date if
an rate
1-0808
Bowl destination becoming clearer for Kansas
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
FOOTBALL
Only four days remain until coach Mark Mangino and the Jayhawks officially find out which bowl game they will play in, but it appears the choice has already been made.
Insight Bowl representative Mike Wall confirmed to The University Daily Kansan that the Jayhawks would likely be headed to Tempe, Ariz., to play in the Insight Bowl on New Year's Eve.
"It's a good probability." Wall said. "They are definitely a leading candidate."
Kansas probably would have been selected to the Insight Bowl even if it had lost to
INSIGHT BOWL
Where: Tempe, Ariz.
When: Dec. 31, 2008
Kick Off: 3 p.m.
TV: NFL Network
Missouri on Saturday because of the way the bowl picture is shaping up in the Big 12. Two teams will make the BCS, and the Cotton Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Alamo Bowl and Sun Bowl all will pick teams before the Insight Bowl. That would leave the Big 12's seventh-ranked team, Kansas, left for the taking by the Insight Bowl.
But an impressive 40-37 win agains the nation's 12th-ranked team definitely doesn't hurt the Jayhawks' appeal to Insight Bowl representatives, who also represent the Fiesta Bowl and were hoping to land the Jayhawks for that game last year. Wall was at the Texas Tech game earlier this year but said it didn't have any effect on the Insight Bowl's interest in the Jayhawks.
The Jayhawks started 5-1 on the season
"I was at five games last year so I'm very familiar with the team and the program," Wall said. "They had a great opportunity to play in the Fiesta Bowl last year, but the Orange Bowl was great and they had a great season."
"They are an exciting team," Wall said.
"They are a great program with great fans."
but lost close games at South Florida and at Nebraska. But still, Wall and the Insight Bowl say the jayhawks are deserving.
Kansas would play the sixth-ranked team from the Big 10 Conference, meaning its opponent could be one of two teams — Minnesota or Wisconsin. ESPN college football analysts Mark Schlabach and Bruce Feldman both predict that Kansas will face Minnesota, while Collegefootballnews.com has the Jayhawks facing Wisconsin. The game will kick off at 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 and will be televised by the NFL Network.
Both teams went 3-5 in the Big 10 and
7-5 overall. Wisconsin started 3-0 and was ranked No. 9 before losing four straight to fall to 3-4 and drop out of the rankings.
Wisconsin four of its last five to end the season, including a 35-32 victory against Minnesota. The Golden Gophers of Minnesota lost four in a row to end the season, including a 55-0 home loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes in their last game of the season.
A bowl appearance by the Jayhawks this season will mark the first time that the program has appeared in bowl games in back-to-back seasons.
Edited by Scott R. Toland
COMMENTARY
Ten rules for the loser of the Border Showdown
Ewin Starr famously proclaimed some 38 years ago that war was good for "absolutely nothing."
With all due respect to Mr. Starr and his hit song, that's not quite correct. War — the Border War, at least — can yield positive results. In fact, it does just that, every time Kansas beats Missouri. That includes Saturday's epic triumph. Unfortunately, most of the good to be derived from this latest victory is immaterial. Sure, beating an arch-rival is always great, but Kansas likely won't go to any better a bowl game than it would have had it lost. And even in defeat, Missouri can take solace in the fact that it still won the Big 12 North (Have fun with Oklahoma, by the way).
No, Missouri is getting off way too easy here. The Tigers lost the war this time around, so concessions have to be made. That's why there ought to be a Versaillesesque treaty, to punish Missouri for its transgressions against Kansas and the greater Big 12 alliance.
With that in mind, I propose the following articles be enacted at the next Big 12 league meeting. Fixing that whole BCS tiebreaker can wait.
Article One: Missouri must immediately dismiss head basketball coach Mike Anderson and re-hire Quin Snyder. Anderson seems a reasonable and decent person, thus he should have no involvement with Mizzou. Snyder, however, was a perfect mix of comical insanity and chronic underachievement. Perfect for Missouri.
Article Two: Missouri shall no longer be known as the Tigers. The mascot is far too generic and has no root in Missouri's identity. Let's fix that. From now on, Missouri will be represented by their new mascot, Randy the Roadside Porno Shop. Has a nice ring to it, huh?
Article Three: Missouri football shall play every game in the alternate uniforms used Saturday. Teams seem to play worse in their alternate unis. And it seems appropriate that Missouri football would be represented by a strangely bodily fluid-like shade of yellow.
Article Four: Missouri's famous student group, The Antlers, shall never again wear dresses to Kansas-Missouri basketball games. Possible exceptions will be made if said students agree to wear a "man-zierre." Article Five: Missouri basketball fans
students agree to wear a black Zerre.
Article Five: Missouri basketball fans
SEE BEECHER ON PAGE 5B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Wrestling with the'bunnies'
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor leaves a shot short during a fast break layup attempt during Monday night's game against Kent State.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
Jayhawks struggle to make easy shots under the basket
BY CASE KEEFER ckeefer@kansan.com
These are the kinds of moments a basketball player lives for.
Tyshawn Taylor found himself alone with the ball sprinting toward the basket four minutes into Kansas' game against Kent State on Monday. He leapt from the floor to throw down a statement dunk.
But apparently Taylor didn't jump high enough.
The ball clanked off the rim and a Kent State player grabbed the rebound. Opportunity missed.
"Now, I think I should have laid it in," Taylor, a freshman guard, said. "At first, I thought I had it. Then I got up there and was like, 'I'm not even close.'"
Freshman forward Marcus Morris committed a similar gaffe in Friday's game against Coppin State. Near the beginning of the second half, Morris spotted an open path to the basket.
He drove in from the side and elevated for a one-handed jam. But the rim got in the way and rejected his shot.
Shots from close proximity have baffled the Jayhawks lately. They'll try to fix the problem in tonight's game against New Mexico State.
Kansas coach Bill Self and his players like to call them "bunnies." But they haven't made the Jayhawks feel anything close to warm and fuzzy in the first six games of the season.
It's not just dunks. The players have also missed an alarming number of layups early in the season.
"I don't know what's coming over me," Morris said. "I just know I need to start finishing a lot more above the rim."
Taylor missed eight shots in the game against Kent State and four of them came right under the basket.
In the first 10 minutes, Morris missed three layups. Each time, he was able to corral the rebound and convert on his second chance.
Morris missed a couple of layups in the game against Kent State. His most noticeable failures below the basket, however, came against Coppin State.
"I felt like it was going in every time," Taylor said. "I'm getting there, but I'm just not hitting them."
Self said that he was happy Kansas still came away with points on the possessions, but that Morris must stop missing so much to begin with.
"I think it was something on the rim, because every time I put the ball in, it came back out," Morris said. "I don't know what it was."
Although Marcus Morris and Taylor have specifically struggled with "bunnies," it's
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 5B