Before we lift the curtain for America...

Basketball's version of College Gameday will kickoff Tuesday's 2nd Annual "Champion's Classic" event at Atlanta's Georgiadome. For those of us outside of the Kansas Jayhawk Television Network viewing area, which is most of America, this will be the introductory view of the 2012-13 KU Jayhawks Men's basketball team. This is what America should expect: 1. The team. Contrary to what I reported after the ESU exhibition, Bill Self seems to have already settled upon his eight-man rotation. Releford, Withey, BMac, Naadir, Perry Ellis, Elijah, and Jamari Traylor all played the bulk of the minutes in Friday's game against SEMO. I expect Kevin Young to clock a similar amount of minutes in The ATL, cutting into Perry and Jamari's minutes. This is the team that will be introduced to America, and the team that will become household names by January. 2. @PElliz and @Humb1e_Hungry23 - I truly expect that Tuesday will be the national coming out party for these two exciting freshmen. Perry Ellis has been so smooth, with 8 rebounds and 15 points in the season opener. He's a threat to score every time that he touches the ball. But, the Sportscenter highlight reels belong to Ben McLemore. His put back dunks and alley-oops will blow the roof off of The Dome. 3. Angry Jeff Withey. The gentle giant was invisible through the first two exhibition games, playing at times as if he were just troubled to be there. That changed on Friday night. Angry Withey was back in the lineup, and a double-double ensued. Expect Angry Withey to make the trip to Hotlanta. 4. Shooting Naadir Tharpe. Since his less than auspicious debut against Emporia State, point guard Naadir Tharpe has had several runs on offensive. When he heats up, he's as good of a shooter as you'll see in Atlanta. Here's hoping to America seeing that show. 5. Elijah Johnson = Tyshawn 2? Elijah fouled out of Friday's premiere, and was absent for great stretches of both exhibitions. Coach Self sat him out of the starting lineup of the ESU exhibition for missing class. So, we've seen this challenge of character with Jayhawks before. I am interested in nothing more than how EJ15 will respond. Nothing. Rock chalk, Jayhawks.