Rick Santorum has, indeed, convincingly won Kansas, a state in which neither Mitt Romney nor Newt Gingrich really campaigned. All eyes have been and will continue to be on the South, but Santorum’s win in Kansas is still significant. Not only does the Sunflower State become Santorum’s eighth state to win, but the former Pennsylvania senator might very well have picked up all 40 of the state’s delegates:

Rick Santorum has won the Kansas Republican caucuses, according to Associated Press and network projections, his eighth statewide victory in the GOP presidential nomination battle. …

Santorum’s strength in Kansas overall — he was leading in all but one of the counties that had reported results as of 2:30 p.m. Central Standard Time —  was reflected in his overwhelming victory in the state’s biggest caucus.

In Sedgwick County, he won 1,640 votes, or 55.6%, trouncing his competitors in the race for the nomination and suggesting he may pick up all of the state’s 40 delegates if similar results are repeated in the other 95 caucuses.

As Ed pointed out this morning, Gingrich’s absence in Kansas is even more notable given his post-Florida promise to contest every single state, but Gingrich couldn’t afford to spare any time from campaigning in Mississippi and Alabama, two states he desperately needs to do well in — not to say “win” — to stay alive in the race.

Santorum’s win in Kansas might help him to pick up a point or two in the polls in the next crucial Southern states. It’s nearly as vital for Santorum to outright win Mississippi and Alabama as it is for Gingrich. While his campaign will continue either way, Tuesday is his best chance to knock Gingrich out of the race. While Mitt Romney wins in both states would probably also knock Gingrich out, they obviously would do nothing to move Santorum closer to the actual nomination. Whatever Santorum can do to parlay his eighth victory into his ninth and tenth on Tuesday, he’d better do.