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Senior writer talks Kansas sports

By Hallie Mann

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Dennis Dodd, senior writer for CBSSports.com, spends most of his time traveling, watching games and writing sports stories. Dodd covers college football in his column but says it’s a year-round job no matter what beat you’re covering. On Tuesday, he took time from his busy schedule to talk Big 12 Football, the BCS Championship and Kansas basketball.

Big 12 Football

The big story in Big 12 Football is the fight for the North. Dodd said that the jumble of teams and performances in the division make it the story to follow. Teams like Texas always do well, but this week the focus should be on Kansas vs. Kansas State Dodd said. Kansas State went 2-6 in Big 12 play last year.

“No one expected Kansas State to be any good,” Dodd said.

With the return of coach Bill Snyder to Kansas State, the Wildcats have gone 3-2 in conference play with a surprising 62-14 victory against Texas A&M, Oct. 17. This was not the Kansas State team that writers, including Dodd, saw coming into the beginning of the season and the Sunflower Showdown could be an elimination game for the Big 12 North, Dodd said.

BCS

In the BCS race, Dodd is following the smaller teams such as TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State, who are all gunning for a bowl game. All three teams are undefeated going into this week with Cincinnati ranked 5th, TCU ranked 6th and Boise State ranked 7th in the BCS poll. Dodd said his biggest fear is that these teams will go up against each other, hurting their chances to play against some big schools in the postseason.

Iowa, currently ranked 4th in the BCS polls is also on Dodd’s radar. Iowa has crept up the BCS rankings after making their first appearance since their preseason rank of 22nd, in week 5 at 13th. The Hawkeyes are undefeated and beat teams such as Michigan and Indiana already this season. Dodd said they could be on their way to the national championship game if Texas, Florida or Alabama have any upsets.

“They’re like Lyndon Johnson becoming the president,” Dodd said. “They’re just a heartbeat away if one of those teams fall.”

Kansas Basketball

As football heads into the second half of its season, Dodd is already looking at the potential for the Kansas men’s basketball team. Kansas is currently ranked No. 1 in the preseason polls and Dodd said he thinks they deserve it.

“It’s almost a curse being ranked No. 1 going into the season,” Dodd said. “Luckily the rankings aren’t as important in college basketball because of the tournament.”

Two years ago, Dodd said that Kansas kind of came out of nowhere in the its rise to national champions. With returning All-Americans Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, and coach Bill Self, whom Dodd highly respects, he said he expects that the team can go all the way to the National Championship again this season.

— Edited by Alicia Banister

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