KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010 / SPORTS
7B
TRACK AND FIELD
Vaulter to try for place among nation's best on Saturday
Mike Gunnoe/KANSAN
Jordan Scott vaults the Jayhawk Classic indoor meet on Jan. 30. Scott, who finished first in that meet, will face one of the nation's best pole vaulters, Rice's Jason Colwick, Saturday in the Husker Invitational in Lincoln. Neb.
BY ANDREW HAMMOND
ahammond@kansan.com
twitter.com/ahammradiostar
Scott looks forward to renewing rivalry
A year ago in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Jordan Scott went head to head with Rice's Jason Colwick in a showdown of two of the top pole vaulters in the country. Colwick bested Scott with a height of 5.60 meters and won the gold medal while Scott's 5.45 meters earned him a bronze.
On Saturday Scott will meet Colwick again, this time in the Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.
other enough that friendly competitions and rivalries start to form. He pushes me to do better and I'm sure it's the same way for him."
"All pole vaulters have a friendly rivalry," Scott said. "We see each
Scott will most likely see Colwick in the NCAA Indoor Championships later on as both have posted season bests. Colwick has a national best of 5.62 meters while Scott's 5.35 gives him provisional qualification into the field. Although Scott recognizes that
"We have a lot of talent and when we put it together we all have good results."
there is a rivalry, he doesn't find it as important as getting points for the team in competitions.
"Points for the team and doing the best I can is what matters," Scott said. "If he jumps a foot higher than I do and
if I don't reach that but I reach a
PR (Personal Record) and it helps
us get a victory then I'll take that."
The pole vaulters are coming off a strong showing in the Jayhawk Classic as four layhawks had final jumps above 4.60 meters and placed in the top four spots. Scott's jump of 5.20 was enough for first place.
"We work very well together," Scott said. "We have a lot of talent and when we put it together we all have good results."
As a senior, Scott has been around enough to handle a showdown between the nation's best vaulters and a possible NCAA Indoor Championship preview.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
"This is my fourth season doing indoor and I've always done well at Nebraska." Scott said. "If I just do my best then I'll be fine."
—Edited by Cory Buntinq
NCAA discusses expanding tournament
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The NCAA has met with conference commissioners, university presidents and athletic directors about the possibility of expanding the men's basketball tournament.
So far, it's slow going.
The NCAA started talking about expansion in the fall, along with numerous topics in all 88 championships, and hasn't gotten past the discussion stage yet.
"It's just a series of ongoing dialogues with interested parties, but nothing definitive to even analyze at this point," NCAA Senior Vice President Greg Shaeen said.
It certainly hasn't stopped the conversation,
and believe its a necessary step to accommodate a growing game. There are more teams than ever — 347 in Division I — more depth in the bigger conferences and more talent at the mid-maior level.
Many coaches and administrators like the idea of expansion
Whether it's increasing the tournament field to 68 (four play-in games instead of one) or enveloping the NIT to make it a 96-team field, more teams are bound to add up to more excitement, the thinking goes.
Another argument is that a larger field would give teams from smaller conferences a better chance of getting in. Giving automatic bids to the regular-season and conference tournament champions would reward consistency while still allowing for surprise.
"If you're talking about adding more teams, I don't think the games would change a bit," Texas Tech coach Pat Knight said. "They'd be just as competitive and I think you could see more Cinderella stories, more teams people didn't think had a chance and there'd be a lot more upsets if the NCAA expanded the tournament."
"That would add more relevance to the regular season, instead of just having big games being bracket busters and things like that." Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
In the current format, 18 percent of the teams get into the NCAA tournament and another 9 percent receive invites to the NIT. That's far below the number of teams that get postseason berths in football: 68 of 120 teams, or 56 percent. By comparison, 53 percent of NHL and NBA teams get
into the playoffs, 37 percent in the NFL and 26 percent in baseball.
But to some, that low percentage is part of what makes the NCAA tournament special.
"I think it makes it a really special tournament when only 64 get in," Washington State coach Ken Bone said. "I really like the way it is right now."
Villanova coach Jay Wright directs his team during the first half of the game against Seton Hall, Feb. 2, in Philadelphia. The NCAA is considering expanding the men's basketball tournament field.
The counter argument? If it is so special, why not let more teams and players feel it, too?
"The magnitude of the NCAA tournament now is so big that it's just a great experience for a kid to have that opportunity to play." Maryland coach Gary Williams said.
For now, it's all speculation. The NCAA isn't sharing details of its plan — to the chagrin of some coaches — and doesn't seem close
to making a decision.
"It's worth discussing, but I'm not sure I've seen anyone who's come up with what would be the
best formula” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “But I do believe it will be expanded in the next decade.”
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