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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2008
Neck and neck
PAGE1B
Jayhawks lead pack in title race
Predictions abound but no certainty in conference
BY MARK DENT AND RUSTIN DODD mdent@kansan.com, dodd@kansan.com
And they're off.
The race for the Big 12 title has reached the halfway point for some teams. Kansas (7-1) is on top, ahead of K-State (5-1). The Wildcats beat the Jayhawks last week, but Kansas is ahead because it has played two more games.
The rest of the group isn't too far behind. Texas is in third at 4-2. Baylor has an identical record, but the Longhorns hold the breacher over the Bears. Texas A&M (4-3) and Oklahoma (3-3) round up the top six.
"If I'm not mistaken there's two teams with one loss, and several with two," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "So, it's going to get interesting."
Now, the competition level has risen. Oklahoma and Kansas State have rode top freshmen to get to their spot near the top. Baylor has just slowly improved under the direction of coach Scott Drew. Those three teams, along with Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas, make the conference better than it has been since 2003, when two Big 12 teams made the Final Four. The improvement in the league can be seen in its RPI. The Big 12 is the third ranked conference in those ratings, which play a major role in getting in the NCAA Tournament.
Self is probably right about that. All of the teams in the top six are solid and have opportunities to finish in first. You couldn't say that last year. A season ago, Kansas, Texas A&M and Texas were significantly better than everyone. They finished at least two games ahead of the nearest competitor.
With all the competition and parity, there is not a clear-cut favorite to win the conference. That's why The Kansan is trying to predict what will happen. Here are the odds of each team winning the Big 12.
SEE BIG 12 ON PAGE 6B
These Big 12 teams should just start planning for next year.
7. Texas Tech— Pat Knight is no Bob Knight.
8. Missouri— Maybe Mike Anderson should suspend more players. It seems like his team plays better that way.
9. Nebraska—The Huskers have won two straight and don't have to worry about playing Kansas again.
10. Iowa State—The Cyclones will still be tough to play in Ames.
11. Oklahoma State—Sean Sutton is definitely no Eddie Sutton.
12. Colorado-The Buffaloes are getting better, but they still don't have a chance this year.
Check page 68 for the Kansan's analysis on the top six teams.
COMMENTARY
Recruiting class rank not a big deal
A random Kansas football fan is going to stumble across ESPN today and see the Jayhawk's 2008 recruiting class ranked in the mid-30s or lower during a Signing Day wrap up show. That fan is going to be disappointed/angered/annoyed that Mark Mangino couldn't attract a higher rated class to Lawrence after a 12-win season and Orange Bowl victory.
Mangino has earned my trust. He gave us a mountain of empirical evidence last year to question the validity of the rankings; winning
Don't let it be you.
stats
Jayhawks National Recruiting Ranking
the Orange Bowl with a roster full of lightly recruited prospects.
*Not yet official —Rivals.com
2008—37
2007—50
2006—38
2005—48
2004—51
2003—39
2002—58
He is the smartest guy in the room. Parallels can be drawn between Mangino, Oakland As general manager Billy Beane, and New England coach Bill Belicheck. Beane, the subject of the book "Moneyball," taught the baseball establishment a new way to win. Operating in a small market, Beane focused on acquiring players whose actual value wasn't recognized by the free market. Belicheck was able to do the same in his early years with the Patriots. His first Super Bowl championship in New England had a roster full of late-drafted players and discards from other squads.
Of the same ilk, Mangino has eschewed normal modes of evaluation, in this case large recruiting bases, and trusted the ability of his coaching staff to spot talented players that fall through the cracks. In other words, a two-star recruit isn't always a two-star recruit.
Aqib Talib, Anthony Collins, Joe Mortensen, Dexton Fields, Ryan Cantrell, Russell Brorsen and Chris Harris (who started most of this season as a freshman defensive back) are a few of the two-star recruits that Mangino rode to the Orange Bowl. There are more.
When Bill Parcels left the New England Patriots for the New York Jets in 1997, he cited a lack of control over personnel decisions, famously saying, "If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries." Working at the University of Kansas, Mangino has never had great facilities or program prestige to sell to elite prospects, but he does have full control over his personnel. As such, nobody in the nation is better at filling their shopping cart full of Salisbury steak and still serving
SEE NYSTROM ON PAGE 6B
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Despite 15th most difficult schedule Jayhawks have postseason hopes
BY TAYLOR BERN
tbern@kansan.com
In its nonconference schedule, the Jayhawks faced eight teams currently ranked in the top 90 for RPI according to the site, including California and Hartford at 11 and 31, respectively.
At 13-8 overall and 2-6 in Big 12 conference play, Kansas is not where it wanted to be at the beginning of the year.
SEE RPI ON PAGE 06
The layhawks' woes are not due to a lack of talent, though, rather a brutal schedule that is currently rated as the $15^{\mathrm{th}}$ most difficult in the country by real-timerpi.com.
"We felt like as we grew the program and recruited better, we would want to
fierce competition
Big 12 Team RB
- Oklahoma 9
- Oklahoma 9
Toues A8M14
- Texas A&M 16
- KSU 19
- Nebraska 22
- Nebraska 22
- Oklahoma St. 35
- Kansas 37
- Iowa St. 46
- Texas Tech 68
- Texas tech 08
- Colorado 96
- Colorado 96
- Missouri 146
Realtimerpi.com
Jon Goering\KANSAN FILE PHOTO
The Jayhawks' Krysten Boogaard, freshman center, is guarded by the Cyclones' Jacobey Anderson, junior forward. Kansas' schedule has been rated the 15th most difficult in the country by realismers.com.
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