Jason King, national college basketball columnist for Yahoo! Sports, will join KUsports.com for for a chat at 5 p.m. Thursday. Got a question about the Jayhawks or the Tournament? Want to talk about the already completed games? Sleepers? Busts? Jason’s the guy to ask, so make sure to submit your questions below.

jnewell

Hey this is Jesse Newell, KUsports.com online editor. I’m happy to have Jason King of Yahoo! Sports joining us. Jason, thanks for your time.

jnewell

Hey guys, we’re happy to have Jason King with us. Jason, thanks for joining us.

jnewell

Always glad to do it. Sorry I’m a bit late. Jimmer Fredette’s 37 points caused an expected delay

jnewell

A lot of people are complaining about Kansas’ bracket, but I actually like the Jayhawks’ draw – mainly because of the matchups. Michigan State was mediocre and inconsistent all season. They don’t have enough pieces to beat Kansas. Ohio State has one of the country’s best players in Evan Turner, but not much else. Plus, they play in a rather weak conference when it comes to overall talent. How many NBA players are in the Big Ten? Turner, Manny Harris, Talor Battle, Demetri McCamey … I may be missing someone, but you get the point. The Buckeyes aren’t used to facing teams with this much talent, which is probably one of the reasons they lost some of their key non-conference games (West Virginia, UNC, etc). I don’t think the Jayhawks will have a huge problem beating Thad Matta’s squad. The keys for Kansas are to keep doing what its doing. Sherron doesn’t need to start forcing shots. That would be stupid. And at least one of the Morris Twins needs to be at the top of his game every night. Honestly, though, I REALLY like Kansas’ chances of advancing to the Final Four. And if it does I hope it ends up playing Kentucky in the championship. That’s the game everyone wants to see.

tulsahawkfan

What’s up with the big east? First the dismal showing last night in the NIT now today in the NCAAs. Am I missing something because all I ever hear is how great they are top to bottom?

tulsahawkfan

What’s up with the big east? First the dismal showing last night in the NIT now today in the NCAAs. Am I missing something because all I ever hear is how great they are top to bottom?

Moderator

This chat has been delayed until about 6. Sorry about that, but feel free to keep posting questions.

Moderator

Hey guys — Thanks for your patience. We’ll get to our chat with Jason King of Yahoo! Sports here in a few minutes. Jason is still finishing up a couple stories on deadline, so we’ll wait until he’s finished with his first obligation before bringing him on board here. Again, thanks for your patience. It’s not too late to submit a question, so get those last-minute ones in.

Moderator

Hey guys. I’m happy to have Jason King with us. Jason, thanks for joining us.

Moderator

All right, let’s get to the questions.

DSommersby

Hi Jason,

I always enjoy your work. What do you believe are the main keys that KU must accomplish in order to make another magical, National Championship run?

Thanks and Rock Chalk!

Jason King

A lot of people are complaining about Kansas’ bracket, but I actually like the Jayhawks’ draw – mainly because of the matchups. Michigan State was mediocre and inconsistent all season. They don’t have enough pieces to beat Kansas. Ohio State has one of the country’s best players in Evan Turner, but not much else. Plus, they play in a rather weak conference when it comes to overall talent. How many NBA players are in the Big Ten? Turner, Manny Harris, Talor Battle, Demetri McCamey … I may be missing someone, but you get the point. The Buckeyes aren’t used to facing teams with this much talent, which is probably one of the reasons they lost some of their key non-conference games (West Virginia, UNC, etc). I don’t think the Jayhawks will have a huge problem beating Thad Matta’s squad. The keys for Kansas are to keep doing what its doing. Sherron doesn’t need to start forcing shots. That would be stupid. And at least one of the Morris Twins needs to be at the top of his game every night. Honestly, though, I REALLY like Kansas’ chances of advancing to the Final Four. And if it does I hope it ends up playing Kentucky in the championship. That’s the game everyone wants to see.

Moderator

phog2: How is it possible that the number one overall seed, Kansas, received the toughest region, while the “number four overall one seed,” Duke, got the easiest regional draw?

Jason King

I think the main reason is because the NCAA wants Duke to stay in the tournament as long as possible. That will mean higher television ratings for the NCAA, which eventually leads to more money. The NCAA is about to re-negotiate its NCAA Tournament television contract, which may lead to a 96-team format, so they want those ratings to look as pretty as possible. Don’t worry, though: the whole situation will create bad karma for Duke, which result in an Elite Eight loss to the Baylor Bears.

kcoff1107

I enjoy reading your articles Jason. Do you think Lehigh’s freshman, C.J McCollum will have any success against KU’s D? I think that Tyshawn Taylor will lock him down all game. Your thoughts?

And does Cole Aldrich get the KU career leader in blocks this weekend?

Jason King

My guess is that McCollum will get a decent amount of points, but he’ll probably need to take a good number of shots to get them. Lehigh’s strength of schedule is embarrassing. The Mountain Hawks haven’t seen this type of strength or athleticism all year – nothing even close.

MGoble

Why is Duke matched up with the play-in game winner? Shouldn’t Kansas be playing UAPB?

Jason King

Arkansas Pine-Bluff played on Tuesday so, understandably, the committee wanted to let them rest until at least Friday. Because KU and Kentucky – the top two seeds – are both in regions that play on Thursday-Saturday, they fell out of the mix. The next option was Duke. The tournament’s No. 3 overall seed plays Friday-Sunday.

tulsahawkfan

What’s up with the big east? First the dismal showing last night in the NIT now today in the NCAAs. Am I missing something because all I ever hear is how great they are top to bottom?

Jason King

Pretty pathetic showing thus far, huh. I was one of the ones who said the Big East was better than the Big 12 this year, mainly because I thought it was stronger in the middle of the pack. Notre Dame, Georgetown and Seton Hall (in the NIT) certainly did a lot to dispel that theory. Here was my feeling after covering last week’s Big East tourney in NYC: The Big East is a darn good league – but it doesn’t have an elite team other than Syracuse. And I’m not sure how good the Orange will be if Onuaku doesn’t play or is limited. Pittsburgh, Villanova, Marquette, West Virginia – all solid, but not special. Honestly, though, outside of Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse, what teams have been “special” this season? I think there’s more parity in college basketball than ever, and I like it that way. The games are closer and more exciting. I’m definitely back on the Big 12 bandwagon, though. Not that I was ever really off of it.

Moderator

All right, that’s all the questions we had for Jason. Thanks again to Jason for his time, and thanks to the KUsports.com readers for your questions.