Post by MizzouTiger on Jan 9, 2008 12:49:34 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/story/436734.html
MU is No. 4, KU is No. 7 in final AP poll
L AWRENCE | And you thought the college football season in these parts had ended.
On a day when Kansas’ and Missouri’s men’s basketball teams played their last nonconference games, fans of their football programs sparred for one more round.
Missouri beat Kansas on the field at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas beat Missouri in the eyes of the Orange Bowl committee. And, in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Missouri got the last laugh when it was ranked No. 4 in the final Associated Press poll and one-loss Kansas was stuck at No. 7 behind six two-loss teams.
The 12-1 Jayhawks had worked all season for national respect, but it seemed their 24-21 win over Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia Tech wasn’t all that convincing to voters. KU moved up just one spot, which had more than a few Jayhawks shaking their heads in disbelief.
“Man, we need to be No. 1,” KU left tackle Anthony Collins said. Although it probably isn’t much consolation to KU or its fans, one AP voter agreed with Collins that the nation’s only major-conference team with one loss was worthy of a No. 1 vote. Israel Gutierrez of the Miami Herald covered the Orange Bowl and liked what he saw from Kansas enough to make the Jayhawks his national champion.
“First of all,” Gutierrez said, “I gotta say I was kind of stunned that I was the only one. I just thought in a year with so much parity that people would have been a little bit more willing to take a chance and not just go with the team that won last or played last or the BCS gave the title to.”
The Jayhawks received one No. 1 vote, one No. 2 vote and three No. 3 votes. Those people probably saw what Gutierrez saw: a team that beat Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan by 45 points, won on the road against a ranked Kansas State team, put 76 points on Nebraska and beat a surging Virginia Tech team in its last game of the season. Still, that wasn’t enough for most voters.
“I feel like a champion,” KU defensive tackle James McClinton said. “Nobody is going to take that from me. We went out there and played a good team and came out on top.”
But Missouri, which beat Kansas 36-28, came out ahead in the polls. The Tigers’ No. 4 ranking is the program’s highest to finish the season.
The MU students still are on holiday break, so there wasn’t a lot of open celebration going on. But Tigers recruiting coordinator and quarterbacks coach David Yost was having his own celebration while most of the staff was in California for national coaching meetings. Yost said he learned about the rankings upon waking up on Tuesday.
“I got up and checked my phone and I went to the ESPN wire and saw the final AP poll,” Yost said. “I clicked on the story, but I only read down to where it said we were fourth and I quit reading.”
Didn’t he peek to see where Kansas and Oklahoma were ranked?
“I just knew they were behind us,” Yost said, “and that’s all I needed to know.”
Mark Vickery, president of the Tiger Club of Kansas City, said he got word of the ranking on Tuesday morning while checking his e-mail at work.
“It’s just an amazing feeling,” Vickery said. “And we’ll probably be ranked about that spot in the preseason poll next year.”
Vickery, like Yost, couldn’t help but enjoy seeing Kansas ranked below the Tigers.
“We don’t have to worry about them until next Thanksgiving,” Vickery said of the rematch in Arrowhead. “I was very pleased to see us ranked ahead of them, because those guys wouldn’t have let up on that. But we deserved to be ranked ahead of them. We beat
TALIB, COLLINS LOOK AHEAD
Kansas cornerback Aqib Talib and left tackle Anthony Collins, who will forgo their senior seasons at KU and declare for the NFL draft, both have signed with agent Todd France. They are leaving today for the Athletes’ Performance Institute in Tempe, Ariz., where they will train for the NFL scouting combine, which will be Feb. 20-26 in Indianapolis.
•Kansas seniors Brandon McAnderson and James McClinton have been invited to play in the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 19 in Houston. McAnderson, a running back, and McClinton, a defensive tackle, will both use the opportunity to showcase their talents for NFL scouts.
MU is No. 4, KU is No. 7 in final AP poll
L AWRENCE | And you thought the college football season in these parts had ended.
On a day when Kansas’ and Missouri’s men’s basketball teams played their last nonconference games, fans of their football programs sparred for one more round.
Missouri beat Kansas on the field at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas beat Missouri in the eyes of the Orange Bowl committee. And, in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, Missouri got the last laugh when it was ranked No. 4 in the final Associated Press poll and one-loss Kansas was stuck at No. 7 behind six two-loss teams.
The 12-1 Jayhawks had worked all season for national respect, but it seemed their 24-21 win over Atlantic Coast Conference champion Virginia Tech wasn’t all that convincing to voters. KU moved up just one spot, which had more than a few Jayhawks shaking their heads in disbelief.
“Man, we need to be No. 1,” KU left tackle Anthony Collins said. Although it probably isn’t much consolation to KU or its fans, one AP voter agreed with Collins that the nation’s only major-conference team with one loss was worthy of a No. 1 vote. Israel Gutierrez of the Miami Herald covered the Orange Bowl and liked what he saw from Kansas enough to make the Jayhawks his national champion.
“First of all,” Gutierrez said, “I gotta say I was kind of stunned that I was the only one. I just thought in a year with so much parity that people would have been a little bit more willing to take a chance and not just go with the team that won last or played last or the BCS gave the title to.”
The Jayhawks received one No. 1 vote, one No. 2 vote and three No. 3 votes. Those people probably saw what Gutierrez saw: a team that beat Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan by 45 points, won on the road against a ranked Kansas State team, put 76 points on Nebraska and beat a surging Virginia Tech team in its last game of the season. Still, that wasn’t enough for most voters.
“I feel like a champion,” KU defensive tackle James McClinton said. “Nobody is going to take that from me. We went out there and played a good team and came out on top.”
But Missouri, which beat Kansas 36-28, came out ahead in the polls. The Tigers’ No. 4 ranking is the program’s highest to finish the season.
The MU students still are on holiday break, so there wasn’t a lot of open celebration going on. But Tigers recruiting coordinator and quarterbacks coach David Yost was having his own celebration while most of the staff was in California for national coaching meetings. Yost said he learned about the rankings upon waking up on Tuesday.
“I got up and checked my phone and I went to the ESPN wire and saw the final AP poll,” Yost said. “I clicked on the story, but I only read down to where it said we were fourth and I quit reading.”
Didn’t he peek to see where Kansas and Oklahoma were ranked?
“I just knew they were behind us,” Yost said, “and that’s all I needed to know.”
Mark Vickery, president of the Tiger Club of Kansas City, said he got word of the ranking on Tuesday morning while checking his e-mail at work.
“It’s just an amazing feeling,” Vickery said. “And we’ll probably be ranked about that spot in the preseason poll next year.”
Vickery, like Yost, couldn’t help but enjoy seeing Kansas ranked below the Tigers.
“We don’t have to worry about them until next Thanksgiving,” Vickery said of the rematch in Arrowhead. “I was very pleased to see us ranked ahead of them, because those guys wouldn’t have let up on that. But we deserved to be ranked ahead of them. We beat
TALIB, COLLINS LOOK AHEAD
Kansas cornerback Aqib Talib and left tackle Anthony Collins, who will forgo their senior seasons at KU and declare for the NFL draft, both have signed with agent Todd France. They are leaving today for the Athletes’ Performance Institute in Tempe, Ariz., where they will train for the NFL scouting combine, which will be Feb. 20-26 in Indianapolis.
•Kansas seniors Brandon McAnderson and James McClinton have been invited to play in the East-West Shrine Game on Jan. 19 in Houston. McAnderson, a running back, and McClinton, a defensive tackle, will both use the opportunity to showcase their talents for NFL scouts.