THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN SPORTS
BREW|2A
An NBA lockout is a bad idea
With emerging stars and veterans making the most out of their last years, having an NBA lockout now would be detrimental to the league, fans and players.
THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011
COMMENTARY
PAGE 12A
WWW.KANSAN.COM
Football to face tough Oklahoma and Texas teams
BY KORY CARPENTER
kcarpenter@kansan.com
KANSAS 11, WICHITA STATE 2
In case anyone hasn't noticed, Texas and Oklahoma have dominated Big 12 football since the turn of the century. Since 2000, Texas or Oklahoma has won the Big 12 conference championship every year except 2001 and 2003. In 2003, Oklahoma still owned the conference's best record. So in a round robin format without a conference title game, the Sooners would have captured that year's conference title.
With the departures of Colorado and Nebraska beginning this July, the north and south divisions in football will be officially gone. Every team will play each other every season, and the team with the best record will win the conference. The championship game is no longer.
For fans of the Longhorns or Sooners, this change in format probably isn't very newsworthy. Both teams have been atop the Big 12 mountain the last decade, whether in the final standings or after the championship game. No, this change won't affect either school. And because the other four south schools, Baylor, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, have had to play Texas and Oklahoma every year anyway, this new format won't really affect them negatively, either. But for Missouri, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State, this is nothing but bad news from a scheduling standpoint. The extra millions of dollars from the new television contract should help ease the pain, but the point stands.
Take 2007 for example. Kansas had its most successful season in school history, winning 12 games and capturing the FedEx Orange Bowl. Conveniently, Kansas didn't have to face Texas or Oklahoma that year. Could they have beaten either squad? Sure, they could have. But the team they lost to—Missouri—lost handily to Oklahoma twice that year. With a round robin scheduling format, 2007 wouldn't have been the season Kansas football fans remember with such joy. Maybe that's harsh, but it's the truth. Texas and Oklahoma are on a different level than 99 percent of the country, and Kansas now gets to face both schools on a yearly basis.
Beating the Sooners or Long-horns once is hard enough. Beating them over a twelve game schedule is infinitely more challenging.
Edited by Erin Wilbert
The new television deal is nice, no doubt about it. But if any of the former Big 12 north schools want to even sniff a conference title in the near future, they'll search for two more schools to join the conference, thus putting the divisions back in place. Memphis, Louisville and BYU have been thrown around as possibilities, and any of those schools would be a good fit for the Big 12, especially for every school not named Oklahoma or Texas.
Austin Colbert/THE SUNFLOWEF
Jayhawks oust Shockers with season bests
Sonhomme catcher Alex DeLeon bats in Wednesday night's game against Wichita State. Kansas defeated the Shockers 11-2, finishing with season bests across the plate.
BY MIKE VERNON
mvernon@kansan.com
Hitting is contagious, and with a team batting average of .256 going into Wednesday night's game at Wichita State (28-21), it is safe to say the Jayhawks (22-24) haven't been too feverish at the plate this season. Something happened to the Kansas batters Wednesday night though — every starter recorded a hit during a 24-hour hitting virus that infected the Jayhawks in their 11-2 win over Wichita State.
the same."
"When the first guy gets that RBI base hit, it makes it contagious throughout your whole dugout," coach Ritch Price said. "When one player clutches up, the next player looks forward to doing
Stringing singles together with timely doubles sprinkled in — particularly in the first three innings — enabled the Jayhawks to jump out to an early 7-0 lead that they would never let up. In total, the Jayhawks finished with a season high of 17 hits — nine of which came with runners on base.
"We get our first RBI base hit, and the next thing you know,
we've got three or four in a row with runners in scoring position," Price said.
Freshman Ka'iana Eldredge got things started in the first inning, scoring from third off an unearned run after a Zac Elgie groundout. Kansas then tacked on another unearned run when sophomore Jake Marasco singled, knocking in senior left fielder Jimmy Waters from second after a throwing error by Wichita State shortstop Tyler Grimes.
With momentum, confidence and a two run lead after the first inning, the Jayhawks' lineup exploded in the second — batting around in the four run inning. Kansas began the inning with three straight hits scoring one run, including a double to right center by sophomore catcher Alex DeLeon.
The Jayhawks finished the inning with two walks and two singles to score two more runs. Keeping the pressure on, Kansas scored another run in the third off an RBI double hit by junior Jason Brunansky.
In the quick three-inning spurt, the Jayhawks had amassed seven runs before the Shockers knew
what hit them.
"It helps your pitching. There's no pressure," sophomore starter Thomas Taylor said. "Everyone's on top of their game after you're up 6-0. No one is going to be playing nervous; they just go right after them, and good things happen."
"I know none of us forgot about the game last year," senior outfielder Casey Lytle said of the Jayhawks 22-7 loss to Wichita State last year. "We weren't going to let up, and I think it showed that we had that focus and willpower going right into the game from the start."
The atypical cushion provided by the bats helped the Kansas pitching staff relax kept the Shockers silent.
Taylor, pitching on a tired arm after starting Saturday, often kept
the Wichita State hitters off balance with a strong slider and fastball — striking out four Shockers in three innings.
Senior pitcher Wally Marciel then came in for a lengthy four-inning relief job and continued to keep the Shockers at a distance. Marciel's only blemish came in the seventin inning when Wichita scored one run off a single followed by a double.
Wednesday's effort led to the Jayhawks putting up season bests across the plate. Kansas rebounded nicely from a four-game skid, winning two of two against Wichita State, and gaining momentum heading into a crucial weekend series against Big 12 preseason favorite Oklahoma.
Edited by Erin Wilbert
SOFTBALL
Kansas to fight for spot in regional tournament
The team celebrates after a home run hit by senior catcher Brittany Hile in the double-header against Okla. The team finished conference play 2-16. They hope to combine their preseason record of 26-3 with victories in their final three regular season games.
Chris Bronson/KANSAN
BY HANNAH WISE hwise@kansan.com
The Big 12 conference has a total of 10 teams, eight of which are ranked in the top 25 nationally by either the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll or the USA Today Coaches' Poll and more often than not, both. It is an incredibly challenging conference to succeed in and the teams that are leading the standings — Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma State — are teams that do well year after year in the conference as well as in the NCAA Tournament.
The softball team is left to rely upon three final non-conference games to bolster its regional tournament chances after weekend losses to Texas A&M, 3-2 and 13-0. The Jayhawks finished conference play with a 2-16 record, but are 31-22 overall.
"It's a tough conference," coach Megan Smith said. "Every team we play is ranked. It's extremely difficult. You don't get a break, but that's why you like to play in those big conferences."
The Jayhawks entered Big 12 play with a historic start to the season at 26-3. They won five of their six preseason tournaments, going
undefeated in four. The preseason start is what is helping the team's regional chances now, but the Jayhawks must win their final three games.
The final stretch begins tonight against Drake. The Bulldogs are 31-18 overall and 18-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Last week, the Jayhawks took home two victories against Wichita State (11-3 in six innings and 6-3 in the second game), another Missouri Valley competitor.
The Jayhawks have not lost their drive. They are motivated by the possibility of still making it to regionals.
But the team cannot lose its focus, especially after last weekend's 13-0 loss. Coach Smith has said repeatedly throughout the season that they are going to focus on themselves and what they can do. That is what is going to carry the team through the end of the season.
"Its going to be an interesting finish, but we are going to be locked in and ready to play Drake," Smith said.
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Edited by Jacque Weber
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