Just a decade ago, Kansas University made its first and only appearance in the College World Series. Then, after one more quality season, KU baseball more or less dropped off the map.

The Jayhawks aren’t back yet — not by a long shot — but you have to like what coach Ritch Price has accomplished in his first year. Price made Kansas competitive in the Big 12 Conference.

Still, KU has a long way to go to become a first-division team in a league that features tradition-rich Texas and Oklahoma schools as well as a Nebraska program buoyed by a beautiful facility it shares with the Lincoln Saltdogs, a member of the Northern League that includes the Kansas City T-Bones.

Speaking of the T-Bones, I’d love to see at least one Kansas-Missouri baseball game or perhaps one Kansas-Kansas State contest played in the T-Bones CommunityAmerica Ballpark every year. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State split their league baseball series between minor-league parks in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, so a precedent exists.

Big 12 Conference baseball teams play three-game series, usually Friday night and Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

Along those lines, Kansas and Missouri could play Friday night in Columbia, Saturday night at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, then Sunday afternoon at KU’s Hoglund Ballpark.

Or a similar arrangement could be worked out with Kansas State. For instance, KU and K-State could play Friday night at the T-Bones’ stadium, Saturday afternoon in Lawrence and Sunday afternoon in Manhattan.

Traditionalists, who believe all competition should take place on campus, would need to be swayed, but the recruiting advantage might be argument enough. Any exposure — whether it be sports or academics — in the KC Metro area has to a positive in these times of rising tuitions, tough economic times and potentially stagnant enrollments.

As you know, Kansas is making its first appearance in the Big 12 tournament. The Jayhawks slipped in by the skin of their teeth, but they’re in and that’s a beginning. Unfortunately, KU won’t be riding to Oklahoma City on a wave of momentum, having dropped seven of its last eight league games. Moreover, that lone victory was against a woeful Kansas State team that succeeded Kansas as the league punching bag.

No doubt tired arms have had something to do with the Jayhawks’ late swoon. Southpaws Ryan Knippschild and Kevin Wheeler both rank in the top five in innings pitched during the 27-game conference season, and right-hander Chris Smart logged plenty of innings, too.

With reliever Brandon Johnson nursing a sore elbow, the bullpen has been so weak that Price brought in Knippschild to record the final two outs in the Jayhawks’ 10-5 win over K-State Saturday night. Knippschild then started Sunday afternoon’s regular-season finale. How often do you see that? Only when your mound staff is as thin as a $2 T-shirt.

On the plus side, Kansas has the league’s best overall fielding percentage — a bit of a surprise perhaps when you consider the three most error-prone positions in baseball are shortstop, second base and third base and that KU is callow at those spots. Shortstop Ritchie Price and second baseman Matt Baty are freshmen, and third baseman Travis Metcalf is a sophomore who missed half of his freshman year because of a torn knee ligament.

Still, you win with veterans, and senior left fielder Casey Spanish and fourth-year junior first baseman Ryan Baty have both had big springs with the bat. In his first three seasons at Kansas, the 6-foot-4 right-handed hitting Spanish compiled a .286 batting average with four triples and six home runs. This year, Spanish is hitting a lusty .384 with 10 home runs and a league-high seven triples. Baty hit .341 last year, so his .379 average isn’t all that surprising.

Overall, the Jayhawks boast an impressive .310 team batting average, but KU also has the worst strikeout-to-walk ratio in the league. Kansas has fanned more than any other team in the Big 12 and only four teams have drawn fewer walks.

On paper, Kansas isn’t likely to make much noise in Oklahoma City, but they’re there, and that’s something.