LAWRENCE | Don&#8217;t look back, Kansas fans. Ignore your critics.</p><p>Laugh off your co-workers who love the Missouri Tigers and will try to convince you that the 2008 season proves the 2007 season was a fluke, a product of a weak schedule.</p><p>It&#8217;s going to be a rough two weeks for Kansas fans, and the choppy ride might stretch through the entire offseason if things go as expected on Nov. 29 inside Arrowhead Stadium.</p><p>A year after winning the Orange Bowl and finishing 12-1, Mark Mangino&#8217;s Jayhawks are staring at a .500 season without a single victory over a medium-quality opponent.</p><p>On Saturday, Kansas fell to 6-5, losing 35-7 to Texas at Memorial Stadium. A loss in two weeks to just-above-medium-quality Missouri and some people will argue that the 2008 season provides nullifying context to the 2007 campaign.</p><p>Even with the Jayhawks long since removed from the polls, expect to hear chants of &#8220;OVERRATED&#8221; at Arrowhead Stadium during the Border War if the Tigers do what Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma did to the Hawks this season.</p><p>The Big 12 South heavy hitters smoked Kansas 143-59 this year, and the games weren&#8217;t really that close.</p><p>The contention by Missouri fans and objective observers will be that had the Big Three been on KU&#8217;s schedule a year ago, 2007 wouldn&#8217;t have been near as magical, and it damn sure wouldn&#8217;t have ended with Missouri in the Cotton Bowl and Kansas in a BCS game.</p><p>That wound has yet to heal, and Tigers faithful would love nothing more than to pass on a little pain on Nov. 29.</p><p>But they can&#8217;t do it if Kansas fans focus on looking ahead rather than looking back.</p><p>Next year Kansas will have the necessary personnel to deal with a difficult Big 12 South schedule. In hindsight, we should have seen this year&#8217;s dropoff. The Jayhawks lost the weapons that made quarterback Todd Reesing effective.</p><p>The graduation of offensive tackles Anthony Collins and Cesar Rodriguez and tight end Derek Fine decimated the KU offense. The undersized Reesing has taken a beating this season, and on Saturday you could see what that beating has done to his performance.</p><p>Mangino said Reesing did not practice much in the week leading up to Saturday&#8217;s contest. Against Texas, Reesing was inaccurate and not nearly as mobile as we&#8217;ve come to expect. His deep passes were generally a couple of yards short. He played like he&#8217;d lost his legs.</p><p>When Reesing is ineffective &#8212; he completed just 50 percent of his passes &#8212; Kansas&#8217; suspect defense is exposed and the Jayhawks&#8217; confidence wanes.</p><p>Inspired and successful for a half, the Kansas defense wilted in the third quarter, giving up 21 points.</p><p>Next season should be better. The Hawks lose just four starters on each side of the ball. Kansas&#8217; freshmen offensive tackles, Jeremiah Hatch and Jeff Spikes, will be significantly better. Reesing and receivers Dezmon Briscoe, Kerry Meier and Johnathan Wilson will form one of the league&#8217;s top passing attacks.</p><p>On defense, Kansas must replace its linebacking corps, but improved, mature play along the defensive front will help.</p><p>Next year we will find out the truth about 2007. If the Jayhawks are a six- or seven-win team in 2009, then it will be fair to say that Mangino is a six- or seven-win coach and 2007 was a fluke.</p><p>And I&#8217;m not totally convinced the Hawks will lose to Missouri in two weeks. Giving Reesing and Meier 14 days to heal might be all the Jayhawks need to play their best game of the season. A victory against the Tigers would save this season for Mangino. The Jayhawks would be on equal footing with the Tigers, and with Reesing returning and Chase Daniel graduating, you could argue Kansas is in better shape than its bitter rival.</p><p>My point is this year&#8217;s contest at Arrowhead Stadium won&#8217;t quite be Armageddon, but the game is important nonetheless.