I wouldn’t bet a Final Four ring on it, even if I had one, but it sure looks like Bill Self’s first season as Kansas University’s men’s basketball coach will coincide with a major rule change.

Or at least the NCAA rules committee would like you to think moving the three-point line back nine inches will have a major effect on the game.

Monday, the rules mavens recommended moving the three-point line from 19-foot-9 to 20-6. The change still has to be approved by the NCAA championship committee next month, but that has “OK” rubber-stamped all over it.

Much ado was made in November during the Preseason NIT when all the tournament games were played with that international three-point line as well as the trapezoidal free throw lane — another recommendation for 2003-2004 — and yet from what I saw the results were inconclusive.

Kansas was one of those Preseason NIT participants, and, basically, nobody really even noticed the changes. Sure, it took the big men awhile to adjust to the funnel-shaped lines under the basket, but moving the three-point arc back three-fourths of a foot had all the impact of adding nine cents to the cost of a gallon of gas.

People talked about it for a while, but quickly accepted it.

Kirk Hinrich, KU’s best three-point shooter, said the expanded arc didn’t make “that big a difference” to him because he always tried to shoot from well beyond the 19-9 line anyway. And why not? In the NBA, the parabola is 22 feet, 6 inches from the basket, and the pro scouts don’t give a hoot if you can drain the jumper from 19-9. They want to see if you’re a 22-6 guy.

If you’re wondering if the international extra-point line had any effect on Hinrich’s long-range shooting during the Preseason NIT, the answer is, maybe.

In the Jayhawks’ first two Preseason NIT games against Holy Cross and UNC Greensboro in Allen Fieldhouse, Hinrich launched nine three-point attempts and made five of them. Five-for-nine is 55.5 percent. No problem. But in KU’s two Preseason NIT games in New York’s Madison Square Garden, Hinrich missed nine of 11. That’s 18.1 percent.

Was there that much of a difference between Allen Fieldhouse and Madison Square Garden? Not really, but, you might recall, Hinrich’s back was killing him in the Big Apple. He was hurting so bad coach Roy Williams held him out of the Jayhawks’ next game against Central Missouri State — the only game Hinrich missed in four years on Mount Oread.

By the way, Hinrich did shoot threes — whether from 19-9 or 20-6 — in Allen Fieldhouse better than he did elsewhere. He made 40 of 92 (43.5 percent) at home and 49 of 127 (38.6) outside of Lawrence. The latter number also includes his best three-point game of the season, a sizzling 7-of-8 performance against UMKC in Kemper Arena.

Although the Jayhawks won five of six games in the NCAA Tournament, Hinrich didn’t shoot threes particularly well. He made five of eight treys in Oklahoma City, but only six of 22 in Anaheim, Calif., and six of 19 in New Orleans for a total of 17 of 49 (34.7 percent).

On a team basis, the Jayhawks didn’t shoot the three very well from 20 feet, 6 inches during the four games of the Preseason NIT. Kansas made 13 of 48, or 27.1 percent. Meanwhile, their opponents made 33 of 90 for 36.7 percent. The latter numbers include Florida’s astonishing 14-of-31 three-point performance in the third-place game.

On paper, it would appear Florida took to the lengthened three-point line like alligators to ham hocks, but not really. The night before against Stanford, the Gators unloaded 28 three-pointers and made only eight.

In other words, it really won’t matter whether the three-point line is at 19-9 or 20-6 or beyond. When a player is zoned in, he could hit a three-pointer from the band section. But when a player is off, he couldn’t hit Clinton Lake from a rowboat.