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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
SPORTS
3B
COACHES (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
other leagues having seven or eight teams then they're talking about us having a must-win in the first round."
Coaches also said that the conferences best teams were getting raw deals. Kansas is only now being considered a No. 1 seed after multiple losses by Florida and North Carolina. Texas A&M (25-5, 13-3) isn't even in the discussion for a No. 1, even though the Argies defeated
Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse and played a tough non-conference schedule that included UCLA. "I kind of wondered that when we have two teams that are No. 1 seeds," Kansas State Coach Bob Huggins said
about the perceived lack of respect.
"Kansas, they are a No. 1 seed.
Whoever doesn't think that I don't know what they've been watching."
brought the Big 12 more publicity.
"No one plays better ball than us from one through 12. I get tired of hearing about other leagues having seven or eight teams."
The conference's problems could be because not enough people are watching. Gillispie blamed a lack of marketing for why the Big 12 was getting slighted. He said the conference wasn't doing enough to promote itself. Self also mentioned weak non-conference schedules and the Midwest location of Big 12 schools as problems. Self wasn't as adamant as Gillispie about blaming the conference's marketing, but he saw some areas that could have
"Bobby Knight set the all-time wins record this year," he said. "You've got Bob Huggs who has K-State rolling. You've got maybe the best college player since 1980. You've got maybe the best clutch player in recent memory and maybe as balanced a team as there been in recent memory. You've got so many things you can sell as a league. And now all of a sudden it's
BILLY GILLISPIE Texas A&M coach
'Is our league that good?'
Neither Self nor Gillispie had a perfect way to solve the conference's problems. Self suggested that the coaches and conference leaders needed to devise a strategy
together that might include scheduling tougher non-conference games. Both agreed that something needs to be done.
"I don't know what the answer is, but I know some other leagues have it figured out," Gillispie said. "I don't know how much we're following the plans they are using. There has to be a better solution than what we have."
Kansan sportswriter Mark Dent can be contacted at mdent@ kansan.com.
Edited by James Pinick
fallen off most draft boards.
freshman forward Darrell Arthur is being projected as a mid-first round pick by ESPN analyst Chad Ford but would likely become a top pick in 2008 with a strong sophomore season.
BASKETBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
That leaves sophomore forward Julian Wright, who is on top five lists across the league. Scouts love his versatility and size, and draft-protection site *nbdraft.net* has him rated as the fourth-best player eligible for this year's draft.
"When I think of NBA ready, I'm thinking they are ready to make an impact," he said. "It's just like if you asked how many high school juniors are ready to make an impact in college basketball. Probably not many. But whereas there's 300 college teams, there's only about 30 NBA teams, and that makes a big difference."
Praise for coach Self
However, Wright said at the beginning of the season that he wanted to stay and finish his degree next year and won't talk about his future plans until the season ends.
The Associated Press Big 12 coach of the year award went to Texas coach Rick Barnes. Self won the award in 2006. Though he didn't win this year, the Kansas players gave Self high marks for dealing with a different kind of challenge. On a team
At the beginning of February, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said that he didn't think any of the Jawhakws were ready to make the leap, adding that he held early-jumpers to a high standard.
with eight legitimate starters, Kansas has gone the entire season without any of the players complaining or demanding more time in the lineup.
RPI problems
"Everybody wants to see everybody do well, and Coach is probably the biggest reason for that." Robinson said. "Individuals really sacrifice their own egos for the sake of the team. It's won us some games this year, and it's going to win us some more."
The Big 12 Conference struggled this year in this statistic. According to realtimeRPI.com, the conference ranks sixth nationally. The site uses a formula that mimics the one used by the NCAA, which does not publicly reveal its numbers.
One of the criteria that the NCAA tournament selection committee looks at is RPI, which judges a team not just on its performance but also on the strength of its opponents.
Kansas is the highest-rated team in the conference but is only No. 15 nationally. Texas A&M is right behind at No. 16. The problem may be a lack of quality victories early in the season for Big 12 teams.
"We should look at it and study it from a coach's perspective and a scheduling perspective," Self said. "If the RPI is the golden rule, then we need to do something to help ourselves with the RPI."
Kansan senior sportswriter Michael Phillips can be contacted at mphillips@ansan.com.
Edited by Katie Sullivan
BIG 12 BASKETBALL COMMENTARY
Huggins has built-in excuses for snub
BY JEFFREY RAKE
KANSAS STATE COLLEGIAN
Levy famously responded, "World War II was a must win." Then his team got creamed. 30-13.
MANHATTAN — Former Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy once was asked if his team's Super Bowl game against the Dallas Cowboys was a "must-win". After all, his team already had lost the previous three Super Bowls from 1990-92.
"I'm not asking them to go down and win a game; I'm asking them to win three games," Huggins said. "Three games you get an automatic bid, and you don't have to worry about that stuff."
Kansas State coach Bob Huggins was asked the same question Saturday about his team's first game in the Big 12 Conference Tournament. Conventional wisdom suggests the Wildcats need at least one more win to make the 65-team NCAA Tournament field.
If that sounds like the perfect response, it's because it was. Huggins doesn't play for second place, and he wants to win the Big 12 title.
Problem is, Huggins undermined that win-em-all mentality with what he's said repeatedly over the past two weeks. He's been telling anybody who will listen about "the formula." With 20 wins overall and 10 league
wins, Huggins believes his team is a lock for the NCAA tournament.
Since 1999, 169 teams, out of 169, from the six major conferences have followed that same formula to the NCAA tournament. By that logic, Kansas State (21-10, 10-6) should be in.
Deep down inside, though, I don't think Huggins believes his team has done enough to earn a spot — and I think his players do. That could spell trouble in the Big 12 Tournament.
Make no mistake about it, Huggins has done a masterful job of campaigning "the formula." It made a pair of national TV appearances over the weekend and has been in newspapers all across the Midwest.
"The formula" has been brought up so many times you've got to believe Huggins smirks every time it's mentioned. It's free publicity for Kansas State and its tournament resume which, in reality, is far from finished.
Aside from a road win against Texas, Kansas State's 10 conference victories aren't impressive. The Wildcats beat Colorado, Iowa State and Missouri twice. They won home games against Baylor, Nebraska and Oklahoma. All of those teams finished with losing conference records.
That's where "the formula" comes into play. It's a cover-up for what has
been a down year in the Big 12.
Huggins' players will have an out, and they'll have something to fall back on in case things don't go their way in the Big 12 Tournament. They're well aware of the fact that history is on their side and a first-round loss doesn't necessarily mean they'll have no chance of getting into the "Big Dance." They've been led to believe they're in no matter what.
He wants it to appear that holding Kansas State out of the tournament in the face of the almighty "formula" would be criminal.
It's Huggins' way of saying, "Look, if we don't make it, it's not because we didn't do our job. It is because the committee broke a trend."
Suddenly, the game isn't considered a "must-win" it wasn't for Levy and the Bills, either.
Huggins is no dummy. He does everything for a reason. He knows the added mentions and exposure Kansas State is getting will help his team when the NCAA tournament committee begins its deliberations this week. By planting "the formula" and getting it out in the open, hes trying to help the committee make its decision.
RODERICK TOWNLEY ALA AWARD WINNING AUTHOR Reading | Discussion | Booksigning
Still, to me "the formula" is more of a built in excuse than anything
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You're Invited
The Episcopal Student Ministry at the University of Kansas warmly invites you to a service of thanksgiving and rededication for the newly renovated St. Anselm's Chapel and Canterbury House on Sunday March 11th, at 2:00 p.m.
The service will be followed by an open house reception from 3-5 p.m. Please join us in celebrating the rest of our ministry—the food will be free, plethatic, and the Big 12 tournament championship game will be broadcast on our large screen TV.
Join us at:
1116 Louisana Street
BIG 12 BASKETBALL COMMENTARY
Fieldhouse perfect for stand-out game
BY ERIC RANSOM
DAILY TEXAN
LAWRENCE — It was the perfect setting for one of those rare individual performances.
The Kansas students camped all week for tickets. Two hours before the game, the wind numbered the faces of fans waiting to get inside.
By pregame introductions, 16,300 fans were jammed together on benches in an old-school gym straight out of Hoosiers. At Allen Fieldhouse, there are no club seats.
The pregame hoopla was limited to a video of Kansas basketball history. Images of James Naismith, Phoor, Alleg, and ton tajawk
Questions after the game centered on whether Kansas deserved to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA
tournament.
m o m e n t s
played to the chorus of U2's
"Where the
Streets Have
No Name." It
sounds cheesy,
but it wasn't
all the retired
numbers on
the wall that
made this
The Longhorns also saw excellent performances from D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams. Though down by 12 at the half, Kansas rallied as the game turned into an up-and-down, top-speed contest that showed off two talented teams. In the end, Durant struggled with an ankle injury, and the jayhawks cut down the nets as undisputed Big 12 champions.
Great performances come in great settings. And Texas is about to enter the best setting of its sport March Madness.
"I don't know," Kansas coach
Billself said. "But were close."
And Texas' Kevin Durant answered the bell from the opening tip. Early in the first half, I got the feeling we were watching something like Michael Jordan scoring 63 on the Celtics in 1986. He hit five three pointers, five field goals and totaled 25 points in the first half without a trip to the free-throw line.
place seem like the Elysian Fields of basketball.
As Syracuse and Carmelo
So, where does that leave Texas?
The Longhorns' fortunes in the NCAA tournament ride with Durant first — followed by Augustin and Abrams.
Like Kansas, the Longhorns still have the Big 12 tournament to get through. But it's possible they could wind up anywhere from a fourth to a sixth seed.
The fajawhacks need a few victories in the Big 12 tournament but stand a good chance at taking a top seed this Sunday.
A n t h o n y
showed years
ago, a team
with a trans-
cendent talent
can win the big
dance.
So, is Kevin Durant a tran- scendent tal- ent?
His25-point.
first half effort certainly seemed like indisputable proof. But like all high profile players, we want to compare him to someone else.
At the fieldhouse, there were the retired jerseys of Wilt Chamberlain, Danny Manning and Paul Pierce. Self tried to compare Durant to someone he's coached against, and the best he came up with was Duke's Mike Duneady.
Texas fans would love to think the answer is Kevin Garnett, or even Tracy McGrady. Self also threw out a comparison to Larry Bird because of his lankiness and sweet shooting touch.
But whomever Durant reminds you of, know that his reputation as a college player rests on the postseason. As it goes for the Longhorns as well, great performances come in great settings. And Texas is about to enter the best setting of its sport March Madness
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