KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 / NEWS
7A
BIG 12 FOOTBALL
UCLA stomps on Texas' BCS championship dreams
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Texas Jeremy Hills hurries his head in his hands during the final moments of the fourth quarter of a game against UCLA on Saturday in Austin, Texas. UCLA won 34-12, diminishing the chances that Texas will play in the BCS championship game for a second straight year.
OKLAHOMA CITY — The chances that Texas will return to the BCS championship game for a second straight year are greatly diminished, if not gone, after a humiliating rout at home.
That doesn't mean the Longhorns are done in the Bie 12.
What better way to shake off a 34-12 loss to UCLA than with a victory over archrival Oklahoma just seven days later?
ASSOCIATED PRESS
"The only big games at Texas, (former) coach (Darrell) Royal told me, are the ones that you lose," coach Mack Brown said Monday on the Big 12 coaches' call. "We've lost ones before that got big. Everybody gets mad and everybody gets angry, and all we can do is go back to work."
The annual Red River Rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas will be lessened in stature this year after the Longhorns' stunning loss on Saturday highlighted a day of struggles by the Big 12's powerhouses. The Sooners caged Cincinnati 31-29 and No. 6 Nebraska was unimpressive in a 17-3 win against South Dakota State of the Football Championship Subdivision.
That leaves serious questions about whether the Big 12 has a legitimate national title contender while two other conferences will have their best teams playing at center stage Saturday night: No. 1 Alabama hosts No. 7 Florida in the SEC, and No. 9 Stanford visits No. 4 Oregon in the Pac-10.
In these parts, it still doesn't get much bigger than No. 8 Oklahoma vs. No. 21 Texas. The teams have combined to win the last six Big 12 championships, escalating tensions between rivals that have been playing for over a century.
"That just made it more intense, I think, and the fact that we've been in the national hunt — both
of us over the years — also intensified it or at least brought it more attention nationally," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "In the end, being in the same division has really made it even more important."
This week, it's one of two big games in the division. Texas A&M (3-0) will visit Oklahoma State (3-0) on Thursday night in the only game featuring two of the conference's six remaining undefeated teams. All three of the North's unbeaten teams — Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas State — are off this weekend.
The winner of Thursday night's game emerges as the top challenger in the South to the Red River rivalry victor.
"There's no question that you want to get going in conference play, and you're playing good football teams," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. "You want to keep momentum going. Our guys have performed pretty well up to this point, so we want them to continue on and keep some momentum as we roll through conference."
For now, the Cowboys and Aggies have flown under the radar, with each team posting two blowouts and barely scraping by once. With a national TV audience looking on, both unranked teams have a chance to make a statement in their Big 12 opener.
"We look at every week as a big test and this week certainly because they're a team that has had some good success here as of late with coach Gundy. He's done a great job." A&M coach Mike Sherman said. "They're moving the ball on offense, they're playing good defense and they have very good special teams units.
"It'll be a good test for us, no doubt about it. The kids are anxious to play the game."
Texas already has a leg up on
the rest of the South with its Week 3 win at Texas Tech, but last week's loss did nothing but raise concerns.
"This isn't my first fan panic," Brown said. "The only thing we can do to get fans to calm down is win."
Brown knows that well. After losing to Oklahoma five straight times to start the 2000s, the Longhorns have won four of the
last five and at least have that momentum on their side in a series filled with streaks.
"When you start losing it, the fans get on you so hard that it puts so much pressure on you as a coach and your kids that it's hard to get it turned back," Brown said. "That's all you hear because you've got great respect between the two universities and the game is big, and it's really important. It's
a midseason game, so it's really a hard game for everybody.
"I think that that's probably what's happened is that one group feels so much pressure because their fan base feels that pressure."
Stoops, however, is quick to point out that the Sooners have won three of the last four Big 12 championships — with two of them coming in seasons when Oklahoma lost to Texas in Dallas.
"This game matters because it's right now. Then after that, you've got to win them all to have the chance to be the Big 12 champion," he said. "This game doesn't do it.
"Sometimes I think the media, 'Oh, this is the only game that counts.' Well, if you win this game and lose a bunch of others, it doesn't amount to much."
U. S. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
U.S. defeats Canada 87-46 in women's basketball world tournament
ASSOCIATED PRESS
OSTRAVA, Czech Republic — Lindsay Whalen and the rest of the second unit again sparked the United States to victory.
Whalca scored 16 points and Angel McCoughtry added 11 to lead the U.S. to an 87-46 rout of Canada on Monday night in the second round of the women's basketball world championship. The Americans face Belarus today.
"We're able to come in and analyze what's going on and see what's happening on the court," Whalen said. "We can bring energy, intensity, and see what's working and try to play hard."
For the second straight game the U.S. got off to a slow start. Canada jumped to an 11-5 lead, and coach Geno Auriemma turned to his bench. The second unit got four straight turnovers on the way to a 12-0 run. The U.S. forced 32 turnovers for the game.
"1 like that second group,"
Auriemma said. "I thought about changing the starting lineup today as those guys are stuck in the mud. You got some high energy guys like Lindsay, Angel, Maya, as well. Tina gave us a great burst at the beginning of the second quarter."
On one play, McCoughtry store the ball from Kaela Chapdelaine, made a move to the basket causing the Canadian guard to fall, and then scored an easy hoop.
Janelle Bekkering ended the spurt with a 3-pointer to make it 17-14. Bekkering was one of three college players in the game. She is a fifth-year senior at Gonzaga. Fellow Canadian Natalie Achwona is a freshman at Notre Dame. Connecticut's Maya Moore is the Americans' lone college player.
Bekkering's basket didn't stem the tide for long. The U.S. held Canada without a basket for the next 7 minutes and on a 16-3 run to make it 33-17. Charles had five points during the burst, including a three-point play on
a drive from the foul line. By the time the half ended, the U.S. led 47-25.
Bekkering and Kim Smith scored eight points to lead Canada (1-3).
Despite knowing what they were up against, the Canadians didn't seem in awe of the Americans.
"We knew we're all basketball players in the end of the day." Courtnay PLPilaitis said.
seconds into the third quarter. She stole the ball and went the length of the court. The official, however, called her for traveling before her two-handed slam attempt went off
"We're able to come in and analyze what's going on and see whats hapening on the court."
The 6-foot-6 center, who had surgery for torn knee cartilage in late August, tried a dunk about 10
"You don't think about who's who and who you're guarding."
While Sylvia Fowles had another quiet game scoring just two points, she did answer any lingering questions about the health of her left knee.
LINDSAY WHALEN U.S. player
the rim.
"She's healthy and feels good." Auriemmaaid. "She's not experienced any issues or problems. I think she's got to get into the flow of the game. She hasn't played in a long time
She's such a presence out there. She makes our team incredibly different with her out there. Hopefully
Canada (1-3) couldn't get closer than 20 in the second half. The Canadians will play Greece today.
she'll stay healthy and little by little we'll get her more involved with what we're doing.
Auriemma wasn't thrilled with his team's play at times in the second half. On one possession the Americans had a 2-on-1 break and McCoughtry threw a pass off the rim. Another play really drew his irie — Charles driving the middle and trying to shoot over two Canadians. When the shot missed the U.S. coach looked at his former star at UConn and said, "Are you out of your mind?"
Despite sharing a border, Canada and the U.S. don't play each other very often. They last met in the
2007 FIBA Americas qualifier, with the U.S. winning by 48 points. The U.S. had won five of the six meetings, with Canada's lone victory at the worlds in 1975.
"I think we really struggled with the speed of the Americans," Canada coach Allison McNeill said. "Every turnover we paid for it and we had a lot of them. Love to do it more often. Wed love to play them all the time so we can get better."
Canada advanced to the second round by beating China in the opening pool play. After a 12-year absence from the worlds, the Canadians returned four years ago to the tournament and placed 10th in Brazil.
Social Drinkers Needed for Clinical Study
This study has 4 separate, two night clinical stays and one follow-up visit Qualified volunteers could receive up to $1,900.
You may qualify if you are:
- A healthy adult
- Willing to consume alcohol while on study.
- Light smokers are allowed on this study.
- Age 21-65
- Willing to consume alcohol while on study.
Call Today (913) 894-5533
StudyForChange.com
Located just East of Metcalf on 115th Overland Park, KS