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Tuesday, October 24, 2000
Sports
THE BATTALION
Standings after
October 21, 2000
xm rm t Conference
NORfH Record
Nebraska 4-0
Kansas St. 3-1
Iowa St. 2-2
Kansas 2-2
Missouri 1-3
Colorado 1-3
SOUTH
Oklahoma 3-0
Texas 3-1
I Texas A&M 3-1
Texas Tech 1-3
Oklahoma St. 0-3
Baylor 0-4
RUBEN DELUNA/Thk Battamon
Big 12 in national spotlight Saturday
FILE PHOTO/Thk Bat talk#*
Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch will lead the No. 1- ranked Cornhuskers into another battle royal against rival Ok
lahoma this weekend. The winner will not only be a frontrunner for the Big 12 title, but for the national title, as well.
F our games down and
only four to go: The
Big 12 football sea
son is at the halfway point
and there is still no clear-
cut favorite, with three
Top-10 teams and two
others with only one conference loss. The homestretch not
only will decide who will represent the North and South divi
sions in the Big 12 Championship game, it likely also will de
cide who competes for the national championship and the
country's most prestigious bowl games.
Big 12 North
Nebraska is on top of the list with the fast track to the Big
12 Championship game. But it is not quite that simple, as it
will have to get through first No. 3 Oklahoma and then No. 10
Kansas State.
Meanwhile, KSU is already preparing for the 'Buskers’ re
turn to Manhattan. In 1999, both teams were in position to
win the North division. Nebraska won in Lincoln and went on
to win the Big 12 Championship.
The season before, it was the same situation but at Kansas
State. Kansas State won, only to be defeated in overtime by
Texas A&M in the Big 12 Championship game, ending its
hopes for a national championship.
The Wildcats are ready to go back to the championship
game and try to change the result at Arrowhead Stadium in
Kansas City Dec. 2.
Big 12 South
Oklahoma has been ripping through conference plays with
a big win over Big 12 South favorite Texas and then handing
the Wildcats their first loss. As the only undefeated team in
the Big 12 South, the Sooners are in solid contention, but the
race for the South is far from over.
Texas A&M’s near shutout of Iowa State puts it in control
of its destiny because as it has yet to face either the Long
horns or the Sooners. A&M will go to K.C. if it wins its re
maining three games in the South against Oklahoma State,
Oklahoma and Texas.
Stanford's upset of Texas dropped the Longhorns out of
the Top 10. Then Oklahoma’s blowout in the Red River Clas
sic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas dropped the 'Horns from the
polls completely. Now Texas must play perfectly and hope
someone from the South beats Oklahoma and A&M if it is to
represent the South for the second straight year.
Bowl Watch
The Big 12 has a record seven guaranteed bowl invitations
this season. This Saturday, conference schools claimed three
of those spots and are all-but-guaranteed to fill another three
before the end of the season.
No. 1 Nebraska’s 59-0 shutout against Baylor gave it its sev
enth win of the season, keeping it on pace for the Orange Bowl.
Meanwhile, the conference’s other undefeated team, No. 3 Ok
lahoma, had an off week but secured its bowl eligibility with a
win over Kansas State. No. 10 Kansas State rounds out the
teams that have qualified, holding a 7-1 record of its own.
A trio of teams is right on the bubble with five wins.
Texas-and A&M both are 5-2. Iowa State’s fast track to qual
ify for its first bowl game since 1978 was put on hold by the
Aggies Saturday, but the Cyclones will have plenty of op
portunity to gain the one additional win needed.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech, despite claiming five wins this
season, must win an additional two games to be eligible. Its
season opener against New Mexico in the Hispanic College
Fund Classic does not count toward eligibility.
Kansas is the only other team with strong contention for a
bowl. The Jayhawks need to add two wins to their 4-3 record
to qualify. Oklahoma State, Baylor and Missouri are in mathe
matical contention with two wins, but the Bears and Tigers
will have to win out to qualify.
Even though two of the favorites to compete in the national
championship come from the Big 12 North, the divisions are
proving to be quite evenly matched. Both should send at least
three of their six teams to postseason play and each has an un
defeated team.
Championship Preview
Saturday, those two undefeated teams, No. 1 Nebraska
and No. 3 Oklahoma, will face off in a showdown of what
could be a prelude to the Big 12 Championship game.
Because it pairs two of the top three teams in the country in
a regular season battle, it most likely will be one of the high
lights of the 2000 college football season.
The game will feature two of the country’s top quarterbacks"
— the Cornhuskers’ Eric Crouch and the Sooners’ Josh Heupel.
Heupel is the fifth most proficient passer in Division I-A.
Crouch is not currently in the ratings, partially because he is be
low the minimum attempts per game (15) and because he is just
as likely to win a game with his quick feet as he is with his arrr^
The OU-Nebraska matchup has a history of classic duels. 1
In 33 off the last 36 meetings, one of the two has been in the l
Top 10. In both 1987 and 1971, Nebraska was ranked No. 1 :
and Oklahoma No. 2. The Sooners won in Lincoln in 1987, $
17-7. But in 1971, the Huskers won the “Game of the Centu- (
ry,” 35-31, at Norman.
This one promises to carry on the storied tradition.
:1 i
Jason Lincoln is a junior journalism major
t
Aggies shut out Cowgirls, 5-0
STAFF AND WIRE
Texas A&M completed their sweep of the state of
Oklahoma Sunday by shutting out the Oklahoma
State Cowgirls, 5-0.
With 11:28 remaining in the first half, Alison Pe
ters hit a volley from the right side of the penalty box
off a cross from the left flank by Juli Coin. The goal
was Peters’ second and the assist was the fifth of the
year for Coin.
A&M made the score 2-0 just before halftime
when Heather Ragsdale scored her team-leading 12th
;goal of the season from 12 yards out.
In the 61st minute. Heather Williams was tack
led from behind inside the penalty box and con
nected on the ensuing penalty kick for her third goal
’of the season.
Cameron Chorn scored her first goal of the season
Ito give the Aggies a 4-0 lead with 22:30 left on the
^game clock. Adrienne Dillard played a ball from the
midline to Peters on the right flank. Peters crossed the
[ball inside the 6-yard box, where Chorn hit a half vol-
’ley just inside the back post.
A&M scored its final goal when Dillard headed a
shot that nicked the crossbar and found the net. Am
ber Reynolds was credited with her third assist of the
season as she hit a cross from the left flank. The goal
was Dillard’s first of her career.
“I thought we had a good performance by our en
tire roster today,” said A&M head coach G. Guerri-
eri. “The referee did a great job of keeping the game
flowing, which played to our advantage. It allowed us
to serve and finish well today'.”
Goalkeeper Esther Thompson earned the shutout,
bringing her season total to 4.5. Thompson saved
three Cowgirl shots in the game.
With the win, A&M improves to 13-5-0 overall
and 7-2-0 in Big 12 Conference play. The loss drops
Oklahoma State to 3-14-1 on the year and 0-8-1 in
the league.
The Aggies return to action Thursday when they
host the University of Texas at the Aggie Soccer
Complex.
Both teams have identical 7-2 league marks, and
the winner earns the second seed in the upcoming Big
12 Conference Tournament. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
BERNARDO GARZA/T-m-: Battalion
The Texas A&M soccer team swept the state of Oklahoma
last weekend, finishing up with the OSU Cowgirls Sunday.
FILE PHOTO/The Battalion
The Texas A&M English team won their first competition of the season
on Sunday by defeating West Texas A&M at Oklahoma State University.
A&M shows good english
Aggie English riders tally win at OSU
STAFF AND WIRE
The English portion of the Texas A&M
equestrian team traveled to Stillwater, Okla.,
last weekend to compete in its first competi
tion of the season.
The Aggies won their second straight show,
narrowly defeating West Texas A&M Universi
ty and Kansas State at the Animal Science Arena
on the campus of Oklahoma State University.
The Aggies defeated West Texas by a score
of 28 to 27, and Kansas State took a close third
place with 26 points in Sunday action.
A&M scored 90 points on the weekend,
ahead of the Wildcats’ total of 85. West Texas
A&M was third with 65.
Catherine Crisp’s third-place finish in in
termediate flat riding gave the Aggies the
points they needed to push to the top of the fi
nal standings.
“We knew coming into this weekend that
we were going to have a strong team,” said
English coach Meghan Nolan. “It surprised
me to see how much stronger some of the oth
er teams have gotten and it pleases me even
more to see that we’re better.”
Individually, Meredith Houx took high
point rider honors with a win in open fences
and a runner-up finish in open flat.
A&M took five first-place finishes in the
16 contested classes, including wins in three
of the four fences classes.
Among those capturing fences titles were:
Houx; Beth von Brecht, intermediate fences;
Bonner Wimberly, novice fence.
Other Aggies claiming wins on the day
were Germaine Dougherty in open flat and
Keyea Webster in intermediate flat.
Four Aggie riders finished in the runner-up
position on Sunday, including Houx and Stacy
Kaber in open flat and Krys Ruppert and Jayme
McCarthy in advanced walk-trot-canter.
The Aggie English team will not compete
again until Dec. 2.
A&M’s Western riders will hit the road
next Saturday to compete in two shows at
West Texas A&M in Canyon.
Texas A&M
women’s golf
struggles on
West Coast trip
STAFF AND WIRE
The Texas A&M women’s golf team had a bad
weekend in California at the Stanford/Pepsi
Women’s Intercollegiate, and their final-round per
formance on Sunday made it even worse, finishing
in a tie for 15th place with a score of 312-314-
321=947.
“We didn’t play very well,” said coach Jeanne
Sutherland. “We know exactly what we have to do
to improve. But we just aren’t focusing.”
Mimi Epps led the Aggies in all three rounds with
a 14-over-par total of 76-78-76=230, putting her in
35th place in individual standings.
Anna Jonsson took 52nd place at 78-78-78=234,
McKenzie Dyslin carded a score of 77-81-83=241
(72nd), Jennie Poth shot 81-81-84=246 and Mira
Bendevis posted 84-77-85=246 for a tie at 87th.
Marta Ostos, competing as an individual, shot a 77
and an 80 in the first and third rounds, respectively,
but did not finish play in the second round.
In team standings, No. 2-ranked Arizona stayed
on top the entire tournament, taking first place with
a six-stroke lead over the nearest competition at 277-
293-303=873. No. 3-ranked Southern California
grabbed second place at 296-286-297=879 followed
by No. 5-ranked Stanford in third place at 292-290-
304=886, No. 11 Tulsa (894), No. 21 New Mexico
State (896), Pepperdine (902), No. 19 Arizona State
(914), No. 17 UCLA (918), No. 18 San Jose State
(923), New Mexico (924), Texas Tech (931), Cali
fornia (932), Indiana (935), Oregon State (939),
Texas A&M (947), Washington (947), Washington
State (949) and Oregon (955).
After a three-way tie for first place in individual
standings headed into the final round, Tulsa’s Stacy
Prammanasudh emerged as the winner firing a 72-
68-70=210 (-6).
Arizona’s Lorena Ochoa took second place at 66-
74-73=213 followed by Leila Chartrand of USC at
71-71-72=214.
The Aggies will look for brighter days at the
Rainbow Wahine Fall Classic from Oct. 31-Nov. 1,
at the Kapolei G.C. in Honolulu, Hawaii.