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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Big 12 Power Rankings: K-State rises to top spot
SHANE JACKSON
@iacksonshane3
On Saturday the Big 12 had just three conference games, leaving four teams on bye and little shakeup in this week's power rankings. The only significant change was at the top.
While TCU had an impressive offense outing Saturday scoring 82 points, the Horned Frogs moved down in the rankings one spot, dethroned by the undefeated Kansas State Wildcats. Bill Snyder's squad handled the Longhorns on its home turf and put them in prime position to claim the Big 12 title.
West Virginia continues to fly under the radar after another impressive outing against Oklahoma State, who was just ranked a few weeks back.
1. KANSAS STATE (G-1, 4-0)
1. KANSAS STATE (6-1, 4-0)
Last time out: Won vs. Texas 23-0
The Wildcats picked up the program's 500th victory in a shutout at the longhorns. It was Kansas State's first shutout since 2003 at Iowa State (45-0).
Trending: Up
Next up: vs. Oklahoma State
2 TCU (6-1.3-1)
2. IUU (6-1), 3-17
Last time out: Won vs. Texas Tech
82-27
The Horned Frogs set a school record with their 82-point performance Saturday while also marking the most points scored by a Big 12 team in a conference game. Quarterback Trevone Boykin set a school record with seven
passing touchdowns.
Trending: Up
Next up: at West Virginia
3. BAYLOR (6-1, 3-1)
ast time out: Rye Week
Last time you battled,
The Bears will have plenty of
time to prepare for Clint Bowen's
Jayhawks as they welcome Kansas
to Waco, Texas, on Saturday. Don't
expect this game to be close, as
the Bears wish to stay in the Big
12 Title race.
Trending: Same
Next up: vs. Kansas
4. WEST VIRGINIA (G-2, 4-1)
Last time out: Won vs Oklahoma
State 34-10
West Virginia held Oklahoma
State to just 2-of-15 on third
down conversions, and the Cow-
boys were also 1-5 on fourth down.
The Mountaineers have allowed
just one touchdown on an opening
drive all year.
Trending: Up
Next up: vs, TCU
5. OKLAHOMA (5-2, 2-2)
Last time out: Bye Week
Last time out, eye week
The Sooners haven't lost three conference games in a year since 2009. They have a favorable matchup this week against Iowa State to keep that streak alive.
Trending: Same
Next up: at Iowa State
6. OKLAHOMA STATE (5-3, 3-2)
Last time out: Lost 34-10 vs.
After going 58 consecutive games with at least 20 points, the Cowboys have scored just 19 in the last two games combined, scoring just one touchdown in the
last 10 quarters.
Trending: Down
Next up: at Kansas State
7. TEXAS (3-5, 2-3)
Last time out: Lost at Kansas
State 23-0
The Longhorns failed to put a dent in the scoreboard for the first time since a 12-0 loss to Oklahoma in 2004. It had been 132 games since the Longhorns were last held scoreless.
Trending: Same
Next up: at Texas Tech
8. TEXAS TECH (3-5, 1-4)
Last time out: Lost vs. TCU 82-27
The Red Raiders allowed the most points in school history in Saturday's 55-point loss. The previous record was 66 by both Baylor and Oklahoma State in 2011.
Trending: Down
Next up: vs. Texas
9. IOWA STATE (2-5, 0-4)
Last time out: Bve Week
The Cyclones are still looking for their first conference victory of the year. In order to do so, they will have to defeated Oklahoma for the first time since 1990.
Trending: Same
Next up: vs. Oklahoma
10. KANSAS (2-5, 0-4)
Last time out: Bye Week The Jayhawks have been competitive in recent weeks under interim head coach Clint Bowen but have yet to get that win. Kansas last victory against Baylor came in 2007.
Trending: Same
Next up: at Baylor
Edited by Rob Pyatt
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin (2) and running back Kyle Hicks (21) celebrate after a touchdown against Texas Tech in the second half of Saturday's game in Fort Worth, Texas. TCU won 82-27.
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Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt and Kansas City Royals Salvador Perez watch as San Francisco Giants Hunter Pence celebrates after scoring on a two-run RBI double by Juan Perez during the eighth inning of Game 5 of the World Series on Sunday in San Francisco.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Giants, Royals ready for wild World Series finish
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO — Madison Bumgarner barely broke a smile walking around the San Francisco Giants' clubhouse late Sunday night following a brilliant pitching performance that has his team one win from another World Series title.
After the way this October has played out, who can blame him?
The Giants will try to close out the Royals and claim their third championship in five years Tuesday night when this wild-card series shifts back to baseball's most unlikely postseason destination: Kansas City.
"We know it's not over until you get that fourth game. These guys aren't going to change," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, whose club leads the best-of-seven series 3-2.
Perhaps it's only fitting this Fall Classic ends at Kauffman Stadium, a place hosting playoff baseball for the first time in 29 years. The Royals started this pulsating postseason with a 9-8 comeback win in 12 innings over Oakland in the AL wild-card game, which began on the last day of September and ended near midnight.
That captivating night in Kansas City set the stage for a month to remember: tight games and dramatic finishes, favorites falling and underdogs overachieving, stars slipping and new ones shining.
What happens next is anybody's guess. After all, the last time Game 6 of the Fall Classic came to Kansas City, one of the most surreal scenes in baseball history unfolded: first base umpire Don Denkinger's botched call serving as the signature moment of the 1985 World Series won by the Royals over St. Louis.
"We know we can do it," Royals first baseman Eric
The majors' most notable names during the regular season — Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw and Angels slugger Mike Trout — flamed out fast in the Division Series. A trio of Cy Young winners didn't do enough for Detroit. Injuries slowed down former triple crown winner Miguel Cabrera and Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright.
Even playoff-proven starter Jon Lester looked lost under October's bright lights for the one-and-done Athletics, and up-and-coming starter Stephen Strasburg showed he still has to polish his post-season poise for the Nationals.
Instead, these playoffs bred a new batch of baseball darlings: Lorenzo Cain and the running Royals, starter-turned-reliever Yusmeiro Petit and a pair of blazing bullpens that no longer overlooked in the World Series.
Of course, no star has burned brighter than a 25-year-old lefty from North Carolina teammates call "MadBum."
Bumgarner's winning performances in Game 1 and Game 5 — not to mention in every previous round of the playoffs — has put San Francisco one win away from for another parade down Market Street, something Willie Mays, Barry Bonds and generations of Giants fans had dreamed of for so long.
Now it's becoming an every-other-year tradition.
"It's not going to be easy at all," Giants first baseman Brandon Belt said. "It matters that we know that, and
I think everybody on this team knows that. We're going to go out there and we're not going to let up. We can't, because if we do they're going to take advantage of it."
Royals rookie Brandon Finnegan might understand the topsy-turvy nature of these playoffs better than anyone.
+
Only four months after he pitched in the College World Series, the 21-year-old reliever got two key outs in the seventh inning to help Kansas City win Game 3. A night later, Finnegan failed to bridge the gap to the back end of the bullpen, allowing five runs in Kansas City's 11-4 loss to San Francisco.
"Baseball can pick you up quickly." Finnegan said, "and hit you in the gut quickly." Sometimes longer and harder than others.
The Giants' latest improbable postseason run was propelled by the longest game in playoff history, a 2-1 win in 18 innings over the Nationals in Game 2 of the NL Division Series. Travis Ishikawa, a journeyman and first baseman converted to a left fielder in San Francisco, hit a three-run shot off St. Louis' Michael Wacha in the Game 5 clincher of the NL Championship Series.
It was the first homer to send the Giants to the World Series since perhaps the most famous drive in baseball history — Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World" in a 1951 playoff against the Dodgers.
The showings in this fall will surely earn some a big payday come winter. Royals right-hander James Shields and San Francisco's slugging third baseman Pablo Sandoval are among those headed for free agency.
For now those transactions are on hold. One, maybe two, of the season's biggest games await.
"The place is going to be absolutely crazy," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
Belfind sophomore Chase Hana's 66 third-round finish, the Kansas men's golf team secured another top-five finish over the weekend at the Price's Give 'Em Five Invitational in El Paso, Texas. Kansas finished third with an 822 (-42), just three strokes behind second-place University of Missouri-Kansas City, New Mexico
Kansas men's golf challenges for first, finishes in 3rd place in Texas tournament
The Jayhawks had three of their participants finish in the top 10. Hanna finished with a 16-under par (200) for a three-way tie for third place. Freshman Gary Daoust, playing in his second career collegiate tournament, finished in seventh place shooting a 12-under par (204). Daoust was the chosen player for the individual portion of the tournament.
Junior Ben Welle amassed his third-top-10 finish for the season shooting a 10-under par, good for a four-way tie for ninth place.
State University, which captured first, finished just four strokes ahead of the Jayhawks.
Kansas now has four top-five
finishes in the first five tournaments of the season and three top-three finishes.
The other Jayhawks in the field were senior Logan Philley, redshirt freshman Brock Drogosch and junior Connor Peck. Philley finished tied No. 14 with a 207. Drogosch was tied for 27th with a 211 and Peck finished tied for 69th with a 224.
kansas' fall season will culminate in two weeks at the Ka'anapali Collegiate Classic in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Connor Oberkrom
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