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KANSAN.COM
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Daily Debate: Should KU be ranked No.2 this week?
NICK GEIDNER
@nickgeidner
Yes
For the third consecutive year the Kansas Jayhawks lost to the West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown. Only this time, the Jayhawks had more at stake, as they were ranked the No.1 overall seed for the first time this season.
After a stormed court and a disappointing exit for the Jayhawks, many Kansas fans are left on the edges of their seats, fearing the team will drop back down in the polls after being No.1 for just one short week. But that isn't necessarily going to happen.
Coming into the game against TCU, the Jayhawks were averaging the fourth-most points per game in all of Division I with 86.8. A lot
of that can be credited to the volume of pure shooters on the team, as the Jayhawks are ranked second in three point shooting team in Division I with a percentage of .449.
What makes this team so great is the depth of players Kansas coach Bill Self has to work with. With Perry Ellis returning for his senior season and Wayne Selden Jr. and Frank Mason III each returning for their junior seasons, Self doesn't need to rely on his freshmen to get the job done.
Perry Ellis has been outstanding for the Jayhawks so far this season. Not only is his presence in the paint a big factor in the team's success but also his dramatically-improved shooting ability, as he is shooting an unbelievable .520 from beyond the arc.
Other players shooting
well from beyond the arc are Kansas' three starting guards: Selden, Mason and sophomore point guard Devonte Graham, who each give Kansas many valuable minutes game after game. Mason can be a force in all areas of the game, while Graham is more of a true point guard. Meanwhile, Selden is having the breakout season many thought he would have last year.
And about halfway through the season, and still fairly early in conference play, Kansas has proven to be deserving of a top-two ranking in the nation, with Oklahoma occupying the top spot, at least for now.
Kansas is too good of a squad to fall, especially given the No.3 and No. 4 teams in the nation both lost.And that's the bottom line.
JOSH MCQUADE
@LoneWolfMcQuade
No
After a crushing defeat to the West Virginia Mountaineers and a somewhat shaky showing against the TCU Horned Frogs, the Kansas Jayhawks haven't looked the part of the No. 1 team in the nation.
The Jayhawks held the top ranking within both the AP and Coaches' Polls, but the Jayhawks are no longer in the position to hold that spot, and it's definitely fair to suggest they should drop a bit more than one place.
After all, Kansas has lost to two out of the five ranked teams they have played this year, with one of the three wins coming in a triple overtime win. Right now, Kansas is very good but not best-teamin-the-country good.
The Kansas offense is thought to be one of the
best in the nation; however, it's far from perfect. The Jayhawks average 12.1 turnovers per game which is fine, but it also barely ranks within the top 100 in the nation. And defensively, Kansas ranks ninth in KenPom adjusted defense - a really strong mark - but some of the other stats tell a different story.
The Jayhawks are ranked 96th in the nation when it comes to scoring defense (points allowed). Kansas allows 67.5 points per game, playing against an easier schedule than in years past; Kansas has faced off against 11 unranked teams to date.
And all of these things may seem really picky, but that's where it has to be when you're talking about the a top two team in the nation.
Every Kansas starter shoots above 40 percent from the field. The team has four players averaging double digits in scoring,
and ranks in the top five as a team in points per game. The Jayhawks are ranked in the top 15 in both adjusted offense and defense, per KenPom, and have depth that extends further than just about any team in the nation.
However, there are other teams that deserve a shot. Oklahoma should be the obvious No.1, while North Carolina has won nine games in a row.After dropping a game, Maryland looked dominant in its dismantling of Ohio State, while Xavier still sits with just one loss on the year.
It's close right now, but Kansas has to fall outside the top two. That doesn't mean a return trip to No. 1 status isn't in the cards, and it certainly doesn't mean a Big 12 Championship and one-seed in the NCAA Tournament isn't going to happen or is even all that unlikely.
Kansas swimming struggles in southern Florida to begin 2016
ERIK NELSON
@erikthefan
To begin the 2015-16 season, the Kansas swimming team won four out of its first five meets. However, when the calendar year flipped from 2015 to 2016, the team hasn't found that same success. Kansas lost three of its first four meets in the new calendar year, and has won only four out of 32 events.
On Jan. 8, the team faced the Florida International Panthers and North Carolina State Wolfpack in a double duel at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center in Miami, Fla., the home pool of Florida international. Kansas' three meet-winning streak
came to an end that day. The hosts, Florida International, defeated Kansas by a score of 150.5-148.5; North Carolina State won by a score of 161-119.
"It was a humbling experience," said head coach Clark Campbell in a KU
Kansas won just two out of the 16 total events. Freshman Haley Bishop won the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 55.81 seconds, while sophomore Madison Straight won the 400 yard individual medley with a time of four minutes,24 seconds,and 51 milliseconds.North Carolina state won the first 10 events, and Florida International won four after Kansas won two straight.
athletics press release." To practice the back-to-back racing is really important as we look ahead to the Big 12 Conference meet." Campbell added: "Today was not a shining moment, but we have another opportunity to put this race out of our minds and go for it again tomorrow. This time of the year the results can be volatile, you just kind of live and learn." The next day, Jan.9, Kansas split its double dual meet against the Miami Hurricanes and Rutgers Scarlet Knights, which took place at the Norman Whitten Pool in Coral Gables, the home pool of the Hurricanes.
Kansas fell to Miami 178- 120, but were victorious
against Rutgers 176.5-
123.5.
However, just like the previous meet, the team won just two events. The A relay team of Bishop, juniors Yulia Kuchkarova and Pia Pavlic, and senior Bryce Hinde, won the opening event of the meet, the 400 yard medley relay. Bishop, Hinde, Kuchkarova and Pavlic teamed up to record a time of three minutes,50 seconds,and eight milliseconds. Bishop won Kansas' other event of the meet, the 50 yard freestyle, recording a time of 23.98 seconds.
"Today was a little better than yesterday, but still not great," Campbell said in another KU athletics press release. "Now they
ALEX ROBINSON/KANSAN Swimmers prepare to start the backstroke.
know exactly where they are race wise because they hadn't raced for a few weeks until this weekend. The next challenge is to start relating training to what we are doing in competition. So now they know exactly where they are and what they need to work on."
Kansas' next meet is on Jan. 23 against Morningside College, Tabor College, and William Jewell College. Kansas defeated William Jewell on Dec. 4. The meet will begin at 10 a.m. at Robinson Natatorium, and it has been designated as Club Day.
Brew: A look inside the secrecy of winter meetings
MATTHOFFMANN
@MattHoffmannUDK
Question: What do two different Marriott Hotels in Nashville and Baltimore have to do with a Four Seasons Resort in Dallas other than both costing $150 per night at the low end and carrying an average 4.2 out of 5 rating?
With three of America's top professional sports on offseason hiatus, a new and different season begins. It takes place behind closed doors, hidden from the public eye inside the finest hotels Nashville Baltimore and Dallas have to offer.
Answer: Major sports executives
In terms of secrecy, winter meetings generally fall somewhere between the porous "Keeping up with the Kardashians" and cryptic election of a new Pope. With the advent of social media and "new age" reporting, nothing is truly secret and winter meetings will never be the clandestine operations of the past. However that doesn't mean the mystery surrounding the wealthiest men in sports meeting has faded.
For reference, the NFL winter meetings - which
Winter meetings are like a car accident on the side of the road — you can't help but turn your head to look, regardless of if you know every detail about the crash or none at all.
are technically owners' meetings that take place regularly throughout the year and change location from time to time — are hosted at the Four Seasons in Irving, Texas. At the meetings, there are a litany of items on the "late night" dining menu, including an 8 oz. black angus burger, chicken tortilla soup and gluten-free chocolate truffle cake. Meanwhile, if you went down for late night food at Oliver Hall, let's say at 1 a.m., you might find the remnants of a crunchy chicken cheddar wrap.
The scariest part for NFL/MLB/MLS fans is that league owners decide some of the most important facets of their favorite sports over secret 1 a.m.
steak dinners, not on the field.
It's not too hard to envision NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sitting in one of those meetings at the head of a very long meeting table, addressing a vote as to which NFL franchise(s) will be ripped up from their current fanbase and transported to LA.
In 2012 the average income for a St. Louis family was $52,343, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That same St. Louis family could afford to stay at the Four Seasons resort for about half a
Spoiler alert: In this case, it's the St. Louis Rams and maybe the San Diego Chargers.
year, if they didn't eat or have any other expenses besides the room. In comparison, Roger Goodell could afford to stay at the Four Seasons every day for 378 years just based off his 2012 earnings.
Let's take a look at the MLS, which is hosting winter meetings in conjunction with the 2016 MLS SuperDraft. The Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor at Camden Yards holds a 4.1 out of 5 star rating and is presumably where the Chicago Fire entertained offers for its No. 1 overall selection which it effectively traded to New York City FC.
As far as the MLB goes, players are routinely traded and signed throughout
a four-day period of winter meetings which happened this year at the Gaylord Opryland Resort, a fourstar hotel with the lowest user-reviewed rating of the group at 3.9/5.
Images of grand hotels, idling black escalades and expensive steak dinners lend themselves to fortune 500 company board meetings more than games that are supposed to be decided on effort and talent.
Next time you or someone you know fires off a tweet, text or post that the [insert sport here] is rigged, think back to images of the Four Seasons Resort and 1 a.m. steak dinner meetings and know they may not be that far off.
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