Anaheim, Calif. ? Today’s Kansas University-Stanford men’s basketball game will be contested at the Arrowhead Pond — a neutral site.

“I am not sure how neutral it will be,” KU coach Bill Self said. “Based on the number of alumni we have in California, we’ll have a fair contingent of fans. But Palo Alto is only five or six hours away, so I am sure Stanford will have a lot of support.”

Stanford’s campus is in Palo Alto.

Self believes fans of both No. 9 Kentucky and UCLA, whose teams meet in the opening game of the John R. Wooden Classic doubleheader at 12:30 p.m., will be pulling for the No. 21-ranked Cardinal, not the No. 1 Jayhawks at 3 p.m. today.

The game has been made more difficult for KU thanks to the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today pollsters, who tapped Kansas No. 1.

“They will try to put it on us,” KU freshman J.R. Giddens said of the Cardinal players. “Obviously, now that we are ranked No. 1, we have a humongous target on our backs.”

Stanford will be without junior All-America candidate Josh Childress, sidelined until January with a stress fracture in his left foot.

Childress, who chose Stanford over Kansas in recruiting, played in the last KU-Stanford game — KU’s 86-63 second-round NCAA Tournament victory March 16, 2002, in St. Louis.

“Some of the guys remember. It’s a matter of pointing out the recollection of how they play. The last time we played them, they took us out of the game physically,” Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. “When you play a team like Kansas, you’ve got to be able to finish (inside).”

6Sports video: KU ready for Stanford Saturday Self not certain Anaheim is ‘neutral’ KU-Stanford notes

• Wooden popular: The Classic is named after legendary UCLA coach John Wooden.

“He is a remarkable, remarkable man and the greatest coach the college game has known,” said Self, winner of the Wooden Coach of the Year award in 2000. “Once you spend some time with him, you realize why people speak so highly of him. He is everything everybody says he is.”

• Combo guard?: Keith Langford has been bringing the ball up the court some at practice this week.

“It’s been tossed around a bit,” Langford said of playing the point. “It’s a different role, but one I’m capable of doing. I have more a scorer’s mentality. I have to get used to getting the team set up if I bring it down.”

• Junior recruit injured: Joe Krabbenhoft, a 6-7 high school recruit from Sioux Falls, S.D., who visited KU for the Michigan State game, will miss a month of his junior season because of a cracked bone in his left foot.

Self had planned to watch Krabbenhoft play later this month, but that visit will be pushed back to January, Krabbenhoft told rivals.com. He is considering KU, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Notre Dame.

• Jayhawks work clinic: KU’s basketball players took part in a hoops clinic for Special Olympics Friday at The Pond. The Jayhawks taught the Special Olympians fundamentals of the game. Also, Self attended a press conference with Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, Stanford coach Montgomery, UCLA coach Ben Howland and the guest of honor, former UCLA coach Wooden.