Volume 125 Issue 87
kansan.com
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY GANSAN
COMMENTARY
Selection Sunday is no big deal for Kansas
Kansas fans don't know anything about sweating over Selection Sunday, but analyzing the bracket once it is unveiled is nothing new.
Most years, there are teams to avoid and teams to drool over, regionals to covet and regionals to scorn.
This year is no different.
This year is no different. But while most top schools are hoping to avoid playing someone like Indiana in the regional in Indianapolis or Duke in Washington, D.C., in the teams' home arenas, maybe it's not too late for Bill Self to offer to play one of those schools on his home turf. A nice fruit basket to the NCAA Tournament Selection committee might do the trick. Are the San Antonio Spurs doing anything the next few weeks? Maybe they could be put in Kansas' region.
If Indiana, Duke or San Antonio had made the Elite Eight a few years ago instead of VCU, there would likely be a sixth national championship banner hanging in Allen Fieldhouse. OK, maybe not San Antonio.
And if Missouri was in the Big 12 this year instead of TCU, Kansas would be a lock for a No. 1 seed right now, and its ninth straight Big 12 championship would be of the outright variety, not shared with the school down the road.
The thing is, in big games against teams as good or better than Kansas, Self doesn't lose very often. Half of his NCAA Tournament losses at Kansas have been against teams from second-rate conferences in games that most of the country penciled in the Jayhawks for a victory.
Beating top-seeded North Carolina or Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament last year was fine. Handling 11-th seed (and 11-point underdog) VCU the year before wasn't, however. Even in the championship run of 2008, Davidson was a tougher out for Self and Kansas than fellow No. 1 seed North Carolina.
Maybe a game against the Hoosiers in the Hoosier state with a Final Four on the line is exactly what this team needs. If not, maybe the '86 Celtics are available.
— Edited by Jordan Wisdom
Since the beginning of the 2007-08 season, Kansas has been an underdog of four points or fewer 11 times. After the overtime win at Oklahoma State last month, its record is 8-3 in those games. Going into hostile environments against tough teams like Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Kansas State on big stages were a piece of cake. But a stale arena against a team that should be in the bottom of the Mountain West is the reason a No. 1 seed this year is in doubt.
Here are the numbers:
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TALE OF THREE SEASONS
With another title under its belt, Kansas looks to finish with a bang
GEOFFREY CALVERT
gcalvert@kansan.com
Coach Bill Self said he had several people contact him after Kansas secured its ninth consecutive Big 12 title Saturday despite losing to Baylor. They congratulated him on the title, but expressed sympathy for the manner in which Kansas won the title.
But Self doesn't see it that way. He tells his team that the basketball season is really divided into three seasons. The first season is the non-conference portion of the schedule. The second season is conference play and the third season comprises the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments.
The second season began after Kansas polished off Temple on Jan. 6, meaning the Jayhawks spent more than two months in this part of the season. Although Saturday's loss to Baylor meant Kansas had a subdued attitude about how it won the conference, Self isn't about to give the trophy back.
"When you're 7-3 and you got to go to Stillwater and Ames, we earned it." Self said. "You spend two and a half months of your season trying to win a league championship. Why would we discredit winning the league when you spend so much time trying to do it?"
Senior guard Travis Releford described the trip back to Lawrence on Saturday as "quiet", but Self used the trip to remind the Jayhawks they accomplished their ultimate regular-season goal for the ninth consecutive season, dating back to the senior class of 2005 comprising Wayne Simien, Aaron Miles, Michael Lee and Keith Langford.
"It sucked how we ended up winning the title and sharing it, but overall, we ended up accomplishing our goals." Releford said. "This year, the tournament is going to mean a lot because we tied the regular season conference."
Of course, the other team Kansas shares the Big 12 title with gained the title the same way the Jayhawks did. Kansas State finished 14-4 in the Big 12 just like Kansas, but it too lost on Saturday to Oklahoma State.
If Kansas performs well this weekend in the conference tournament, it will likely go back to the Sprint Center for the second
Instead of the title being split by two teams who backed their way into it, Self said it reinforces the talent level at the top of the conference. The Big 12 might have six of its 10 teams reach the NCAA Tournament, which will be announced Sunday, and Self said all six of those teams could win the Big 12 Tournament this weekend.
"You go into the tournament in the past and you could say, 'You know what, this team, they could win a couple of games or this team could do good or this could be an upset,'" Self said. "But not very often do you go in and say, 'Well, I think that that team could positively win three games in a row.' And there's six teams that could win three games in a row."
The Jayhawks have a firstround bye and will play Thursday at 2 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday's contest between Texas Tech and West Virginia, both of which Kansas swept during the regular season.
"I'd say we're expected to win no matter what," Withey said. "If anything, it kind of helps us out because if something is going wrong, then usually, the fans help us and get us back right."
Senior center Jeff Withey said Kansas forgot about the Baylor loss by Monday because it's now focused on the third — and most important — season within the season. The Big 12 Tournament begins Wednesday at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.
The challenge for Kansas is that it won't know who its Thursday opponent will be until about 8 p.m. Wednesday when either Texas Tech or West Virginia wins the first-round game.
With the potential to play five postseason games in Kansas City, Mo., Withey said the Jayhawks don't feel extra pressure to perform well in what amounts to the team's second hometown, but instead rely on the fans to help them if they become entwined in a close game.
However, the Jayhawks played both the Red Raiders and the Mountainers in the final eight days of the regular season, so both opponents are still fresh in Self's mind.
and third rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
It's also not a unique situation. Kansas receives a bye in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament most years, so it's used to preparing for two opponents throughout the week. Self also said he'll begin to prepare his team for a semifinal game even before Kansas plays its first game on Thursday. It's the same approach he uses in the NCAA Tournament.
"We're going to practice for us, but we'll also spend a little bit of time practicing maybe for the potential second game," Self said. "Both Iowa State and Oklahoma did some things to us that hurt us. We can work on that stuff in practice and players never know it."
Edited by Madison Schultz
Senior guard Travis Releaf shot over his opponent's block during the game against Baylor at Ferrell Center in Waco, Texas on March 9, where Kansas was defeated 81-58. Releaf was one for six from the field.
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
6
SWIMMING AND DIVING
Divers fail to advance to 3-meter final
STELLA LIANG sliang@kansan.com
"They actually dove pretty well, but the competition was so stiff and the judging was so tight," Kansas diving coach Eric Elliott said in a Kansas Athletics news release. "All three of them had one little miss and that was enough because it was a pretty tight contest where everybody
Senior Christy Cash placed 36th with 238.80 points, freshman Meredith Brownell placed 41st with 233.30 points and junior Alysia Golden placed 43rd with 204.85 points. Texas senior Maren Taylor stood in first place with 347.70 points after the preliminary round. Missouri junior Loren Figueroa took the last final spot by placing 18th at the preliminaries with 280.35 points.
No layhawk diver made the finals of the three-meter event on the first day of the Zone "D" Diving Championship. There were 46 divers who competed in the six-dive preliminary round and the top 18 advanced to the finals of the event.
was diving pretty darn well."
After the first round, Cash was in 25th place with 43.20 points. She only scored 19.70 points on her second dive, the back two- and-a-half somersault pike with a high difficult degree of 3.00, to drop her to 39th place, and she was never in higher than 36th place after that.
The one-meter event starts at 11 a.m. when diving resumes at the University of Houston's Recreation and Wellness Center in Houston.
Brownell started off the night in 23rd place after the first round. Her best score, 46.25, came on her second dive, the forward one-and-a-half somersault two twist free. Golden hovered around her eventual final score much of the night. Her best dive got her 46.23 points in the third round.
All three divers head back to the boards tomorrow for the one-meter competition. Last week, Kansas diving coach Eric Elliott said all three divers have a good opportunity to stand out in this event.
— Edited by Jordan Wisdom
EMILY WITTLER/KANSAN
Caroline Patterson, a sophomore on the swimming and diving team, swims at a Feb. 2 meet against Arkansas inside Robinson Natatorium.
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