The surprise college basketball team in the Big 12 Conference  heck, the surprise team in the United States  visits Allen Fieldhouse today.

Texas Tech’s Red Raiders, who went 9-19, 12-16, 13-17 and 13-14 the past four seasons under coach James Dickey, take a 16-5 overall record and 5-4 conference mark into today’s 3:05 p.m. battle at Kansas (20-2, 9-0).

Bob Knight’s first Tech team has exceeded all expectations while storming to a No. 24 national ranking.

“Your expectations, not mine,” national Coach of the Year candidate Knight said.

The former Indiana coach, who won three national championships and 11 Big Ten titles in his 29 years in the Hoosier state, has Tech in the hunt for the school’s first NCAA Tournament berth in six seasons.

“I haven’t given that a thought,” Knight said. “I just think in terms of the next possession.”

The always intense coach has been stressing “concentration on both ends of the floor” Â something the Red Raiders will need in great supply today if they hope to shock the No. 2 Jayhawks.

“We’re going to have to bring our (best) game, but I think one of coach Knight’s strengths is getting teams ready to play,” said 6-foot-11 senior center Andy Ellis, who takes a 17.3 scoring, 7.5 rebound average into today’s game. “If we listen to him and work out his game plan, I think we’ll have an opportunity to beat them, but we have to be ready to play.”

“Anybody can beat anybody,” noted junior guard Nick Valdez, who might not play today because of a severe ankle sprain. Also, leading scorer Andre Emmett, a 6-5 sophomore guard who averages 18.5 points and 7.0 boards, has been hobbled by a knee bruise.

“We’ve got to come with the most intensity we’ve had all year. We have to bring it, is all it comes down to. Coach will come with a game plan to beat them. It’s just if we execute it,” Valdez added.

The Jayhawks know what to expect from the Raiders. Knight brought Indiana’s motion  sometimes called “freelance”  offense with him from IU to Lubbock, Texas.

“They will screen probably better than anybody we’ve played,” KU junior Nick Collison said. “It’ll be tough to guard them. If you ask anybody what they don’t like to do is fight over screens. We have to fight those screens and chase them the whole game. If it gets to the point we quit, they will get all kinds of open looks. It’s something we can do and must do for 40 minutes.”

“When you play coach Knight’s teams,” KU coach Roy Williams said, “you have to understand you are going to have to guard and possibly guard for a longer period of time with more discipline.”

The Jayhawks realize Knight’s teams also play stout man-to-man defense.

Tech averages 79.3 points a game while allowing 68.9. The Raiders are hitting 46.4 percent of their shots to their foes’ 40.1. KU checks in averaging 91.1 points a game on 51.3 percent shooting, while allowing 74.3 ppg on 40.7 percent marksmanship.

“Coach Knight’s teams at Indiana … they were always willing to play defense as long as it took. It’s a characteristic every good team needs to have,” Williams said. “You play coach Knight’s teams you will not get shots as open as you will in some other games. Texas Tech puts you in position you will eventually give in and make a mistake and they’ll take advantage of it.”

Collison thinks the Jayhawks’ offense, which has scored 98, 100 and 105 points the last three games against Kansas State, Colorado and Missouri respectively, will be tested today.

“The big thing is when we get in a halfcourt set we have to be focused, pay attention to detail, make hard cuts, set screens. If you don’t all of a sudden you can’t get any shots. We have to be as sharp as we’ve been all year,” Collison said.

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Still hungry: The 61-year-old Knight told the Washington Post he stayed up 36 straight hours following the Raiders’ overtime loss to Texas on Jan. 14. “Losing has not gotten any easier for me,” he said.

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Road woes: If the Red Raiders have a weakness, it’s playing on the road. Texas Tech is 3-3 away from home  1-3 in league play. Tech has won at Texas A&M, but lost at Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Nebraska.

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Year off: What did Knight do last year during his one year off from basketball? The Washington Post reported he went bird-hunting in Spain with King Juan Carlos, retired Army general Norman Schwarzkopf and former president George Bush. He stayed six weeks in the Phoenix area. He traveled to Hawaii. He took in spring training in Florida. He visited three days with the Akron Zips basketball team where his son, Pat Knight, spent the season as an assistant coach.

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Today’s honorees: Former KU golfer Matt Gogel, who won at Pebble Beach last week, will attend today’s game and be introduced during a time out. Also, ex-Jayhawk forward Scot Pollard of the Sacramento Kings, who is on NBA all-star break, will attend. The late Don Pierce, a former KU football standout and sports publicist, will be formally inducted into the KU Sports Hall of Fame in a halftime ceremony. Pierce’s widow, Vivian, daughter, Ann, sons Wayne and Bobby and granddaughter Terri Forster-Hazelwood will be on hand.

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Possible Knight explosion?: Do the KU players expect a Knight eruption today? “No, probably not,” Collison said. “I guess it’s up to him. His team has done so well … he seems to be just happy coaching his team this year.

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Collison on Tech’s Ellis: “He is very skilled. He can score anywhere on the court. The guy is tough. You’ve got to be ready. He is as skilled a big man as any in the league and tough inside. We will have our work cut out with him.”