Texas’ 37-27 upset of Nebraska
in Saturday’s Big 12 championship
game did not come as a complete
shock to Big 12 coaches, even
though the Huskers were a 20-point
favorite.
“Is the door open?” Kansas State
Coach Bill Snyder said. “That’s
hard to say. A team wins back-to
back national championships and
wins nine games die next year and
people think it’s falling apart.
They’re still a fine football team.”
“I’m not surprised at all,” Colo
rado Coach Rick Neuheisel said.
“Not to take anything away from
Texas, but the whole country was
looking past them. They had every
thing to gain.”
“It was a setup,” Neuheisel
quipped.
■
Kansas State’s All-American
comerback, Chris Canty, was ar
rested early Tuesday on suspicion
of driving under the influence of
alcohol. Canty, 20, a junior, was
stopped by campus police near the
KSU student union at 2:53 a.m. for
speeding — 32 mph in a 20 mph
zone — and for driving with a
bumed-out taillight.
Iowa State’s Heisman TrOphy if- |
nalist Troy Davis and Texas Tfeclr’s 4
Doak Walker Award winner Byron
Hanspard finished the season as the
nation’s two leading rushers. The
last time two running backs from
the same conference finished 1-2 in
the nation in rushing was 1990,
when Oklahoma State’s Gerald
Hudson and Colorado’s Eric
Bieniemy performed the feat.
■
Four Big 12 women’s basketball
teams open this week in The Asso
ciated Press Top 25, and Nebraska
is knocking at the door, ranked No.
26. The Comhuskers were last
ranked in 1993. Texas Tech is
ranked eighth, Texas is 16th, Kan
sas is No. 18 and Colorado is ranked
21st.
On the men’s side, top-ranked
KU is 7-0 after beating No. 17
UCLA 96-83 on Saturday. It marks
the third time in eight years that die
Jayhawks have begun the season
with at least seven straight victories.
Iowa State is ranked sixth, Texas is
No. 13 and Texas Tech is No. 18.
Nebraska received two votes.
Nebraska freshman guard
Cookie Belcher was named Big 12
rookie of the week after averaging
16 points per game last week in
three NU wins. The Mexico, Mo.,
native’s best game was a 22-point
outing in an 88-72 win over Coppin
State last Friday.
Texas Tech’s Cory Carr was
named Big 12 player of the week.
Carr had a pair of 25-point games,
both in Red Raider victories. Carr
won the honor in a split vote over
Kansas forward Raef LaFrentz.
Big 12 Notebook compiled by
staff reporter Vince D’Adamo.
MattMiller/DN
LISA REITSMA (No. 15) and Fiona Nepo celebrate during Nebraska’s four-game win over Arkansas last Saturday. The Huskers will play
host to the NCAATbumament’s East Regional Friday and Saturday.
By Shannon Heffelfinger
Staff Reporter
Two experienced members of the
Nebraska volleyball team know the
difficulty of advancing to the Final
Four of the
NCAA Tourna
ment.
And NU’s
effort Saturday
night in a four
game win over
Arkansas isn’t
going to cut it,
they said.
Senior Kate r
Crnich and jun- Crnich
ior All-American Lisa Reitsma said
the Comhuskers, who play host to
the East Regional tournament this
weekend at the NU Coliseum, will
need to be more mentally prepared
if they are to reach Cleveland and
the Dec. 19 through 21 Final Four.
“We should have beat Arkansas
in three games,” Cmich said. “We’re
not going to win matches against
great teams if we play the way we
did.”
If NU (28-3) defeats 26-4 Lou
isville Friday, the Huskers will face
either Penn State (30-2) or Wiscon
sin (25-7) Saturday in match that
will determine one Final Four rep
resentative.
Nebraska, which is playing host
to its seventh regional in the 11
years, owns a 19-1 NCAA Tourna
ment record at the coliseum. The
lone loss came two years ago to Penn
a
We're not going to win matches against
great teams if we play the way we did ”
Kate Cknich
NU outside hitter
State in the finals of the Mideast
Regional.
Husker Coach Terry Pettit ex
pressed concerns about a possible
matchup with Penn State, which lost
to Nebraska last season in regional
semifinals.
“It’s the best Penn State team
I’ve seen,” Pettit said.
Penn State, coached by forma
NU assistant Russ Rose, will be
making its third straight regional
appearance in Lincoln and seventh
tournament trip to Nebraska since
1982.
But for Nebraska is to get past
Louisville, which is making its sixth
straight tournament appearance,
Please see VOLLEY on 8
---——«_-——
By Trevor Parks
Senior Reporter
Two Bowl Alliance teams.
Another team playing in its first
ever New Years’ Day game. Still an
other team headed to a bowl in which
it did not want to play only days ago,
and another team playing in its own
state.
That’s the story of the Big 12 Con
" ference, which has sent Texas Tech,
Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas State and
Texas to postseason games after a dis
appointing inaugural season.
The Bowl Alliance has placed No.
20 Texas in the Fiesta Bowl against
seventh-ranked Penn State on Jan. 1,
and sixth-ranked Nebraska in the Or
1
I
i
'
♦ * *
applicable for everybody involved.”
Meanwhile, Kansas State Coach
Bill Snyder is thrilled to direct the
Wildcats into the first Jan. 1 game in
school history. KSU, 9-2, will play 13
1 Brigham Young in the Cotton Bowl.
KSU played in the Holiday Bowl last
season, after playing in the Aloha and
Copper bowls the previous two years.
“I’ve been a great fan of the Cot
ton Bowl for many years,” Snyder said.
The Wildcats face an excellent
team in Brigham Young, which enters
the game with a chance to win an
NCAA-record 14 games. The Cougars’
lone loss came at Washington. BYU
was ranked fifth in the final polls, but
Nebraska and Pram State were selected
as the at-large teams for die alliance.
“They have all the tools to prove
they should belong,” Snyder said. “It
will be a motivational factor for them.”
Another motivated team is Colo
rado, which plays 8-3 Washington in
the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 30. The
Buffs beat KSU 12-0 this year, have
more conference wins than KSU and
are ranked higher than the Wildcats.
“I’m disappointed in the process,”
CU Coach Rick Neuheisel said.
Neuheisel is upset because the Cot
ton Bowl is the unofficial spot for the
No. 2 Big 12 team. Last year, CU beat
Oregon 38-6 in Dallas, and the Cotton
Bowl shied away from a repeat selec
tion.
“We did everythmg asked of us,”
Neuheisel said. “For them to bring
Kansas State makes economic sense,
not Big 12 sense.”