what we heard "A lot of students have been asking me if there's room for them on the plane to Orlando." Kansas wide receiver Mark Simmons on the football team's trip to the Tangerine Bowl off the bench
tuesday, december 9, 2003
the university daily kansan 7A
Florida takes No.1 ranking; Kansas drops to fifth in AP
U
The Associated Press
Three weeks, three No. 1s.
Florida moved into the top spot in The Associated Press college basketball poll yesterday, the third straight week there has been a new No.1 team.
The Gators (5-0) moved up one spot to replace Kansas, which lost 64-58 to Stanford on Saturday. The Jayhawks held the No.1 ranking for just one week after replacing Connecticut; the Huskies were on top for the preseason and the first two weeks of the regular season.
Stanford, which beat a No.1 team for the third time in school history, had the week's biggest jump, moving from 21st to 13th.
The last time there were three No. 1 teams in as many weeks was the end of the 1999-00 season, when Stanford, Cincinnati and Duke each had a stay on top in the final three polls.
The record for consecutive polls with a different No. 1 is seven. From Jan. 3 to Feb. 14, 1994, the top teams were: Arkansas, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Duke, North Carolina and Arkansas.
Florida was No. 1 for the first time in school history last season, holding that spot for one week. The Gators lost 70-55 to Kentucky in their first game as a No. 1 team then.
The Gators host Maryland on Wednesday, and they play at Louisville on Saturday.
on Saturday. "We're in the middle of a long race, and it's just started. It's very early in the season, and I feel like we're still learning who we are as a team," Florida coach Billy Donovan said yesterday.
"We moved to No. 1, which is always great, but my total focus is for our team to continue to improve regardless of what our ranking is. We've got two very difficult tests this week and our sole focus is on improving as a basketball team."
Florida received 46 first-place votes and 1,732 points from the national media panel.
No. 2 Connecticut (6-1) and No. 3 Missouri (3-0) each moved up one place in the rankings. The Huskies got nine first-place votes and 1,593 points, while the Tigers were No. 1 on six ballots and drew 1,512 points.
Duke (5-1) moved up two places to fourth, and Kansas (3-1) — which last week soared from No. 6 to No. 1 — fell back to fifth.
Texas, North Carolina, Kentucky, Arizona and Georgia Tech rounded out the Top 10.
Seven teams received first-place votes this week, two fewer than last week. Georgia Tech had four No.1 votes, while Texas and North Carolina had three each, and Kentucky had one.
The last five ranked teams were Michigan State, Marquette, Wisconsin, Iowa and Dayton.
Oklahoma moved up three places to 11th and was followed by Saint Joseph's, Stanford, Illinois, Wake Forest, Purdue, Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Syracuse and Pittsburgh.
Iowa and Dayton are newcomers replacing Notre Dame and Oklahoma State.
The biggest drop was by Michigan State, from No. 5 to No. 21. The Spartans (3-3) lost to Duke and Oklahoma last week, and it doesn't get easier this week, with a game against Kentucky.
AP Top 25 Men's Basketball
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 7, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking: Record Pts Pvs
1. Florida (46) 5-0 1,732 2
2. Connecticut (9) 6-1 1,593 3
3. Missouri (6) 3-0 1,512 4
4. Duke 5-1 1,422 6
5. Kansas 3-1 1,364 1
6. Texas (3) 4-0 1,351 8
7. North Carolina (3) 5-1 1,339 10
8. Kentucky (1) 4-0 1,324 9
9. Arizona 2-1 1,212 7
10. Georgia Tech (4) 7-0 1,167 13
11. Oklahoma 5-1 0,171 14
12. Saint Joseph's 5-0 986 12
13. Stanford 4-0 941 21
14. Illinois 4-1 829 11
15. Wake Forest 5-0 754 18
16. Purdue 6-0 725 20
17. Gonzaga 6-1 693 17
18. Cincinnati 4-0 573 19
19. Syracuse 2-1 667 16
20. Pittsburgh 6-0 457 22
21. Michigan St. 3-3 417 5
22. Marquette 6-0 415 24
23. Wisconsin 4-1 373 15
24. Iowa 6-0 132 _
25. Darton 6-0 116
Others receiving votes: Louisville 60,
Vanderbilt 36, Oklahoma St. 35,
Maryland 32, UCLA 26, Oregon 24,
Auburn 15, BYU 15, Florida St. 14,
Georgia 14, Mississippi St. 14, South
Carolina 8, N.C. State 7, Virginia 6, LSU 5,
Notre Dame 5, Texas Tech 5, Kent St. 3,
Boston College 2, Murray St. 2, Niagara
2, Butler 1, George Washington 1,
Manhattan 1, N. Illinois 1, S. Illinois 1.
Men's bowling finishes fifth; women eighth at tournament
The KU men's bowling team is ranked third in the nation, and the women's team is ranked twelfth in the nation, according to Collegebowling.com. They ventured to the Leatherneck Classic in Moline, Ill., on Dec. 6 and 7.
the men's team finished fifth, for the third-straight year, in the 26-team field.
"It was a bitter ending for the men's team as they fell 2 pins out of the top 4 and missed the match play portion of the event," coach Mike Fine said.
The men's team finished with 9,524 pins, 172 pins shy of first-place Nebraska. Jason Reese, Kansas City, Kan., graduate student, led the team with an average of 207.2 and finished second overall, making the All-Tournament Team.
Marc D'Errico, Rochester, N.Y., senipr,
also aided in the men's success with an
average of 206 and finished third overall.
D'Errico also made the All-Tournament Team.
The women's team improved on its last tournament finish, from 16th to eighth in this tournament. But it was not as fortunate to improve on last year's finish of fourth at this tournament.
It finished with 8,165 pins,246 behind the next closest team, McKendree, and 1,058 pins behind first place Wichita State. Kelly Zapf, Rochester, N.Y., junior led the women's team with an average of 185 along with Sarah Roenfeldt, Dodge City junior, with an average of 170.
The teams' next action will be on Dec. 27 and 28 at the Colgate Invitational in Stratford, N.J. The men's will be seeking a third consecutive championship at the invitational.
Then the teams will head to the Keystone Classic in Allentown, Pa., on Dec. 29 and 30, where the women's team will look to improve on a second-place finish from last year.
— Jason Elmquist
K-State coach hypes Sproles for Heisman after big victory
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas State University coach Bill Snyder, often criticized for not promoting his players for national awards, seems to be changing his tune.
Moments after K-State's stunning victory over previously unbeaten Oklahoma in the Big 12 Conference title game Saturday night, Snyder uncharacteristically called upon Heisman voters to consider Darren Sproles.
Then yesterday he answered with a curt and expressive "Yes" when asked if he would be disappointed if Sproles was not a Heisman finalist.
The diminutive junior running back, already K-State's career rushing leader, dazzled then-No. 1 Oklahoma Saturday night by running for 235 yards in a shocking upset that has created chaos in the national championship picture.
Soroles, who got little preseason
Heisman hype, is probably still a long-shot.
But next season, especially if he has another good game against Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, he could vault onto the national stage in a big way.
"Saturday night's performance was just representative for the millions of people who watched what those of us who see him every day have come to expect and appreciate a great deal," Snyder said on a teleconference. "Yes, he played well. But I
can't think of any games he hasn't played well."
Sproles didn't do anything K-State fans haven't seen all season, Snyder said.
"Not at all. You could make some highlight reels of Darren Sproles," Snyder said.
In the meantime, Snyder was still hearing from jubilant K-State fans who are calling Saturday night's victory over Oklahoma the biggest in school history.
UConn women's basketball ranks No.1
The Associated Press
Connecticut tied Tennessee for No.1 at being No.1.
The Huskies were a unanimous choice for the top spot in The Associated Press women's college basketball Top 25 yesterday, one day after rallying from a 15-point deficit for a 72-69 victory at Southern California.
Tennessee was No. 1 for the first time in the 1977-78 preseason poll and
It's the 90th poll Connecticut has topped, tying Tennessee for the most appearances at No. 1. UCom gained its first No. I ranking on Jan. 17, 1995, after beating the Lady Vols to replace them at the rankings.
led the rankings 63 times before Connecticut first reached the top.
Louisiana Tech was third with 83 appearances at No. 1, followed by Texas
with 45.
Tennessee replaced Texas at No. 2 in Monday's poll, and No. 23 Boston College was the only newcomer. Rutgers dropped out.
Connecticut (6-0) received all 47 firstplace votes from a national media panel and had 1,175 points.
The Huskies, who won their first five games by an average of 33 points, trailed USC 37-22 late in the first half before coming back for their 73rd
straight regular-season victory
UConn is almost assured of breaking the tie for most week$ at No. 1 next week.
The Huskies don't play a game until facing Arizona State on Dec. 18.
Tennessee (3-0) had 1,111 points in
Tennessee (3-0) in the voting and moved up one place after Texas lost for the first time, 79-59 at Penn State on Sunday. The Longhorns (7-1) dropped to fifth.
Tennessee beat Louisiana Tech 85-65 in its only game.
No. 3 Duke (5-1) and No. 4 Texas Tech (8-0) each moved up one spot. Stanford remained sixth and was followed by
Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota and Georgia.
Kansas State climbed one spot to 11th, and Louisiana Tech fell two places to 12th.
places to 12.
Then it was Ohio State, Oklahoma and UC Santa Barbara, followed by North Carolina, Colorado, LSU, TCU and Virginia Tech.
Utah, Oregon, Boston College, Auburn and Michigan State held the final five places.
Boston College (7-0), which returned two starters from a team that reached the final 16 in the NCAA Tournament, is off to the best start in school history.
Rutgers (3-3), which had been 22nd dropped out after its third straight loss, 78-68 to LSU.
It sure is sad to see the Kansas City Chiefs losing to the Broncos. Actually it really isn't that sad because I don't like the Chiefs. Go Broncos.
Keep on crying, Trent Green. You still are down by 17.
Free for All Call 864-0500
I thought the Chiefs were good. Good teams don't lose to teams that are trying to make it into the playoffs by 17 points. The Chiefs suck. Go Broncos.
I thought everybody was suppose to love KU basketball. Stop being fair-weather fans, Suck it up and deal with it that we lost one game. It is not that big of a deal. Boys, I love you and good luck.
Monday's University Daily Kansan contained an error. In the article, "Volleyball season ends upbeat," freshman defensive specialist Dani Wittman's name was misspelled.
tomorrow
Kansas athletics calendar
saturday
Correction
Men's Basketball vs. Fort Hays State University 7 p.m. Allen Fieldhouse
Men's Basketball vs. Oregon Feist Shootout 1 p.m. Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Mo.
Women's Basketball vs. Ball State 7 p.m.
Allen Fieldhouse
Williams steps up for Celtics ends four-game losing streak
DENVER — When Vin Baker got sick at halftime, Eric Williams stepped up for the Boston Celtics.
Williams scored a season-high 21 points, and Paul Pierce had 33 points and 10 assists to lead the Celtics to a 116-11 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.
"He is such a warrior, one that gives you everything he has in his body every practice and every game," Boston coach Jim O'Brien said of Williams. "We had to use him at a lot of power forward because of Vin being ill and he didn't care how we had to use him."
Pierce was 12-for-22 from the field and had seven rebounds to help Boston end a four-game losing streak. Associated Boys.
Associated Press
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