8B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
FOOTBALL
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2006
Big 12 South has ups and downs as it prepares for next season
This is part one of a twopart series on the Big 12 Conference football offseason. Part one focuses on the Big 12 South division, and Thursday's University Daily Kansan will focus on the North teams.
Texas (13-0, 8-0 Big 12 Conference)
Fresh off a national championship victory against Southern California, Texas looks solid this spring.
"O ur guys did not come out of the national championship game complacent "
coach Mack Brown said.
The quarterback position is the main issue for Texas as Jevan Snead and Colt McCoy are battling for the position after Vince Young declared for the NFL draft.
Brown said he would plan on playing both quarterbacks if the season started today. "We feel we need both of them because we don't have any experience at quarterback," Brown said.
Brown said senior tailback Selvin Young had a great spring and regained his confidence. Brown said Young, who roomed with Vince Young last year, should be one of the leaders on offense.
Kansas will not play Texas this year in the regular season.
Oklahoma (8-4, 6-2 Big 12 Conference)
Oklahoma finished the 2005 season with a victory against
Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. Junior running back Adrian Peterson, an early Heisman trophy candidate, should carry the offense for Oklahoma again this season with Rhett Bomar at quarterback.
The main concern this spring offensively, will be the offensive line. Coach Bob Stearns
said the team lacked depth on the offensive line.
Defensively, the Sooners may well be the best in the conference. The defensive line is loaded with defensive ends Larry Birdine and John Williams, both of whom were lost to injury last season.
"I think we have a chance to be really special defensively," Stoops said.
Kansas will not play Oklahoma this year in the regular season.
Oklahoma State (4-7, 1-7 Big
12 Conference)
The Cowboys will play their spring game this Saturday. Bobby Reid will be the Oklahoma State quarterback for the upcoming season and coach Mike Gundy said he liked Reid's performance so far.
"Reid is running the football better now, and he needs to make plays running the football," Gundy said.
Gundy said his football team was better than it had been at the end of last season.
"We have better players in the skill positions," he said.
Kansas plays Oklahoma State at home next season on Oct.14.
Texas Tech (9-3, 6-2 Big 12 Conference)
Texas Tech finished last season with a Cotton Bowl loss to Alabama, 13-10. Coach Mike Leach said the running back position was a three-way tie between Kobey Lewis, Shannon Woods and Pete Richardson.
"The odds are, the one that blocks the best is the one that plays the most," Leach said.
Sophomore quarterback Graham Harrell appears to be the replacement for Cody Hodges at quarterback, although freshman Chris Todd has made it a battle.
"Both quarterbacks played well, both were real accurate," Leach said of the spring game performances.
Kansas will not play Texas Tech this season.
Baylor (5-6, 2-6 Big 12 Conference)
Baylor coach Guy Morriss said his team accomplished everything it set out to do in the spring.
last year was lack of production in the red zone.
Offensively, the Bears implemented a new system that was easy to teach and easy to learn.
Morriss said Baylor's problem
"A little more production from offense would put us in position to be in a bowl," he said.
Shawn Bell had a good spring game for the Bears at quarterback passing for 239 yards and three touchdowns.
Baylor may also have the best punter in the country. Daniel Sepulveda won the 2004 Ray Guy award as the nation's top punter.
Kansas will travel to Waco, Texas to play Baylor Oct. 21.
Coach Dennis Franchione said the Aggies had a good spring.
Texas A&M (5-6, 3-5 Big 12 Conference)
than I realistically expected."
Quarterback Stephen McGee will be the starting quarterback for Texas A&M this season.
"Stephen has taken over. This is certainly his team in a lot of ways," Franchione said. "He may only be sophomore, but he is much older in leadership ability."
The Aggie defense also will change from the standard 4-3-4, to a 4-2-5, with five defensive backs.
This would allow for more flexibility in coverage concepts. Franchione said.
Kansas will play Texas A&M at home Oct. 7.
Drew Davison
NBA
David Zalubowski/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Houston Rockets guard David Wesley, left, reaches in for the ball as Denver Nuggets forward Ruben Patterson, center, drives the lane for a shot past Rockets guard Luther Head (2) in the third quarter of the Rockets 86-83 victory in an NBA basketball game in Denver.
Nuggets playoff bound but remain in slump
BY EDDIE PELLS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DENVER — Instead of tuning up, the division-champion Denver Nuggets were resting up.
Or so the story went after a loss at home to the Houston Rockets, their third straight embarrassing setback and the second in which forward Carmelo Anthony spent the entire fourth quarter on the bench.
"I'm concerned," center Marcus Camby said Monday night after the 86-83 loss. "I don't like the way we're playing. I don't like our focus going into the playoffs. Hopefully, it can change in the next couple of days."
There is only one more chance for a confidence boost in the regular season Wednesday at Seattle. After that, the playoffs start on the road for the Nuggets (44-37), who won their division and earned the third seed in the West, but won't have a better record than the sixth seed and
Some would argue that champions are supposed to play like champions no matter what the situation. Still, that lack of motivation might be one way to explain why the Nuggets haven't won since last Monday in Portland, when they clinched their first division title in 18 seasons.
thus won't get home-court advantage.
Last Saturday, when they were being blown out by Sacramento at home, coach George Karl was so upset with Anthony and guard Andre Miller, he benched them for the entire fourth quarter, saying they didn't deserve to be on the court.
The next day, Karl said he was angry, questioned the team's effort and said it was "hard to evaluate the lack of commitment in so many areas of basketball."
"Maybe we need a fresh challenge or gig." Karl said. "Once we got the Northwest Division, we kind of drifted away from playing serious basketball."
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