SPORTS
KANSASTOPS USC 59-55
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KU WOMEN BEAT ST. LOUIS 81-55
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN WWW.KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2007
PAGE 7B
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KANSAS VS. VIRGINIA TECH, JANUARY 3, 7P.M.
ORANGE BOWL BOUND
Jayhawks to make first BCS appearance
BY THOR NYSTROM
tnystrom@kansan.com
James McClinton, dressed for the occasion in a black suit, was asked his reaction after Kansas was selected by the Orange Bowl to face ACC representative Virginia Tech on Sunday night.
"Want me to show you?"
How sweet it is.
McClinton then threw an orange in the air, palmed it and took a big bite, juice spilling onto the press conference podium.
After a college football season that was wacky, up-and-down and wholly unpredictable, maybe it was fitting that Kansas was thrown a curveball. Most projections had the Jayhawks in the Fiesta Bowl after their post-Thanksgiving loss to Missouri. Now Kansas will travel to Miami for the January 3 game against the Hokies.
Kansas fell from fifth in last week's BCS poll to eighth despite not playing a game. The drop did not prevent the Orange Bowl selection committee from picking Kansas over sixth-ranked Missouri.
Missouri's loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Conference Championship sent the Tigers on a freefall from the No. 1 ranked team in the nation on Saturday to being locked out of the BCS. Missouri will play Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl on January 1.
Not everyone agreed with the decision to place Kansas in a higher bowl game. During the Fox Selection Show, former college coaches Barry Switzer and Jimmie Johnson expressed concern that Kansas was chosen over Missouri after the Tigers won the Border War.
"Mangino, you did a great job, but the other team deserved to go," Switzer said.
Not that the lajwahs will make any apologies. The difference in payouts between the
SEE BOWL GAME ON PAGE 8B
NO.2 LSU NO.1 OHIO STATE
The Tigers grabbed the final spot in the national championship game. They will meet the Ohio State Buckeyes, a team that is playing for a national championship for the second consecutive year. Neither the Tigers nor the Buckeyes have superstar players, but both have sturdy defenses. Ohio State ranks first in the nation in total defense and LSU ranks third.
NO.3 OKLAHOMA
NO. 11
WEST VIRGINIA
The speedy Mountaineer offense faces the speedy Sooner defense. West Virginia was one game away from playing in the national championship, but an injury to quarterback Pat White prevented it from advancing. White is returning for the game in Glendale, Ariz. and serves as a formidable challenge for Oklahoma. The Sooners play without freshman running back DeMarco Murray but still have a deep running back corps.
NO.13 ILLINOIS
Many college football experts have coined the Trojans as the best team in the nation right now. To prove it, they'll have to beat the Illini, a team that snacks its way into a BCS bowl despite losing only three games. Illinois quarterback Juice Williams has transformed into a dual-threat quarterback and running back Rashard Mendenhall ranks eighth in the nation in rushing. But the Trojan defense, led by senior end Lawrence Jackson, has shut down high-octane offenses all season.
NO.10 HAWAII NO.4 GEORGIA
If any team has a complaint about how the BCS shook out, it's the Bulldogs. Georgia was ranked ahead of LSU a day ago and ended the season with six consecutive victories. In that span, the Buckeyes and the Tigers combined to lose three games. Instead of visiting New Orleans for the National Championship, the Bulldogs will play the undefeated Warriors in the Super Dome. Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan, the NCAA's all-time leading passer, faces off against a strong Georgia secondary.
Bowl schedule
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Utah vs. Navy    San Diego
Dec. 20, 8 p.m. ESPN
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic   New Orleans
Dec. 21, 7 p.m. ESPN2
Papajohns.com Bowl
Southern Miss vs. Cincinnati   Birmingham, Ala.
Dec. 22, Noon ESPN2
New Mexico Bowl
Nevada vs. New Mexico   Albuquerque, N.M.
Dec. 22, 3:30 p.m. ESPN
Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl
UCLA vs. BYU       Las Vegas
Dec. 22, 7 p.m. ESPN
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Boise State vs. East Carolina   Honolulu
Dec. 23, 7 p.m. ESPN
Motor City Bowl
Purdue vs. Central Michigan   Detroit
Dec. 26, 6:30 p.m. ESPN
Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
Arizona State vs. Texas   San Diego
Dec. 27, 7 p.m. ESPN
Champs Sports Bowl
Boston College vs. Michigan State   Orlando, Fla.
Dec. 28, 4 p.m. ESPN
Texas Bowl
TCU vs. Houston      Houston
Dec. 28, 7 p.m. NFL Network
Emerald Bowl
Maryland vs. Oregon State   San Francisco
Dec. 28, 7:30 p.m. ESPN
Meineke Car Care Bowl
UConn vs. Wake Forest Charlotte, N.C.
Dec. 29, Noon ESPN
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
UCF vs. Mississippi State Memphis, Tenn.
Dec. 29, 3:30 p.m. ESPN
Valero Alamo Bowl
Penn State vs. Texas A&M San Antonio
Dec. 29, 7 p.m. ESPN
PetroSun Independence Bowl
Alabama vs. Colorado Shreveport, La.
Dec. 30, 7 p.m. ESPN
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
California vs. Air Force Fort Worth, Texas
Dec. 31, 11:30 a.m. ESPN
Roady's Humanitarian Bowl
Georgia Tech vs. Fresno State Boise, Idaho
Dec. 31, 1 p.m. ESPN2
Brut Sun Bowl
South Florida vs. Oregon El Paso, Texas
Dec. 31, 1 p.m. CBS
Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
Kentucky vs. Florida State Nashville, Tenn.
Dec. 31, 3 p.m. ESPN
Insight Bowl
Indiana vs. Oklahoma State Tempe, Ariz.
Dec. 31, 5 p.m. NFL Network
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Clemson vs. Auburn Atlanta
Dec. 31, 6:30 p.m. ESPN
Outback Bowl
Wisconsin vs. Tennessee Tampa, Fla.
Jan. 1, 2008, 10 a.m. ESPN
AT&T Cotton Bowl
Missouri vs. Arkansas Dallas
Jan. 1, 2008, 10:30 a.m. FOX
Gator Bowl
Texas Tech vs. Virginia Jacksonville, Fla.
Jan. 1, 2008, Noon CBS
Capital One Bowl
Michigan vs. Florida Orlando, Fla.
Jan. 1, 2008, Noon ABC
Rose Bowl presented by Citi
Illinois vs. USC Pasadena, Calif.
Jan. 1, 2008, 3:30 p.m. ABC
Allstate Sugar Bowl
Hawaii vs. Georgia New Orleans
Jan. 1, 2008, 7:30 p.m. FOX
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma vs. West Virginia Glendale, Ariz.
Jan. 2, 2008, 7 p.m. FOX
FedEx Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech vs. Kansas Miami
Jan. 3, 2008, 7 p.m. FOX
International Bowl
Rutgers vs. Ball State Toronto
Jan. 5, 2008, 11 a.m. ESPN2
GMAC Bowl
Bowling Green vs. Tulsa Mobile, Ala.
Jan. 6, 2008, 7 p.m. ESPN
Allstate BCS Championship Game
LSU vs. Ohio State New Orleans
Jan. 7, 2008, 7 p.m. FOX
Wild finish proves it's playoff time
So you still don't think college football needs a playoff, huh?
Hawaii, the only undefeated team in the country, had to sneak into the BCS Illinois leapfrogged three higher-ranked teams to get into the Rose Bowl. Oklahoma just beat Missouri, the former No. 1 team in the country, into submission for a second time, but won't be playing for the national championship. And Missouri was snubbed by the BCS completely. If you listen closely, you can hear four-letter words coming in from the east. Stay classy, Columbia.
Instead, two teams riding one-game winning streaks will meet in the BCS Championship Game. One's only claim to fame this season is a down pillow-soft non-conference schedule and a loss against the only good conference foe it played. Sound familiar? The other, which is the first two-loss team to play in the national championship game, has allowed at least 24 points in six games this season, including a total of 93 points in its two losses.
In case you missed it, the final regular season BCS standings were released last night and Ohio State and Louisiana State will play for the national championship. Other worthy teams, though, were relegated to lesser BCS bowls or left out of the BCS altogether.
But wouldn't a playoff cost the student-athletes valuable class time?
What further proof is needed to convince the NCAA that it needs a playoff My solution: A playoff involving the top eight teams at the end of the regular season.
First of all, that's the lavest excuse for balking at a playoff. Give the teams two weeks off to get finals out of the way. If the playoff were intact this year, it would begin Dec. 22-23, the second round would be played Dec. 29-30, and the National Championship would be played Jan. 7 as scheduled.
C
I say make the bowls a part of the playoff.
In the first round, the No. 1 vs. No. 8 game would be the Orange Bowl; the No. 2 vs.
No. 7 game would be the Fiesta Bowl; the No. 3 vs. No. 6 game would be the Cotton Bowl; the No. 4 vs. No. 5 game would be the Capital One Bowl.
What about the bowl games? Only the best teams should get to play in the Orange, Fiesta, Sugar and Rose bowls.
In the second round, the winners of the Orange and Capital One Bowls would play in the Rose Bowl and the winners of the Fiesta and Cotton Bowls would play in the Sugar Bowl. The BCS Championship Game would still decide the national championship to make the computers feel important.
God forbid a few 6-7 teams with four victories against non-conference cream-puffs get left out in the cold during bowl season. This would only benefit college football. The bowl season would no longer be watered down by mediocre teams that have no business playing in bowl games and, instead, would involve more competitive and meaningful bowl games.
But that would make fewer bowl games for the other bowl-eligible teams to fight over.
However, if there really was an outrage over the teams that weren't going bowling, I'm sure college football could find more sponsors and sites to host bowl games. I can see it now: The Victoria's Secret Bowl, the GoDaddy.com Bowl, the Under Armour Bowl, the Freedom Bowl, the Vegan Bowl, and the Pizza Street Bowl.
V
It's no secret college football is all about the bottom line. Otherwise, a playoff system would have been implemented long ago. However, I don't see how my scenario would take money out of anyone's pocket - except for the fans.
College football wouldn't have to lose any bowls and the playoff bowls would
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SEE SHROYER ON PAGE 8B