Tag Kansas

Why is Kansas #1?

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Photo Courtesy of UPI

As I look at the Top 25 College Basketball Standings, they seem to make a lot of sense. The remaining undefeated teams are all at the top followed by teams with 1-loss. Except I still cannot figure out why Kansas deserves to be number one. The Jayhawks are playing at Temple right now, the #19 team in the nation, but this is their first game against anyone in the Top 25. Meanwhile, Texas has beaten Iowa, Pittsburgh, USC, UNC, and Michigan State. Specifically the last two wins, which were both by double digits, are much more impressive than anything Kansas has done. Every one of Texas’s wins has been by double digits.

How about Kentucky? To be fair, I think Kentucky is way overrated and has gotten very lucky this season. Nevertheless, Kentucky has beaten Stanford, UNC, Connecticut, and Indiana.

Purdue proved themselves this week by overwhelming West Virginia, who was undefeated up until that point. Syracuse suffered its first defeat today, but still has wins over UNC, California, and Florida.

So what does Kansas have?

They have a two-point victory over Memphis that was technically a neutral site game, but it was effectively a home game since it was in St. Louis. The Jayhawks won at UCLA, but UCLA is 6-8 on the season including losses to Portland, Long Beach State, and Cal-State Fullerton. Portland defeated the Bruins by 24 points while Kansas won by just 12. Kansas also has an 11-point victory over Michigan, but like UCLA, this is a down year for the Wolverine program. Michigan is 6-6 and also has losses to Boston College and Utah. Continue reading “Why is Kansas #1?” →

Daily Sports Roundup 1/5/08

Danny Vinik 3 Comments

Besides actual games today, there hasn’t been much news in the world of sports, but let’s look at some stories anyways:

Brady Named NFL MVP: Not surprisingly, Tom Brady was named NFL MVP for the first time in his career. Brady had one of the greatest seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He had a single-season NFL record 50 touchdown passes, a league-leading 4806 yards passing, and only 8 interceptions. He also led the league in completion percentage and passer rating at 68.9% and 117.2 respectively. He received 49 of 50 votes with Brett Farve receiving the other vote (likely from a Green Bay reporter). Brady led the Patriots to a perfect regular season and hopes to continue into he playoffs

Wild Card Weekend: The Redskins visited the Seahawks and Jacksonville travelled to Pittsburgh in the two wild card games today. In the first game, the Seahawks led the Redskins 13-0 entering the fourth quarter when the game became a circus. 2:22 into the 4th quarter, the Redskins had taken a 14-13 lead and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. After Washington kicker missed a 30 yard field goal, Seattle drove down the field, scored, and completed a 2-point conversion to take a 21-14 lead. When Redskins QB Todd Collins threw his first interception of the year, Marcus Trufant took it 78 yards back for a touchdown. Another interception by Collins with 30 seconds left in the game ended it. The Seahawks defeat the Redskins 35-14. In the other Wild Card game today, the Jaguars have used an interception return for a touchdown and a 96 yard kickoff return to give themselves a 21-7 lead at the half. Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw 3 interceptions in the first half and he is going to need to have a great second half for Pittsburgh to stay in this game. Continue reading “Daily Sports Roundup 1/5/08” →

Daily Sports Roundup 1/3/08

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A big day in sports today so here we go:

Dolphins Bringing Back Williams: Based on a letter from the Dolphins, Ricky Williams’s agent said that Bill Parcells and Miami are going to renew Williams’s contract for the 2008 season. Williams has served multiple suspensions for failed drug tests and when he was finally allowed to play this year, he tore a pectoral muscle after only six carries. His rehab is supposedly going well though. It must be for the Dolphins to bring him back for another year. Ricky Williams is always a risk, because there is no way of knowing what he will do next. Yet, the Dolphins were 1-15 this season so even if Williams falls apart, they can’t get much worse

Roy Williams Replacing Taylor in Pro Bowl: The late Sean Taylor was elected to the Pro Bowl as a starter to honor his memory. Dallas Cowboys’ safety Roy Williams gets the honor of replacing Taylor in the Pro Bowl. It was a great move by the NFL to let Taylor be elected a starter and I’m sure they will remember him during the Pro Bowl. “I appreciate being the first alternate to go. We are going to do something special for Sean and his family. … It’s an honor to be going in his place” said Williams, who was the 12th Cowboy selected to the Pro Bowl, a league record. Though the Pro Bowl is never that entertaining of an event, it will be interesting to see how the NFL, Roy Williams, and the rest of each team handle Taylors’ absence.

Athletics Send Swisher to White Sox: The Oakland Athletics sent outfielder Nick Swisher to the Chicago White Sox for three minor leaguers. The A’s were hoping to compete next year in the AL West, but have completely changed routes. They sent ace pitcher Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks less than a month ago and now have dealt away their best hitter. They received 9 prospects for both of those players and have begun rebuilding again. If Oakland ever decides to put some money into their team, watch out. Billy Beane has already shown he is excellent at drafting prospects and building a farm system. Think of what he could do with some money. Continue reading “Daily Sports Roundup 1/3/08” →