Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein often said before the season that his inexperienced players may look great in practice but it meant nothing until they played “under the lights” in an actual game.

Come Sunday, the “lights” will brighter than at any other point the season.

The Wolverines are welcoming Kansas to Crisler Arena, and the nation will be watching. CBS is broadcasting the game nationally with its top team of Verne Lundquist and Clark Kellogg. The Jayhawks are perhaps the most storied program in college basketball.

And this edition of the team is currently ranked No. 3 in the country. So, even beyond the off-court hype, there lies a game that’s huge for Michigan just because of the quality of their opponent.

Though the Wolverines have said they take their schedule game-by-game, these types of matchups — if they turn into wins — are critical to boost a team’s NCAA Tournament chances.

“Any time you have home games against nationally ranked teams, you have to look at that as a tremendous opportunity,” Beilein said when he met with reporters Friday afternoon. “People are dying to play a top-50 team. Forget about nationally-ranked (teams), just dying to play top-50 teams so they can get it on their resume.”

Two seasons ago, Michigan received an at-large bid to the tourney largely on the strength of wins over then-No. 4 UCLA and then-No. 4 Duke. A win against Kansas on Sunday or over No. 2 Ohio State next Wednesday would go a long way towards boosting the Wolverines’ tournament profile.

Beilein, too, is especially aware of the benefits and prestige associated with a game like the one Sunday. Being a coach at smaller schools for most of his career, the Michigan head man never got opportunities to play such big games at home. Even though Beilein said he doesn’t treat these matchups any differently both in-game and in preparation, he knows how significant they are.

“You never had these opportunities (at previous stops),” Beilein said. “You had the opportunity to play these teams on the road. To play them at home is always a unique opportunity.

“We have two top-5 teams coming in here, so it’s a great opportunity for us. That’s the only way we can look at it.”

SCOUTING THE JAYHAWKS: Defeating Kansas will be no easy task, as head coach Bill Self has one of the elite squads in college basketball this year.

Four of his players are predicted to go in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft, according to a mock draft from the website nbadraft.net. Forward Marcus Morris and stud freshman guard Josh Selby are the among the best at their respective positions in the nation.

“They’re a very physical team,” Beilein said. “We’re going to have to be able to handle that. … I haven’t seen too many things that we can exploit right now. They have 10, 11, 12 guys that probably could start for anyone else in the country.

“They can score, they can shut down people. There’s a reason they’re ranked so high.”

The Jayhawks are still undefeated and have beaten several solid teams, including No. 21 Memphis, Arizona and UCLA. Last season, then- No. 1 Kansas defeated Michigan, 75-64, at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.

MORRIS LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK: Sophomore point guard Darius Morris is coming off one of his worst performances of the season, and he’ll have to rebound if Michigan has any hopes of upsetting the Jayhwaks.

Against Wisconsin on Wednesday night, Morris played just five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. He finished the game with just eight points and had four turnovers compared to three assists.

Morris said Friday that he could never get into a rhythm in Madison.

“I felt comfortable in the second half, but first half, I picked up that foul so quick,” Morris said. “I was forced to watch my teammates play, so that was not comfortable. … It’s something I need to learn from and adjust.”