Ken Davis

Repeat after me: It doesn’t matter who is ranked No. 1 in the polls. This isn’t college football. College basketball decides its national championship with a playoff system called the NCAA tournament. The best team will be the one that wins six games in the tournament.

Ohio State. Texas. Kansas. Pittsburgh. Duke. Sure, the debate is fun. But nobody will care by the time we get to the Final Four in Houston. Trust the system. Now, it’s time to answer some questions.

Q: Ken, if Arizona beats Washington on Saturday, do you think the Wildcats could get a No. 2 or 3 seed in the NCAA tournament? I know people rip their schedule, but they’d have 23 wins and a star in Derrick Williams.
— Casey D., Phoenix

A: Arizona is a great story, Casey, and a win over Washington on Saturday would be huge for the Wildcats. I cannot see Arizona entering the tournament with a No. 2 seed, however.

Beating Washington would give Arizona two victories over teams in the RPI 1-50 range. The other came against UCLA. The Wildcats have five more wins in the 51-100 range, but there are just too many teams with more impressive resumes ahead of the Wildcats. When you look at the entire body of work, you can’t elevate Arizona into the tournament’s top eight.

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Sean Miller has done a great job turning this program around quickly and I love watching Derrick Williams play. I was impressed with the way Arizona played in that loss to Kansas back in November. Even though they lost that game, I think the Wildcats picked up a lot of confidence. Now they are finishing strong.

Right now, I’d have Arizona holding a 5 seed. A win over Washington might make the Wildcats a real solid 4 seed, if they take care of business the rest of the way.

Q: You’re a Kansas guy. Are you a believer in the Jayhawks after Kansas State crushed them Monday night?
— Reed Dunn, Seattle

A: Not sure what you mean by the word “believer.” Do I think Kansas can win the national championship? Yes, if they are healthy and play their best basketball for six games. I don’t think Kansas should have been ranked No. 1 this week. Voters who automatically move teams up are doing fans a disservice. I no longer vote in the AP poll. If I did, I would have left Ohio State on top, even after the loss to Wisconsin. That’s irrelevant. As I said in the introduction, the polls don’t mean a thing in college basketball. They’re just there for fun.

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When I saw the quote from Marcus Morris saying he wanted that No. 1 chip on his shoulder, I knew the Jayhawks wouldn’t be ready to play in Manhattan just hours after the release of the polls. The Morris twins are very talented and give Kansas a unique matchup problem on the floor. They still haven’t matured into the type of leaders a team needs to win a championship. The body language from the Jayhawks on Monday night indicated they thought they could waltz into Bramlage Coliseum and win because they were ranked No. 1 and they had routed K-State in Lawrence. I can’t understand a team not being ready to play in that situation. Kansas should have been pumped up at the first sight of purple.

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The Wildcats needed a victory in the worst way, and the Jayhawks didn’t seem to recognize that. Big mistake. You could say Kansas was ripe for a loss because of injuries and the fact they were on the road against their in-state rivals. The Jayhawks should have realized they needed their “A game” on the road. That’s the rule in college basketball now. The Morris twins have been warned about their mental meltdowns, the elbows, the intentional fouls and the incredulous looks at officials. If they don’t grow up and stop their foolish behavior, the Jayhawks will pay the price in March. Bill Self has done so much for these brothers. It’s time they paid him back by doing the right thing.

But that goes much deeper than the loss to K-State. It’s silly to overreact to one game. On Feb. 23, 2008 the Jayhawks looked horrible in a loss to Oklahoma State. They won the next 13 games and beat Memphis for the national championship. It could happen again.