Mark Mangino has proved to his players that his system works.

Kansas University’s coach hopes football players around the country will take notice as well now that the Jayhawks have earned a bowl bid in just his second season.

“I think the kids in our program understand the message,” he said. “It’s been put to them very clearly. It’s an opportunity for kids around the country that are considering picking a university to play football; I think they’ll give us a second look.

“Some doors have already opened, and I think more doors will open. It can’t do anything but enhance our program.”

Kansas had eight known oral commitments before Mangino accepted an invitation Saturday to play North Carolina State in the Tangerine Bowl Dec. 22 at Orlando, Fla., and a recruiting contact period started Monday.

No doubt Mangino will point out to potential recruits that the Jayhawks’ next game will be nationally televised on ESPN.

“There’s no doubt it’s huge,” rivals.com analyst Jon Kirby said of the postseason bid. “I think what it does more than anything is it shows what this staff and coach Mangino have been able to do in year two.”

KU had suffered seven straight losing seasons prior to this year, and hadn’t been to a bowl game since 1995. The Jayhawks were 2-10 overall last year — Mangino’s first — and failed to win a single Big 12 Conference game.

“We have raised expectations at Kansas,” Mangino said. “We won’t settle for anything less than high expectations. Our players are meeting those expectations on a daily basis.”

And possibly exceeding expectations. Mangino acknowledged KU had improved faster than he could have anticipated when he was hired Dec. 4, 2001.

“We are probably a step ahead of where I thought we would be at this time,” he said. “But we’re not far off. Things are moving in the right direction. We have to stay at it, and good things will continue to happen.

“If we just be relentless and persistent in our expectations for our players and ourselves, this program will just continue to get better and better. We’re probably a step ahead of where I thought we’d be at this point and time, but I’m the kind of guy — we’re 6-6, and I’m thinking the other day, ‘Why aren’t we 9-3 or 8-4?'”

Kirby said he noticed Kansas moving up the lists of several potential recruits, and he also noted more quality players were mentioning KU among the schools they would like to visit.

“I think they’re getting better kids,” he said. “More highly-regarded kids are looking at them now.”