I could careless who is in what bowl BUT if one is to argue that KU doesn’t belong in a BCS bowl b/c of their loss to MU then should LSU and Ohio State be in the national championship bowl since both of those teams each have a loss or two in the case of LSU? Hawaii on the other hand was undefeated and they are not in the championship game. Seriously the BCS should be revamped, again, and give more weight to strength of schedule so teams such as KU are not in a BCS bowl game

You state that Missouri was way better than an 8 point winner against KU, but fail to mention 2 missed field goals, and 2 interceptions, that had a bearing on the “early” scoring difference. Maybe you should remember the game is 60 minutes, not first to score 30 points.

Oh, and Devon…it’s not good to lie!

The “system” had nothing to do with this. All the rules had been followed and the automatic slotting done. When the time came, the Orange Bowl did what they’ve been doing for over fifty years: they selected the team they wanted to invite. There was only one reason Missouri did not get the invitation – the Orange Bowl prefered Kansas.

Why no mention of Illinois? They lost to Missouri, they lost three times and yet they’re playing in the Rose Bowl. The rule that a conference is only allowed two teams in BCS bowls kept Missouri out. That and the Orange Bowl’s preference for Kansas.

As for Missouri being clearly better than Kansas that’s debatable. Missouri played well and KU was 0 for 4 in the redzone in the first half; partly due to Missouri’s play and partly due to missed chip shots. Making absolute statements when there is such limited and contradictory evidence is foolish, but required given your unthinking screed’s foundation is this unfounded conclusion.

What was Missouri’s big win? Illinois? You put a win against a bottom rung SEC team on KU’s schedule and all of the sudden they’d be in LSU’s spot right now. What’s the big deal? Only one game counts now anyway. The rest are all consolation games hyped up to boost tourism.

KU not as close to Mizzou as the score indicated. How about 38-17 in a second attempt at a neutral site versus a team that lost to CU and Tech? Was that game as close as the score indicated? C’mon, Mizzou knew the deal going in.

Jenni, I’ll type this slowly so you can follow it: The BCS is designed to set up a championship game between the top 2 teams. After that, their rankings are intended to be helpful suggestions for the bowl games as to who they might want to pick.

The Orange Bowl picked Kansas not only because they were in the BCS top eight because but because they were more confident that KU would sell out their allotment of tickets, bring more people and pump more money into the S. Florida economy than Missouri. If the Orange Bowl thought Colorado would’ve brought 50,000 wealthy fans, you can bet the Buffs would be in there instead of KU. Other than those first two teams, the BCS doesn’t bind anyone to anything.

I understand you’ve had a rough past few months, Jenni. It’s easy to see how concepts like this would slip by you.

Dave, you are exactly correct. When discussing the selection(s) of at-large bid(s), the committee can, and always does, select WHOEVER they want. Not necessarily who is the better team.

The OB felt that Kansas was the more attractive team come the first week of January. And I can’t say that I disagree. Look at their basketball schedule. They play Boston College (an ACC team) in a nationally televised game on the 5th. So, Jenni, you tell me which team would be the bigger draw on January 3rd against an ACC team; Kansas, or Missouri?

What is your source for KU’s SOS???

KU’s SOS (from every source I have found):
Anderson & Hester – 67
Massey – 69
CBS.Sportsline – 74
Congrove – 76
Solesmic Software – 84
Sagarin’s Ratings – 88
Colley Matrix – 89
GBE – 91

I could not find where we are 110 in SOS. Is Ms. Carlson doing any verification of her data outside of message board fodder. Tigerboard.com does not count for a source.

Not only does CBSSports.com have KU at 74, they also have USC at 75. Fancy that not being in the story.

Jenni,

Go back to the kitchen.

Perfect example of a women trying to talk sports with the boys but really has no idea of what she is saying. If you want to talk about sweet potatoes, laundry detergent, or diapers, we’ll listen. Until then, don’t babble on about stuff that makes you look bad. Look into Illinois’ situation. Look further into the whole BCS system and what it is designed to do.

Beau, I don’t appreciate your comments about women only knowing stuff around the house. I know more sports and auto stuff than most of my friends and I also graduated with a Chemistry degree. So I know more than just outside my laundry room. I love knowing that there are guys who come up to me to talk sports. I think that Jenni’s column is wrong and unfounded myself, but saying what you did was so 1950′s. I will be the GAL yelling at the Orange Bowl louder than most men!

ITS GARBAGE!!!! THIS WHOLE ARTICLE IS GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!

Jenni–
Please cite where you found KU’s SOS to be 110. I can’t find that anywhere online, either.

Jayhawk Jenn,

My apologies. It wasn’t a blanket statement, just trying to get under her skin b/c she got under mine with that load of crap she called a column. Even if her facts were true (they aren’t) and you were a Jayhawk (she is) you’d never write such garbage. She didn’t represent herself well as a sports columnist or a Jayhawk.

Thanks Beau. I didn’t like her column at all and I can understand the frustration and anger. When it comes from a women, it makes it easier to blame. I just wanted to make you aware that I know more manly stuff than womanly stuff and I’m proud of it and have many male friends that adore that. I agree with your comment about not representing herself well at all. Thanks for your apology, means a lot! Rock Chalk!!

HMMMMMMMMMMM

Enough of this SOS stuff already! if you look at several published SOS’s, you might note that Kansas defeated eight teams that are listed as having a higher SOS than KU. SOS doesn’t mean squat diddly. Look at the wins and especially with the weaker teams, the score differential. J. Carlson, you might be better off sticking to slamming Oklahoma State kids. Just make sure if you do, that “he’s a man.”

LOL AT JENNI CARLSON ATTEMPTING JOURNALISM! SEE YOU IN MIAMI!

According to the NCAA website, KU’s SOS is #81, based on the cumulative record of opponents. I think Jenni’s source for KU’s SOS is the tigerboard.com. Once again, Jenni writes without verifying the data fro a reliable source. While Jenni has stopped “cheering” for KU (she makes it seem as if she went to KU under some kind of duress), the William Allen White School of Journalism is definitely not do any bragging about have given Jenni a degree.

Jenni,

You know a lot of us Jayhawk faithful backed you after your Mike Gundy debacle. But, after this piece of GARBAGE, you’re Jayhawk privileges are revoked. Don’t come back. Take your diploma off the wall.

Oh, and have fun covering the Tigers in Dallas. Don’t even think about coming down to Miami.

Jenni,

Everything important, everything that just destroys the point of your column (like the fact that BCS isn’t set up to do anything beyond set the championship game) has already been said.

I just wanted to add that it’s sad how you are putting yourself out there in such an embarrassing and pitiful manner. Clearly, the Gundy incident has turned you into someone who once had a promising career but now no longer merits being taken seriously as a journalist.

Full disclosure would include the fact that you didn’t effectively research the BCS info you used in your article.

Whoops, my bad. I guess it wasn’t necessary for you to do so, since it is so obvious your research skills are somewhat wanting.

Fellow KU grad here too Jenni. I remember when you used to write for University Daily Kansan. Looks like you still aren’t doing too well with fact checking.

If you want to talk travesty, and strength of schedule, then lets talk about tOSU. Their best win is against Michigan, any other year this would be a quality win, this year not so much. The best team they played, they lost to (Illinois, for those not familiar). So why is all the talk about how Kansas is a Joke and shouldn’t be in the BCS game. The Joke is tOSU playing for the National Title, and even worse is the fact that the Big Ten got two teams into BCS games, now that is a travesty. Just in case you were wondering tOSU’s non confrence games were Youngstown St, Kent St., Akron, and Washington. How is that Non conference schedule better that Kansas non conference schedule.

I think she missed the point. The problem is the 2 team minimum for every conference. Three of the top eight teams are Big XII, and all three should be in BCS bowls.

The inequity is not that KU is going but rather that Illinois is.

I don’t know who Jenni is, but she shouldn’t give up whatever her day job is. Besides the lack of fact checking, she’s a very poor writer who doesn’t have much command of the English language. She will never make it as a writer/journalist with that poorly written blog. For example, “Now, they on the outside of the BCS bowls looking in”. Did you review your work prior to posting it?!?

Perhaps the Orange Bowl reps noticed that in KU’s only loss, KU played hard to the final buzzer and never quit, making the game fun to watch til the end. That was not the case with MU and OU this past weekend. MU quit, plain and simple. No one likes quitters.

Also, MU was not gracious losers. When KU got beat by Missouri, the players were disappointed, but respectful. When MU got beat, their quarterback acted like an 8th grader by throwing temper tantrums on the sidelines and pointing the finger at the other players on his team, i.e extending his arms in disgust when Rucker tipped the pass that was intercepted. Nice team mentality there, Chase.

Since MU beat KU and ended up ranked higher than KU in the final poll, it is obvious the Orange Bowl reps were looking at something other than the rankings and head to head record. Could it be the Orange Bowl wanted a team to play in their game that would fight until the end and show class regardless of the outcome? Hence they chose KU over MU? Makes sense to me.

Jenni,

I am embarrassed that you are a KU Alumnus. I am not embarrassed because you are a traitor rather I am embarrassed that you voice your opinion so vociferously about a topic that you apparently know so little about. It sounds like this is beginning to be a common theme with you lately. Are you an attention hound or can you just not spend the time and the effort to think of something interesting, informative, insightful, and accurate to write?

KU deserves to be in the BCS. KU finished 11-1 in while playing in a BCS league, and their only loss was to another good team at a neutral site. As a matter of fact though I don’t like to say it, I readily admit that MU deserves to be in the BCS as well. MU’s complaint however should not be that KU made it to the BCS. Their complaint should rest with the fact that Illinois, West Virginia, and USC all made the BCS and all are less “deserving” than either MU or KU. MU beat Illinois who also happened to finish with 3 total losses. WVU and USC each finished with two total losses while they each lost to a horrible team at home. Also, USC beat exactly the same number of teams with a winning record that KU beat. Of course no one in the media including yourself has the guts to say that USC does not deserve to be in the BCS.

MU may have got “hosed” like you say, but it was not by KU. They got hosed by the system because of two distinct flaws in said system. (not there are not more that they may be revealed in other instances) First they got screwed not by KU, but by the BCS rule that only allows a maximum 2 teams from any conference regardless of which teams are actually “deserving” in any given year. The last I checked there is no rule to prevent the ACC or any other conference to land 8 or 9 teams in the NCAA tournament in any given year if that conference is particularly strong that year. The sole purpose for the existence of this rule is to make sure that all of the BCS money stays fairly evenly divided among all of the BCS conferences. The other thing that did MU in (other than getting thumped badly, not just in opinion as in the case you were making about MU’s win over a KU being bigger than it was, but rather in actual fact) was the Rose Bowl’s absolute determination to do anything within the “rules” to achieve a PAC10/Big10 match up every year.

If all of the most deserving team’s were then KU and MU would both be in a BCS game and either Illinois, West Virginia, or USC would be on the outside looking in.

Also, you are not really impressing anyone with the big loud, look at me I am so impartial I can bag on my alma mater routine. It has been tried before many times by many whiny and gutless journalists in the past, and though many of these same journalists were also much more talented than you it still did not get them very far since it is very, very easy to see right through that nauseating act and see exactly what it going on.

She never knows what she is talking about….Ask Mike Gundy!!!!!!!

Is this a memo or a column? Did she put more than 3 sentences together in a paragraph?

“Would someone please explain to me how this happens? ”

I feel for readers of NewsOk.com. This gal doesn’t even understand the basics of the BCS. It is only designed to pit the top 2 teams. After that, the bowls pick who they want. Don’t blame Kansas.

“Missouri was more than eight points better.”

Huh? This is like 6th grade dialogue now. No, MU was 8 points better because that was the final score. Good lord.

I’m embarrassed that KU put out such a poor graduate.

“The fact that Kansas is going to a BCS bowl…is a complete and total crock.”

What an idiotic statement to put in an article ripping the BCS system. Kansas was ranked #8 in the final BCS Polls – the 3rd highest ranked at-large school. Thus, Kansas should have Ms. Carlson’s absolute and unconditional support to be included in the BCS (in addition to the fact that the reputation of KU’s esteemed school of Journalism got her a job since she obviously didn’t get it out of any talent in writing). The problem for Ms. Carlson should not be that Kansas is included as they are #8 with 10 spots available. Her problem should be with the system that allows for the #13 rated school to be selected over #6 rated school.

I live in the KC area and read NewsOK on-line. I get the KC Star at my house. When I saw Gundy go off, I knew it must have been poor Jenny again. She used to work for the Star and cover high school sports, unfortunately. She was embarassing back then with her poor research before she started to write. Obviously, not much has changed. Sorry hon, just getting a degree does not give you the right to start making assumptions about things of which you know nothing about. One FB (which you probably have never played) and two sports in general. She thinks she is a mini Jason Whitlock (the Star’s “big time” sports journalist) that can make controversial comments and get away with it. The problem is she lacks the knowledge and understading. Whitlock actually makes sense from time to time. I’m suprised she is allowed to continue and glad she is gone from KC. Besides, a KU grad writing on FB. Give me a break!

Jenni,
I have to start by saying how deeply disappointed I was to read your article. I thought that KU graduates were a bit more loyal than this. It really shouldn’t matter where your are a journalist and for whom you are writing for, you trash talking your Alma Mater this way was a disgrace. Have you followed Kansas football this year? Or any of the past years for that matter? Let me tell you something, this team is a hard working team AND has represented The University of Kansas in an amazing fashion this season. This group of boys and coaching staff deserves this Orange Bowl. I am not saying that Missouri hasn’t worked hard; I am sure they have, but what makes it Kansas’ fault that they aren’t in the BCS? I agree, they did get robbed. Missouri should be in a BCS bowl and do you know how painful that is for me to say being a KU fan? If you wanted to highlight Missouri, please don’t take KU down in your article.

Jenni:

Regardless of how you peel the peach, you end up with a (pitT), Playoffs, Bowl System whatever. The best team (football is a team sport played by 11 separate entities on both sides of the ball) and often does not always win the championship. I was at the WVU/PITT game last Saturday Night and the best team did not win. We had a 10-1 record and they were 4-7. But I did not recognize the WVU team I had watched in 11 previous games. It was no out of character that it seemed surreal. Two 15 yard field goals were missed by WVU (good snaps). The Karma was turning I guess.

There is good news for OU fans; more tickets are likely to become available because WVU people are cancelling theirs through the travel agencies at breakneck speed. Of course it is so far to drive from Saint Albans, WV and so expensive that my family couldn’t even consider it. I doubt WVU will take more than 2,000 fans to the game.

Sincerely,

John S. Shackelford
13 Central Drive
Saint Albans, WV 25177
A Vietnam Combat Veteran that is not ashamed of his service!

Soooooo if OU is so superior to the other league schools how is it Kansas could beat Colorado and OU couldn’t OU also lost to a weak Tech team. If KU and MU played ten times KU would win 7 or 8 times. The fact that MU never travels well and didn’t sell out their allotment to San Antonio couldn’t help either. All the BCS bowls favored KU over MU.

As esteemed KC Star columnist Jason Whitlock wrote about Jenni’s writing – “Gundy called it “garbage,” and I can’t disagree…”

Jenny:

why did u choose to act a kansas school that was ranked #8. . . . why not attack a hawaii or say an illinois, or perhaps attack the 2 school only qualification. . . .sure mz deserved to be in a bcs bowl, but to say that kansas didn’t is a travesty. . . it disgusts me. .

i’m just glad they came out tonite, finished 12-1, in a bcs conference, with only an 8 pt loss to a top 10 team. . . .not a bad season, and definitely deserving of everything they have earned.