful last season. The SEC could double its number of NCAA Tournament teams to six — or maybe seven.

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