Sunday was Oct. 7, still a pretty early time in the college football season. Kansas has seven of its 12 games remaining.

Yet, coach Charlie Weis sent a pretty strong message that he is already concentrating on next season.

Weis announced on the Big 12 conference call that on Sunday, he practiced with only players who will be on next year's team:

Again, that happened on Oct. 7, with more than half of Kansas' games remaining. The Jayhawks aren't on a bye week. They play Oklahoma State this week, the kind of game that a team's seniors might need to prepare as much as possible for.

How can anyone hear this and assume anything other than Weis has already given up on this season? The seniors have to be wondering that. Weis said the seniors ran and lifted weights and didn't get the day off, but it'll be hard for them to take Weis seriously when he has used a day of practice, "to develop younger players for the future." Weis told the Kansas City Star he would have done the same thing had the Jayhawks been 4-1 instead of 1-4, but it's very difficult to buy that. Oklahoma State likely isn't doing that this week.

Kansas has lost four in a row, and chances are the Jayhawks' season isn't going to get a whole lot better. But it looks like a slap in the face to the seniors to act like you're throwing in the towel before the first week of October is finished.

Maybe the seniors can go work for KU's student newspaper the rest of the season. That might get Weis' attention.

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