6B
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7.2004
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Women's basketball AP poll knocked around by upsets
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LSU is unanimous, Louisiana Tech is out.
teen is out. Look no farther than the Bayou State for the major developments in the AP women's basketball poll.
LSU held the No.1 spot yesterday for the second straight week and this time, the Lady Tigers received all 45 first-place votes from a national media panel.
A slew of upsets triggered a major shuffling in the rest of the Top 25, which for the first time in nearly 23 years did not include Louisiana Tech.
Louisiana Tech, 3-2, which had been 21st, lost two of its three games during the week and ended a string of 221 consecutive appearances in the poll.
The last time the Lady Techsters were not ranked was the end of the 1991-1992 season.
Tennessee leads with 544 consecutive poll appearances.
Villanova, 24th last week, also dropped out. Houston joined the poll for the first time this sea
son at No. 22 and Arizona returned at 24th after a one-week absence.
LSU, 8-0, beat North Texas 77-51 in its only game last week, but eight others in the Top 25 lost to unranked opponents.
Notre Dame and Tennessee also lost, clearing the way for Stanford to jump from fifth to second.
LSU and Stanford are the only teams in the top 10 that are still unbeaten.
Duke, 7-1, jumped, seven spots to third after winning at Tennessee and Texas, 4-2, climbed three places to fourth. then it was North Carolina, Baylor and Notre Dame, followed by Connecticut, Tennessee and Ohio State.
Baylor won three times during the week and moved up three spots. Notre Dame dropped four places after losing at home to Michigan State, which went from 15th to 12th. Georgia tumbled from sixth to 11th after losing to Georgia Tech.
Texas Tech was 15th,
Vanderbilt 14th and DePaul
15th, followed by Minnesota Boston College, UCLA Maryland and Rutgers.
The final five were Purdue, Houston, TCU, Arizona and Kansas State.
Purdue took the most severe drop, falling seven places after losing to Houston and UCLA. Kansas State, playing without preseason All-American Kendra Wecker, lost to Liberty by 21 and dropped five spots.
UCLA matched Duke for the biggest jump, moving from 25th 18th.
Houston, 8-0, has kept winning despite the departure of guard Chandi Jones, the career scoring leader in Conference USA.
The Cougars won at Purdue 63-60 on Nov. 30. They've won the rest of their games by at least 17.
Arizona, 6-1, returned to the Top 25 after victories over UTEP and UNC-Greensboro.
Villanova, which had been ranked for two weeks, split its two latest games, losing to George Washington and beating Penn.
POLLS: Early rankings irrelevant until January
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
game, finishing with a 91-73 victory. That impressive victory over the then-top-ranked Demon Deacons vaulted Illinois past not one, but three teams en route to the No. 1 ranking. Illinois also passed fourth-ranked Syracuse and third-ranked Georgia Tech. It should be noted that the three teams Illinois passed remain undefeated.
Kansas' wins over Nevada and Pacific last week weren't substantial enough to make the lavhawks number one.
situation is that if Illinois and Wake Forest had played a close game last week with Illinois winning at the end or by fewer points, it would not have jumped so high in the rankings. Everyone else would have moved up a spot, putting Kansas at the top.
Early season basketball is what it is, the beginning of the season. Most teams use the first month of the season, before conference play begins, to make sure everyone, especially the newcomers, know their roles are within a system. Early season games are just a tune-up for grueling conference play and
the NCAA Tournament.
The irony behind the whole
For those of you who watch the polls, don't be upset by the shaming the Jayhawks have endured by the national media and coaches in the polls during the last two weeks. It really doesn't matter. We can just enjoy the misfortunes of Missouri, because it's hard to imagine the Tigers ever being ranked this year. Besides, true Kansas fans know where the Jayhawks will be come March. Who needs polls anyway?
Weinstein is an Overland Park senior in English.
GUARD: Three seniors nominated for award
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
Jayhawk basketball notes
Three Kansas players are among 30 finalists for the fourth annual Bayer Advantage Senior CLASS Award.
The award is presented yearly to the nation's senior player of the year for NCAA Division 1 men's and women's basketball.
The award committee nominated guards Aaron Miles, Keith Langford and forward Wayne Simien for the award. Kansas was one of four teams with multiple players on the list and the only team with three players represented.
The National Media Committee will choose 10 finalists next February. In March, votes from fans, coaches and media will determine the male and female winners. CBS Sportscaster Dick Enberg, who initiated the award and is its committee's honorary chairman, will announce the winners during the broadcast of the
The award is designed to return the
prestige and dignity of being a senior college basketball player."
Dick Enberg
CBS sportscaster
The Senior CLASS Award, which is an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, began in the 2001-02 college basketball season. It honors players who remain committed to their universities and elect to pursue the rewards that a senior season can bring.
Final Four.
"The award is designed to return the prestige and dignity of being a senior college basketball player," Enberg said. "It's not intended to say that leaving early for pro basketball is wrong, rather to celebrate those
who do decide to return for a senior season."
The Kansas men's basketball team can't seem to make the jump back to No.1.
Instead the Illini, ranked No.
5 last week, jumped four spots
to gain the top position.
The Jayhaws remained No. 2 in the latest Associated Press basketball poll, despite former No. 1 Wake Forest's loss to Illinois last week.
The Jayhawks gained 23 first-place votes and 1,700 points this week. The Illini garnered 25 first-place votes and 1,717 points.
Kansas briefly held the No. 1 spot at the beginning of the season, but fell to No.2 in the polls after a close victory against Vermont in its first game.
Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Oklahoma State rounded out the top five.
No. 14 Texas is the only other ranked Big 12 school.
Edited by Bill Cross
HOCKEY: Team bonds during low-budget travel
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B
member couldn't come up with the funds for a weekend tournament.
"He was a freshman, living in the dorms, and his only reason for not going was he didn't have any money for gas or meals," McNally said. "So we all just decided to pitch in a couple bucks each and cover his gas and Gatorade. We even pooled all our Subway stamps and he was able to get a couple sand-wiches. He left with $2 in his pocket, and came back with change. We'll do anything to help our guys get there."
Sometimes even their coach can't make the trip. In that case, the team relies on parents to take up the slack.
mine, who like to travel around the Midwest and see their kids play." McNally said. "On two separate weekends we have had my dad stand on the bench as our coach because the league rules state that a team must have an active coach. The parents are awesome."
"We are lucky to have a group of very dedicated parents, like
It takes a lot of dedication to play a club sport. The players are not on scholarship and don't get much funding.
"Hockey players are the most passionate athletes out there," McNally said. "We would run naked down the street just for an extra hour of ice time. We love it."
Team members agree that their method of travel, while not always comfortable, is good for the team.
weekend, sleeping in the same hotel, basically you never part with these guys for three days straight," McNally said. "We all become best friends, hang out all the time, we get to know each other's styles, play together better on the ice. It's a close bonding experience."
"You're on the road with these guys between 10 and 30 hours a
For McNally, hockey is more than a sport. He wishes everyone were as excited about hockey as he is.
"I can be in the most pain either physically or emotionally in my life, and if I step out on the ice, it's gone," said McNally. "It's the greatest high to skate around with these guys, and ten times more in games. It's such an emotionally-packed game. I wish everyone at KU could come out and see what that's like."
— Edited by Bill Cross
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Applications are due by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8
To Do List:
Study for finals
Take finals
Buy family xmas gifts at JBS
Go PARTY!
Pack my bags
Buy stocking stuffers at JBS
Pre-Order books at JBS
SELL MY TEXTBOOKS TO
JAYHAWK BOOKSTORE!
Go PARTY!
Jayhawk Bookstore
...at the top of Naismith Hill
www.jayhawkbookstore.com • 843-3826 • 1420 Crescent Rd.
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