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Some tidbits:

What Kansas did well: Play defense
What Kansas didn’t do well: Get offense from the perimeter
“What’s in store for 2007: A national championship should be the goal…”

“Darnell Jackson’s numbers have breakout season written all over them, much like Aaron Gray and Joakim Noah did last year.”

“KU is a top five team, but even with the sick defense, they are going to need more consistency on the perimeter to grease a path to the final four.”

From KUSports.com:

Kansas University basketball coach Bill Self announced at his Monday press conference that junior forward Sasha Kaun will miss 3-6 weeks after suffering a partially torn patellar tendon in Sunday’s practice.

The injury was not caused by contact, and Self said it will not require surgery, as the tendon is not ruptured or completely torn.

With the Jayhawks’ first game just three days away - a Thursday exhibition against Washburn at 7 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse - the loss of Kaun is felt even more with the ongoing suspension of junior forward C.J. Giles, who was suspended indefinitely on Oct. 17 to get some off-court issues settled. With their absences, the only real height KU possesses is in 6-foot-8 junior Darnell Jackson, 6-foot-8 sophomore Julian Wright, 6-foot-9 freshman Darrell Arthur and 6-foot-10 sophomore Matt Kleinmann.

Self said during his session with the media that Kleinmann, a former walk-on, could see some extended playing time in the early season, as could 6-foot-4 junior Rodrick Stewart, who Self said could be used at the power forward spot to create a smaller lineup with more speed.

We’ll find out tomorrow whether he’ll end up a Dukie or a Jayhawk. If he ends up anything other than a Blue Devil, Bill Self will be cemented as the best closer in the business.

Kyle Singler, the No. 4 prospect in the 2007 basketball class, will announce his college choice at 5 p.m. CST Friday. His dad, Ed Singler, said the announcement will be made at South Medford HS in Medford, Ore.

Singler is also ranked on rivals.com as the top small forward in the nation from that class. After averaging 20.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game as a junior, the 6-foot-9 prospect has narrowed his college choices to Arizona, Duke and Kansas.

Snip from the LJW.

technorati tags:kyle, singler

Ryan Wood of the Lawrence Journal-World reports that Kerry Meier has not recovered sufficiently from the shoulder injury he suffered in the third quarter last Saturday in Waco to play this Saturday against Colorado. Adam Barmann will make his fourth start of the year in place of the injured Meier.

Kansas struggled to run the ball after Barmann replaced Meier in the Baylor game. Barmann lacks the foot speed to pose any threat running the option which severely limits Kansas’s ground attack. (For some reason, Barmann’s lack of foot speed does not preclude OC Nick Quartaro from calling option plays or designed quarterback runs–see Barmann’s drive-killing fumbles against USF and Nebraska.)

(more…)

Another L.A. weekend. If there is a problem with college football, it is that there are too many Lame Ass games regardless of the prospect of Michigan vs. Ohio St, Cal vs. USC, and the SEC championship game in the distant future.

The beauty of the college game, though, is that they all mean something-at least to conference opponents. They all carry bragging rights to some extent to the schools and fans involved-much more so than Pittsburgh vs, Tampa Bay or San Francisco vs. Cleveland in the NFC.

So, Lame as they may be, on with the games:

1. Colorado +2 at KU

Are these the two worst BCS conference teams not named Northwestern, Stanford, or Duke? Not really. Both have been in position to win games (plural). However, Colorado lost to Baylor at HOME! HOME for god’s sake. Not even Mangino is going to be able to screw this game up-not against a team that doesn’t have the firepower to come from three scores back no matter how passive KU’s defense becomes.

KU

2. A&M -5 at Baylor

Baylor REALly does suck. Forget the curtain composed of k-state, Colorado, and KU, behind which they play at being wizards. The curtain gets dra this Saturday. When the Aggies get three scores clear of the Bears, they will step on their throats, rather than employ the KU tactic of hoping time runs out before they lose their lead.

A&M

3. Iowa St +5.5 at k-state

This game looks even too me in Manhattan. k-state might pull it out at home, but 2-3 points seems more likely.

4. Texas -11 at Texas Tech

Tech has a chance in this one if it plays an error free game. The Longhorns’ beef, however, will wear Tech down by the fourth quarter, at which time a close game will become a spread coverer.

UT

5. Nebraska -5.5 at Okie St

Now that NU has its moral victory, let’s see if it can do any better on the road vs. Okie St than KU did at home. If Bobby Reid is healthy, this is the Lock of the week. If not. . .the Cowboys will likely lose by a point thanks to missing a PAT in OT.

OKIE ST

6. Oklahoma +2.5 at Mizzou

On paper, Mizzou SHOULD win. They have the league’s best offense. OU has lost both its starting QB and AA running back. But until they beat a physical team, I’ll go with strength over finesse.

OU

7, Notre Dame -14.5 at Navy

The longest winning streak against an opponent in the country. N.D. downs Navy for the 134th time in a row. But who can the Irish beat by more than two TD’s? Well, yeah-MAYBE Navy. But I’ll have to see it before believing again that they are a truly strong team, rather than a merely resourceful one.

NAVY

8. Illinois +22 at Wisconsin

The Badgers have the best running game in the Big 11

WISCONSIN

9. Michigan St -7 at Indiana

Michigan St can finally forget the Notre Dame fiasco and revel in its own role in the fiasco in Evanston. Call the Spartans orange marmalade, because they are on a roll.

MICHIGAN ST

10. Vanderbilt -10.5 at Duke

Duke makes it two in a row. Covers that is. With a little luck, they might even beat the SEC’s version of Duke at home.

DUKE

11. Georgia +14 at Florida

A few weeks back, this spread would have been unthinkable. As poorly as Georgia has played, however, it almost looks like a gimme for Florida.

FU

12. Miami (Fl) -6 at Georgia Tech

Easy money last week taking Duke and 15 points against the depreciated Hurricanes. They will be back physically this week, but until they show that they have overcome the trauma to their psyche of the events in the FIU game and its aftermath, I will take their opponent to cover.

GEORGIA TECH

13. USC -13 at Oregon St

Vegas is starting to wise up. The USC spread is slowly but surely retreating from the 18-20 point mark where it resided for a number of weeks. 13 is still too many points against a decent team on the road.

OREGON ST

14. Arizona St +1 at Washington

Both teams came within a whisker of knocking the Trojans out of REAListic Fiesta Bowl aspirations. This game is a toss-up-meaning go with the team tasting home cooking.

WASHINGTON

15. Washington St -2 at UCLA

How will UCLA respond to its near miss at Notre Dame? Another toss-up. Another hom-cooking pick.

UCLA

Rocky Mountain Low: Colorado.

–Mark
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These picks are for entertainment purposes only. You get what you pay for. There are no refunds.

Marcus Herford was directly involved in the failure of two plays in the second half of the Baylor game that, if executed properly, would have resulted in touchdowns.

On Kansas’s opening drive of the second half, the Jayhawks were up 35-17 and they were running the ball down Baylor’s throats. Standing 1st-and-10 at the Baylor 24, four Kansas players: Jon Cornish, Kerry Meier, Brandon McAnderson, and Jake Sharp had combined to run the ball on 15 of the last 16 offensive plays, gaining 121 yards and scoring two touchdowns.

• On 1st down, Meier threw to Brian Murph, who dropped the pass.
• On 2nd down, Sharp ran for a 1-yard loss.
• On 3rd down, Marcus Herford took a pitch on a designed wide receiver pass, saw Murph open downfield, and threw the ball out of the back of the end zone.
• On 4th down, Scott Webb missed a 42-yard field goal.

On Baylor’s next three possessions, KU’s defense forced two punts and intercepted a Shawn Bell pass. Taking over on their own 35 with 12:40 left in the game, Adam Barmann was in at QB in place of the injured Kerry Meier and Jake Sharp in at TB for (the somewhat injured) Jon Cornish.

Three runs from Sharp and a short pass from Barmann to Dexton Fields set up a 3rd-and-3 at the Baylor 46. I’ll let Jason King take over here:

“Barmann heaved a perfect strike to Herford, who was wide open as he streaked down the left sideline and toward the end zone. But instead of making the play that would’ve secured a KU victory, Herford let the ball carom off his breadbasket and through his arms.”

The lead Kansas football story in today’s Kansas City Star and today’s column by Lawrence Journal-World Sports Editor Tom Keegan are about Marcus Herford talking to the press on Tuesday and taking responsibility for the role his mistakes played in Kansas losing at Baylor.

“I choked. That could’ve put the nail in them. We were up 35-17, and we could’ve gone up by (25 points). I’m a person who’s expected to make plays. So for me not to make that one hurt me a lot.”

Frankly, the Kansas coaching staff could learn from Herford’s honesty and maturity. I obviously don’t know what goes on behind closed doors in the football offices, but the unwillingness of Mark Mangino to discuss publicly the obvious problems that have kept this team from being 6-2 or 7-1 is eroding his support among the people who care about the University of Kansas fielding a consistently competitive football team.

From the LJW today.

Meanwhile, college basketball writer Gary Parrish of cbssportsline.com, who caught up with KU coach Bill Self and players Russell Robinson and Sasha Kaun at last week’s Big 12 Media Day, taps the Jayhawks second nationally behind Florida.

Street and Smith also has Florida ranked No. 1 and KU 2, followed by North Carolina. Athlon has KU, Alabama, Florida and North Carolina reaching the Final Four, with the Tar Heels winning it all for the second time in three years.

Of course, as mentioned three times on Phog Blog last week, the Mercurial Seth Davis conjures us at number 1, both now and 5 months from now. This is the same Seth Davis who in late February still considered K State a bubble team, so you might be building your house on the rhetorical sand if you put too much faith in his prognostications.

Still, a broken clock is right twice a day, so I won’t be disparaging him or anyone else anything if I find myself dancing like a madman in Atlanta 5-6 months from now.