Locked On Jayhawks - Daily Podcast On Kansas Jayhawks Football & Basketball - Locked On Jayhawks - 10.22.19

Episode Date: October 22, 2019

Border Showdown Reignites in MBB; Les Miles and Carter Stanley talk KU football Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tuesday edition of Locked On Jayhawks. What's up everyone? I am Sean Kellerman, Learfield IMG College Broadcaster and University of Kansas Insider. This is Locked On Jayhawks, your daily podcast on the Kansas Jayhawks, giving you insight, numbers, and then late last night, news came about that I don't think anybody was expecting what news it was. The longest continuous rivalry west of the Mississippi River for such a long time has been renewed. Kansas and Missouri have announced a multi-year agreement to reignite the border showdown rivalry. And I got to say, when I first saw this notice come in my inbox, my initial thought was hatred. My blood started boiling immediately just because of how I feel about Missouri

growing up on state line or near state line with Kansas fans and Missouri fans. That was the game. That was the game that you needed to win. It didn't matter that Kansas was nearly always higher ranked than Missouri. It didn't matter that Kansas was nearly always beating Missouri. Missouri's program basically paled in comparison to what the Jayhawks had as a Blue Blood. You still circled that game because of how badly you wanted to win and how badly you wanted not to lose. So whether you like it or not, it's back.

I was undecided when it came out, but like I said, that feeling of hatred came back in me, and now that I've had a little bit of time to digest it, man am I excited to get back on the hardwood and face these guys and hopefully beat them because beating Missouri just means a little bit more and just feels a little bit better even though the teams of course are no longer in the same conference. Jeff Long with this release came out said quote one of the best aspects of college athletics is rivalries and we are thrilled that our fans and student athletes will get to experience this border showdown rivalry once again in quote from jeff long our director of athletics

here at ku he goes on to talk about how they've sought input from fans and supporters and for the most part fans want it back we know that missouri fans have wanted it back they've wanted an opportunity to be frank to have a team on their schedule that they could potentially get a marquee win for. Missouri's never been to a Final Four. Let's not forget that. So they're trying to get themselves in a position to where they can compete at the highest level. And of course, picking up any victory over Kansas, they would be able to improve their resume so much in terms of the postseason that that would be huge. And on the flip side, and this is why many KU fans wanted nothing to do with this rivalry, is that Kansas losing to Missouri would mean a heck of a lot more

to their resume than if they beat Missouri, a team that pretty much every year they should beat. So you add that to the fact that many fans shared Bill Self's stubbornness in this rivalry in terms of, they left our conference, why should we play them? It's time, I guess. I guess, you know, it's been about seven years. February 25th, 2012, it was my birthday back in the day, the final game of the regular season between these two teams and that was an epic we'll get into that a little bit later but uh coach self and jeff long talked about the support from the fans and majority of the fans wanting to get this going and coach self said quote even though we haven't played the last few years i know it was something our players and fans have missed and so

did i end quote and he talks about the 2017 exhibition game in which these teams hooked up. That was at Sprint Center. The showdown for relief, if you remember, in 2017, and that raised over $2 million for hurricane relief. Ended up being a great idea and a great cause, and you got a feel for that hatred between know between these two sides once again so whether you like it or not it's back and again growing up on the Kansas Missouri side I am one of the many Jayhawk fans who just has learned about the hatred between these two schools and these two sides

dating all the way back to the Civil War so the rivalry is back the game you circle is back and for K-State fans I'm not sure how they feel about that because they always consider Kansas their rival. Kansas has always considered Missouri, at least in my opinion, as their main rival. And maybe people closer to Topeka or in between Manhattan and Lawrence talk about how they hate K-State more than Missouri. It's not been that way for me growing up on the other side, but I understand some of those thoughts, certainly, but I think K-State kind of goes back to being one step below where they were, at least in the eyes of Kansas and their fans, as the border showdown is back.

Let's take one look back, just for fun, at that final regular season matchup between Kansas and Missouri KU 87 Missouri 86 at Allen Fieldhouse the greatest game of basketball I've ever been to and that includes the triple overtime victory in which Buddy Heald scored 46 on the Jayhawks and Kansas came out of that on top that was was one versus two. So one versus two triple overtime. It was an absolute classic, but it does not compare to this Kansas-Missouri game. The energy in the arena was unbelievable.

And look at some of these statistics individually. The leading scorers for both teams had 28 points. Marcus Denman for Mizzou had 28 points on 10 of 15 shootings, 6 of 10 threes. Thomas Robinson had 28 for Kansas, 8 of 9 free throws. He had 12 rebounds. T-Rob was a double-double machine that entire season. Ricardo Ratliff for Mizzou had 22 points for Kansas. Tyshawn Taylor had 24. This was a Mizzou team that would end up as a two-seed in the NCAA tournament in 2012 and lose in the first round to 15-seed Norfolk State.

And for Kansas, they also ended up as a two-seed in that tournament. What did the Jayhawks do? They were the national runners-up, losing to Anthony Davis' Kentucky Wildcats. So two very different postseasons, as it has been two very different programs in the history of these two schools. But it's back, and I'm excited. I can't wait to see the first matchup at Sprint Center on December 12th. And feel free to give me your thoughts.

What do you think about Border Showdown coming back? Six consecutive years, these two teams are going to hook up in college basketball, and perhaps this could be an opening for the teams to match up in football and other sports as well. But right now, it's going to be a non-conference battle in men's basketball alone. Next six years, beginning December 12, 2020, at Sprint Center. Coming up a little bit later on Locked On Jayhawks, we're going to talk about Kansas football. Les Miles previews Texas Tech and does a little bit looking back toward Texas.

And we've got a lot more Bill Self sound as well. So a lot to get to. One other note regarding Kansas basketball, or at least a former Kansas basketball player. It was announced today, Jeff Goodman of WatchStadium.com announced that former KU guard Quentin Grimes has been cleared to play this season for Houston. Grimes has been working with the first team for the Cougars, and according to Goodman, Grimes won eligibility, immediate eligibility, on the fact

that there wasn't a scholarship open for him at Kansas when he decided to withdraw from the NBA draft. Told that KU supported him being eligible right away. I'm not surprised that KU supported him being eligible right away. I think it's kind of interesting. People can read between the lines on the whole. There wasn't a scholarship open for him at Kansas. We're not going to jump to conclusions or anything, but perhaps he was politely told that,

hey, we've already got our roster, we're set for next year. But then KU, of course, doing the right thing and pleading for Grimes to be able to have an opportunity to play right away, and it looks like he won. So Grimes is going to get a chance to play as a true sophomore at Houston this season. A lot more coming up on Locked on Jayhawks,

part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Just finished up talking about the reigniting of the border showdown between Kansas and Missouri as the two teams are set to do battle in men's basketball beginning in 2020, specifically December 12th of 2020, and they're going to do battle for six consecutive years. It's going to start at the Sprint Center and end at the Sprint Center. Lawrence-Columbia, Lawrence-Columbia in between,

and wow, what news that was for KU fans and Mizzou fans as that rivalry is officially back after what will be about an eight-year hiatus in the regular season. We talked about that game in 2012 that was the last time these two teams matched up in the regular season, and Kansas clinched the Big 12 title in that victory. It was a massive comeback victory. They trailed 58-39 in the second half behind 28 points from thomas robinson 24 from taishan taylor and how about a four for four from deep performance from connor tehan the jayhawks had just enough to get it done and what was crazy was that marcus denman shot that he did not

get off in time before the final horn sounded in fact dropped in kind of a microcosm for Missouri fans as they throughout their time just have not been as good as Kansas and that was perfect that they made the shot but time had already expired Kansas won that one 87-86 and we're looking forward to 2020 and the many years ahead and perhaps eventually across many sports the the Border Showdown returns. All right, some news came out today about Kansas football as well. It was the 2020 Big 12 football schedule being announced. Kansas, in terms of conference play, will go on the road five times, and they'll have four home games. And also going to have the traditional three-game non-conference slate,

but it's actually going to be a little bit different, as Kansas will open on Labor Day weekend on September 5th at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium against New Hampshire. But then they're going to travel to Waco to take on the Baylor Bears in Week 2. We've seen some teams across other conferences do this, but it has not happened to Kansas in quite some time. In fact, this is the first time since 2012 that KU will open the Big 12 conference season before completing its non-conference slate.

September 12th at Baylor, KU's first conference game. Then the Hawks will be non-con for two more, a rematch against Boston College. That one will be in Lawrence in a rematch against Coastal Carolina. And, of course, that one will be on the road. And then KU has, as I mentioned, four home and five away games. The bye week for the season is going to be Halloween Day, October 31st. KU will have home tilts against Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Texas, and TCU. And they'll travel on the road.

They'll go to Manhattan on October 10th, if you want to circle that one. They travel to West Virginia and Texas Tech and Oklahoma. Final game of the regular season, Thanksgiving weekend, November 28th. That's a home match against TCU. So all of that finalized today. All right, let's venture back. We talked a lot yesterday and heard from Coach Miles post-game following the loss in Austin, the 50-48 instant classic. Coach Miles talked about

how his team came out early and from the get-go he liked the edge that they showed and the fact that they thought they should be the team to win this game. I liked the way they played and I enjoyed how they took the field, and they obviously were in a very competitive game from the start, so participated fully. And when you take the lead in the last drive, you think that you're going to win. So, yeah, I liked it.

One of the guys who had maybe his best performance as a jay hawk was ku's quarterback carter stanley he was 27 of 47 for 310 yards four touchdowns and he also ran the ball nine times for 65 yards and he put his head and shoulder down like he does so often showing that toughness and carter stanley did not turn the ball over in this one either ku won the turnover battle to nothing over the team that previously was best in the league at holding onto the ball and taking the ball away from his opponents and carter stanley talked about the k's offense and said he thinks that they got off to a good start under brent dearman i think it was it was a good first showing. I haven't

met with the coaches yet about it but you know just just going off how we played and watching film by myself yesterday I think I think it was pretty good. I know I can be better in some areas and we left a few points on the board there but it's a good start. It was a game in which KU tallied 569 total yards and, of course, did not turn the ball over, and KU was 6-7 in the red zone. All of this against a top-15 team, albeit not the best defense out there,

but a top-15 team on the road and in Game 1 for new offensive coordinator Brent Dierman. Here's coach miles at his press conference on Monday, talking about his new OC. He has a, um, kind of just a good view of, of the hundred yard field and kind of knows where he's and made some very significant calls on Saturday that put us in position to score. Aside from having a phenomenal first game in terms of X's and O's, Brent Damon was seen a lot on the sideline, kind of jumping, bouncing around, giving guys high fives

and really building up the entire team, not just the offense. Here's KU's quarterback talking about that. Yeah, totally. I'd say you can just see it. He gets everyone fired up. Even guys on defense are jumping up with him and stuff. That's just who he is, and that's what he brings to the table. Carter Stanley talking about Brent Dierman, who certainly will look to double down as KU takes on Texas Tech on Saturday.

That's going to be a 6 p.m. kickoff, and it's a beatable team. Kansas, of course, not where it wants to be in terms of scholarship numbers and maybe not in terms of talent on their roster up and down. Obviously some injuries have played a part in that as well, but every team has injuries, and Kansas, behind hopefully a big showing at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, will take down the Red Raiders on homecoming.

Coming up, we've got a lot more from Les Miles and Carter Stanley following the close loss in Austin, and we'll also preview Big 12 Media Day, which is taking place Wednesday tomorrow at Sprint Center. And of course, throughout the rest of the week, we'll hear a lot of sound from Bill Self, Devon Dotson, Yudokas Buki, and others as Kansas basketball prepares to have its first exhibition game in just two days, Thursday at 7 o'clock against Fort Hayes State at Allen

Fieldhouse. That's all coming up. The Locked On Podcast Network, the local experts on the biggest stories. Final segment here on Locked On Jayhawks. I am Sean Kellerman. Remember to follow me on Twitter at Sean Kellerman. You can follow the show at lo underscore jayhawks well we talked in the first segment about the reigniting of the border war we've heard from

les miles and carter stanley and we're going to do that in advance of talking a little bit about the big 12 basketball media days that are coming up tomorrow at sprint center so be sure to tune in the rest of this week as we're going to have all sorts of sound from Bill Self and the KU players in attendance, Devon Dotson, Yudoka Azubuki, and others. And certainly looking forward to that. But let's continue to talk about this football game that we saw on Saturday, which featured 48 points and 569 yards from Coach Brent Dierman's new offense or is it a new offense coach Miles

was asked at his press conference yesterday about if this offense is indeed as drastically different as it appeared the similarities between what we ran when in the first several games and what we're running now are significant it's just's just that the approach is different. And I think Mr. Dierman is doing a great job in pushing connectivity and team and physical play and yet similarities between some of the things that we call and dissimilarities. I mean, there's some specific to him additions him being quarterback carter stanley who did have nine carries as well and there are a couple big ones particularly some zone replays on third down that were able to keep

the ball in ku's hands of course we saw sam ellinger for texas continue to keep te ball in KU's hands. Of course, we saw Sam Ellinger for Texas continue to keep Texas in possession of the ball many times with third down scampers as well, but our guy Carter Stanley, nine carries, 65 yards, and certainly a lot of big ones. Passing the ball, Stanley was pretty efficient, 27 to 47, 310 yards, but what he really liked and what his coach really liked was his ability to find different guys. Stephon Robinson was the leading catcher with seven out of 27 possible catches, so Stanley was certainly moving the ball around, and here's what Carter said about feeding everyone. Yeah, I think it's really important. You know,'ve got a lot of talented guys in this offense, and I think honestly we could even get more. But no, I think that's pretty cool, and something we'll do moving forward. Coach Miles echoed his quarterback's sentiment in regards to making sure everyone gets involved. I think we're doing the things that we need to do, and I think that he is facilitating that extremely well.

And it's a, when you get the ball to nine guys, those nine guys, it makes their game jump a little. And I think you'll find that there'll be another and another and another what would be game with multiple receivers. And we know in talking to Coach Miles and kind of getting to know him and his interactions with the media and how he talks about football that he is definitely a cerebral guy. Not so much the X's and O's as much football that he is definitely a cerebral guy. Not so much the X's and O's as much anymore, but he's a cerebral guy. He can put himself in the minds of some of these players. And in regards to what these guys have been talking about, about spreading the ball around,

it means more than just statistics and making sure that everyone shows up on the box score. To Coach Miles, it means something much more it's team and when you have that you demonstrate it and and young guys got it's precipitate becomes a lot easier to block after you're out there catching a ball and it becomes and i think it was i think it was. I think it was truly a team effort. And I think that those nine guys plus others stepped in and made big plays based on the fact of the connective feeling of team. Emphasis on team for this Kansas football team or particularly the offense. We've heard a lot from Carter Stanley and Coach Miles regarding the offense and tomorrow and later this week we're going to hear

Coach Miles' thoughts on the special teams, kind of the elephant in the room over the weekend after Kansas was unable to close out UT. A couple blocked field goals. We'll also hear maybe some positives from the defensive side even though this team was playing a guy

or two down. And we'll hear about the status on Drew Prox as well and if he can potentially return. Jeremiah McCullough suffered what Coach Miles described as significant injuries. So we're not sure if we'll see any more of the senior McCullough the rest of the year. But hopefully he can get back and get healthy and have some sort of opportunity to contribute to this team before season's end. Okay, so we'll wrap things up. Just a quick chat about Big 12 Basketball Media Day. Yesterday, we talked about how the AP Top 25 poll was released and Kansas was ranked third. All four of the Champions Classic teams were ranked in the top four, highlighted by number one, Michigan State. It's Michigan State, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke in the top four. Only two other Big 12 teams were ranked in this preseason top 25.

Texas Tech, the national runners-up, they come in at 13. And Baylor, perhaps the most experienced squad, returns to the Big 12. They come in at 16. So high expectations for those Big 12 teams as well, in addition to our Jayhawks. No other Big 12 team, interestingly enough, even received so much as a vote in the AP Top 25, so the Riders thinking that it's going to be a top-heavy league, and of course the Jayhawks are hoping that they are at the top, going to bring that title back to Lawrence after not having won it last year when K-State and Texas Tech shared that title.

Tomorrow is Big 12 Media Day, and Bill Self, of course, will be at the podium. We'll hear from Bill Self on Locked On Jayhawks, and we'll hear from KU players, and we'll have all sorts of basketball talk tomorrow and Thursday in advance of Thursday night's exhibition opener against Fort Hayes State. Been a great show. We talked about the reigniting of the Border Showdown.

We've heard a lot from Les Miles and Carter Stanley. Can't wait to hear more from those guys as well as guys on the basketball side the remainder of this week. Thanks for tuning in. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter. Follow the show on Twitter at LO underscore Jayhawks. The Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And Rock Chalk Jayhawk.