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Sunday, November 25, 2007

Tigers make case for No. 1

By Gary Bedore

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The Border War 2007

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¢ 6Sports video: Beaten but still in top 5<br /> ¢ 6News video: Fans cheer on Hawks from Lawrence<br /> ¢ 6News video: Crowds brave cold for ESPN's Gameday<br /> ¢ 6News video: Broken dreams<br />

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2007 KU-Mizzou Football

Reader poll

With KU's loss to Missouri ending its regular season, which bowl do you think the 11-1 Jayhawks will wind up in?

  • Fiesta Bowl 54% 3311 votes
  • Orange Bowl 10% 638 votes
  • Sugar Bowl 3% 203 votes
  • Cotton Bowl 21% 1305 votes
  • Holiday Bowl 5% 337 votes
  • Gator Bowl 1% 84 votes
  • Elsewhere 3% 226 votes

6104 total votes.

KU football

Kansas City, Mo. — Chase Daniel stood on the Arrowhead Stadium field late Saturday night, pointing his index finger toward a throng of Missouri fans who were wildly celebrating their Tigers' 36-28 victory over rival Kansas University.

"If we're not the No. 1 team in the nation tomorrow, something's wrong," Daniel told a pair of TV reporters before exiting to a happy Tiger locker room.

West Virginia just might emerge as the No. 1 team in the land today, but the Tigers, the champions of the Big 12 North, also figure to garner serious consideration in the polls and BCS standings.

"It's all good," Daniel said 30 minutes later to a throng of reporters. "We're playing at a pretty high level. With No. 1 (LSU) and 2 (KU) losing, hopefully things will take care of themselves."

Daniel - he was magnificent in completing 40 of 49 passes for 361 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions - grinned when asked in the interview room if his effort against KU made him the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.

"I'll let you all take care of that. I'm just trying to stay the course," said Daniel, whose Tigers will play Oklahoma next in the Big 12 title game.

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel gushed about Daniel after the 6-foot, 225-pound junior quarterback shredded KU's defense.

"You saw it. America saw it. I'll be the first to tell you this guy is special," Pinkel said. "I've been saying it for years. America got to see it today."

Pinkel praised rival KU, a team that battled back after spotting the Tigers a 21-0 lead.

"It says so much about them. We took a pretty good lead against them, and we're fighting (to hold on) with seconds left," Pinkel said.

In fact, Missouri fans couldn't relax until Loren Williams sacked Todd Reesing for a safety with :12 to play.

KU had to kick off to Missouri, meaning a miracle comeback wasn't to be for the Jayhawks.

"You see all the things that happen in college football ... my mind was racing," Pinkel said. "Getting that safety was big."

He was proud his team was able to win in spite of committing 14 penalties for 141 yards to KU's two for 26 yards.

"We had more penalties today than the entire season. Maybe it's because we were too focused," Pinkel said, crediting the fans for helping MU survive KU. It appeared the stadium was 50-50 KU and MU fans despite it being KU's home game.

"Our fans were awesome. What a great environment," Pinkel said.

The MU fans had a lot to cheer. Thanks in large part to Daniel, MU gained 519 yards to KU's 391.

The game plan?

"Throw it, throw it and throw it," Daniel said. "Fifteen or 16 of our first plays were passes."

Running back Tony Temple wasn't bad either. He gained 98 yards off 22 carries and caught a pass for six yards.

"I saw that look in his eye," Daniel said. "If I don't see it next week, I'll smack him in the helmet and get it back."

Daniel thinks his team had an edge in the intangibles Saturday.

"We went in expecting to win and got a win," he said.

Now MU gets to play Oklahoma for the league title. With a victory, Missouri figures to play in the national title game.

"I think it's great," Pinkel said. "We possibly will have a shot at the national championship. We're excited about the opportunity. The only way it's going to happen is next week, winning that game."

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Comments

TwistedFish31 (anonymous) says...

As much as I can't stand misery fans, I do hope the tigers trounce OU so that KU has a shot at the Fiesta Bowl. I'm going to be in Phoenix on business on January 2nd and would love to go to the game. I also saw a projection this morning that had Kansas playing Florida in the Cotton Bowl. That would be a great game!

November 25, 2007 at 11:26 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Wooleybooly (anonymous) says...

I think that KU has a good chance of making the Fiesta Bowl, regardless of the outcome of the Big XII championship game. If OU wins, they go, and we could be the other team that they pick up. The Fiesta Bowl would not pickup MU to face OU for a 3rd time. If MU wins, they go to NC game and we could be picked for Fiesta Bowl as an at large. Whatever happens, great year Mangino and Co.
I think that it is BS too that LSU loses to an unranked Arkansas and falls just 4 spots, while KU loses to the 4th ranked team at a neutral site and drops 5 spots. SEC bias.

November 25, 2007 at 2:23 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

ku_bringback_danny (anonymous) says...

Tell me about it, Georgia ahead of us???? SEC owns the bcs. espn Owns the Big ten & Big East so forget Missouri it's Ohio St. playing West VA. That's what the gameday fooks say. BIG 12 gets no respect.

November 25, 2007 at 3:21 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

prairie_rattler (anonymous) says...

Wooleybooly.... to be specific regarding the AP poll.. KU lost at a 'neutral site' (in the other team's home state) to the number one team in the country... while LSU lost to the unranked Razorbacks... at home in Baton Rouge!!
Makes no sense...

November 25, 2007 at 5 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kik1958 (anonymous) says...

Do the math. 2 loss teams (Georgia and LSU) get more respect than the big 12 1 loss teams. Mizzou was given more respect by the media than KU before and during the game. That will send KU pretty far down on the bowl path if OU wins. and I hate Misery. I lived there for 18 years. Next season looks to be as good as this. Maybe then we will get respect.

November 25, 2007 at 6:16 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

fivemog (anonymous) says...

KU is 5 in the BCS. Under BCS rules if we make it to number 4 (mu loses big and falls below us) we will receive an automatic bid to the BCS provided no team from our conference would play for the national title (OU won't make it to the title game if they win). we need mu to lose and lose big to ensure a trip to the BCS.

November 25, 2007 at 7:19 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

nomansland (anonymous) says...

Tiger fans: Enjoy it while it lasts. You guys are going to get beat by OU. Go Sooners!

November 25, 2007 at 9:49 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rtstl (anonymous) says...

you guys are a joke...

Rather than see the MU/KU game for what its worth you would rather dog the Tigers just because you lost.

You know why the SEC is the best football conference?

Because the fans have class and root for each other to promote the strength of the conference. You dont root for Mizzou to lose! You want them to win so that you got beat by the best and it shows how strong our conference really is. Then you want MU to pound West Virginia in the Championship game and win the National Title so that the rest of the country knows that the BIGXII is no joke. We could have 3 teams in BCS bowls this year...

Recruits will notice, sponsors will notice, coaches will notice, and the rest of college football will notice and maybe one day we will consistently have 5 teams in the top 10 like the SEC!

Think about it...

November 25, 2007 at 10:02 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

RTSL, you are a complete idiot.

First of all, it's impossible to have three teams in BCS Bowls. There is a rule that no conference can have more than two. Second, there is NO WAY that i will ever root for Mizzou to win a national championship--in anything. i don't care whether it's football, debate or tiddlywinks. And if you don't understand how much I (and most other KU fans) hate the slavers, then stop wasting space with your inane comments.

Finally, give me a friggin' break about the SEC fans having class. You think Auburn fans would ever root for Alabama, in ANY situation????? You think Florida fans would root for Georgia????? You're a moron.

November 26, 2007 at 8:46 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

SteelHorseRider (anonymous) says...

I agree with supporting teams from the conference after the regular season is finished. Yes, even Mizzou.

As for supporting OU or MU for the BIG XII title, the bowl situation logic dictates it is far better for us to have MU win out. An MU National Championship and a KU BCS win would only mean one thing............a huge rematch in next season's game at arrowhead.

November 26, 2007 at 8:51 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

Root for Mizzou, are you serious.

This is unchartered territory for KU fans. For the first time ever the Tigers are playing for something. We as KU fans have an obligation to root for their failure. Trust me, when the situation is reversed they reciprocate. In fact, for a Mizzou fan the success of their "basketball" season is predicated on only two games. The first being the game we play in Columbia and the second is any game in the tournament in which we lose. When that happens they are happy. They have difficulty making it to the dance and have never been close to a final four which leaves them nothing else to root for.

November 26, 2007 at 11:12 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

rtstl (anonymous) says...

We could have any of three teams in the BCS this year. I worded it wrong. Sorry...

And yes actorman... Georgia fans do root for Florida! Auburn fans do root for Alabama, and Texas fans certainly root for OU!

What good is it to Georgia if Florida loses to Vanderbilt the week before they play them? What good is it to Oklahoma if Texas gets blown out by Baylor? The entire point of the system is strength of schedule!

You should visit the wizard and see if theres another brain laying around because you obviously dont understand the BCS system.

If you were a REAL Kansas fan you would be dressed to the 9's in black and gold this Saturday. All it can do is make the conference look deeper and make KU more attractive to the bowl game officials.

If we get slaughtered by OU what good does that do for you? Like I said... strength of schedule. Dont you want KU to prove themselves against the best?

Thank god theres fans on here like Chicago_JHawk and SteelHorseRider ... i was beginning to think everyone in blue and red was as incompetent, ignorant, and misinformed as you...

And seattlehawk...

Im sure you have your finger on the pulse of the MU/KU rivalry. Again... When Mizzou plays KU in BBall I would rather have them unbeaten! Same goes for Texas, OU, etc... The strength is in the conference. We have to hold each other up! Its fools like you that give Kansas and Mizzou "fans" a bad name...

And just so you know... Mizzou b-ball is on the rebound bro...

no pun intended.

November 26, 2007 at 12:35 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

STL_Jayhawk (anonymous) says...

rstl

I have to disagree.

"You know why the SEC is the best football conference?

Because the fans have class and root for each other to promote the strength of the conference."

I grew up in the heart of SEC country and I can tell you that the atmosphere I experienced Saturday night at Arrowhead (at its nastiest moments) had far more class than ANY rivalry SEC game I have attended. KU fans are just experiencing success in football. SEC fans plan their lives around Saturday gamedays. And you can keep saying it over and over again that SEC fans pull for their rival teams, but you are wrong. Maybe you are talking to too many Kentucky and Vandy fans. But just ask an Ole Miss fan if he ever pulls for Miss. State. Or better yet, go sit in the visitors section (just below the LSU student section) in Baton Rouge on Halloween night. You'll think going to a Big 12 game is like going to church.

The reason the SEC gets so much respect is the number of quality teams they currently have in their conference. Despite their 2 losses, LSU was 5-1 against top 25 schools this year. The SEC could end the season with 7 out of 12 teams ranked (in addition to S. Car. and Bama being previously ranked). That is a strong conference with a strong fan base. Every home conference game has an opposing fan base the size of Nebraska's rolling into town (unless you are playing Vandy).

The Big 12 has the schools to be just as strong. But until former powerhouses like Nebraska, Colorado, KSU and A&M turn things around, shools like KU will not have many ranked teams on their conference schedule and we can't expect as much respect from the likes of ESPN.

I'll be pulling for the Sooners to give the Tigers a nasty beating. Not because of the results on the filed Saturday, but it give us a chance to move ahead of MU in the rankings and go to a BCS bowl. And because of the obnoxious drunks I experienced Saturday with very small vocabularies (outside of 4 letter words). Is there some rule that Mizzou alums can't attend football games? It sure looked like they gave out all of their tickets to the "regulars" at the local pubs.

At least MU found 5,000 fans that would support their new basketball coach at the "Arena Formerly Known as Paige". They must be fans that grew up in another state.

November 26, 2007 at 1:46 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

STL_Jayhawk (anonymous) says...

"I'll be pulling for the Sooners to give the Tigers a nasty beating. Not because of the results on the filed Saturday"

ooops! Should read "results on the field Saturday"

November 26, 2007 at 1:49 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

Ya whatever.

November 26, 2007 at 3:38 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

seattlehawk_78 (anonymous) says...

I can't wait for the NIT!

November 26, 2007 at 5:23 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

"They have difficulty making it to the dance and have never been close to a final four ..."

That's not true. They have been to the Elite Eight a few times, just not to the Final Four. And until the day I die I will be pulling all out for that streak to continue.

And rtstl, you can go ahead and call me "incompetent, ignorant, and misinformed" all you like, but I completely understand everything you're saying, and it's completely irrelevant. I will root for any other Big XII school in non-conference play (yes, even for KSUck), but I will NEVER root for Mizzou. There are just too many piece-of-sh** fans there who celebrate terrorism and slavery on a regular basis, throw things at KU fans and the band, and generally act like the rednecks they are. If it were just a handful, I could live with it, but there are way too many of them and their actions are way too frequent. I don't think it makes me ignorant and misinformed (as opposed to you, who apparently doesn't understand what the word "incompetent" means) to not want to ever see the scum of the earth celebrate a national championship. And I guarantee you that the overwhelming majority of Jayhawk fans would agree with me.

November 26, 2007 at 7:05 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

actorman (anonymous) says...

And BTW, it DOES help KU if OU stomps Mizzou for the Big XII title. It would move KU into the top 4 and guarantee a BCS berth, and would be even sweeter because it would be at Mizzou's expense. It would be extra special to know that we made a BCS bowl and Mizzou didn't, despite their victory.

November 26, 2007 at 7:06 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rtstl (anonymous) says...

MU officials dispute KU's crowd claim

By MIKE Dearmond The Kansas City Star

Missouri officials are expressing surprise at the suggestion that Kansas fans will make up 70 percent of the crowd at the Border War football game at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday night.

"Seventy-thirty?! Are you kidding me? I don't see that," said Mark Alnutt, MU associate athletic director, referring to KU officials' claims that Arrowhead Stadium would be 70-percent Kansas fans, 30-percent Missouri fans.

Alnutt said MU, through its ticket department, sold 17,000 tickets to the game.

"And the Chiefs, who sold 29,000, told us the first ones to go out were mostly for the Missouri part of the (lower) bowl."

In a story in The Star on Monday, KU athletic director Lew Perkins indicated that he anticipated a 70-30 split of the crowd favoring KU.

So lets get this straight...

Arrowhead holds 80,000 + total and Mizzou only sold 17,000 tickets. That leaves 63,000 tickets up for grabs in a city with 74,558 KU alumni living in it! Far more than the 20,000 Mizzou alums living in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita combined. But, according to you guys it was a Mizzou home game and unfair to the KU faithful who so lovingly gave up a precious home game to play Mizzou in Arrowhead.

You have triple the amount of alumni in the area if you count Topeka and Wichita, your 2 hours closer, you had quadruple the amount tickets available, your school chose the far sideline, you wore your home uniforms, and yet you still complain about too many Mizzou fans and an unfair biased environment at your "home game"...

According to these numbers and the stats in the paper it should have been a nearly 3-1 advantage for KU fans at Arrowhead... so what happened?

Facts are facts...

Why cant you accept the game for what it was and get over your bitter little hangups?

November 26, 2007 at 9:24 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

STL_Jayhawk (anonymous) says...

rstl
You are focusing on the number of MU "alums" in the area. I didn't see many MU "fans" at the game that looked even remotely like they were college material (much less college graduates). I just saw a bunch of rednecks that still support Quantrill.

You have made several posts on this KU site, but not one point. It's a shame you can't find Mizzou fans with a computer to share your thoughts with.

November 27, 2007 at 1:37 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

rtstl (anonymous) says...

Well STL-Jayhawk...

Those hillbilly MU "fans" somehow managed to get their hands on your allotment of KU tickets.

Im not sure what your reasoning for that is but Im willing to bet you have a really great excuse...

This reminds me of a great quote directed at Cousin Eddie (Kansan I may add!) from one Clark Griswold - "his heart is bigger than his brain" Its kind of like you - you want to believe that KU got a raw deal and that its not the teams fault that they lost. There always has to be some outside entity conspiring against you.

I know its a hard pill to swallow but my point is very legitimate. Your school has 3 times the amount of alumni in the area which in my opinion would equate to 3 times the fans in the area, no? Had that game been played in St. Louis it would be fair for you to complain but it wasnt - it was on the KU side of the state and KU should have had 3 times the amount of fans there. The Mizzou fans I know didnt complain about paying over face value for tickets and driving 4 1/2 hours.

And I went to the Mizzou Illinois game and it was a 50/50 crowd. The Illinois fans purchased tickets and showed up at the game. I guess thats just to tall of an order for the KU faithful!

November 28, 2007 at 6:39 p.m. ( | suggest removal )