Coach Bill Self says that if the 2008 team matched up against this year’s team, the winner would be obvious.

“This team is not ready to beat that team,” he said. “It would not even be a contest as of today.”

Though the two teams are drawing comparisons, the 2008 team, Self said, was battle-tested and hungry from being upset the previous two years. In 2006, Kansas was the fourth seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost in the first round to Bradley. The next year, as a No. 1 seed, the Jayhawks lost to the second-seeded UCLA Bruins in the Elite Eight.

“This team basically didn’t operate last year in a pressurized situation as much because I really felt like everybody was happy with their performance last year,” Self said. “The team before was driven to do better.”

To excel this season, junior guard Tyrel Reed said, this team will have to rely on its youth, something the championship team did not rely heavily upon.

“The 2008 team had a deep group of seniors — six guys who had been with Coach Self for four years,” Reed said. “They knew the system and been through the ups and downs of playing college basketball. This year we’ve got some young guys and some old guys. I think we just have a good mix.”

The starting lineup of the 2008 team consisted of Mario Chalmers, Russell Robinson, Brandon Rush, Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur — two seniors, two juniors and one sophomore.

Projecting the starting lineup for the 2009-10 team shows the how much younger the Jayhawks are this year. They are looking at a possible lineup of Cole Aldrich, Sherron Collins, Tyshawn Taylor, Marcus Morris and Xavier Henry — one senior, one junior, two sophomores and a freshman.

The main disparities between the two teams besides age, Self said, are the athleticism, size and depth.

“I don’t know if this team is quite as athletic and as fast,” he said “but this team may be bigger. I think this team is probably deeper which doesn’t always translate to positive things because obviously we can only play so many guys.”

Despite all the comparisons, the Jayhawks know a championship in 2010 is merely a goal and they have a lot of progress to make to reach it. Sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor isn’t ready to hang any banners just yet.

“I’m not saying that we are the best team in the country,” Taylor said. “I’m not saying that we’re going to be the national champions. I’m just saying if we come in here and we try to get better every year, I think we have all the right pieces that we could be a really elite team in college.”

It has been awhile since junior center Cole Aldrich tasted the victory of the 2008 national championship. But those memories are the ones that keep him striving for excellence.

“It feels like a real long time but at the same time it feels like it was almost yesterday.” Aldrich said. “Just thinking about the season coming up reminds us of how last year ended and the hunger that we have for having another successful year.”

— Edited by Arthur Hur