Is it too early to begin thinking about the All-Big 12 Conference men’s basketball team?
Well, maybe it is, but what the heck?
The league race is winding down. Kansas, in fact, will clinch at least a tie for the championship if it defeats Baylor on Saturday and Iowa State on Monday a likelihood with both games in Allen Fieldhouse and the Jayhawks outscoring their body temperatures in their last five outings.
Kansas juniors Drew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich are virtual locks for the All-Big 12 first team, but will Nick Collison and/or Jeff Boschee make it, too? You could make a case for all four, but the math probably won’t work in a dozen-team conference.
Still, it’s possible Collison and/or Boschee could slip into the elite unit. Missouri’s Kareem Rush is a cinch. Oklahoma guard Hollis Price is a legitimate possibility, although Aaron McGhee’s recent yeoman performances could split the vote.
Other first-team possibilities are Texas freshman sensation T.J. Ford, the nation’s assists leader; Texas Tech’s smooth-shooting Andre Emmett; and Missouri’s Clarence Gilbert. Am I leaving anybody out? Iowa State’s Jake Sullivan? Not with the Cyclones in last place. Colorado’s David Harrison? Not this time. Kansas State’s Larry Reid? Not bad, but not with a bad team. Texas A&M’s Bernard King? Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin. Oklahoma State’s Maurice Baker, a preseason certainty, is out of the mix because of injuries.
Regardless, after Gooden, Hinrich and Rush, it’s anybody’s guess.
Just a personal opinion, by the way, but I really like Gilbert more than Rush because Gilbert, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, has more dimensions and brings more passion to the floor than Rush. Not that the poker-faced Rush doesn’t play hard, it’s just that basketball is more than jacking it up from NBA three-point range. Still, it’s the point producers who make all-league.
Collision Course With History?: Both Kansas University basketball teams have a chance to make Big 12 Conference history. The KU men have an opportunity to run the table and go 16-0, while the winless women are on track to go 0-16. No Big 12 basketball team has ever had an all-winning or an all-losing league season. KU’s women have three games left, all against ranked teams.
Spoilers: Been wondering about Ball State? The Cardinals spoiled the men’s season opener with a 93-91 victory at the Maui Classic. On that day at the steamy Lahaina Civic Center, also memorable because a handful of players suffered leg cramps, Ball State cashed 13 of 30 three-point attempts. Today, the Cards have a 16-8 record and lead the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 9-4 mark.
Oklahoma Low-Water: KU’s only other loss was that 87-77 decision at UCLA. The 77 points weren’t a season-low for the nation’s highest scoring team, however. KU’s lowest scoring output came in the 74-67 triumph over Oklahoma in Allen Fieldhouse.
Wrong Strategy, Rick: As you’ve noticed, this Kansas basketball game can score points in bushels, but don’t expect the school single-game record to fall. Back on Dec. 9, 1989, first-year Kentucky coach Rick Pitino decided to play run-and-gun with the Jayhawks. Final score: Kansas 150, Kentucky 95. For what it’s worth, that 1989-90 KU team, featuring three-point shooting whiz Terry Brown, also scored 132 points in a game. That victim was Elizabeth City State.
Easy Sooner Road: Oklahoma probably has the easiest remaining schedule with home games against Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas, and road trips to Baylor and Colorado. Kansas has only one serious roadblock upcoming a trip to Missouri for the regular-season finale. It wouldn’t matter if the Jayhawks went into Columbia 15-0 or 0-15, the noise in the Hearnes Center would rival an F-16 taking off.
Is it too early to begin thinking about the All-Big 12 Conference men’s basketball team?
Well, maybe it is, but what the heck?
The league race is winding down. Kansas, in fact, will clinch at least a tie for the championship if it defeats Baylor on Saturday and Iowa State on Monday a likelihood with both games in Allen Fieldhouse and the Jayhawks outscoring their body temperatures in their last five outings.
Kansas juniors Drew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich are virtual locks for the All-Big 12 first team, but will Nick Collison and/or Jeff Boschee make it, too? You could make a case for all four, but the math probably won’t work in a dozen-team conference.
Still, it’s possible Collison and/or Boschee could slip into the elite unit. Missouri’s Kareem Rush is a cinch. Oklahoma guard Hollis Price is a legitimate possibility, although Aaron McGhee’s recent yeoman performances could split the vote.
Other first-team possibilities are Texas freshman sensation T.J. Ford, the nation’s assists leader; Texas Tech’s smooth-shooting Andre Emmett; and Missouri’s Clarence Gilbert. Am I leaving anybody out? Iowa State’s Jake Sullivan? Not with the Cyclones in last place. Colorado’s David Harrison? Not this time. Kansas State’s Larry Reid? Not bad, but not with a bad team. Texas A&M’s Bernard King? Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin. Oklahoma State’s Maurice Baker, a preseason certainty, is out of the mix because of injuries.
Regardless, after Gooden, Hinrich and Rush, it’s anybody’s guess.
Just a personal opinion, by the way, but I really like Gilbert more than Rush because Gilbert, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, has more dimensions and brings more passion to the floor than Rush. Not that the poker-faced Rush doesn’t play hard, it’s just that basketball is more than jacking it up from NBA three-point range. Still, it’s the point producers who make all-league.
Collision Course With History?: Both Kansas University basketball teams have a chance to make Big 12 Conference history. The KU men have an opportunity to run the table and go 16-0, while the winless women are on track to go 0-16. No Big 12 basketball team has ever had an all-winning or an all-losing league season. KU’s women have three games left, all against ranked teams.
Spoilers: Been wondering about Ball State? The Cardinals spoiled the men’s season opener with a 93-91 victory at the Maui Classic. On that day at the steamy Lahaina Civic Center, also memorable because a handful of players suffered leg cramps, Ball State cashed 13 of 30 three-point attempts. Today, the Cards have a 16-8 record and lead the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 9-4 mark.
Oklahoma Low-Water: KU’s only other loss was that 87-77 decision at UCLA. The 77 points weren’t a season-low for the nation’s highest scoring team, however. KU’s lowest scoring output came in the 74-67 triumph over Oklahoma in Allen Fieldhouse.
Wrong Strategy, Rick: As you’ve noticed, this Kansas basketball game can score points in bushels, but don’t expect the school single-game record to fall. Back on Dec. 9, 1989, first-year Kentucky coach Rick Pitino decided to play run-and-gun with the Jayhawks. Final score: Kansas 150, Kentucky 95. For what it’s worth, that 1989-90 KU team, featuring three-point shooting whiz Terry Brown, also scored 132 points in a game. That victim was Elizabeth City State.
Easy Sooner Road: Oklahoma probably has the easiest remaining schedule with home games against Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas, and road trips to Baylor and Colorado. Kansas has only one serious roadblock upcoming a trip to Missouri for the regular-season finale. It wouldn’t matter if the Jayhawks went into Columbia 15-0 or 0-15, the noise in the Hearnes Center would rival an F-16 taking off.
Is it too early to begin thinking about the All-Big 12 Conference men’s basketball team?
Well, maybe it is, but what the heck?
The league race is winding down. Kansas, in fact, will clinch at least a tie for the championship if it defeats Baylor on Saturday and Iowa State on Monday a likelihood with both games in Allen Fieldhouse and the Jayhawks outscoring their body temperatures in their last five outings.
Kansas juniors Drew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich are virtual locks for the All-Big 12 first team, but will Nick Collison and/or Jeff Boschee make it, too? You could make a case for all four, but the math probably won’t work in a dozen-team conference.
Still, it’s possible Collison and/or Boschee could slip into the elite unit. Missouri’s Kareem Rush is a cinch. Oklahoma guard Hollis Price is a legitimate possibility, although Aaron McGhee’s recent yeoman performances could split the vote.
Other first-team possibilities are Texas freshman sensation T.J. Ford, the nation’s assists leader; Texas Tech’s smooth-shooting Andre Emmett; and Missouri’s Clarence Gilbert. Am I leaving anybody out? Iowa State’s Jake Sullivan? Not with the Cyclones in last place. Colorado’s David Harrison? Not this time. Kansas State’s Larry Reid? Not bad, but not with a bad team. Texas A&M’s Bernard King? Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin. Oklahoma State’s Maurice Baker, a preseason certainty, is out of the mix because of injuries.
Regardless, after Gooden, Hinrich and Rush, it’s anybody’s guess.
Just a personal opinion, by the way, but I really like Gilbert more than Rush because Gilbert, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, has more dimensions and brings more passion to the floor than Rush. Not that the poker-faced Rush doesn’t play hard, it’s just that basketball is more than jacking it up from NBA three-point range. Still, it’s the point producers who make all-league.
Collision Course With History?: Both Kansas University basketball teams have a chance to make Big 12 Conference history. The KU men have an opportunity to run the table and go 16-0, while the winless women are on track to go 0-16. No Big 12 basketball team has ever had an all-winning or an all-losing league season. KU’s women have three games left, all against ranked teams.
Spoilers: Been wondering about Ball State? The Cardinals spoiled the men’s season opener with a 93-91 victory at the Maui Classic. On that day at the steamy Lahaina Civic Center, also memorable because a handful of players suffered leg cramps, Ball State cashed 13 of 30 three-point attempts. Today, the Cards have a 16-8 record and lead the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 9-4 mark.
Oklahoma Low-Water: KU’s only other loss was that 87-77 decision at UCLA. The 77 points weren’t a season-low for the nation’s highest scoring team, however. KU’s lowest scoring output came in the 74-67 triumph over Oklahoma in Allen Fieldhouse.
Wrong Strategy, Rick: As you’ve noticed, this Kansas basketball game can score points in bushels, but don’t expect the school single-game record to fall. Back on Dec. 9, 1989, first-year Kentucky coach Rick Pitino decided to play run-and-gun with the Jayhawks. Final score: Kansas 150, Kentucky 95. For what it’s worth, that 1989-90 KU team, featuring three-point shooting whiz Terry Brown, also scored 132 points in a game. That victim was Elizabeth City State.
Easy Sooner Road: Oklahoma probably has the easiest remaining schedule with home games against Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas, and road trips to Baylor and Colorado. Kansas has only one serious roadblock upcoming a trip to Missouri for the regular-season finale. It wouldn’t matter if the Jayhawks went into Columbia 15-0 or 0-15, the noise in the Hearnes Center would rival an F-16 taking off.
Is it too early to begin thinking about the All-Big 12 Conference men’s basketball team?
Well, maybe it is, but what the heck?
The league race is winding down. Kansas, in fact, will clinch at least a tie for the championship if it defeats Baylor on Saturday and Iowa State on Monday a likelihood with both games in Allen Fieldhouse and the Jayhawks outscoring their body temperatures in their last five outings.
Kansas juniors Drew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich are virtual locks for the All-Big 12 first team, but will Nick Collison and/or Jeff Boschee make it, too? You could make a case for all four, but the math probably won’t work in a dozen-team conference.
Still, it’s possible Collison and/or Boschee could slip into the elite unit. Missouri’s Kareem Rush is a cinch. Oklahoma guard Hollis Price is a legitimate possibility, although Aaron McGhee’s recent yeoman performances could split the vote.
Other first-team possibilities are Texas freshman sensation T.J. Ford, the nation’s assists leader; Texas Tech’s smooth-shooting Andre Emmett; and Missouri’s Clarence Gilbert. Am I leaving anybody out? Iowa State’s Jake Sullivan? Not with the Cyclones in last place. Colorado’s David Harrison? Not this time. Kansas State’s Larry Reid? Not bad, but not with a bad team. Texas A&M’s Bernard King? Not by the hair on my chinny chin chin. Oklahoma State’s Maurice Baker, a preseason certainty, is out of the mix because of injuries.
Regardless, after Gooden, Hinrich and Rush, it’s anybody’s guess.
Just a personal opinion, by the way, but I really like Gilbert more than Rush because Gilbert, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, has more dimensions and brings more passion to the floor than Rush. Not that the poker-faced Rush doesn’t play hard, it’s just that basketball is more than jacking it up from NBA three-point range. Still, it’s the point producers who make all-league.
Collision Course With History?: Both Kansas University basketball teams have a chance to make Big 12 Conference history. The KU men have an opportunity to run the table and go 16-0, while the winless women are on track to go 0-16. No Big 12 basketball team has ever had an all-winning or an all-losing league season. KU’s women have three games left, all against ranked teams.
Spoilers: Been wondering about Ball State? The Cardinals spoiled the men’s season opener with a 93-91 victory at the Maui Classic. On that day at the steamy Lahaina Civic Center, also memorable because a handful of players suffered leg cramps, Ball State cashed 13 of 30 three-point attempts. Today, the Cards have a 16-8 record and lead the Mid-American Conference West Division with a 9-4 mark.
Oklahoma Low-Water: KU’s only other loss was that 87-77 decision at UCLA. The 77 points weren’t a season-low for the nation’s highest scoring team, however. KU’s lowest scoring output came in the 74-67 triumph over Oklahoma in Allen Fieldhouse.
Wrong Strategy, Rick: As you’ve noticed, this Kansas basketball game can score points in bushels, but don’t expect the school single-game record to fall. Back on Dec. 9, 1989, first-year Kentucky coach Rick Pitino decided to play run-and-gun with the Jayhawks. Final score: Kansas 150, Kentucky 95. For what it’s worth, that 1989-90 KU team, featuring three-point shooting whiz Terry Brown, also scored 132 points in a game. That victim was Elizabeth City State.
Easy Sooner Road: Oklahoma probably has the easiest remaining schedule with home games against Kansas State, Iowa State and Texas, and road trips to Baylor and Colorado. Kansas has only one serious roadblock upcoming a trip to Missouri for the regular-season finale. It wouldn’t matter if the Jayhawks went into Columbia 15-0 or 0-15, the noise in the Hearnes Center would rival an F-16 taking off.
