COMMENTARY
How the Big 12 may challenge the SEC
FOOTBALL
Everybody wants to be judged on a level playing field, unless the one doing the judging is the BCS.
SEE DUFEK ON PAGE 6B
The Southeastern Conference knows all about that.
In college football, whether they say it or not, all of the conferences strive to match the popularity and success that football has achieved in the SEC. The passionate fans, the tradition and the difficulty of the conference's teams are all areas that the schools of the SEC take great pride in.
The SEC has witnessed it firsthand for a number of years. When a conference has six teams ranked in the top 16, as the Big 12 does and the SEC certainly has before, the teams tend to beat up on each other and hurt everyone's chance at a national title.
However, the Big 12 is doing its best to challenge the SEC as the strongest conference in football. The debate will most likely rage on for the majority of the season, but there is a side effect to increased success of the Big 12.
With so many talented teams in the conference this season, even in the middle tier, it's unlikely a national title contender will emerge from the Big 12.
Despite the SEC's ability to bring home national championships with a two-loss LSU team last year and a one-loss Florida team two years ago, history doesn't bode well for this year's top conference squads.
Another factor to consider is the unpredictable upset. It would be very naive to assume that two or three of the mediocre Big 12 teams don't knock off one of the conference's top dogs before the end of the year — especially after watching Nebraska go to Texas Tech
In the 10 years since the inception of the BCS system of selecting a national champion, only three times has a team with a loss on its record won the national title. Last year, the only team with two losses to ever compete for a title in the BCS was the LSU Tigers.
After watching Saturday's conference clashes, it's hard to have any confidence that a team will go undefeated in the Big 12. A one-loss season even seems like an extremely daunting task because of highly talented teams within the conference.
Texas' victory against Oklahoma, paired with Oklahoma State's victory against Missouri, should have gotten Big 10, Pac-10 and even SEC executives excited about national title chances. In both games the lower ranked team emerged victorious, but both contests could have gone either way.
It seems as though only a turnover here or a first down there could have swung the momentum in the favor of the other team. The bad news for the Big 12 is that last week was just the beginning.
The three undefeated teams remaining — Texas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech — haven't played each other yet. Oklahoma State and Texas Tech must both take on Oklahoma, and Texas Tech will also face the unenviable task of trying to break the 13-game home winning streak Kansas is riding at Memorial Stadium in two weeks
Although Texas just knocked off No. 1 Oklahoma, its schedule doesn't get easier anytime soon. The Longhorns will match up against the Big 12 North's top two teams, Missouri and Kansas, as well as take on the two other undefeated teams in the south.
Kansas kick returner Marcus Herford looks to cut off a block during a kick return Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Coach Mark Mangino said he will make special teams changes. "I am going to get these special teams squared away," he said.
Mangino to make special changes
BY B.J. RAINS
rains@kansan.com
Coach Mark Mangino has seen enough. After watching his special teams units perform poorly for the second consecutive game, the seventh-year coach has promised to shake things up.
"After today's exhibition," Mangino said Saturday, "whether it's personnel or schemes or both, we have to make changes.
We're not going to do this anymore."
down," Mangino said. "But I'm not going to lie two you, there were two or three guys on some units today that didn't do their job."
The problems were across the board on Saturday. Daymond Patterson and Dexton Fields both muffed punts. Jacob Branstetter missed a 39-yard field goal. And Marcus Herford, who has struggled all season after being named a pre-season All American, averaged only 13 yards-per-kick-return against the Buffaloes — the worst rated kickoff coverage in the nation.
"All it takes is for one guy to break
The Jayhawks' average starting position for their first five drives was their own 16-yard line. Their best start was their fifth drive when they started from the 24-yard line. It almost mirrored last week's game against Iowa State when the Jayhawks battled poor field position much of the first
half and fell behind 20-0.
"I'll get that corrected," Mangino said. "If there's one thing that I do here during my tenure as the head coach, I am going to get these special teams squared away.
"We won some games over the years where we had lesser talent than the opponent, but we won the field position battle. And we're not doing that."
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 6B
NCAA TOURNAMENT BIDS HANG IN THE BALANCE
Soccer team needs to win four of five remaining games
Almost a year of preparation comes down to five games for coach Mark Francis and Kansas. The Jayhawks' 5-0 start seems like a distant memory.
Six Big 12 games have resulted in a disappointing 2-3-1 record with two overtime losses. At 8-5-1 overall, Kansas can't afford to lose more than one game if it has any hope of meriting an at-large NCAA Tournament berth. Luckily, four of the Jayhawks final five games will be played at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. Unfortunately, two of those contests will be against No. 7 Texas A&M and No. 10 Texas. Kansas is 2-20-3 against the two all-time.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Kelsey Clifton dribbles the ball up the field.
Volleyball team must overcome Missouri and Oklahoma
A critical stretch of matches are in store for Kansas in the coming weeks. This week, the Jayhawks face boarder rival Missouri. It is a must win for Kansas, which can't afford to fall any deeper into the Big 12 standings as they are tied with Missouri for seventh. Up next is Oklahoma, who, despite losing core players from last year's ranked squad, will still provide a challenging match-up. For the Jayhawks to even think about sneaking into the NCAA tournament they have to win against Missouri and Oklahoma, as they will face the more challenging teams of Texas A&M and Baylor to finish out the month.
Josh Bowe
Junior setter Katie Martin-cich dives down to dig a serve during the first match Wednesday evening against Texas A.M. Martin-lead the Jayhawks with 11 digs in Kansas' 3-2 loss to the Aggies at the Horeisi Center.
Weston White/KANSAN
5