Kansas University's Sasha Kaun, left, and Brandon Rush trap Texas guard Justin Mason during the 2008 Big 12 championship game. The Jayhawks won three games in three days to claim the tournament title.

Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self said initially he was “disappointed” to learn the starting time of Thursday’s first-round NCAA Midwest Regional basketball battle against Portland State.

That’d be a bright and early 11:25 a.m. at Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

“I said, ‘We played the last game of the conference tournaments and (now) the first game of the NCAAs,”’ Self said Monday, a day after KU’s 84-74 victory over Texas in the Big 12 tourney title game – which ended a half hour before CBS’s Selection Show on Sunday.

“But then I said, ‘Look at Portland State. They are playing at 9:25 (a.m.) their time,” Self quickly added. “I know if it was me (playing), I’m usually not at my best at that particular time of day. But think about it … if they play at 9:25 (Pacific time) and eat pregame four hours before, they are eating at 5:25 their time. For us at 7:25, we have to do the same thing.”

Of course …

“Everything balances out,” Self said. “We’ll be practicing (today) the exact same time we play. We’ve had enough early games where we’ve done that. We’ll be ready to lace ’em up and so will they.”

Self on Monday’s Hawk Talk radio show said he already had viewed three tapes of Portland State games. The Big Sky Conference champion Vikings, who have won 14 of their last 15 contests, enter at 23-9 overall.

“Thanks to Brett and Mike we already had three games on them when we got back to the office (Sunday night),” Self said of staff members Brett Ballard and Michael Lee, who are in charge of taping games throughout the season.

“We tape every game from the middle of February on. If there is a 1-in-100 chance we could play a team, we tape the game. It could be on the Altitude Network in the Pacific Northwest … if it’s on, Brett and Mike will get it. We had five games on UNLV and five or six on Kent State,” he added of possible second-round foes. “And three on Portland State so right away we could get busy on that. We’ll have four more tapes tomorrow.”

Self’s initial impression of the 16-seeded Vikings?

“I watched the first tape and said, ‘Good gosh, how are they (only) a 16 (seed)?’ They are really good. Jeremiah Dominguez … if you are not trying to guard him, he is really fun to watch,” Self said of the Big Sky player of the year, who averages 14.3 points and 4.1 assists per game.

“He is 5-foot-7, quick, active. He plays a lot like D.J. (Augustin, Texas). He’s that good with the ball. (Deonte) Huff is a great 2-guard, and (Scott) Morrison is strong inside. Rarely in the Big Sky is a team as deep as Kansas. They’ve got 10 guys playing 14 minutes a game. We have about eight with that number.”