Perhaps more embarrassing than anything Kansas University football represented in the last five years was complete ineptitude, time and time again, when playing on the road.

It has been established that this year’s KU team is better and more poised than past editions, and Saturday’s 43-28 victory at Oklahoma State punctuated that with about a million exclamation points.

With the victory, Kansas finished the season 4-0 in true road games. That’s Kansas, KU, the Jayhawks, the big school on top of a hill right here in Lawrence.

It’s a stunning turn for the better, after the Jayhawks were 4-21 in road games in coach Mark Mangino’s first five seasons. That includes a 2-18 mark in Big 12 road clashes, the last coming less than a year ago at Missouri.

“We certainly felt at the beginning of the season that if we were going to have a good football team, we were going to have to go out on the road and get some wins,” Mangino said Sunday. “We’ve done that, and it’s an important part of our program taking another step.”

None of the four road opponents was a pushover, either – nonconference patsies plus a victory over woeful Baylor were all at home. No, Kansas (10-0 overall, 6-0 Big 12 Conference play) picked up wins at Kansas State Colorado, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State, by margins ranging from five to 15 points.

They weren’t world-beaters – the four are a combined 21-21 this season – but a couple of them have victories that certainly shook the college football world.

Of the top five teams in the newly released Bowl Championship Series rankings, only No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Kansas have survived every road test to date. No. 1 LSU lost at Kentucky, No. 4 Oklahoma at Colorado and No. 5 Missouri at Oklahoma.

In the past, KU football success – as scattered as it was – came despite the road schedule. The 2005 Fort Worth Bowl team was 0-4 in true road games, the ’03 Tangerine Bowl team 1-4.

But, as Mangino has preached endlessly over the last six weeks, the 2007 Jayhawks are a night-and-day bunch from their older brothers.

“This ballclub has a tough mental edge to it,” Mangino said. “I think we’re more experienced this year. We have a number of kids that have played a significant amount of snaps or had some playing time. I think that’s helped tremendously.

“This football team,” he added, “is more mature than some of our other teams in the past.”