The Jayhawk volleyball team fell to Missouri in the Border Showdown on Saturday night. The goalposts came down after Saturday's victory. It was the fourth time in two years. 8B 3B
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2006 WWW.KANSAN.COM
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
PAGE 1B
KANSAS 39 KANSAS STATE 20
PURPLE PEOPLE EATEN
Jared Gab/KANSAN
jeff Wheeler, freshman defensive end, sacks K-State quarterback Josh Freeman. The loose ball was grabbed by senior defensive lineman Wayne Wilder. Wilder returned the ball 34 yards to the K-State 12-yard line, which led to a Jon Cornish touchdown.
Kansas fans should expect big wins
BY MICHAEL PHILLIPS
KANSAN SPORTS EDITOR
MPHILIPS@KANSAN.COM
At 6-5 with one game remaining, the Jayhawks are eligible for postseason play for the secondstraight year.
Saturday's 39-20 thumping of Kansas State proved that the Wildcats don't have a monopoly on college football in this state any more. It also proved just how easy it is to get to a bowl game these days.
Too bad that's not an accomplishment.
Finishing a 12-game season with
six victories isn't great. It's not even good. It should be a requirement for any coach at a big-time school.
"We don't just want respectability anymore," coach Mark Mangino said. "We want to be contenders in the future."
It's an accurate statement of where things stand in the program. By defeating the Wildcats and making themselves bowl-eligible again, the layhawks have earned respect within the conference. However, being a contender will be a much bigger leap.
In the past decade, bowl games have changed from being a reward for outstanding teams to acknowledgement of average teams. This year, 64 of the 119 schools that field football teams will be invited to bowls — more than half.
SEE PHILLIPS ON PAGE 5B
bowl projections
With six victories, Kansas is not guaranteed a bowl, but these games have expressed interest in taking the Jayhawks:
Texas Bowl
Independence Bowl
The Independence Bowl In-Shreveport, La., on Dec. 28 pts a Southeastern Conference team against a Big 12 team. If Kansas defeats Missouri, it could be chosen to play in this game.
Formerly the Houston bowl, the Texas Bowl is Dec. 28 at Reliant Stadium in Houston. The game is a match-up between a Big East or Conference USA school and a big 12 school. If Kansas and Oklahoma State lose this weekend, the Texas Bowl would choose between the two teams.
Independence Bowl
Poinsettia Bowl
The Poinsettia Bowl is Dec. 19 in San Diego, the first bowl game of the year. If no Big 12-affiliated bowls take the Jayhawks, they may end up here.
Motor City Bowl
Motor City Bowl If Kansas is not chosen for the above three bowls, it could lobby to be chosen by the Motor City Bowl, which will have an at-large space available. This game is Dec. 26 in Detroit.
This game in Albuquerque, N.M., will be played on Dec. 23. Bowl representatives will be looking for a team if the Mountain West Conference or Western Athletic Conference are unable to produce a team with a good enough record to play.
New Mexico Bowl
Cornish leads 'Hawks to bowl eligibility
BY RYAN SCHNEIDER
Jon Cornish made some new friends this week.
In anticipation of Saturday's Sunflower Showdown, dozens of Kansas State students sent Cornish Facebook.com messages using their favorite four letter words.
"They were saying they hate me and various negative things," Kansas' senior running back said. "That only makes me want to destroy them more."
Cornish didn't respond
He didn't need to.
chasing history
The senior running back finished the game with a career-high 201 yards and two touchdowns in Kansas' 39-20 victory against Kansas State on Saturday.
With the victory, the jayhawks are now bowl-eligible in back.
201
1,331
yards Cornish gained this season, good for third all-time at Kansas
yards gained by Jon Cornish on Saturday, a career high
112 yards Cornish must gain Saturday to break Tony Sands' record
to-back seasons for the first time in school history. A victory next weekend against Missouri would
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 4B
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Jayhawks don't overlook Towson Tigers, get easy victory
Kansas' defense was an obvious weakness earlier in the week, but last night it helped the Jayhawks pull away from the Towson Tigers.
BY SHAWN SHROYER
Playing the kind of defense it lacked in its loss to Oral Robers, Kansas got
back on the winning track, defeating Towson 87-61 in each team's first game of the Las Vegas Invitational.
Coach Bill Self said the team was making steps in the right direction, but quickly pointed out that the team should have been playing this well all season.
"We played better. Of course you can't play worse," Self said. "I don't think that we shouldn't get too excited about this, personally, because this is what you should do every night.
"Wed be undefeated if we gave effort like that every night."
Coming into Sunday's game,
Kansas looked like it could be in trouble. After allowing two Oral Roberts players to combine for 42 points, Kansas had to find a way to contain Towson guard Gary Neal, who went off for 41 points in his last game.
Neal managed to lead Towson in scoring with 17 points, but it took him 16 shots to do so. The Jayhawks also held him to 1-for-7 shooting from three-point range.
"It was good for our whole team to have to guard him because he's really, really good." Self said. "I don't know
Kan sas not only locked down Neal,
it contained the entire Tewno team:
what he doesn't do well."
In the first half, Kansas was on top of its game defensively. Towson committed 12 turnovers that half and Kansas capitalized, converting those turnovers into 23 of its 43 first half points.
SEE BASKETBALL ON PAGE 6B