Dejected Kansas players Xavier Henry (1) and Cole Aldrich make their way from the floor after the Jayhawks' 76-68 loss to Tennessee Sunday, Jan. 10, 2009 at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville.

Ann Arbor, Mich. ? Kansas University’s No. 1-ranked basketball team took a perfect 14-0 record to Tennessee last Jan. 10 for the Jayhawks’ final game of the 2009-10 nonconference season.

The No. 16-rated Volunteers, using a lineup thinned by team suspensions, dismissals and injuries, shocked the Jayhawks, 76-68, sending shock waves through KU nation on the eve of Big 12 Conference play.

One year later … the Jayhawks take a No. 3 national ranking to unranked Michigan (11-4) of the Big Ten Conference. KU is once again 14-0 and 40 good minutes away from finishing the non-con schedule unbeaten.

Tipoff for today’s clash is 3:30 p.m., at 13,751-seat Crisler Arena, with a live telecast available on CBS (cable channels 5, 13, 205).

“Last year, the Tennessee game … we were supposed to win. It was a sucker game so to speak, jammed in there right before conference play begins,” KU coach Bill Self recalled.

“We got beat. We can’t let that happen again,” he added, aware it’s important to enter Wednesday’s conference opener at much-improved Iowa State on a high note. “Michigan is a lot better (after going 15-17 and falling to the Jayhawks, 75-64, last season).

“I watched the game they lost to Purdue (80-57, Dec. 28) at home. It was a great crowd and great atmosphere. I’m sure the crowd will be juiced.”

The Darius Morris-led Wolverines are 10-1 at home — the only loss to the No. 12 Boilermakers. The Wolverines are 1-2 in league play following Wednesday’s 66-50 setback at Wisconsin.

“I’ve watched them a little bit,” KU senior guard Tyrel Reed said of a team that starts three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior. “They run that Princeton offense with back-cuts. We’ve got to be locked in, tuned in on defense.”

“Michigan has a good team. It’s going to be a challenge,” junior guard Tyshawn Taylor said. “I think it’s good for us going into conference. It will be our second true away game, so it’s going to be good to see where we’re at.”

Crisler Arena today figures to be more hostile than Cal’s Haas Pavilion, where the Jayhawks had about 4,000 fans in the stands for a 78-63 victory over the Golden Bears on Dec. 22.

“We’ll have a great crowd. It will be a great atmosphere,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “We have to play very well and have Kansas have one of those bad nights.”

KU is the highest-ranked opponent to visit Ann Arbor since No. 1 Ohio State downed the Wolverines, 65-61, on March 3, 2007.

“We have a lot of pride in the Big Ten. We are representing the Big Ten,” Beilein said. “We have pride in our university. We like when there’s a high-national level team coming to our place with our students and fans there. I’m sure there’s extra adrenaline. We’ll have to calm down to get ready for this game and some in the future, too (Wednesday vs. No. 2 Ohio State).”

Sophomore point guard Morris, who is Michigan’s leading scorer at 15.1 points a game, scored nine points, while junior guard Zack Novak (8.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg) added eight in Allen last season. Marcus Morris led the Jayhawks with 23 points.

“The Morris twins both can shoot,” Beilein said. “Kansas is a very physical team. We’ll have to be able to handle their defensive pressure. They have 10, 11, 12 guys who could start for anybody else in the country. They have things rolling.”

Yet Michigan may be well-equipped to slow the Jayhawks’ attack.

“They play the 1-3-1 (zone defense),” Self said. “They don’t play it a lot, but played it against us last year. We have to do a better job of attacking it.”

The Jayhawks went 33-3 a year ago, winning the Big 12 regular season and postseason tourney titles after dropping that final non-con contest at Tennessee.

“I don’t know if it’s motivation,” Self said. “I will tell our guys we have a chance to do something that last year’s team couldn’t do, that’s go undefeated non- conference. We deserved to get beat (at Tennessee). It may have been a blessing in disguise. We went on to 18 of our next 19 in conference play. It didn’t kill us. (But) I’d rather learn lessons through winning than not winning.”

Most Big 12 teams opened league play Saturday. KU, meanwhile, is far away in Big Ten country today.

“I would rather start the league with everybody else, but if I’m not mistaken, we do this about every year,” Self said. “We get caught up by Feb. 1, so it’s not that big a deal. I personally would rather finish the non-conference season before you start league play than be in league play and then step out of conference (as some Big 12 teams do). I never feel like those non-conference games mean as much during league play as what the league games do.”

Tip for Wednesday’s Iowa State game will be 8 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum in Ames.