Tuesday, December 8, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
College Football
Section B·Page 5
K-State reeling after BCS snub
Coach says fans, players depressed about bowl game
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas State's players are so depressed about being snubbed by the major bowls that their coach is worried about their effort in the Alamo Bowl.
"I certainly am," Bill Snyder said yesterday.
In less than 24 hours, the Wildcats (11-1) plunged from the brink of getting to play for the national cham
pionship against No.1 Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl to having to play for nothing against unranked Purdue in the Alamo Bowl.
K-State remained third in the Bowl Championship Series rankings even after blowing a 15-point lead and losing 36-33 to Texas A&M in double-overtime Saturday in the Big 12 title game. The team dropped to fourth in The Associated Press poll.
Had the Wildcats beaten Texas A&M, they were assured of playing in the Fiesta Bowl.
Yet, when other bids were handed out on Sunday, the Wildcats were snubbed by the other BCS bowls — the Orange, Rose and Sugar. Then they watched Texas and Nebraska, which both lost to K-State, accept
bids to the Cotton and Holiday bowls, the top postseason games with Big 12 ties.
"You'd like to be able to say life is fair," Snyder said. "But obviously that's not the case."
"I know our fans are reeling from
this as well.
They are hurt, like our players," Snyder said during a conference call with league coaches
He even declined to urge disappointed fans to attend the Dec. 29 game in San Antonio.
"We just have to have some healing time. Now is not the time to campaign for anything from our vantage point. The important thing for us is to heal and set on with this."
Snyder was careful to praise both the Alamo Bowl and Purdue (8-3).
Snyder said he was not blaming anybody.
"The Alamo Bowl" is one of the up-and-coming bowls," he said. "It certainly will be an honor for us to be there. Are we disappointed we were not included in the BCS selection or in the pecking order as it was described by the Big 12 Yes."
"I can only blame myself for not having our team well enough prepared to win a ball game," he said. "Outside of that, I wouldn't know where to start."
Baylor fires coach for bleak record, program
The Associated Press
WACO, Texas — Baylor hired Dave Roberts as its football coach because he was considered a top recruiter with a creative offensive philosophy.
Sunday, Roberts was fired, apparently because the program was not improving in either area.
The Bears went 2-9 in each of Roberts' two seasons, marking their worst back-to-back years since 1970-71. Athletic director Tom Stanton said Roberts would be reassigned and a search for a replacement was to begin yesterday. No candidates were immediately identified.
"We're at the bottom right now, so there's only one way to go and that's up," sophomore cornerback Gary Baxter, the first Roberts recruit to earn all-conference honors, told the Waco Tribune-Herald. "Everyone faults coach Roberts, but it's really not coach Roberts. Most of the time it's players and other things. But it just so happens he's the head coach, and he's got to take the blame for everything."
Stanton informed Roberts of his decision in a meeting Sunday and later met separately with the assistant coaches and players. Roberts told
the team of the move shortly before Stanton spoke.
"It's kind of a shock to us to hear him say that he wasn't going to be with us for next year."
Roberts: Will be assigned after losing job as coach.
said junior lineman Tyshaun Whitson, a Roberts junior college recruit. "He talked to us for a few minutes about the situation and told us to have a good season and keep working hard in the classroom."
Speculation of a replacement centered in recent weeks on former Alabama coach Gene Stallings, who retired to his ranch outside Paris, Texas, after leaving the Crimson Tide two years
ago. Stallings reportedly has denied having any contact with representatives of Baylor. He was in Florida for speeches yesterday and today and could not immediately be reached for comment.
Baylor issued a four-sentence statement about the change, noting that because Roberts still is under contract, school officials said he would be reassigned to "other responsibilities at the
university." Roberts has three years remaining on a contract that paid him about $400,000 annually, plus incentives.
erts was hired following the firing of
Roberts was nired Chuck Reedy after Baylor went 4-7 in 1996. He was the first coach in any sport hired by Stanton, who is in his third year. Roberts beat out Navy's Charlie Weatherbie and current Arkansas coach Houston Nutt for the io
Roberts, who developed a reputation as a great recruiter during head coaching stints at Western Kentucky and Northeast Louisiana, had spent the previous three seasons as Lou Holtz's offensive coordinator at Notre Dame.
He brought a commitment to install a wide-open passing game, but the Bears struggled offensively in his first season and stalled this year with inconsistent play at quarterback and offensive line. They finished near the bottom of the national rankings in both offense and defense en route to a third straight last-place finish in the South Division of the Big 12.
Insight.com Bowl makes opponents out of old friends
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When Missouri meets West Virginia in the Insight bowl, it will be a clash between two old friends as
Missour coach Larry Smith and West Virginia coach Don Nehlman are both
graduates of Bowling Green and even take trips together every year.
"Over the years we just developed a friendship," Smith said yesterday during the Big 12's conference calls with head coaches of bowl-bound teams. "Then he became head coach at Bowling Green, and I got to know him even more."
The 23rd-ranked Tigers (7-4)
will play unranked West Virginia (8-3) on Dec. 26 in Tucson, Ariz.
The whole week will have a comfortable feel for Smith. He was a successful coach at Arizona from 1980-86 and an assistant for four years prior to that. Plus, he still owns a home about a quarter-mile from where the Tigers will practice.
But as much as anything, it will be nice for Smith to share the experience with his opposing head coach and old friend.
to the Nike coaches group. We take a trip together every year. Our roots are very much the same. Our football backgrounds are very much the same. We're people who believe in blocking and tackling. It's that simple. Don's a Midwestern guy, and I am, too."
Another great attraction for the bowl is Devin West, who has smashed Missouri's rushing
records and become the first Tiger to gain national attention in more than 10 years.
West: Has broken
tiger rushing
ecords this season
"It's a real credit to Devin." Smith said. "For the first three years he was here, he and Brock
Olivo were sharing time. It was a credit to him to remain patient with it, but still remain aggressive and want to continue to improve as a football player. This last year when he was asked to carry the bulk of our offense, he did it. It was something special on his part and the fact he was looked upon across the country as one of the top running backs in the whole country.
"As far as what it meant to our program, it meant a lot."
Commentary
Back-room politics deprive Wildcats of a $12 million championship game
By Jim Litke
The Associated Press
What some people won't do to avoid speaking the dreaded P-word.
The folks who run the Bowl Championship Series don't want a playoff. And just to make sure nobody gets one, they worked on math problems until their heads hurt, kept their fingers crossed so long they suffered cramps, and then, on Sunday, did more crowing about their handiwork than they had a right to.
It would take a year's supply of wrinkle cream, in fact, to wipe the grin off BCS chairman Roy Kramer's face now that Tennessee and Florida State are set to play for the national title Jan. 4 in the Flesta Bowl.
"I feel we arrived at two tremen
dously qualified teams to be ranked 1-2," Kramer said every time somebody pointed a television camera in his direction.
Even so, everyone knew who the biggest beneficiary was when the craziest Saturday in a while wound down. It was FSU coach Bobby Bowden.
Exactly what Kramer is so smug about is anyone's guess. The sportswriters who vote in The Associated Press poll had it the same way. Ditto for the coaches in the USA Today/ESPN poll. So far as we know, none of them actually did the calculations called for in the BCS' complicated formula.
in both polls.
"I have never accomplished so much doing nothing yesterday, just sitting on the couch." he admitted.
Florida State absorbed its only loss at North Carolina State on Sept. 12 and slipped as low as No. 11
"Things worked out for us," Bowden added, "we were lucky. And yet there are several other teams that ought to be in there and probably deserve to be in there maybe as much as we do."
"How can we go from being one point away,one play away from playing Tennessee for the national championship to playing Purdue in the Alamo Bowl?"
This was a regular season when No. 1 was not in doubt, and No. 2 was close to a consensus choice. But Nos. 3-5, and possibly even No. 6, were anything but. In the final BCS standings, Nos. 3-6 were Kansas State, Ohio State, UCLA and Texas & M.
"How can we go from being one point away, one play away from playing Tennessee for the national championship to playing Purdue in the Alamo Bowl?" Kansas State president Jon Wefauld said when he found out where the 11-1 Wildcats, losers to Texas A&M in double-overtime Saturday, were headed.
Jon Wefald
Kansas State University President
"They could have figured out a way to get us into a major bowl," he added. "We could have played Syracuse in the Orange Bowl. Or we could have been in the Rose Bowl. I guess the BCS rankings only mean something for the top two teams. That's not right. That's another thing they have to change."
Not as far as Kramer is concerned.
"We want to create 1 vs. 2," he said. "The others are up to the individual bowls."
The BCS folks have the important
bowls — the Rose, Orange, Sugar and Fiesta — wrapped up, and by getting the Big 10 and Pac-10 conferences to join, they have removed nearly every obstacle to creating the 1 vs. 2 game.
But they are no better at removing back-room politics from the rest of the process than their predecessors were.
By going to the Alamo Bowl instead of one of the top tier of BCS bowls, K-State's payout will be $1
million, compared to $12 million. Three-time loser Syracuse plays twice-beaten Florida in the Orange Bowl for reasons of tourism and a conference tie-in, respectively.
K-State couldn't get a nibble from the Cotton Bowl, either, which protected its investment by matching home-state draw Texas against Mississippi State.
The only way to make sure everybody gets a fair shake is the same way that the good old boys in the loud pastel blazers have been fighting for years: a playoff. Right now, college presidents don't want one, and ABC has more than $ 500 million committed to televisie the BCS bowls for the next seven years.
"The disappointing thing," KState president Wefald said, "is we are third according to the all-powerful, omniscient computer, which is supposed to factor in everything."
$1.00 Off
1lb. Of All
Bulk Coffees
We Buy, Sell, Trade & Consign USED & New Sports Equipment
ONE LOVE, ONE HEART, ONE GREAT PARTY!!!
IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR WHEN THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS COME TO JAMAICA
TO FEEL ALL RIGHT - FOR AN UNBELIEVABLE PRICE!!!
PACKAGE INCLUDES: • Round-Trip Airfare
- 7 Nights Hotel Accommodations
- Free Welcome, Beach & Evening Parties
  Free Admission at Night Stalls
- Packages available to Negril and Montana Bay
- Discounts on Restaurants, Water Sports & Side Excursions
- Round-Trip Airport & Hotel Transfers
Montego Bay
- Free Admission to Night Clubs
- Bedrooms available to Navi and
Professional level tool包
• Commence Weekly Activity Program Offering National Sunset
- Complete Weekly Activities Program Offering Optional Sunset Cruise, Boat Ride, Tugboat Trip & Moral
Sun Splash Tours 1 800-426-7710
- Professional On-Site Tour Reps
Free Bonus Party Pack
Cruise, Booze Cruise, Toga Party & More!
Cruise Booze Back Pack
Price is per person based on quad occupancy; from select department cities. Other cities may qualify for reduction or require surcharge. US and Jamaican department taxes (currently $69) and $9 handling charge additional. Rates increase on 10/25/15. Point-week surcharges offer weekday masks may apply. Reductions and cancellation penalties apply. No credit transfer. Refunds are not accepted.
Student Travel Services 1800-648-4849
Book Buy Back!
December 7-18 KU Bookstore locations only December 9-17 All Locations
Kansas Union
Level 2, Dunging Ret. Store Hours &
4 Level Gallery M-F 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Burge Union
Level 2, Regular Store Hours
McCollum Hall
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (1st floor next to the Laundry Rm.)
KU Bookstores • Kansas and Burge Unions • 864-4640 • www.jayhawks.com