LAWRENCE, Kan. - College football's red carpet is rolling closer and closer to Kansas' feet.

Meanwhile, Iowa State ended its year with what's become a common malady - a case of the Jayhawk blues.

KU wrapped up its 11th straight victory and set up a showdown with Missouri for the Big 12 North Division title with a 45-7 blowout of ISU at Memorial Stadium.

In every respect, the team that's third in the Bowl Championship Series standings lived up to its billing, especially in the first half.

Heisman Trophy hopeful Todd Reesing, relying on the wide receiver screens and a series of short throws, never seemed to miss.

The sophomore quarterback completed 19 of his first 20 passes and finished the day 21 of 26, good for 253 yards and four touchdowns - all coming in the first half.

"He hurt us in about everything - running, passing, scrambling," said ISU middle linebacker Jesse Smith of Reesing. "We didn't do our job, and he hurt us. He's really good."

KU's defense faltered only once, when three big penalties propelled ISU to Alexander Robinson's 6-yard touchdown. Beyond that, the Cyclones failed to muster much of an attack, settling for just 52 net yards rushing and 234 in total offense. Both represented season lows.

"I think they did a great job on defense because they're the No. 2 scoring defense in the country," said ISU head coach Gene Chizik. "I mean, whether it's Alexander … or we could have had the Big Bad Wolf back there running the ball, it wouldn't have mattered. They're very good on defense in everything they do."

Meanwhile, Kansas football is better than ever. The Jayhawks are 11-0 for the first time in school history, and the opportunity to be part of college football's biggest show stands within reach.

Already owners of a share of its first North Division title, KU goes to Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium against Missouri next Saturday. If the Jayhawks win, they play the South Division winners in the Big 12 Conference title game.

Should Mark Mangino's team prevail in San Antonio, a national championship berth might belong to the men in Kansas blue.

In his postgame remarks, Chizik inadvertently handed KU a promotion to the top two.

"That's a very good football team," said Chizik of the unbeaten Jayhawks. "They're deservedly No. 2 in the country. They're a great team. (Mangino) has built it right. He's built it with speed. He's built it with great players, and I think that showed up tonight. It was evident."

As for Iowa State, the Cyclones followed down the trail blazed by other Big 12 visitors to Memorial Stadium. KU thumped Baylor by 48 points; Nebraska plunged into a 37-point hole.

Then again, Lawrence has been far from friendly to ISU over recent seasons. The Cyclones have lost three straight games to Kansas here and eight of the last 10.

Chizik, meanwhile, concluded his inaugural campaign as ISU's head coach with a 3-9 record. The Cyclones won twice in league play, beat Iowa, and challenged Big 12 powers Oklahoma and Missouri.

Against Kansas, though, the Cyclones trailed by a 28-7 margin at the half and never really threatened to rally.

"(The Jayhawks) made some big plays early on, and I think they got a lot of momentum," said receiver Todd Blythe, one of 19 seniors who suited up for the final time Saturday. "It just kept rolling for them, and we weren't able to overcome some of the stuff they were doing.

"For a team like (Kansas), you need to get big plays and you need to get one of them early and try and get momentum on your side. We never had that."

After an early punt, Kansas also had a big lead when it scored on four consecutive possessions.

Reesing hit Dexton Fields for a 17-yard TD strike on a receiver screen. Then he connected with Fields again for a 16-yard scoring play.

Wideout Marcus Henry took a turn. Reesing beat an ISU blitz and found Henry for a 51-yard TD pass.

Kerry Meier, a backup quarterback and receiver, caught an 18-yarder from Reesing with 1 minute, 56 seconds to play in the half.

"We were in the right spots a lot of times, and we couldn't tackle them and we couldn't come down with the ball," Chizik said.

Nor could Iowa State come up with a clear path to the end zone beyond the only TD drive of this regionally televised game.

Austen Arnaud, seeing his most extensive duty of his freshman year, guided one march into KU territory. But Jayhawk safety Sadiq Muhammed intercepted Arnaud at the Kansas 19 to end the second-quarter threat.

Both Arnaud and senior Bret Meyer played in the final half, with the freshman taking most of the snaps in the fourth quarter. Neither quarterback could break through.

The red carpet, meanwhile, rolled a bit closer to Lawrence.

"We had planned to have a good season," said Mangino who is now 36-35 for his Kansas career after beginning 2007 10 games below .500 as a head coach. "One of the things the kids wanted to accomplish this year was to have an opportunity to win the Big 12 North, and next week they will get an opportunity to try and do that."

Contact Jim Sullivan at (319) 291-1434 or jim.sullivan@wcfcourier.com