Inside Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Wednesday November 3,1999 Sports The city of Chicago said farewell yesterday to Walter Payton, who helped lead the Bears to their only Super Bowl title in 1986. Section: Big 12 Football Although there are only a few weeks left in the season, seven teams are in the hunt for the two spots in the Big 12 Conference championship game. SEE PAGE 2B B SEE PAGE 3B Big 12 Basketball Page 1 The Colorado women's basketball team will rely on a nucleus of underclassmen this year in a conference filled with upperclassmen-led teams. SEE PAGE 6B Contact the Kansan WWW.KANSAN.COM/SPORTS (785) 864-4810 (785) 864-0391 sports@kansan.com Sports Desk: Sports Fax: Sports e-mail: Basketball teams score preseason honors By Matt Tait and Melinda Weaver sports@kansan.com After being selected as the Big 12 Conference's No. 1 team by the league's coaches last month, the Kansas men's basketball team swept the preseason polls yesterday by being tabbed as the preseason favorites by the media. The Big 12 women's Associated Press poll was strikingly similar to the coaches' as well, with Iowa State picked to finish first ahead of Kansas. The Jayhawks' men edged out second-place Texas by 9 points with 327, and received 17 of 29 possible first-place votes. The Longhorns received 7 and Oklahoma State received 4. The preseason all-Big 12 men's team mirrored the coaches poll with forwards Marcus Fizer of Iowa State, Desmond Mason of Oklahoma State, Eduardo Najera of Oklahoma, and centers Eric Crenowich of Kansas and Texas' Chris Mihm making the team. Mihm also received preseason player of the year honors. Kansas point guard Jeff Boschee also received some votes for the squad but did not make the top five. Baylor forward Terry Black was selected top newcomer and Kansas forward Nick Collison was the top freshman. Just as the Jayhawks' first-place selection this season mirrored the coaches' poll, so did the rest of the field. In fact, only two spots differed in the AP poll. The coaches picked Iowa State as sixth and Nebraska as seventh, and the media picked the Cornhuskers as sixth and the Cyclones as seventh. See MEN'S on page 2B BIG 12 CONFERENCE POLLS Men's basketball Team (first-place votes) Pts. 1. Kansas (17) 327 2. Texas (8) 318 3. Oklahoma State (4) 298 4. Oklahoma 252 5. Missouri 232 6. Nebraska 172 7. Iowa State 169 8. Colorado 143 9. Texas Tech 132 10. Kansas State 108 11. Texas A&M 70 12. Baylor 41 Kansas awards: Eric Chenowith: First-team all Big 12 Nick Collien: Freshman of the year Women's basketball Women's Basketball Team (first-place votes) Pts. 1. Iowa State (12) 198 2. Kansas (2) 175 3. Nebraska (1) 162 4. Texas (1) 155 5. Texas Tech (2) 153 6. Oklahoma (2) 107 7. Kansas State (9) 94 8. Colorado (8) 85 9. Missouri (5) 58 10. Baylor (6) 65 11. Oklahoma State (5) 52 12. Texas A&M (2) 26 Kansas awards: Lynn Pride: First-team all Big 12 As the millennium draws to a close, the Kansan will feature the lives and achievements of the 10 greatest athletes at the University of Kansas, as selected by former and current players, coaches, administrators and fans. He was the 1988 consensus player of the year, a two-time consensus All-American, three-time Big 8 Conference Player of the Year, and the No. 1 pick overall in the 1988 NBA draft. Top Athletes from the University of Kansas: 10. Lynette Woodard women's basketball, '78-'81 9. Jim Ryun track, '66-'69 8. Danny Manning men's basketball, '66-'69 7. coming tomorrow He's also Kansas' alltime leader in rebounds (1,187) and field goals (1,216), second in free throws (509) and steals (270), and third in blocked shots (200). kansas millennium athletes danny manning With 2,951 points, he is Kansas' all-time leader (8th in NCAA history) and owner of the school's two-highest single-season totals. The star of 1988's roller-coaster season opts for 'down to earth' thrills on and off the court it's the most memo rable moment of Danny Manning's unforgettable four years at Kansas. On April 4, 1988, at Kemper Arena, Manning fittingly ends up with the ball as Kansas' 83-79 win against Oklahoma gives hawks an improbable NCAA basketball championship. Manning took the ball, tucked it under one arm and ran to celebrate with his teammates after his 31-point, 18-rebound performance. That high point capped a roller coaster season that included questions about players' eligibility and a four-game losing streak that ended Kansas' thenschool record 55-game winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse. And the moment never would have happened had Manning — widely thought to have been the top NBA prospect after his junior year — opted to go pro a year early. story by sam mellinger "Winning that game validated what Danny thought basketball was all about," said Ted Juneau, who coached Manning for one year at Lawrence High School and stays in regular contact with Manns defining moment, but not his entire legacy as a Jayhawk Volleyball could make history against Nebraska By Shawn Hutchinson Kansan sportswriter The Kansas volleyball team could have a brush with history in more ways than one tonight. The Jayhawks face No. 13 Nebraska at 7 p.m. at the Horeisi Family Athletics Center, and a win would be Kansas' first against the Cornhuskers since 1975. chance if we play well. It would boost our team's confidence and get us back on track to where we need to be." Senior middle blocker Amanda Reves needs just 10 more kills to break Judy Desch's all-time record of 1,146, which was set in 1987. The record would put an exclamation point on Reves' career at Kansas, but that's something she hasn't thought much about lately. "I'm more focused in on Nebraska." Reves said. "I think we have a good the Big 12 Conference, know they have a huge task if they expect to defeat Nebraska In the last meeting between the two schools, Nebraska bludgeoned Keeson 3-0 The Jayhawks, 15-8 overall and 6-6 in on Sept. 29 in front of 3,011 fans at the Nebraska Coliseum in Lincoln, Neb. Since then, the Cornhuskers have improved their record to 17-5 and 9-3, which includes a 3-0 shutout of No. 17 Kansas State on Saturday in Manhattan, Kan. "They're playing really well," said Kansas coach Ray Bechard. "They handed Texas Tech and K-State last week. From what I've seen, they've been playing as well as they have all year." The Jayhawks hope to play well in front of a capacity crowd. Nearly 600 area high school volleyball players will attend the match, as well as the normal Kansas fan base and any fans that the Cornhuskers bring with them. The large number of fans tonight could easily break the Horejsi Center's attendance record of 1,043 set last month against Baylor. "I'm looking forward to playing them in Horejsi." Reves said. "They're definitely used to playing in places that have a lot of noise, but we've heard that other Big 12 teams are somewhat scared to play here." Volleyball notes Kansas has an all-time record of 1-62 against Nebraska. The Jayhawks' lone win came in the first meeting between the two schools on Oct. 17, 1975 at Graceland College. Kansas has four native Nebraskans on its roster — senior Tori Holtmeier (Plymouth), sophomore Molly LaMere (Papillion), redshirt Elizabeth Herbek (Fairfield) and freshman Kylie Thomas (Sutherland). ■ Senior outside hitter Mary Beth Albrecht pounded 11 kills against Texas on Saturday, giving her 1.083 kills for her career. That moves Albrecht past former teammate Moira Donovan for fourth place on the all-time kills list. —Edited by Chris Hopkins Foosball fans can identify with volleyball predicaments The Jayhawk volleyball team has a very important game tonight against Nebraska. I, on the other hand, will not write about volleyball this week. I've written more than one column this semester trying to coax people into going to these high-action athletic contests. Some people are beginning to question my appreciation for the Jayhawk volleyball team. Others simply think I have a crush on senior player Mary Beth Albrecht but won't admit it. Right now, the number of people wanting to kick Jonesey's butt is at an all-time high. From Kansas State students still mad about what I said about their football Seth Jones sports columnist sports@kansas.com team to former Wichitan still upset about jokes I made about their fine city a year ago. I feel the need for a bodyguard. So I'm not going to add Mary Beth Albrecht's boyfriend, or any of the volleyball players' boyfriends, to the enemies list. With my former most loyal reader and bodyguard Ryan Robertson beginning his first season with the Sacramento Kings on the injured reserve list, I'm going to have to calm down and try to anger fewer people in the next couple weeks. Instead, I'm going to write about a much less volatile sport: foosball. You know the game. Little soccer players on sticks moving laterally to score goals. A must-have sport for good bars. "We hit the gym for about 30 minutes every other week," Baxter said. "It's important to maintain quick foot speed as well and hand speed. People don't realize that you can't set your beer on the table in league play, so you have to be able to step to your beer quickly, take a drink, then return to the table before the next ball is dropped." But did you know that two of the top 50 foosball players in the nation reside here in Lawrence, and more importantly are KU students? Jeff Heiman, Olathe first year law student, and Will Baxter, Osawatomic senior, recently returned from Wheatfield, Ind., the location of the national foosball tournament, where they finished in third place in doubles play. The most difficult obstacle to overcome is the lack of support for Team Insano, the two say. At the final four competition in Indiana, they only had one person there to see them. Heiman and Baxter, known on the football circuit as Team Insano, have dominated league play in the great state of Kansas for the past several years. They have taken the state title an unprecedented three times in a row. "We've been pounding the state teams," Baxter said. "Of course, everybody knows that the competition in the Foosball Association for Kansans Everywhere (FAKE) has been down since the legendary Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka retired." "Our old high school coach comes to every match," Heiman said. "Coach Chandler Bing has always stuck with us." The two work hard to maintain proper fooshball shape. The pair enjoy campus sports as well as playing foosball. Their favorite team is the volleyball team. "We kind of identify with them, because we think they're exciting to watch, but many people won't give them a chance." Heiman said. "Did you know that they have a game against the 13th ranked team in the nation tonight? Did you know that senior middle blocker Amanda Reves needs just 10 more kills to become the all-time kills leader at KU?" Oh, by the way, the guys wanted me to remind you that the volleyball game starts at 7 tonight, and it's at the Horeisi Family Athletics Center, directly behind Allen Fieldhouse. Admission is free with a KUID. Jones is a Mulvane senior in journalism.