Tag: kansas

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College Basketball

"Rock. Chalk. Championship."

Hopefully you didn’t go to bed and give up on the Jayhawks when they were in a nine-point hole with two minutes left in regulation – that’s right, we said regulation – because if you did then you missed one of the greatest finishes to a championship game in tourney history. Mario Chalmers sank a phenomenal, incredible, spectacular, unbelievable (too much?) shot in the final moments to send the game into overtime, exploiting Memphis’ free throw woes down the stretch to close the gap before running to a 75-68 extra inning win.

The Tigers are going to be kicking themselves over this one for a while. Joey Dorsey fouled out at the conclusion of regulation and the team missed four of their last five from the charity stripe in regulation. Not exactly the way they planned to cap off a season in which they won more games than any team in the history of college basketball.

While John Calipari might disagree, all in all, it was on of the greatest tournaments in a long time. And we’ve got One Shining Moment to prove it.

Categories
College Basketball

Roy Williams begrudgingly faces his "second-favorite team"


We all remember Roy Williams’ teary-eyed goodbye when he decided to leave Kansas for North Carolina in 2003. Well, it is time for Williams to say hello to his old club, even if he doesn’t want to. The two teams are on a collision course and the head-on crash will occur this Saturday in the Final Four.

If I was ever going to play Kansas again, this is the only way I would want it to happen,” Williams said Monday in a conference call. “The reason I say that I wouldn’t schedule them is very easy for me: because they’re my second-favorite college team. And those people gave me a chance. It’s a place that I loved for 15 years.

“I never scheduled North Carolina when I was at Kansas because for those 15 years North Carolina was my second-favorite team. And just I have too many great memories to consider somebody a foe on the other end of the court. …

“When I stood up in front of those kids at Kansas and told ’em that I was leaving, and the feeling that I had when I walked out of that room, that’s a feeling I hope I never have again,” Williams said Friday. “Because I felt like I was, I felt like I was dirty.

Dirty? We know you felt close to the team and it tore you up inside to walk out, but dirty? Sorry, but we just don’t agree. You did what you felt was best and the rest is history. In our book, dirty is reserved for one man and one man only in the current world of college basketball – Billy “Dirty Ass” Donovan. As long as you never let yourself become that guy then you’ll be just fine. Now, go out there and kick Kansas’ butt all over San Antonio!

Links:

[NYTimes.com]: Williams Gets His Ideal Setting for the Game He Did Not Want

Categories
College Football

College football’s second-oldest rivalry finally got interesting


If you told someone that Kansas would be sitting in the No. 2 spot of the BCS standings in the wanning weeks of the season prior to the initial kickoff, then you’d probably be locked inside Shady Acres right now. Well, it’s a fact, Jack, and with Missouri sitting just behind them at numero cuatro, that makes their contest at Arrowhead Stadium this weekend one of the biggest games in an insane college football season.

We know, we know. It’s hard to come to grips with, but considering that two of the Big 12’s most notorious doormats are atop the North Division’s standings, the winner of this game secures a place in the conference championship game. The Sooners or possibly the Longhorns will emerge from the South as their opponent.

While it will be a tough challenge, if the Jayhawks win the Big 12 crown, they’ll advance to play in the BCS Championship game against LSU, should the Tigers win out. And just imagine, if they can do the impossible on the big stage then we’ll be talking about this season for generations to come. It’s easy to say it could never happen, but, c’mon, who thought they could make it this far. We’re not even sure if Mark Mangino believed his squad could pull this off. You gotta admit, it would be a befitting end to this wacky year of collegiate pigskin.

And even if “Rock Chalk, Jayhawk” goes down this Saturday, the improbable is still probable because Missouri would then advance to Big 12 title game where they could win and possibly jump West Virginia into the Crystal Football Bowl.

There’s still a heckuva lotta football to be played before we get this whole mess sorted out, but it is certain that the BCS future rests in Kansas’ hands this weekend. We don’t know about you, but we’re pulling for incredibly unnatural BCS babies in this situation.

Links:

[Fox Sports]: Kansas moves up to No. 2 in standings

Categories
College Football

Kansas is ripping the head off the BCS

After using the Nebraska Blackshirts as toilet paper and racking up 76 points on the Huskers, Kansas found themselves at No. 4 in the latest BCS Standings. We know, we can’t believe it either. The Jayhawks are sitting at fifth in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Poll after going undefeated through nine games. This is the highest Kansas has been ranked since they spent three weeks at No. 3 in the AP poll back in 1968!

As expected, the Kansas faithful are handling their new found prestige with the utmost humility and modesty.

Links:

[The Wizard of Odds]: A Profane Statement by Jayhawk Fans