10A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28. 2005
APTOP25
The Top 25 teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 26, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
| | Record | Pts | Pvs |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1. Southern Cal (55) | 11-0 | 1,615 | 1 |
| 2. Texas (10) | 11-0 | 1,570 | 2 |
| 3. LSU | 10-1 | 1,447 | 3 |
| 4. Penn St. | 10-1 | 1,430 | 4 |
| 5. Virginia Tech | 10-1 | 1,332 | 5 |
| 6. Ohio St. | 9-2 | 1,276 | 7 |
| 7. Notre Dame | 9-2 | 1,252 | 6 |
| 8. Oregon | 10-1 | 1,144 | 8 |
| 9. Auburn | 9-2 | 1,126 | 9 |
| 10. Miami | 9-2 | 989 | 10 |
| 11. UCLA | 9-1 | 942 | 11 |
| 12. West Virginia | 9-1 | 932 | 12 |
| 13. Georgia | 9-2 | 899 | 13 |
| 14. Alabama | 9-2 | 758 | 14 |
| 15. TCU | 10-1 | 740 | 15 |
| 16. Louisville | 8-2 | 600 | 17 |
| 17. Florida | 8-3 | 542 | 19 |
| 18. Texas Tech | 9-2 | 512 | 18 |
| 19. Boston College | 8-3 | 396 | 21 |
| 20. Michigan | 7-4 | 340 | 22 |
| 21. Wisconsin | 9-3 | 317 | 24 |
| 22. Clemson | 7-4 | 225 | 25 |
| 23. Fresno St. | 8-3 | 203 | 16 |
| 24. Georgia Tech | 7-4 | 187 | 20 |
| 25. Iowa | 7-4 | 91 | - |
Others receiving votes: Oklahoma 73, South Carolina 64, Florida St. 24, UCF 20, Boise St. 15, Nevada 13, California 10, Nebraska 8, Northwestern 8, Colorado 7, Minnesota 6, Toledo 6, Iowa St. 4, UTEP 2.
Michael Conroy/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHLETICS CALENDAR
Kansas center Sasha Kaun, center, splits the defense of Chaminade's Chris Nelson, right, and Marko Kolaric as he scores in the second half in a consolation game for seventh place at the Maui Invitational in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Wednesday.
Men's Basketball vs. Nevada Allen Fieldhouse 8 p.m.
Women's Volleyball NCAA Tournament vs. UCLA Los Angeles, 9 p.m.
FRIDAY
Women's Swimming vs. Harvard and Northeastern Cambridge, Mass., 6 p.m.
Women's Basketball vs. Birmingham-Southern Allen Fieldhouse 6 p.m.
Self: Maui an 'educational' trip
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Freshmen show improvement in third game
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
KANSAN SENIOR SPORTSWITER
Despite going 1-2 in the EA Sports Maui Invitational tournament, Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self said his young Jayhawks learned a great deal during their five-day trip to Maui, Hawaii.
Kansas played three games in three days. The team fell to No. 9 Arizona on Nov. 21 and then to unranked Arkansas the next day. Kansas then put a 102-54 victory against its third opponent, Chaminade.
"This was not a great trip basketball-wise," Self said. "But it was good from an educational standpoint."
The Jayhawks learned that forward Brandon Rush was the most comfortable of the four freshman. Rush scored 11,20 and 17 points respectively in the three games.
Freshman point guard Mario Chalmers showed flashes of his potential, shooting consistently from the perimeter, pushing the ball up the court in transition and finding the open man.
Chalmers went 3-of-6 from behind the arc against Arkansas, but he turned the ball over seven times against Arizona.
Forwards Sasha Kaun and C.J. Giles proved that they could both put up big numbers if they stayed out of foul trouble. Giles scored 21 points against Chaminade, while Kaun had
12 points against Arizona.
Freshman forward Julian Wright also showed improvement.
He made big plays in transition and came off the bench to give the
"Julian will get more confident," Self said. "When he does and starts shooting off the block in the 10-14
Jayhawks a spark against Arkansas.
The Jayhawks learned that forward Brandon Rush was the most comfortable of the four freshman.
Rush
Rush scored 11,20 and 17 points respectively in the three games.
foot range, it will be better for us."
Although they might be disappointed about the outcome of the tournament, Self said his team had no reason to hang its head.
He said it gave the Jayhawks an accurate perception of how good they really were.
"We could have gone to a different tournament, gone 2-1 and think our team is better," Self said. "We definitely hurt our preseason ranking ... People make a big deal about it hurting our record. We knew there was a chance of that when we came here."
Self said he and his coaching staff would have to be patient with the young Jayhawks.
The Maui tournament was just one step in the learning curve for Kansas.
"I wish this tournament would have gone different for us personally." Self said. "We'll learn from it and get better. It was a fun tournament, first class, well-run, the people here were tremendous."
Edited by Katie Lohrenz
NFL
Texans can't stop Rams' rally, third-string rookie quarterback
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — The Houston Texans have sunk so low that St. Louis Rams rookie third-string quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick looked like a star against them.
In the first NFL action of his career, Fitzpatrick threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Curtis in overtime to cap an improbable comeback and give the Rams a 33-27 win over Houston.
Houston got the ball first in overtime but had to punit it away when David Carr was sacked on third down.
side kick on the ensuing kickoff.
Torry Holt caught a 19-yard pass that set up Jeff Wilkins' 47-yard field goal that tied the game at 27 with four seconds left.
St. Louis (5-6) rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit and scored 10 points in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter to force overtime.
The Rams recovered from a horrible first half, with just 117 yards and six first downs, to gain 312 yards and 16 first downs in the second half.
Isaac Bruce scored on a 43- yard pass with 26 seconds left and the Rams recovered an on-
Fitzpatrick, a seventh-round draft pick, proved an able replacement in his first NFL action after backup Jamie Martin left late in the first quarter with a blow to the head. He was 19-of-30 for 310 yards and three touchdowns, despite being sacked five times.
field goal the rest of the game.
Carr threw for a season-high 293 yards and three first half touchdowns, but couldn't find the end zone after that.
The Rams entered the game without starter Marc Bulger, who is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury.
Houston (1-10) piled up 24 first half points but fell apart in the second half, only adding a
St. Louis Rams quarterback Jamie Martin is injured as he is sacked by Houston Texans linebacker DaShon Polk during the first quarter at Reliant Stadium in Houston on Sunday. Martin did not return after the play. The Rams won 33-27 in overtime.
Dave Einsel/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Andre Johnson had 159 yards, also a season-high, and a touchdown. It was his first 100 yard game and first touchdown catch of the season. Carr hadn't thrown more than one touchdown pass in a game in almost a year. So when he threw his third of the first half, a 10-yarder to Corey Bradford just before halftime, he was so jubilant that he chased Bradford down and wrapped him up before playfully tackling him in the end zone.
That jubilation was short-lived however as the Texans found a new way to lose this week, squandering their biggest lead of the season on Sunday.
Early in the game Carr had his way with a secondary that was
missing both its starting cornerbacks and its strong safety.
Fitzpatrick's performance is even more impressive considering that the Rams played the entire second half without Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Pace, who left the game in the second
quarter with a hamstring injury.
Holt scored on a 19-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter and Steven Jackson got the Rams within seven points on a 1-yard run midway through the fourth.
Jackson finished with 25 carries for 110 yards, improving the Rams' record when having a 100-yard rusher to 38-0 since moving to St. Louis in 1995.
Holt finished with 10 receptions for 130 yards and Bruce had four receptions for 94 yards.
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