The Kansas starters, Frank Mason III, Landen Lucas, Devonte Graham, Wayne Selden Jr. and Perry Ellis stand arm-in-arm late in the second half as they watch a pair of UConn free throws with the game wrapped up, Saturday, March 19, 2016 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

For the first time in four years, the Kansas men’s basketball program enters a season with the distinct possibility that its opening-night lineup could start nearly every game of the season.

In back-to-back seasons from 2011-2013, Bill Self’s Jayhawks featured five players starting nearly every game, including four players who started all 37 contests during the 2012-13 season.

Since then, stability has remained a staple, with the Jayhawks getting four players to start an average of 86 percent of the games during the past three seasons. But nailing down a consistent fifth starter has been a tougher adventure.

Even last season, when the Jayhawks ended the year with one of their most steady starting fives in years, big man Landen Lucas started just 19 of 38 games after Self spent the first half of the season searching for the right chemistry in the starting lineup.

This season, that quest seems to be already over.

With Lucas, Frank Mason III and Devonte’ Graham returning from last year’s starting lineup, the Jayhawks needed to find two players to plug into the spots vacated by Wayne Selden and Perry Ellis. It didn’t take long. Sophomore Carlton Bragg Jr. became the obvious choice to take Ellis’ spot and top-ranked freshman Josh Jackson was recruited to fill Selden’s role.

That group, in every way, makes sense for a starting five for Kansas this season. And there isn’t a soul even pretending that it should, or even could, be something different.

The question then begs, if identifying the starting five was finished as early as June, how far ahead does that put this team entering the season?

“It may put you ahead early in the season,” Self said. “But I’m not sure that knowing who you’re going to start now helps you win games in February. Maybe it does. I don’t know. I think establishing roles early is positive. But sometimes you want there to be changes in your starting lineup. Sometimes you want to make the young kid earn it, and then once he earns it and plays to his potential, you want him to actually outplay somebody.”

It’s hard to envision that being the path for either Jackson or Bragg. And that trio of upperclassmen is as entrenched in the starting lineup as just about anybody during the past decade.

That’s not to say anything is guaranteed at any of the five positions. Self emphasized as much at media day, but added that he likes how things have played out with this team thus far.

“You’ve got to figure out who’s better coming off the bench, you’ve got to figure out whose ego allows you to do certain things,” he said. “But I’d say going in, when you’re having Indiana and Duke right off the bat, if we’re able to stay healthy, having those guys pretty much know what their role will be is probably a positive.”

Lucas agreed and said establishing those roles so early this season will help more than just the starting five.

“Having three starters and a lot of people that contributed to a team that was right there with a chance to go to the Final Four (last year), I think we all have a lot of experience and confidence and are able to bring that to the other guys,” he said.

“With the core that we have back and just the personality of the younger guys like Carlton and Lagerald (Vick) and Svi (Mykhailiuk), we’ve got some guys, they don’t act as young as their age. And then you add that (to) the guys that are coming back and it really has a vibe in the locker that I don’t know if I’ve been to this level with before as far as the focus and the understanding of what needs to be done. I think the teams right before I came here kind of had that feeling, and I’m happy that we’ve got that culture back in the locker room and around the team.”

STARTING HISTORY…

Here’s a quick look at the lineup specifics from the past 10 Kansas basketball seasons.

2015-16: 4 players started 36 or more; 5th started 19; 2 started all 38

2014-15: 4 players started 27 or more; 5th started 18; 2 started all 36

2013-14: 4 players started 31 or more; 5th started 20; 1 started all 35

2012-13: 5 players started 33 or more; 4 started all 37

2011-12: 5 players started 35 or more; 2 started all 36

2010-11: 4 players started 30 or more; 5th started 24; 1 started all 37

2009-10: 4 players started 33 or more; 5th started 24; 3 started all 35

2008-09: 4 players started 32 or more; 5th started 21; 2 started all 34

2007-08: 5 players started 30 or more; 1 started all 40

2006-07: 4 players started 30 or more; 5th started 24; 2 started all 31