South Dakota State University's women's basketball team demolished the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers 68-49 in front of 1,953 at the Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln this afternoon.

Nebraska was picked fifth in the Big 12 women's basketball coaches poll this year.

Where would the Jacks be picked in they were in the Big 12?

College basketball is back, and that means SDSU Jackrabbit hoops!

SDSU played a decent game against the Kentucky Wildcats, and followed up with a nailbiter win against former NCC conference foe Northern Colorado in the opening rounds of the Guardians tournament.

Next up, Friday night, it's the Illini in Champaign, on ESPNU. Tune in if you get it, the Rabbits will be fun to watch this year.

Sugar Bowl officials look for alternate sites to play the New Years Day bowl game:

The damaged Superdome, its future uncertain, has hosted the game since 1975. The game began to establish its traditions at old Tulane Stadium in 1935.

The Kansas City Royals continue to cling to double-digits in losses as they take both ends of a double header from Detroit.

The sweep boosted the Royals to 51-99 with 12 games remaining. They must go 7-5 to avoid setting a franchise record for losses in a season.

"All I can say," manager Buddy Bell said, "is I hope we keep playing the way we're playing right now. Because we played really well tonight."

Denver 20, San Diego 17
Kansas City 23, Oakland 17
Cincinatti 37, Minnesota 8

Minnesota is just real bad. Did they really need Randy moss that much? Kansas City wins mainly with defense. Kansas City. Defense. Denver squeaks out a home win, dropping the Chargers two games behind Kansas City in the AFC West.

Catching up from the weekend, the Montana Grizzlies, #4 in NCAA Division I-AA, shut down the Jackrabbit offense and took a 7-0 home victory in Missoula on Saturday.

SDSU, now 2-1 on the season, struggled on offense in the sloppy, rainy afternoon, getting just 28 net yards rushing while being outgained 300-108. Still, they had a chance to at least tie the game while putting a major scare into the Grizzlies (2-1). "We've got to win that football game," SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier said. "I think that's a true sign of what kind of individuals they are, that they kept battling today when things didn't look very good and said, 'Look, we're gonna win this football game.' They gave themselves a chance, and I'm extremely proud of them."

Next up, the Beef Bowl game at home vs. Cal Poly, the 11th ranked team in I-AA.

The Kansas City Royals beat Detroit 10-1 to put off their 100th loss for one day:

The Royals, who have lost 99 games, drew an announced attendance of 8,915 for the opener of their final homestand of the season. That is the smallest crowd to see a Royals' home game since July 5, 1995, when 7,511 watched them play Boston.

"The reasons why the fans aren't out here are the type of season we've had, the time of year it is, not in the race, knocking on 100 losses," catcher John Buck said. "I think that's why people are not going to make the sacrifice to stay up late on a school night cause it is not real meaningful."

The Royals get two chances at #100 today, hosting Detroit in a double-header.

Nothing to say, really. Here's the link. When the excitement is that you're posting a link about American baseball from a site called "Monsters and Critics" in the U.K., that pretty much says it all.

Royals need to go 18-6 to avoid 100 losses.

Another day, another Royals loss:

Emil Brown and John Buck each had two-run homers for the Royals, who have dropped four of five. Kansas City starter Jose Lima (5-14) got tagged with the loss after allowing five runs and 10 hits in six innings.

Royals need to go 19-7 to avoid 100 losses. That ain't gonna happen.

The Kansas City Star reports that Kansas City offers Kemper Arena as a part-time home for the New Orleans Hornets of the NBA:

Kansas City is one of several non-NBA cities volunteering their facilities to the Hornets. Oklahoma City, San Diego and Nashville have made offers, though it’s more likely the club would prefer to remain closer to home and play at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge or the University of Southwestern Louisiana’s Cajundome in Lafayette.

“We’ve made clear that we certainly would be responsive to that opportunity,” Barnes said Tuesday. “On the other hand, I understand that the team might very well want to be as close to New Orleans as possible. I think we’ve done everything that is appropriate for us to do, which is express our willingness to have the Hornets be here for a period of time.”

SportzAssassin has an opinion about the Hornets' owner George Shinn:

Most people around the organization and the league do say that this is all just rumors. The team has a long lease with the city and received a lot of fabulous cash and prizes for arriving on the Bayou.

And like a plague of locusts, Shinn is trying to go around the country and kill the NBA dreams of various cities. Though Charlotte has the brand spanking new Bobcats [and the new arena Shinn wanted]….attendance is still under 15,000. Only New Orleans, the ho-hum Hawks, the aforementioned Magic and the soon-to-be moving-to-Brooklyn Nets have smaller numbers attending games. But Shinn broke a lot of hearts in Charlotte….and some that are slow to accept a new team.

I stil would rather see an NHL team in Kansas City than an NBA team--even a part-time temporary NBA team.