Kansas coach Bill Self hugs Devonte Graham (4) after a 76-69 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers Tuesday, March 4, 2015 at Allen Fieldhouse..

Kansas coach Bill Self hugs Devonte Graham (4) after a 76-69 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers Tuesday, March 4, 2015 at Allen Fieldhouse..

Just one game remains in the regular season for Bill Self’s Kansas basketball team, and his Jayhawks (24-6 overall, 13-4 Big 12) already have sole possession of a conference championship sealed up.

Plus, two guys that started for KU just less than two weeks ago — forwards Perry Ellis and Cliff Alexander — don’t figure in the plans.

That makes Saturday’s game at Oklahoma (20-9, 11-6) unique, but Self still plans on going down to Norman to win.

He talked about that and more Thursday afternoon at his weekly press conference. Here are some of the highlights:

• On monumental rallies in the Big 12 this past week: They’ve always happened, based on Self’s knowledge, and they happen at home, where the crowd plays such a part of it. The Iowa State rally vs. OU was different. The Cyclones went off. KU didn’t really hit shots vs. West Virginia; the Jayhawks just rebounded. At Allen Fieldhouse, the crowd gives KU players so much confidence.

• The perception of the Big 12 nationally is it’s a great league, and not a top-heavy league, which Self thinks is fair. There is parity in the Big 12. There are only 10 teams in the conference, which is different from the other major conferences. ESPN has promoted the league favorably but the Big 12 still operates in the fly-over states and doesn’t get quite the attention that the ACC gets, for example.

• Sometimes the regular season gets overlooked, and sometimes that’s unfair. KU has had a good season, but the Jayhawks have to play well in the postseason to make it special.

Everybody in the league has done well at some point or another in the postseason in the Big 12 since Self has been here, too, he said.

If you have good enough players to win the league, you have a good enough team to make a run in the postseason.

• Perry Ellis is responding well to treatment. But he’s definitely not going to play at Oklahoma. Hopefully by next week they will know if he can get out there and play in the Big 12 Tournament.

It’s a sprained knee.

• There is nothing new on Cliff Alexander, so to Self’s estimation, the chances of him playing Saturday are almost non-existent.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas guard Wayne Selden Jr. (1) hangs for a shot against Texas center Cameron Ridley (55) and forward Connor Lammert during the second half on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015 at Allen Fieldhouse. At right is Kansas forward Perry Ellis.

• This altered lineup impacts how KU will play at OU, when they should be fine-tuning things. Wayne Selden Jr. has an ankle injury, too. The Jayhawks might tweak some things and “have some fun with it.”

Depending on Selden’s situation, there won’t be anyone who has played a ton of minutes except for Frank Mason III. And Mason wants to play. He doesn’t want to rest. Besides, Self says KU is going down to OU to win the game.

• There are probably a lot of things that would have to happen for KU to get in position to be considered for a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs.

If things went in the other direction, the Jayhawks could fall to a 3-seed line.

Self hopes KU has its full complement of players for the Big 12 Tournament, because right now it feels like they are in limbo.

• Oklahoma has a tremendous lineup, and Self thought this game would probably mean a lot more in terms of the league title race.

But now KU is playing for seed lines, that sort of thing, as is OU.

• Now with 11 Big 12 titles in a row, Self can remember certain portions of specific seasons when things sort of clicked or things fell apart.

Self will probably remember this one more than others because it was such a grind to get the championship. This might have been the most difficult season to win the league, in large part because the differential in talent is so small.

Kansas center Hunter Mickelson (42) knocks the ball loose to create a steal against the West Virginia Mountaineers Tuesday, March 4, 2015 at Allen Fieldhouse.

• When guys like Hunter Mickelson and Landen Lucas come in ready to play like they did against West Virginia, that is a credit to them more than the coaches.

Mickelson just wants a chance to play, which is a good thing. Self said he, Lucas and Svi Mykhailiuk have as good an attitude as anybody in the program.

• Mickelson can shoot and blocks some shots. He busted his butt against WVU. And Lucas made a “stud play” at the end of regulation to block a shot that could’ve won it for WVU.

It’s kind of a next man up situation, as the football saying goes. Those guys should play well and Self thinks they will.

• KU hit nine 3-pointers in the first half against OU at Allen Fieldhouse earlier this season, but the Jayhawks aren’t going to Norman expecting to make that many.

Still, without Ellis, it will behoove Kansas to hit some perimeter shots on Saturday.

Self doesn’t talk about missing shots with the team, just with the media.

ISU and OU are the best shot-making teams in the league, so Kansas doesn’t want to go down there and get in a game of HORSE. You have to have some shot-makers. But mainly KU needs to get quality shots more than anything else.

• In the race for Big 12 Player of the Year, Ellis might be hurt by missing time at the end. To Self, Ellis putting KU on his back speaks volume. Buddy Hield has been great for Oklahoma, too.

Ellis certainly has played himself onto the first team without question.

— Listen to the entire press conference: Bill Self talks quality of Big 12, seed lines and more