You take a basketball team with the vast proclivities of Kansas, which includes a senior quarterback the caliber of Russell Robinson, and, mercy sakes, you just might have yourself a national collegiate champion.

North Carolina? UCLA? KU without any new injuries is clearly on a par with both of them, and these three are clearly the pick of the 2008 litter, Memphis with its softer schedule be damned.

RussRob is like that miraculous uncle who can fix anything around the house, from the sewer and plumbing up to and including the roof. He just has the touch.

Check the statistical charts, and Russell may not be a leader in anything, although he has a notable presence in most categories. He has that knack of seeing what’s needed and producing it. If Mario Chalmers or Sherron Collins are having bad nights, Russell’s performance compensates.

You need to cover an opposing hot-shot, Robinson at 6-foot-1 can handle guys taller or shorter and often get them talking to themselves, like, “What the hell can I do?!!” Robinson is one of those grease-cups you fit anywhere on the engine with good results.

A lot of qualified people consider KU’s triumvirate the best backcourt crew in the country. If they ain’t, they’re among ’em. You add junior Brandon Rush, then senior Rod Stewart as a second wingman, and the picture further brightens. If Rush continues to surge, sheds his perimeter waltz tuxedo and goes blue-collar enough to get to the foul line maybe 8-10 times a game, a lot of foes will fold.

Don’t sell freshman Tyrel Reed short. He’s green but supremely talented and has the mentality to develop as a mainstay the way RussRob has over three-plus seasons.

We haven’t even touched on KU’s bigs – seniors Darnell Jackson and Sasha Kaun, sophomore Darrell Arthur and freshman Cole Aldrich. You think coach Bill Self would trade this quartet for any four frontliners Carolina or UCLA might offer? Doubt it.

Carolina features Tyler Hansbrough, a bona fide Tasmanian Devil who’s always snarling and clawing in there somewhere. No Jayhawk is at his level yet. But Roy Williams’s four-deep bigs have no more potential than Self’s. UCLA has a phenomenal 6-10 freshman in Kevin Love who has amazing smarts as well as skills. No KU “big” can do quite all he can. But from one to four, KU can match up even if the Bruins have Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, honest.

As for UCLA’s skilled and burly Love, he may not be around for more than a year while KU’s Aldrich, at 6-11 and also with tremendous potential, is going to make a big name for himself, probably a lot sooner than some think. Aldrich hasn’t had the paternal micro-management as a high schooler that Love had, but Cole’s blessed with a lot of goodies even if he looks a little crude now and then.

These Kansas guys can win it all, and with the holdovers like Aldrich, Reed, Brady Morningstar, hopefully Chalmers and Arthur and new signees, the cupboard will be anything but bare for 2008-09.

Only regret I have for all this Final Four and national title talk about Kansas ’08 is that we overlook the supreme importance of winning another outright Big 12 title. You can be derailed quickly in the NCAA; that league title is something you can treasure and reflect on forever because it represents superiority over the people you live with.

Beauty is, Self and his staff see the picture and keep their players focused on what’s vitally important as it becomes so, like Missouri Saturday at Columbia. Right now, Big 12 success is the priority.