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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SOCCER'HAWKS FACE BIG 12 FOE OKLAHOMA STATE
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7,2007
LIVERPOOL
COMMENTARY
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BCS TAKEOVER
Redshirts give athletes options
Every year, parents face the decision of whether to start their child in kindergarten after the child's fifth birthday, or to hold them until the next year. This typically occurs with children who have summer birthdays and may not be ready to start school. Nevertheless, who's to say that this doesn't work later in life when a person is old enough to make his or her own decisions?
Before every season, athletes can decide to elect the redshirt option, which is similar to waiting a year. The option keeps the players off the field for a season but saves a year of eligibility. Redshirts are taken in hopes of becoming a better all-around athletes and creating a stronger individual in order to help the team. Others simply become redshirts because they are academically ineligible or have a medical injury, à la aka senior middle blocker Natalie Uhart. She has been able to further her volleyball career and utilize the year she missed because of her injury.
Many typically become redshirts their first year on the team. But that's not always the case. Just this week, sophomore guard Brady Morningstar became a red shirt this season most likely because the basketball team has so many guards and it would be difficult to earn playing time.
A benefit of being a redshirt is an extra year of development. This helps athletes better their skills for a specific sport. They can also become stronger both physically and mentally. With that redshirt yean, athletes are able to learn what the coaches and team expect from them. In Morningstar's case, he avoids a season in which it would be near impossible for him to play.
Football is the most common sport to see a redshirt. This year's Kansas football team has 57 players who have been red-shirts at one point in their careers. This is a large fraction of the 108 player team.
With every upside to a situation, there is a downside. A redshirt athlete is only able to practice with the team. He can't participate in any games or competitions. Even if the athlete plays one minute or one play, he has to use that as one of his four years of eligibility. Some athletes benefit from that year off. Others are too good to sit out a year and would be considered wasting time. Last year sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing was a redshirt until a desperate need for a competent quarterback arose during the Colorado home game. Senior quarterback Adam Barmann struggled to move his offense against the Buffaloes. Head coach Mark Mangino needed a win to have a chance at Bowl eligibility and decided that one win was worth a year of Reesing's services. Reesing displayed fine skills and impressed the coaches enough to make him a competitor for the starting job this season. And look where Reesing and KU football are now: national title contenders.
Even though Reesing would still have been practicing as a redshirt last, it's never the same as being in a real game.
So whether it's Natalie Uhart, Todd Reeing or Brady Morningstar, electing a redshirt is a decision not to be taken lightly.
Kansan Sports Columnist Erica Johnson can be reached at ejohnson@kansan.com
Edited by Rachael Gray
Conference dominates title picture
Sequence of events could land Jayhawks in championship
BY ASHER FUSCO
afusco@kansan.com
In its 10 years of existence, the Bowl Championship Series system has roused plenty of controversy, stirred substantial discussion and caused a whole lot of confusion. Traditionally, Kansas football fans have never needed to decipher the BCS formula, weed through computer rankings or guesstimate opponents' strength-of-schedule numbers.
This season is a bit different. With the Jayhawks at No. 4 in this week's BCS rankings, the team stands poised to make a run at a BCS bowl or even the BCS National Championship game. In order for the Jayhawks to make a championship run, a number of things must fall in a certain way.
Kansas is currently ranked No. 4 in the BCS Standings behind No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Oregon. A loss would slide any of these three teams out of the
bcs contenders remaining schedules
No.1 Ohio State
Nov. 10 Illinois
Nov. 17 at No. 12 Michigan
No.2 LSU*
Nov. 10 Louisiana Tech
Nov. 17 at Mississippi
Nov. 24 Arkansas
No.3 Oregon
Nov. 10 at Arizona
Nov. 17 at UCLA
Nov. 24 Oregon State
Nov. 10 at Oklahoma State
Nov. 17 Iowa State
Nov. 24 Missouri (at Kansas City, Mo.)
No.5 Oklahoma*
No.4 Kansas*
Nov. 10 Baylor
Nov. 17 at Texas Tech
Nov. 24 Oklahoma State
No. 6 Missouri*
championship picture, possibly clearing the way for the lajhwacks.
Nov. 10 Texas A&M
Nov. 17 at Kansas State
Nov. 24 at Kansas (at Kansas City, Mo.)
- Conference Championship game could be added to schedule
Undefeated Ohio State has only two games left on the schedule — Illinois and at No. 12 Michigan. Ohio State is a heavy favorite against Illinois, but a slip-up against
rival Michigan at Ann Arbor, Mich., is certainly possible. Michigan has won eight straight games after two early losses. The Wolverines look like one of the nation's elite
SEEFOOTBALL ON PAGE 6B
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
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It's not the Southeastern Conference or the Pacific-10 Conference, the traditional residences for America's best football programs. Guess again.
Only one conference in all of college football is home to three of the nation's top six teams in the most recent BCS poll.
Three of the country's top-ranked teams through 10 weeks of football come from none other than the Big 12 Conference.
The unlikely storyline has surprised media and fans across the nation, but don't think that the Big 12 coaches feel any shock.
"Surprised? No, I'm not surprised," Colorado coach Dan Hawkins said. "Who have you been talking to? Not to the people working in these trenches."
When the season began, the scenario would have been as unlikely as Kansas scoring 76 points against Nebraska or as Notre Dame falling to Navy for the first time in 43 years. Now, it is just another illustration of the downright bizarre nature of the 2007 season.
With Kansas at No. 4, Oklahoma at No. 5 and Missouri at No. 6, the Big 12 has officially infiltrated the BCS' computer ranking system. The Jayhawks and Tigers are specifically intriguing because neither team even ranked in the pre-season Top 25 poll.
"With Kansas being as good as they are and Missouri being as good as they are, I mean these are really good football teams, and I think it's definitely been an upgrade," Iowa State coach Gene Chizik said. "There's a lot more parity that may not have existed two years ago."
Chizik has a valid point. It's not that the Big 12 was a disgrace to powerhouse football conferences in the past few years; it's that it had simply turned into an annual two-team race.
Texas or Oklahoma has won three straight Big 12 championships and one of the two has appeared in three of the last four national championship games. The Longhorns and Sooners, both teams in the Big 12 South division, have outscored their opponents in the Big 12 Championship Game 133-13 the past three seasons.
But their Big 12 North division counterparts, particularly Kansas and Missouri, are catching up in 2007.
"I think it's a very strong league, and the North, in time, gets better," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. "They have in the last few years, and we've continued to say as coaches that they've got good players and they're playing well. It's true now."
Strength and depth exists in a conference that hasn't had much of either in recent years. Coaches said they were pleased the BCS shared that with the rest of the nation.
Colorado beat Oklahoma to hand the team its only loss. Kansas State drilled Colorado a couple weeks later. The Wildcats emerged victorious by 20 points against the Longhorns in Austin, Texas, but then lost to the 2-8 Iowa State Cyclones.
"It says were a pretty good conference," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. "No question."
The peculiar results make it clear that the transitive property has no bearing on the outcome of Big 12 games this season — not even for Oklahoma and Texas.
Edited by Chris Beattie
BASKETBALL
Big men roll over Fort Hays State
Brandon Rush may have spent Tuesday night on the Kansas bench merely watching his teammates blow out Fort Hays State 94-59 in an exhibition game. But don't think he didn't have an impact.
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
Rush delivered a message to senior forward Darnell Jackson before the Jayhawks took the court against the Tigers.
"Rush told me, you need to bring some intensity to the court today, and that's
what I did." Jackson said. "I went out there and just tried to play my hardest and push myself to get every rebound, try to block some shots and get the guys open"
Jackson scored ten points and grabbed eight rebounds in the victory. He also repaired coach Bill Self's main concern following the Jayhawks first exhibition game — rebounding.
Kansas was out-rebounded by Pittsburgh State last Thursday, but Jackson made sure the Jayhawks didn't succumb to a repeat performance on the glass Tuesday. He
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 3B
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Junior guard Mario Chalmers reaches for a stale during the first half of the game against Fort Hays State Tuesday night in Allen Fieldhouse. Chalmers finished the game with six steals. Kansas won the game 93-56.
Anna Faltermieier/KANSAN
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