Can TCU Upset the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence?

The TCU Horned Frogs get the opportunity to walk into Allen Fieldhouse for the very first time to play the Kansas Jayhawks who they upset at home a few weeks ago. They get to walk in to see all this history, tradition and feel the intense atmosphere around them. They get to see the pregame video and watch all the exciting plays and learn about the players and plays that made Kansas who they are today. The Horned Frogs better beware of the Phog inside the arena and the fans that will go crazy cheering for their Jayhawks.

The Jayhawks have looked great the last three games blowing out Kansas State and Texas and fighting for the win against a good Oklahoma State team. The three game losing skid is over and TCU was one of those teams that handed Kansas a loss. TCU is the only team that handled Kansas from start to finish, and it was the only game Kansas didn’t have a chance to win. Coach Bill Self thinks the way the Horned Frogs played them the first time was perfect. They cut off angles in the post and limited transition. TCU just whipped Kansas. No other team has been able to control the game the entire time against them.

Even though TCU played great defense in the first game, the Jayhawks were ice cold shooting the ball and the Horned Frogs ate the Jayhawks for breakfast. This time it will be a whole different story. Kansas is finally playing tough on defense and showed that on Wednesday night down the stretch. Travis Releford was great on defense in overtimes, taking a charge and guarding closely to make sure the Cowboys wouldn’t score. They finally woke up on grabbing the defensive rebounds which kept them in the game. They now have their focus back and will be determined to win this game.

These seniors will make sure that TCU remembers or will soon want to forget about their visit to the Phog. This Kansas team is prepared for this battle. They remember the loss in Fort Worth and saw the crowd rush the court. They felt the loss in practice and saw it on ESPN. They heard all the comments about how this team was beat bad by an unranked team.

They will be focused and their offense and defense will be on fire from tip-off to the final buzzer. Jeff Withey will get some blocks, Elijah Johnson will drive to the basket and make the right plays, Ben McLemore will be Ben again, Releford will push the action and Kevin Young will be so energized. The Jayhawks will play tough by crashing the boards, passing the ball, shooting the rock, not turning over the ball and they get to do this all in front of former Jayhawk basketball players, coaches, managers, trainers, broadcasters and administrators.

This is the 115th year of Kansas basketball reunion and about 200 former players were signed up to come back. It will be a great reunion in the Phog on Saturday afternoon and one that TCU will remember. With all of this going on there is still a game to be played. This time there will be no upset and in a way I feel sorry for the Horned Frogs. It will be a nightmare they will want to wake up from. Kansas will have its way with them and payback will be applied.

John D. Hayden  is a Writer and Contributor for www.RantSports.com, covering the NCAA and NBA.  Follow John on twitter @jdhayden09, or add his Google +  to your circles for all of his latest articles, thoughts, and rants.