Posted on Fri, Apr. 04, 2008

One of the four Kansas basketball fans I was sitting and talking with about the Jayhawks, Roy Williams and everything else crimson and blue referred to KU as "basketball royalty."

Which would have been fine, except for the group of Kansas State fans sitting nearby. They could not hide their disdain for such a comment. I worried about a fight breaking out.

But it was all good. The K-Staters did their best to ignore the Kansas fans, realizing this was the Jayhawks' moment in the sun as KU prepares for another Final Four.

This preparation, though, is different from all the rest. This time, the Jayhawks are preparing to play one of their own -- at least one who used to be their own -- Roy Williams. He coaches North Carolina now and all week long he has been professing his undying love for Kansas.

The four Kansas fans I met for lunch -- Wichitans Jerry Tomlinson, Walt Bettis, Kevin Chisham and Shaun Bullard -- have mixed feelings about Williams. Bettis and Chisham forgive him; actually, they never begrudged him for leaving KU for North Carolina five years ago in the first place.

Tomlinson and Bullard aren't over it and haven't forgiven Williams.

We talked for nearly an hour about the Jayhawks and the nerve-racking confrontation that will happen Saturday night in San Antonio's Alamodome.

Tomlinson, 74, said he doesn't sleep after losses. Bullard gets so wound up while watching a game that he's not aware of the spectacle he's making. Each said on a 1-10 scale, their KU passion surpassed 10.

There is apprehension about this game. And excitement. And dread.

Tomlinson plans to watch in his house with his wife, as he always does.

"She sits quietly and I holler," he said.

Chisham, too, will watch at home with his wife.

"She's preparing herself for the jubilation," he said. "Or the two-month funk I'll be in if KU loses."

Bullard will join his dad and some of his friends at a sports bar, where they can get rowdy amongst other rowdies.

"Once the game starts, I get zoned in and forget how I'm acting," Bullard said. "At Hooters, for the Villanova game, I was maybe the loudest person in there."

Bettis will either be in the Alamodome or watching a feed inside Allen Fieldhouse. Either way, he wants to be around many other KU fans, whom he calls "the brethren."

It was inevitable that KU would someday meet Williams and the Tar Heels. Tomlinson still resents Williams for the way he handled leaving in 2003. He thinks the process might have distracted him from doing his best coaching at the 2003 Final Four in New Orleans, when Kansas lost to Syracuse in the championship game.

"I think it all should have been done after the Final Four," he said. "Then if he leaves, fine. North Carolina is a great job. But I think we should have been able to have our parade and then, after that, he should have done what he did."

These fans are more turned off by another KU basketball alum, Dean Smith, than Williams. They think Smith was too visible during the time he was recruiting Williams to "come home."

"Used to be, North Carolina was my second-favorite team, behind KU," Bullard said. "Now I want them to lose every game."

Bettis and Chisham aren't so harsh.

Chisham's love for Williams came about during his freshman season at KU during the early 1990s, the one year he spent on campus.

"The guy was class all the way, the way he treated players, fans and just the stranger on the street," he said. "If I were a basketball coach and somebody offered me the job at KU, the school I love, wild horses couldn't have kept me."

Bettis, who is in communications with Caterpillar, said all the good Williams did at KU overwhelms his decision to leave.

"He gave us 15 great years," Bettis said. "When he left, I sent him a letter, thanking him. But I told him I was also looking forward to the day we play you. You know how you play your buddies in golf and want to beat their brains out? Well, I'd love to get Roy on the court and play him."

All of those old memories -- good and bad -- are rushing back this week as KU fans prepare to deal with this game in any way they can. So much is on the line. And, for good measure, now KU fans have to be nervous about Bill Self potentially leaving for Oklahoma State, although there's not a Jayhawk fan alive who can make that rationale work in their heads.

"It makes me a little antsy, though," Bettis said. "You know (Oklahoma State's) checkbook is open."

These fans are picking the Jayhawks to beat North Carolina. Not like they have a choice; their hard-wiring won't allow them to pick anyone to beat KU.

Tomlinson: 87-84.

Bettis: 81-77.

Bullard: 92-81.

Chisham: 75-68.

The group of nearby K-Staters: North Carolina, of course.

Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz co-hosts "Sports Daily" from 9-11 a.m. weekdays on KFH, 1240-AM and 98.7-FM. Reach him at 316-268-6597 or blutz@wichitaeagle.com.