The problem Tardville has is the over inflated image they have of themselve caused by the KC media bowing to their bandwagon fanbase that has grown larger due to the Royals and Chiefs pretty much sucking. If the Royals and Chiefs were consistantly good, ku would have a lot fewer bandwagon fans.
Living away from kc as I have for nearly 2 decades, I can say that while the medium to hardcore college basketball fans are fully aware of ku, they recognize ku as being a top basketball school . . . but very few if any are dropping everything to watch ku play . . . around here as one would expect it's all ACC . . . when I travel on business down the Southeast its all SEC . Yeah, you find the hardcore guys that know all about ku, but to the general SEC/ACC populace . . . they really don't give a $hit about ku, just like they really don't give a $hit about K-State either. I deal a lot with people up in the heart of Big 10 country . . . they're all Big 10 all the time, they don't care about the Big 12, they don't give a crap about ku basketball unless either/or directly impacts one of their favorite Big 10 teams, just like they don't care about K-State.