St. Louis ? Add Stanford guard Casey Jacobsen to the list of people whose perception of Kansas has changed.

“I came into the (NCAA) Tournament thinking Kansas was invincible,” Jacobsen said late Thursday night, “but after seeing what Holy Cross did, I don’t think they’re invincible anymore.”

Jacobsen, a 6-foot-6 junior, scored 17 points as the Cardinal slapped Western Kentucky, 83-68, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Edward Jones Dome.

Kansas may not be invincible, Jacobsen added, but the Jayhawks aren’t dog meat, either.

“They score a lot of points, man. If you can’t control the tempo against them, they’ll take off,” Jacobsen said. “They’re a No. 1 seed for a reason. They’re really, really good.”

Jacobsen played on a couple of Stanford teams that were expected to reach the Final Four. Not this one. The Cardinal settled for a No. 8 seed after finishing the season with a 19-9 record.

“When you’re a No. 8 seed,” Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said, “that means things didn’t go well during the season and you know you’ll get the No. 1 (seed), and that’s what we’re getting. That will be our Final Four game  playing a team of that caliber.”

Stanford was so lightly regarded that some people thought No. 9 seed WKU would turn the Cardinal into one-and-gone fodder. Like CBS commentator Clark Kellogg.

“Since this game started at 9:15, I watched every game today on CBS,” Jacobsen said. “Clark Kellogg said, ‘Watch out for Western Kentucky.’ He said it twice. So thanks, Clark, for the motivation.”

Jacobsen stressed he loves his team’s uncustomary role of being lightly regarded in the tournament.

“I’m excited to be in an underdog role,” Jacobsen said. “We want people to think we aren’t going to win any games. We’re looking to erase all the bad memories of the season.”

Curtis Borchardt, a 7-0 junior, led the Cardinal with 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Meanwhile, touted WKU seven-footer Chris Marcus battled foul trouble and played only 18 minutes, scoring 10 points.

WKU went home with a 28-4 record. Stanford will take a 20-9 record into Saturday’s scheduled 7:05 p.m. clash with Kansas.