Dallas ? Losing to Texas cost the Kansas Jayhawks more than a chance to play this afternoon for a Big 12 Conference Tournament championship.

It also means they could miss an anticipated date Friday in the Big Dance at Kemper Arena, just a short bus ride down Interstate 70 from campus.

KU will be playing in the NCAA Tournament, but the likelihood of staying close to home is fading like KU’s free-throw percentage.

“We just have to go out and practice and get ready,” KU guard Keith Langford said after Saturday’s 64-60 loss. “We probably won’t end up in Kansas City, but you just have to be ready to go back out and play.”

The full implications of Saturday’s loss won’t be known until 5 p.m. today, when brackets for the 65-team NCAA Tournament are filled. Teams will find out where and when they’re playing during CBS’ selection show, on Sunflower Broadband channels 5 and 13.

Heading into Saturday’s game, KU players, fans and administrators were confident that a victory would have secured a spot in the stockyards. Coach Bill Self even told his team so before tipoff.

Now, it’s anybody’s guess.

No guarantees

“This hurts us for Kemper,” said Rita Pollom, a member of the Topeka Jayhawk Club, who bought four $150 tickets for the Kansas City subregional after last year’s Big 12 Tournament. “I wanted to see ’em play. I’ll still go to Kemper and support the Big 12, but I sure wish they’d be there.”

Pollum and fellow club members Kay Calhoon and Jo Ann Howard will listen for KU’s fate this evening, as they tune in the radio while making their eight-hour return trip from Dallas to Topeka north on Interstate 35.

“I’m not giving up,” Pollom said. “Anything can happen. And I can pray.”

History also could be on KU’s side. At least that’s what Langford’s father is counting on.

“They finished second in the conference and they’ve been to back-to-back Final Fours,” Andre Langford said after the game. “I think they deserve at least to stay in Kansas City.”

Jon Sunvold, an analyst working the Big 12 Tournament for ESPN, agreed that the four-point loss might be enough to keep KU in the hunt for a top-four tournament seed. Such seeds typically are granted games at sites closest to their campuses, to increase the chances for sellouts.

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Not that it guarantees on-court success.

Sunvold remembers his own Missouri Tigers losing to Houston in the 1982 NCAA regionals at St. Louis. And don’t forget KU’s loss to Virginia in the 1995 NCAA regionals at Kemper.

“It’s not a given,” Sunvold said. “You can’t take it for granted.”

Possible venues

Tim Allen, an associate Big 12 commissioner, said that two conference teams could end up at Kemper. Oklahoma State, as the regular-season champion and conference tournament finalist, appears to have the best shot; either Kansas or Texas could be another.

No matter what happens during the selection show, Allen said, the conference will have a full staff working today in the Kemper box office. The crew likely will stay on duty until 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., to handle demand for ducats at all walk-up windows.

Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster, at www.ticketmaster.com.

“If Kansas and Oklahoma State are announced for Kemper, there will be a lot of people vying for tickets,” Allen said.

The seven other sites that could welcome the Jayhawks this week:

l Thursday and, possibly, Saturday games: HSBC Arena, Buffalo, N.Y.; Pepsi Center, Denver; RBC Center, Raleigh, N.C.; and Key Arena, Seattle.

l Friday and, possibly, Sunday games: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio; Bradley Center, Milwaukee, Wis.; and TD Waterhouse Centre, Orlando, Fla.

Rob Gregg, owner of Gregg Tire centers in Lawrence and Topeka, spent the last six minutes of Saturday’s game pacing in the concourse of American Airlines Center, watching the game on TV.

His tournament prospects hanging in the balance, Gregg finally concluded he needn’t worry. He’d been pulling for Kemper, but he wouldn’t mind driving to Milwaukee, Denver or Columbus. He’d even fly to Seattle.

“We’re still going to the NCAA Tournament,” he said, as the final minutes ticked away. “We’ll just see where we go.”