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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FOOTBALL
BIG 12 CONFERENCE
BIG 12 RANKINGS
The Kansan's conference reporter analyzes and ranks the 10 teams, heading into bowl season
1. Oklahoma State 11-1,8-1 (Last Week 1)
ETHAN PADWAY
epadway@kansan.com
twitter/UDK_B12fball
National Ranking: No. 3 AP
The Cowboys might be disappointed after being left out of the BCS championship game, but Cowboys fans can console themselves with the bowl season's second most appetizing matchup, a Fiesta Bowl date with one-loss Stanford.
2. Kansas State 10-2,7-3 (Last week 2)
National Ranking: No.6 AP
National Ranking: No.11 AP
Quarterback Robert Griffin III finished the season strong, leading the Bears on a five-game winning streak and launching himself back to the top of the Heisman Trophy debate.
The Wildcats may have missed out on a bid to a BCS bowl, but their Cotton Bowl matchup with Arkansas will carry more fanfare than some of the BCS games that didn't invite them.
3. Baylor 9-3, 6-3 (Last Week 4)
4. Oklahoma 9-3, 6-3 (Last Week 3)
National Ranking: No. 20 AP
The Sooners entered the weekend with a shot at a BCS bowl game. They left the Bedlam series with a 34-point loss and an invitation to the much less prestigious Alamo Bowl.
5. Missouri 7-5, 5-4 (Last Week 5)
National Ranking: No.25 AP
On the bright side, the Tigers' bowl destination, Shreveport, La., is only a five and a half hour drive from the more appealing New Orleans.
6. Texas 7-5,4-5 (Last Week 6)
National Ranking: No.24 AP
The Longhorns stumbled down the stretch, but they get to travel to California for the second time this season. They defeated UCLA in Los Angeles 49-20 earlier this year.
7. Texas A&M 6-6,4-5 (Last Week 7)
A .500 record wasn't enough for Mike Sherman to keep his job as the Aggies will look to generate excitement as they enter the SEC next season.
8. Iowa State 6-6,3-6 (Last Week 8)
The Cyclones couldn't outlast the Wildcats, but they're in a bowl game for the second time under coach Paul Rhoads.
9. Texas Tech 5-7, 2-7 (Last Week 9)
Losing seven of eight is no way to end the season, especially since the only victory came against a top-five team, which briefly gave Red Raider fans hope.
10. Kansas 2-10, 0-9 (Last Week 10)
The Jayhaws haven't generated this much interest in December since their last coaching search ... two years ago.
FOOTBALL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wildcats finish eighth in BCS
Kansas State was picked to finish eighth in the Big 12. It wound up eighth in the BCS.
That wasn't good enough for the Sugar Bowl, which bypassed the Wildcats on Sunday night in favor of Michigan and Virginia Tech, big-name schools with lesser resumes. The snub didn't sit well with many fans of Kansas State, which will instead play Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl.
It turns out to be a pretty good consolation prize.
While the Wildcats and Razorbacks can gripe over what many perceive as an unfair system, they will be lining up against each other at Jerry Jones' showplace in Texas. Organizers say it won't matter at all that the Cotton Bowl was left out of the BCS.
"It'll have the feel of a national
championship. Just ask Texas A&M and LSU last year," Cotton Bowl chairman Tommy Bain said. "You really will forget about the BCS because you literally will think you're in one of the finest bowl games going."
All that will be missing is the BCS patch on the jerseys, the sticker on the back of the helmet — oh, and the millions of dollars difference between the Cotton Bowl payout and the one that comes from a BCS game.
Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, no stranger to bowl controversy, took a diplomatic approach to the Cotton Bowl bid, making sure not to diminish one of the Big 12's longtime partners while at the same point making it clear that he believes the system has some fundamental flaws.
It was under Snyder that the Wildcats lost in double-overtime
in the Big 12 title game in 1998, their only defeat of the season, and slid from the national title game to the Alamo Bowl.
"Well, we're in it, so there's not a whole lot I can do to change it," he said of the BCS. "It's very distinct how the No. 1 and No. 2 teams are placed, and yet it doesn't seem to follow suit with how the No. 3 and No. 4 and No. 5 and No. 6 and No. 7 and No. 8 are placed.
"If there was something to be adjusted," he said, "I would suggest it might be in that area."
Kansas State beat Baylor and Texas, which were both ranked when they played, and lost only to Big 12 champion Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. The Wildcats finished second in what was generally regarded as the toughest conference, from top to bottom, this season.
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