Perfect Kansas seeking 10th win

Oklahoma State has won five straight games against the Jayhawks.

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — After being down for so long, No. 5 Kansas has had to prove itself over and over again this season to earn respect and make itself a factor in the national championship picture.

Now the Jayhawks are so close to the top, the only thing left to prove is whether they can handle their new lofty status. Kansas gets a chance to answer that question tonight against Oklahoma State.

“It’s great when you have a lot of people in your program because it means that the kids and everyone is doing something right. But we are not going to be taken off track,” said Kansas coach Mark Mangino, a native of New Castle and a graduate of Youngstown State.

“We have a smart bunch of kids here that see what is taking place. They are enjoying it, but they are not caught up in it.”

The Jayhawks (9-0, 5-0 Big 12), fourth in the BCS standings, get their final road test of the season against the Cowboys (5-4, 3-2), who are coming off a heartbreaking loss.

Oklahoma State had Texas down 21 points in the fourth quarter last week in Stillwater before losing 38-35. The Cowboys have won five straight against Kansas, including a 42-32 decision in Lawrence last season, when Adarius Bowman set a Big 12 record with 300 yards receiving.

“Everybody is dangerous that we’re going to play because at this point in time we are going to get everyone’s best shot,” Mangino said. “So, we have great respect for them, we think they are a very, very good football team. They lost some games that they could have easily won that could have changed the complexion of things for them, but it is still a very talented and a very good football team.”

Besides being the nation’s No. 2 scoring team (46.2 ppg), the Jayhawks also have the second-rated scoring defense (13.4 ppg), the second-best turnover margin (plus-1.78), and the best kickoff return unit (30.8 yards per return). They’re also in the top 10 in rush defense, pass efficiency defense, total offense and total defense.

A win would make Kansas 10-0 for only the second time in school history. The other time was 1899.

“Records are meant to be shattered,” Kansas safety Darrell Stuckey said. “It is one of those things where we are an evolving team, and we are evolving into a team that KU has never seen and accomplished.”

Oklahoma State will be going for its first win against a top-five team since it beat No. 3 Oklahoma 38-28 in Stillwater in 2002 to end the Sooners’ national title hopes. A victory would also make the team bowl-eligible for the fifth time in the past six seasons.

With five Big 12 teams already bowl-eligible and two others with five wins, the Cowboys may have to upset either Kansas or No. 4 Oklahoma — plus beat last-place Baylor — and reach seven wins to sew up a postseason berth.