4B
SPORTS
---
THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS KANSAS
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2007
12FASTBREAK
BY MARK DENT
Raise Your Glasses To ...
Texas (21-7, 11-3)
Here's a little known fact the Longhorns could be Big 12 Conference champions. The all the talk has been about Kansas and Texas A&M — and rightfully so, they are first and second, respectively — but Texas will win the championship if it defeats those two teams this
row. The last two have been especially respectable. The Longhorns whipped Texas Tech by 29 points eight days ago and won a tough game at Oklahoma by 10. That was better than Kansas did Monday night. The
reason for this surge? Players not named Kevin Durant are starting to step up. In the Red Raider walloping, each Longhorn starter scored in double figures.
Send a Congratulations Facebook Message To ... Any Senior
Big 12 writer Mark Dent's take on the men's conference race
Start a Conversation With These Topics
It was a slow week for spectacular performances, so why not recognize the Big 12's seniors? They will all be playing their last home games this week and really do deserve all the honors. Some people might get sick of watching the standing ovations on TV or seeing walk ons start, but these players have worked hard for four years.
This just in. The Big 12 North
has been renamed. It is now called the KU+SWAC because every team in the North, besides Kansas, is of similar quality to the teams that make up the Southwestern Athletic Conference (home to powerhouses such as Arkansas Pine Bluff and Prairie View A&M). Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri and Iowa State are emBarrassments. Not one of those teams should even play in the NIT. Kansas State gets a little bit of leeway, but the only reason the Wildcats are in the hunt for the NCAA Tournament is because they've played each one of those disgraces twice. This conference has been bad before, but this is by far the worst the North has ever been.
Can't we just have one No. 1?
It's absolute nonsense that college basketball analysts aren't giving Kansas and Texas A&M any
love for a No. 1 seed. Somehow Florida still makes a better case even though it just lost to LSU, the worst team in its conference. Ditto for Wisconsin, even though the Badgers have lost two in a row. Worse still is North Carolina. The Tar Heels have lost three of their last seven games, including one to a pitiful North Carolina State team. If Texas A&M or Kansas wins out, it should be a lock for a No. 1 seed.
The Dora Watch
For those who have missed this section, "Fastbreak" predicted that Texas Tech's Darryl Dora wouldn't score in double digits the rest of the season after scoring 18 in an upset against Kansas. Dora came painfully short of scoring 10 points in both of his games this week, but he did make some progress. Dora actually started a game. Sure, it was Senior Day, but
that's as close as Dora is going to get to achieving something for the rest of this year.
Keep a close watch on the race for irrelevance
It really is hard to pick a team for this spot. Obviously Colorado is a shoe in every week, but the entire Big 12 has underperformed so much, especially the North, that almost any team could be chosen. That said, Fastbreak will stick to the Buffaloes. Here's a little reminder for those who may have missed it. Earlier this season, Colorado only beat, gulp. Northern Colorado by two points at home. Northern Colorado has only been a Division 1 basketball team for three and a half years. Colorado-Colorado Springs did a better job against Northern Colorado than Colorado did and that was at Northern Colorado.
You Probably said 'Oh My Gosh' about ...
Mike Anderson's rant
Anderson has always been depicted as a great guy and basketball coach. That's why it was surprising when he went "Gary Pinkel" after his team's overtime loss to Nebraska last Saturday. He pointed to the officiating as the reason for his team's loss, a move that Pinkel, Missouri's football coach, has perfected. Anderson doesn't need to resort to that. He done a good job this year with a team lacking in talent. Hopefully he'll know better in the future.
Kansan sportswriter Mark Dent can be contacted at mdent@kansan.com.
Edited by Ryan Schneider
》 BIG 12 BASKETBALL
Mizzou coach sees progress
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri's Mike Anderson isn't ready to assess his first year as coach just yet.
His team still has two regular season games remaining, plus at least one more at the Big 12 Tournament in Oklahoma City, so assessment can wait.
But he will say that heading into Wednesday's game against Colorado (6-18, 2-12), that his team has been playing its best basketball of the season.
After losing its first four conference games, two of them at home. Missouri has gone 6-4, including
"I think our kids are understanding a little bit more about the things we're trying to do," Anderson said. "We still have a ways to go but our team, they're improving, they're progressing."
three road victories.
The Tigers' (17-10, 6-8) hopes of making an NCAA Tournament may have died with their 82-77 loss to Nebraska Saturday, but a top-half finish in the conference and an NIT berth is still possible.
"We'll see what takes place these last couple of games" Anderson said. "I think consistency, as a coach, is what you're looking for. And I want to see if we can consistently bring the effort that we've been bringing."
Consistency is something Anderson and his team has been struggling with all season. But with the emergence of freshman guard Keen Lawrence, who was recovering from a preseason foot injury for half of the season, Missouri now has multiple offensive threats.
Junior college transfer Stefano Hannah still leads Missouri in scoring with a 15.7 average, but
Lawrence has scored in double figures five times since entering the starting lineup Feb. 6.
"I think it's been refreshing to have a guy like Keon come in and have another option." Anderson said. "I think, as he got healthier, he gave our team a shot in the arm."
Colorado, which has lost 12 straight conference road games, is led by Richard Roby's 17.2 points per game and freshman Xavier Silas, who is averaging 12.1.
The Buffaloes have lost five straight games, only one of which was closer than 16 points. But coach Ricardo Patton, who will step down at the end of this season, said he doesn't think his team has quit.
"My goal is that they go out and compete to the best of their ability and play until the last horn is sound," he said. "If you have a true competitive spirit, that's what you do."
The University of Kansas Chancellor's Student Awards Committee is accepting applications for the following graduating senior awards:
The Agnes Wright Strickland Award
The Class of 1913 Award
* The Rusty Leffel Concerned Studi
*The Rusty Leffel Concerned Student Award
The Donald K. Alderson Memorial Award The Alexis F. Dillard Student Involvement Award The Caryl K. Smith Student Leader Award
Application forms are online at:
Applications must be received by Friday, March 2, 2007, at 5:00 p.m.
http://www.vpss.ku.edu/awards
>> SECOND ROUND OR BUST
No.1 seed necessary
Jayhawks need high ranking in March to exorcise first-round demons
Does it matter who will be No.1 soaks in the NCAA men's basketball tourna
ment?
To one team, it matters if they want to survive the first round — Kansas.
here's why — Kansas needs a win in the first round, and a No. 1 seed is as close to a sure win.
Kansas will be a No.1 seed.
But who will be those top seeds! The teams that everyone assumed would be slated for the top spots have tattered lately—those teams being Wisconsin, North Carolina and Florida
After escaping Norman, Okla., with a victory, the Jayhawks will bounce back and defeat Texas like they should. From there, all they have to do is not get blown out in the Big 12 tournament and they'll be a No. 1 in the NCAA tournament.
For everyone else, the No. 1 seed
Kansas is the only team that needs to be a top seed.
The first round of the NCAA tourney has a stigma attached to it lately for the Jawhaws. If they make it out of the first round, they'll relax and blow through the field.
can be a curse. It paints a giant red bull's-eye on the team and a No. 2 seed can ease the pressure a bit, but a loss would still warrant a giant upset.
North Carolina has had its late season flops, but it will win out the regular season and the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. That run, doubled with the selection committee's love for North Carolina, will equal a Tar Heel No. 1 seed.
Here are the other teams that will be No. 1 seeds come tournament time: UCLA, Ohio State and North Carolina.
Before Tuesday I had Florida as a No.1 seed, but thanks to Tennessee that idea got shot down. Although I think UCLA is going to lose to Washington State this week, the Bruins will have a better record than the Gators going into
the postseason tournament. As long as UCLA equals Florida's finish in their respective conference tournaments, UCLA will take the No. 1 seed. Ohio State is set as a No. 1 seed, although it's probably the worst of the four. Ohio State only has one game left at Michigan, who is terrible. The Buckeyes will likely meet the Badgers in the Big Ten tournament championship, in which the winner will be the last No. 1 in this year's field. Barring a Wisconsin three-point shooting extravaganza, Ohio State will win.
Although the Buckeyes are the only lock for the premier seed, they'll be the first ones to lose in the NCAA tournament. They're young and definitely not experienced in March. They'll make it out of the first round, but any further will be hard. A hot shooting team in the second round or Sweet Sixteen will inevitably beat the Buckeyes. The other three will all make deep tournament runs.
How about that for Bracketology?
Eat your heart out, Joe Lunardi.
Jorgensen is a Baldwin City senior in journalism.
— Edited by James Pinick
Make your parents happy and order now, get a better graduation present later.
GRADUATING?
Jayhawk Bookstore ..at the top of Naismith Hill
First Prize - $600 Second Prize- $400 Honorable Mention-$100
Awards will be offered in both graduate and undergraduate divisions.
Info session:
March 1,3-3:30 pm
Watson Library, 3rd Floor
Entry Deadline March 30th,2007,5pm
For contest rules and information, visit: www.lib.ku.edu/snyder
---