TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2005
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN 3B
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Texas football coach Mack Brown greets quarterback Vince Young as the offense leaves the field during fourth quarter action in their 52-17 victory over Texas Tech on Saturday in Austin. The Longhorns slipped past Southern California into first place Monday because of a stellar showing in the Bowl Championship Series computer rankings.
Texas rises in polls
Longhorns gain standing in bowl series
BY RALPH D. RUSSO
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — Texas is No.
1 by whisker in Bowl Championship Series standings.
The Longhorns slipped past Southern California into first place Monday thanks to a stellar showing in the BCS computer rankings.
Second last week, Texas' BCS average of .9763 out of a possible 1.000 was just ahead of second-place USC (.9756), the slimmest margin between Nos. 1 and 2 in the eight-year history of the organization.
The top two teams in the final standings play in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4 for the BCS title.
USC is top-ranked in The Associated Press media poll, the USA Today coaches' poll and the Harris Interactive poll. The coaches' poll and the Harris poll make up two-thirds of a team's BCS grade. A compilation of six computer rankings account for the other third, with the highest and lowest ranking for each team dropped.
Texas is second in all three polls, but gained a few points on USC from voters after a 52-17 victory over previously unbeaten Texas Tech on Saturday. Computer polls, however, weigh heavily on strength of schedule and the win over the Red Raiders gave Texas a big boost.
er rankings. Struggling Arizona State (3-4), which was ranked when USC won at Tempe on Oct. 1, is also hurting the Trojans in the strength-of-schedule category.
USC was atop one computer ranking and second in three others. One computer had the Trojans fourth, another fifth.
USC's 51-24 victory over Washington (1-6) did nothing to help the Trojans in the comput-
Despite the slip in this week's BCS rankings, if the Trojans can maintain their strong grip on No. 1 in each poll, they'll be tough to catch.
Virginia Tech is still in third. Georgia and Alabama were next, holding their spots from last week. UCLA moved up three places to sixth, putting the nation's six unbeaten teams at the front of the BCS standings.
Mizzou officials: Leave rushing to the players
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Storming the field and tearing down football goal posts after a big Missouri victory is a tradition school officials are looking to end.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
the goal posts downtown, where they wielded hacksaws to cut off pieces for individual keepsakes. Fans who rushed the field were encouraged by several Missouri players to do so.
After the arrest of 20 fans on trespassing charges following Saturday's 41-24 victory against Nebraska. Missouri athletics officials said Monday they were forming an internal task force to discuss ways to stem fanrowdiness.
Gleeful fans carried chunks of
Athletics spokesman Chad Molter said the university appreciated fan enthusiasm but rushing the field was over the line.
Richard Thomas Rose, of Benton City, Wash., was killed Saturday at the Minnesota school. The cause of death was suspected to be a blow from the goal post, school officials said.
"We don't condone that act and we try to do everything we can to prevent it," he said. "It's not a safe situation, and it can obviously hurt a number of people."
er any players who encouraged fans to swarm Faurot Field would be disciplined.
Moller declined to say wheth
The same day Missouri fans rushed the field to tear down goal posts, a student at the University of Minnesota-Morris died doing the same thing during a homecoming game.
Ups and downs for conference
K-State loses Iowa State wins big
BY STEVE BRISENDINE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas State hasn't been over 500 at the midpoint of its Big 12 season since 2000, but over that four-year span, the Wildcats have been to three bowl games, won one of their three North Division titles and earned their only conference championship in 2003.
At 4-3 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play, their purple-clad backs are against the wall once more.
Kansas State made progress behind freshman quarterback Allan Evridge in Saturday's 30-28 loss to Texas A&M but also hurt itself with a rash of dropped passes, three turnovers and 99 yards in penalties.
"We're kind of at a pivotal point in that respect," coach Bill Snyder said Monday, during the Big 12 coaches' weekly conference call. "It's getting late in the season, so to speak. We've gone past the halfway mark, and it's going to be interesting to see whether this football team can have the spirit and discipline to do what would make us a better football team, one capable of turning our fortunes around."
"Those are things that will get you beat versus any football team," said Snyder, whose team hosts North co-leader and defending division champion Colorado this weekend. "Those are
things that will take discipline and focus to correct, but they're solvable problems."
A similar situation exists at Iowa State, where the Cyclones lost their first
three conference games in 2004 but then ran off a fourgame winning streak before a 17-14 overtime loss to Missouri knocked them out of the Big 12 title game.
overtime against Baylor on Saturday and had just six yards on eight carries in the two games before that.
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Kansas State made progress behind freshman quarterback Allan Evridge in Saturday's 30-28 loss to Texas A&M but also hurt itself with a rash of dropped passes, three turnovers and 99 yards in penalties.
"He is much further along
The difference is that in 2004, the Cyclones' first three opponents outscored them 89-20. This year, the 0-3 start includes a seven-point loss in double overtime to Nebraska and a threepoint overtime loss to Missouri.
"We're not hammering on that, but it's a good point to bring up," Iowa coach Dan McCarney said.
"A couple of those teams last year had kicked our tails," McCarney said. "This year, there hasn't been any tail-kicking."
Oklahoma, which travels to Nebraska on Saturday, and Iowa State both expect their featured running backs to return from injury this week.
Adrian Peterson, the Heisman runner-up as a freshman last year, has struggled with a slow-healing ankle injury this season. He did not play in the Sooners' 37-30 win in double
than he was a week ago, having rested," O k l a h o m a coach Bob Stoops said "We feel he'll be a lot closer, coming into this game, and we're going to work toward playing him. Now, it's Monday, and can I be definitive about that? I can't."
Hicks, who rushed for 1,062 yards in 2004, has been slowed all season by injury — McCarney won't discuss details — and hasn't played since the Cyclones' 28-21 victory over Army on Sept. 23.
"We could have used him Saturday, from an emergency standpoint," McCarney said. "I wanted to give him some more rest, and the doctors agreed."
"It shouldn't be easier, but I think it might be." Leach said. "I can't specifically tell you why, but I think maybe when the margin of error is closer, there's a little more second-guessing."
Texas Tech coach Mike Leach said the 16th-ranked Red Raiders might have an easier time of bouncing back from Saturday's 52-17 loss to No. 2 Texas than if they had lost a squeaker to the Longhorns.
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