Mark Dent: A few weeks ago, no one could get in the way of the KU basketball team. The Jayhawks were great. Untouchable. They looked like a sure-fire Final Four team.

Mark Dent: They don’t anymore, though.

Mark Dent: The loss to Kansas State changed Kansas. The team is just not playing with the same bounce on defense. They’re like Peter Parker in “Spider Man 2” when his powers start fading. He gets them back, but the Jayhawks might not get theirs.

Rustin Dodd: I disagree.

Rustin Dodd: It’s flawed logic to say the Jayhawks looked like “a sure-fire Final Four team.” Yes, they started 20-0, and they were rarely tested -- but nobody is a sure-fire national champion. Anything can happen in March.

Sure, the K-State loss exposed a chink in the armor - a small chink. But let’s be fair, the 1998 Chicago Bulls would have had trouble beating K-State in Bramlage Coliseum on Jan. 30.

Rustin Dodd: I’ll agree Kansas lost momentum after losing to K-State.

Rustin Dodd: But to truly get it back, they need a statement victory, and they really haven’t had any this season. The Arizona and USC wins were solid wins, and the Boston College game was an impressive performance. But until Kansas wins a conference game that equals the intensity of the K-State game, I think they are going to be stuck treading water.

Rustin Dodd: That could change this weekend. Victories against Baylor and Texas on the road would put Kansas right back where they were before the K-State loss.

Mark Dent: A victory against Baylor is not enough of a statement. Kansas has to do more than that.

Rustin Dodd: Well, yea -- beat Texas.

Mark Dent: Earlier this season the Jayhawks blew good teams out. Take Oklahoma for example. They won that game 85-55, and it’s because they could pressure the ball. Kansas had nine steals on that Monday night, which was still below its season average at the time. The K-State game changed the way Kansas defends. The Jayhawks applied no pressure that game and haven’t since. Coach Bill Self even said the mindset since the K-State game hasn’t been what it could be and that’s the reason the Jayhawks are struggling on defense. Kansas has had three steals in each of the last three games. Coach Bill Self said the Missouri guards got into the lane as much as they wanted. KU’s defense is looking as soft as Bel-Air Prep’s on “Fresh Prince.”

“It’s a bad combination when you’re not forcing turnovers,” Self said, “and you get beat.”

Mark Dent: Without any pressure, you can’t blow someone out. The Jayhawks allowed mediocre teams like Colorado and Missouri to hang around for too long. Baylor is good, and if Kansas doesn’t get good enough pressure, the game will be way too close.

Mark Dent: The Jayhawks have to win big to get their swagger back. To do that, they’ll have to successfully pressure the ball.

Mark Dent: And that’s not going to happen against Baylor or Texas.

Rustin Dodd: Blowout victories are overrated. Self said on Thursday that blowing weaker teams out can create bad habits. What this team needs is to be truly tested by a talented opponent in a game where both teams are playing at a high level. That’s how you build confidence, by winning close games.

I think Coach Self would admit that the Big 12 conference didn’t do a good enough job preparing Kansas for the NCAA tournament during the last few years.

Mark Dent: Answer me this. Is Kansas playing as well as it was two weeks ago?

Rustin Dodd: No, but two weeks ago Kansas was blowing out Iowa State 83-59 and Nebraska 84-49. Kansas fans shouldn’t look to games against Iowa State and Nebraska as a measuring stick for their team.

Rustin Dodd: In the long run, the K-State loss could be good for Kansas. And not because of the obvious, “Oh look what happened to the Patriots when they went through the season undefeated.”

Rustin Dodd: That’s dumb reasoning. The loss could be beneficial because Kansas will never have to deal with an environment as volatile as the one in Mannhattan. It was like the scene in “PCU” where the high school kid visits college and upsets every group on campus. Kansas still has Baylor, Texas, Kansas State and Texas A&M on the schedule. Playing that kind of schedule down the stretch prepares a team for the Tournament -- which in the end is where this team will be judged.

Mark Dent: That’s very true, but the loss hurt Kansas right now. The Jayhawks aren’t playing basketball at the same level as they were before the loss. It could change any day. It might change against Baylor or Texas. But right now, something’s wrong. This isn’t the same team that started 20-0, and it’s because of the defense. If or when the pressure returns, Kansas can start rolling opponents and thinking about beating Texas or Kansas State.

— Edited by Jared Duncan