Kansas.com: Big 12 Conference

Florida slugs its way past Oklahoma for BCS title

BEN WALKER — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:53 CST

Tim Tebow gave Florida the jolt it needed, and the Gators toughed out a second BCS title in three years.

Their 24-14 win over No. 2 Oklahoma in a choppy, sloppy affair Thursday night made them a national champion. But it likely did little to quiet fans of Southern California, Utah and Texas, all of whom already claimed the top spot.

The high-scoring shootout between Heisman Trophy winners Sam Bradford and Tebow never materialized.

Tebow, however, shook off a career-high two interceptions to rescue the top-ranked Gators (13-1). He drove them to the clinching score -- he took two hard steps toward the line, jumped and zipped a 4-yard touchdown pass to David Nelson with 3:07 to make it 24-14.

Percy Harvin returned from an ankle injury and dashed for 122 yards on nine carries. His 52-yard gallop set up Jonathan Phillips' 27-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter for a 17-14 lead.

BIG 12 MEN

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

	League		All
	W	L	W	L
Texas A&M	0	0	14	1
Oklahoma	0	0	14	1
Missouri	0	0	13	2
Baylor	0	0	12	2
Kansas St	0	0	11	3
Okla. St	0	0	11	3
Texas	0	0	11	3
Kansas	0	0	11	3
Nebraska	0	0	10	3
Iowa State	0	0	11	4
Texas Tech	0	0	10	5
Colorado	0	0	8	6

Wednesday's result

Colorado 65, Western St. 62

Saturday's games

Oklahoma at Kansas St., 12:30

Texas Tech at Baylor, 12:30

McCoy rallies Texas

ANDREW BAGNATO — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:39 CST

Left out of the national title game, Colt McCoy and Texas made the most of their trip to the Fiesta Bowl. McCoy hit Quan Cosby for a 26-yard touchdown with 16 seconds to play, lifting third-ranked Texas to a 24-21 victory over No. 10 Ohio State on Monday night.

"I don't think there's anybody in the country who can beat us at this point," McCoy said.

The Buckeyes nearly pulled off the upset behind quarterbacks Terrelle Pryor and Todd Boeckman but instead went down to another disappointing bowl loss.

McCoy, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, calmly led the Longhorns 78 yards in 11 plays and 1:42 without calling a timeout. On the touchdown, Cosby caught a short pass, slipped a tackle and sprinted toward the goal line before diving into the end zone.

The Longhorns (12-1) rebounded after Ohio State (10-3) had taken a 21-17 lead on a 15-yard run by Dan Herron with 2:05 to go.

MU wins, off to best start in 10 years

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:38 CST

Mike Anderson was encouraged to see his Missouri team force Georgia to commit 23 turnovers, but he said the best news was what happened next in Athens, Ga.

"I thought the defense caused problems for Georgia, but the great thing about those turnovers we made happen was we converted those into points," Anderson said.

Missouri outscored Georgia 30-14 in points off turnovers and beat the Bulldogs 83-76 on Saturday for the Tigers' best start in 10 years.

Missouri (12-2) has its best record after 14 games since a 12-2 start in 1998-99, coach Norm Stewart's last season.

DeMarre Carroll and Zaire Taylor each scored 17 points to lead the Tigers.

BIG 12 MEN

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 01:38 CST

	League	All
	W	L	W	L
Oklahoma	0	0	12	1
Texas A&M	0	0	12	1
Baylor	0	0	12	2
Missouri	0	0	11	2
Texas	0	0	11	2
Kansas	0	0	9	3
Kansas St	0	0	9	3
Okla. St	0	0	9	3
Nebraska	0	0	8	3
Texas Tech	0	0	10	4
Iowa St	0	0	9	4
Colorado	0	0	7	5

Friday's results

South Carolina 85, Baylor 84

Texas 78, Appalachian St. 43

Today's Games

Tennessee at Kansas, 1 p.m.

Cotton Bowl to take final bow

JAIME ARON — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:35 CST

When J. Curtis Sanford sat in the stands of the Rose Bowl in 1936, the Dallas oilman thought his city should also have a New Year's Day game.

So the following year he got Sammy Baugh and TCU to play Marquette in the stadium called the Cotton Bowl and tacked that name onto the game itself.

Sanford's bowl became among the best in the land, good enough to crown national champions and showcase Heisman Trophy winners. The 1954 edition produced one of the most memorable plays in college football history when Alabama's Tommy Lewis came off the sideline to tackle Rice's Dicky Maegle and prevent a 95-yard touchdown run, only to have officials give it to him anyway.

But, things change. Even namesakes can be dumped.

When No. 7 Texas Tech plays No. 20 Ole Miss today, it will be the 73rd and final time the Cotton Bowl is played at the Cotton Bowl.

Cyclones still reeling from Chizik's exit

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:37 CST

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said that twice last week, Gene Chizik assured him that he wouldn't dump the Cyclones for Auburn.

That's just one of the many reasons Chizik's departure was such a kick in the gut for Iowa State -- which once again finds itself trying to pick its football program off the ground.

An emotional Pollard addressed the media Monday for the first time since confirming that Chizik was leaving to coach the Tigers, despite a 5-19 record in two years with the Cyclones.

Pollard said that Iowa State's fans, staff and players "deserved better," and even called Chizik's character and values into question. He said he had a hard time coming to terms with Chizik's recent actions in light of what he displayed in his two years at Iowa State.

"He's got to reconcile in himself what he told all these players and what he told our administration and what he's doing now. And if he can live with that, more power to him. I know Jamie Pollard couldn't have done that to this place."

Oklahoma's Bradford wins Heisman

RALPH D. RUSSO — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:42 CST

Sam Bradford's biggest score: the Heisman Trophy.

Oklahoma's amazingly accurate and quick-thinking quarterback won the Heisman on Saturday night after guiding the highest-scoring team in major college football history to the national championship game.

A year after Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win the Heisman, Bradford became the second and kept the Florida quarterback from joining Archie Griffin as the only two-time winners.

Bradford, who leads the nation in touchdown passes with 48, received 1,726 points. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy was second with 1,604 and Tebow -- who received the most first-place votes -- was third with 1,575 points.

"I was definitely surprised and I think it's everything I imagined," said Bradford, who raised the 25-pound bronze statue with his left hand still in a cast from a recent surgery. "I think it will take a couple weeks to set in."