Not even the sagest of semanticists gives a hoot, I suspect, whether wolf pack should be two words, one word or hyphenated.

So if a Kansas University sports team is playing the Wolf Pack Sunday and the Wolfpack Monday, we are left only to wonder if there might be a Wolf-Pack for the Jayhawks to attempt to conquer Tuesday.

As far as I can tell, no school with the nickname Wolf-Pack exists, and that’s probably good because the Jayhawks will have a tough enough time escaping the one-word and two-word varieties within a period of less than 24 hours.

KU’s football team will go into Monday’s Tangerine Bowl as a heavy underdog against the North Carolina State Wolfpack.

And KU’s men’s basketball team figures to run into a buzzsaw when it meets the Nevada Wolf Pack — the preseason pick to win the Western Athletic Conference — late Sunday night in Reno, Nev.

By now, we know all about the KU football team. Coach Mark Mangino has Bill Whittemore quarterbacking a diverse offense, but the linebacker-oriented defense struggles — usually in the second half — and the place-kicking is shaky. That’s the way it is. The football team won’t change.

We know a lot more, that’s for sure, about the football team than we know about Bill Self’s basketball team. Some basketball teams have an identity in December and others don’t. I’m not sure Kansas does.

Self said Thursday he was looking forward to the two-day Wolf Pack Classic, because, with final exams finished, this will be the first time his players will concentrate solely on basketball and hopefully discover truths about themselves and their team.

“Why do companies have retreats?” Self said. “Sometimes it’s good to go somewhere else.”

Here are some questions that may or may not be answered during the retreat to Reno:

• Can Wayne Simien continue to average 33-plus minutes per game?

Simien, who has been plagued throughout his high school and college career with injuries major and minor, might be more effective and more likely to survive the long haul by logging between 25 and 28 minutes a game. Self has to determine how long Simien can remain a thoroughbred while serving as a workhorse.

• Will outside shooting ever become an effective weapon?

Take a look at this week’s Big 12 Conference statistics and two teams are tied for last place in three-point shooting percentage at 28.5 percent. One is Baylor, the league’s most undermanned team. The other is Kansas, the league’s flagship team.

Eleven different KU players have attempted three-point goals during the first six games as Self has searched for someone — anyone — to produce consistently from the outside. In a glass half-full scenario, the answers would be freshman J.R. Giddens and junior Michael Lee when he returns from a broken collarbone in early January. Then again, outside shooting could be a season-long weakness.

• Without a clear-cut senior leader, which underclassmen will step forward and take charge?

There are three candidates — Simien, Keith Langford and Aaron Miles, all juniors. Simien is vocal and so is Langford, but Miles is the catalyst. He is the one guy who can make the litmus paper turn positive. When Miles brings his A-game, his teammates respond. Miles is proof — as was Jacque Vaughn — that you don’t have to be a great shooter to set the tone and establish the pace.

• When Lee comes back, who will be the odd man/men out among Jeff Hawkins, Jeremy Case and Omar Wilkes?

A third-year sophomore, Hawkins would seem to be the logical choice to emerge as a contributor, but if Hawkins isn’t hitting from three-point range — and he hasn’t been lately — he isn’t helping the team. So far, neither Case nor Wilkes has appeared ready for prime time. In other words, they’re playing like freshmen.

• Will freshman David Padgett come of age in his hometown?

Padgett reminds a lot of people of Nick Collison, who as a freshman played hard but struggled with foul trouble and needed considerably more reps in the weight room.