It’s T-minus six days and counting for the start of the college basketball season.

“Heading into the first practice, I’m enthused and anxious,” Kansas University coach Bill Self said Friday, answering fans’ questions on KUsports.com a week before Friday night’s Late Night in the Phog at Allen Fieldhouse.

The second-year KU coach’s appetite for the 2004-05 campaign was whetted over Labor Day weekend when KU routed four Canadian college teams following 10 strong practices.

“I think our players understand that there are 15 schools out there getting a lot of hype right now,” Self said, aware various publications have tapped KU the top team in the country. “I also think that having four veterans (Wayne Simien, Aaron Miles, Keith Langford, Michael Lee) will certainly do wonders in keeping guys grounded.

“As coaches, it’s our job to make sure they can’t be caught up in anything that doesn’t have to do with winning games, and that is the hype that surrounds the college basketball season.”

Blessed with a 17-player roster, Self, who likely will have scholarship player Jeremy Case and walk-ons Matt Kleinmann and Nick Bahe take red-shirt seasons, thinks players will accept their roles well.

“I think everyone knows we have some talented guys returning. I don’t see playing time being as much of an issue as on some other teams I’ve had,” Self said.

KU’s five scholarship freshmen, who all figure to play, recently survived their first KU boot camp.

“I would say that C.J. (Giles), Russell (Robinson) and Sasha (Kaun) all did better than I thought they would,” Self said. “I thought Darnell (Jackson) and Alex (Galindo) need to get in better shape. I think all the newcomers did well, but those three guys — C.J., Russell and Sasha — stood out.”