Life isn't worth living.

Just kidding.

It was just a basketball game.

The Kansas Jayhawks lost tonight, so their men's basketball season is over. Too bad. They had so much potential.

Only good thing for me? If the Jayhawks had reached the national championship game, they would have played on Monday, April 2. That's the first evening of the Easter Camp we're attending next month. And there aren't many TVs where we're headed. So, I would have faced the moral dilemma of being at the first evening service of camp, or skipping out and finding a TV somewhere to watch the game.

No dilemma now.

Alas.

Wow, that was close.

If Kansas can barely handle the defense of the Southern Illinois Salukis, the Jayhawks may encounter more impressive obstacles in their quest to win a national basketball championship.

Wow, that was an awesome lead paragraph for a sports story. You'd think I used to be a reporter or something.

Fortunately, my Jayhawks held on tonight to beat SIU underwhelmingly, 61-58. I think I grew two or three gray hairs watching the game, which will help replace all the ones I pulled out as Kansas struggled to play to its full potential. The Jayhawks will play either UCLA or Pittsburgh this weekend; not sure if it makes a difference which of those teams wins the game tonight. Maybe this will prove to be a wake-up call for Kansas. We'll see!

My Jayhawks.

What can I say? I thought my Kansas Jayhawks might be walking into troubled waters in the NCAA men's basketball tournament this year, but my fears have disappeared. After strong wins in their first two games, the Jayhawks have proven they have what it takes to win -- and maybe even what it takes to win a national championship.

Now if I can just get my Kansas City Royals to do so well in baseball. Some of my students are trying to persuade me to drop the Royals in favor of another team. Specifically, another team that sports blue jerseys. The Dodgers. Sorry friends, that one ain't gonna happen. The Dodgers are from L.A., and rooting for an L.A. team would violate one of the foundations of my personal theology. One of these days I'll share all of those tenets. But not tonight.

Faith in my team?

My Kansas Jayhawks square off Saturday against Texas in the final regular season game. KU is now ranked #3 by both the coaches and the sportswriters. This can mean only one thing.

Kansas will fail.

I hate to write those words. But #3? I've watched the Jayhawks play this year, and as much as I want them to win and win and win, I'm not convinced they're the third-best team in the nation.

They might be good enough to beat Texas. But I get nervous when Kansas gets high in the rankings. 'Cause that's when KU tends to stumble.

We'll see.

Painful to watch.

Oh, tonight was such a tough night. My Kansas Jayhawks were on ESPN again, giving me another chance to see my team win. Alas, KU was unable to hold it together near the end of the game, and the Texas A&M Aggies walked away with a victory -- the first time the Aggies have beaten the Jayhawks in basketball.

Before the game began, I texted and then spoke with Evan Mattei, a die-hard Aggies fan, who reminded me that until this year, A&M wasn't really known for its basketball squad, just the football team. Methinks that's all-a-changing. Tonight's game showed A&M has a real team, worthy of national recognition. Kansas showed it has a lot of work to do if it expects to survive past the first or second round of the NCAA tournament next month.

Alas.