TUESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2006 SPORTS THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 9A ATHLETICS CALENDAR WEDNESDAY - Men's basketball at Texas A&M, 7 p.m., College Station, Texas Women's basketball at Kansas State, 7 p.m., Manhattan Player to watch: Freshman forward Julian Wright He had one of the best games of his young career. Saturday Wright Saturday against Nebraska, going 6-of-8 from the field for 12 points. Wright had three highlight-zeel dunks as well. FRIDAY Swimming vs. Drury, 5 p.m., Lawrence Men's basketball at Iowa State, 11 a.m., Ames, Iowa SATURDAY - Women's basketball vs. Baylor, 3 p.m. Waco, Texas Tennis vs. Drake, time TBA, Lawrence Track and Field, Jayhawk Invitational, all day, Lawrence INTRAMURALS Registration to start for intramural basketball Registration for intramural basketball will begin at 8 a.m. today and last until 6 p.m. Wednesday. Students can register online at kansas.imtrackonline.com or at the Student Recreation Fitness Center. Registration is free and all members must have a KUID number. There will be 280 spots available for teams to register. This is the first time the online registration system will be used. Heather Riffel ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT Athletes earn record GPAs BY SHAWN SHROYER sshroyer@kansan.com KANSAN SPORTWRITER Kansas Athletics had an impressive fall semester in the classroom with 12 teams posting 3.0 grade point averages or better and two teams setting team GPA records. FALL 2005 TEAM GPAS The volleyball team earned a 3.49 GPA that tied the alltime, all-team record at Kansas previously achieved by the women's tennis team in Spring 2005. The baseball team raised its GPA from 2.57 last spring to a team record of 2.96. Fifteen members of the team earned a 3.0 GPA or higher and were named to the athletic department's honor roll. Freshman Kevin Bedford and redshirt freshmen Justin Ellrick and Nick Faunce earned perfect 4.0 GPAs for the baseball team. Volleyball — 3.49 (team record) Baseball — 2.96 (team record) Men's Basketball — 2.82 Women's Basketball — 3.00 Football — 2.40 Men's Golf — 3.05 Women's Golf — 3.26 Rowing — 3.02 Softball — 3.19 "Coach was real big on everybody doing well in the classroom, same as doing well on the field," Ellrich said. Soccer — 3.00 Swimming & Diving — 3.26 Tennis — 3.28 Men's Track & Field — 2.92 Men's Cross Country — 3.02 Women's Track & Field — 3.06 Women's Cross Country — 3.20 All Sports Combined — 2.91 "So, it was definitely a big thrill for us, actually, to do as good as we did." The extra effort Ellrich and his teammates put forth in the classroom did not go unnoticed by their coach. Source: Kansas Athletics Department "They understood the importance and they were much more focused about it than in the past," coach Ritch Price said. "I think they're trying to become Jayhawk scholars, trying to get those GPAs over 3.0 so that they can have a chance to be successful in life too." Price said he didn't expect GPAs to suffer in the spring semester despite the hectic schedule the athletes would face. "I think any student athlete does an incredible job of budgeting their time and players know that they have to be responsible for their academics and they have to make sure that no matter how much we travel or where a game is scheduled, they still have to get those responsibilities taken care of," Price said. — Edited by Vanessa Pearson Steelers coach Cowher back in big one NFL David Zalubowski/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BY ALAN ROBINSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, right, argues a call with line judge Mark Steinkerchner during the second quarter against Denver in the AFC Championship football game in Denver on Sunday. DENVER — Bill Belichick was too smart, and Tom Brady and John Elway were too good. Steelers coach Bill Cowher made it to the AFC championship game five times, an enviable record for any coach. The problem: He lost four times, and some in Pittsburgh became convinced the Belichicks and Elways weren't the problem, but that not-good-enough-Bill was. seeded teams to reach the Super Bowl. The Steelers' surprise advance to only their second Super Bowl in 26 years offers some redemption for Cowher, who acknowledged after last year's 41-27 AFC title game loss to New England at home that not winning a Super Bowl was a "void" in his career. Great regular-season coach? For sure — Cowher is among the top 15 in NFL career victories. Get him in the playoffs, against the top coaches, and he'll be overmatched. But no other coach accomplished what Cowher did with a 34-17 AFC championship victory Sunday in Denver: Take a sixth-seeded team on the road and beat the Nos. 1, 2 and 3- Even the team's patient-asJob ownership put some pressure on Cowher after the Steelers missed out after going 15-1 last season. Shortly after that latest disappointment, team president Art Rooney said, "It's time for us to win another Super Bowl." Funny, but Cowher looks a whole lot smarter now after taking the Steelers to Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Denver in successive weeks and winning, twice by two-touchdown margins. AP TOP 25 AP TOP 20 Men's college basketball poll The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's college basketball poll. Top 25 teams in the AP Top 20 records record through Jan. 22, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a second-place vote by the men's basketball team. TEAM RECORD PTL/PV 1. Connecticut (BA) 16-1 1,790 2. Duke (7) 17-1 1,711 1 3. Maryland 16-1 1,541 1 4. Florida 17-1 1,830 2 5. Villanova (1) 17-1 1,430 2 6. Gonzaga 17-1 1,829 2 7. Georgia 17-1 1,729 7 8. West Virginia 14-1 1,157 12 9. Washington 14-1 1,140 10 10. Michigan SL 15-1 1,005 9 11. Indiana 14-1 1,001 13 12. Geo. Washington 14-1 845 16 13. Florida State 15-1 1,005 9 14. Ohio SL 14-2 738 16 15. UCLA 14-2 489 16 16. Maryland 13-4 449 22 17. Louisiana 13-4 422 20 18. Boston College 13-4 399 21 19.Georgetown 14-2 231 17 20. Louisville 12-1 188 17 21. Oklahoma 11-4 186 28 22. Syracuse 11-4 186 28 Nebraska receiving winter North Carolina 122 LSU 10, Nebraska 10, Xavier 90, lwr 71 UAA 47 Milton 45, Batesbea 32 Milton 32, Michigan 64, St. Louis 64, St. Louis 64, St. John 8, St. John 8, Air Force 4, Macdonald 4, Alarms 3, Arizona 6, Ohio 3, Chicago 1, Hosta 1, Mami 1, Wesleyan 1, Dan Diego 1, U.S. 1 AP TOP 25 Women's college basketball poll The top 25 teams in the Associated Press press women's college basketball ball, with first-place wins in pinnanthese, records from Jan. 12, total points scored by each team and through one point for a 392-point vote and last week's ranking: TEAM RECORD PTS PV Tennessee (36) 18-10 1,122 1 Duke (10) 18-10 1,112 1 North Carolina 18-10 1,049 4 LSU 16-1 958 14 Bucknell 16-1 905 15 Maryland 16-1 915 16 Ohio St. 15-2 875 17 Purdue 15-2 807 11 Baylor 13-3 698 8 Rutgers 13-3 698 8 Oklahoma 13-4 643 14 DePaul 17-2 621 10 Okahoma 15-4 619 17 Minnesota 13-4 572 16 Georgia 13-5 519 13 Michigan St. 14-4 442 12 Texas 14-4 434 21 New Mexico 14-4 324 20 Arizona St. 14-5 283 15 BYOU 15-1 283 15 Notre Dame 15-1 283 15 Dallas 13-6 120 19 Southern Cal 13-6 119 16 Florida 15-3 105 17 Virgin Tech 14-3 73 18 Others receiving votes: Boston College 66, N.C. State 51, St. John's 47, Texas A&M 42, St. John's 38, George Washington 43, Virginia 23, Texas A&M 49, Texas 9, Texas 7, Michigan 6, California 5, Hartford 2, Iowa 2, Tulsa 2, Bowling Green 1, Frasco St., Louisiana Tech 1, Marquette 1 BEEN FOR ALL RANKIND CITIZENS OF HUMANITY 1904 TAMS POLY CAMP LONGHORN INDIAN SPRINGS and INKS LAKE LOOKING FOR: Counselors, Nurses, Nursing Assistants, Office and Photographers We Will Be Interviewing Wednesday, January 25, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Memorial Union-4th Floor Lobby }