July 5, 2005
BY MITCH SHERMAN
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
Nebraska gained ground on Texas for the second straight year but still finished a distant second in the race for Big 12 Conference supremacy over the past 10 months. Missouri finished third in the all-sports rankings.
For the fourth straight year, the Longhorns placed first in the league's 2004-05 composite standings, compiled by The World-Herald. Texas scored 173 points, off one point from last season and 31 from its record-breaking pace of 2002-03. Nebraska scored 143.
The gap between Texas and Nebraska was the largest between any two positions. Missouri was third with 140 points, followed by Texas A&M (138) and Oklahoma (126).
The Big 12 Conference composite standings point totals for 2004-05:
School Men's Women's Total Texas 79 94 173 Nebraska 56 87 143 Missouri 62 78 140 Texas A&M 56 82 138 Oklahoma 74 52 136 Okla. St. 76 45 121 Baylor 41 74 115 Texas Tech 54 53 107 Kansas 45 57 102 Colorado 38 46 84 Iowa State 40 44 84 Kansas St. 26 39 65
Standings guidelines:
• The system awards 12 points for a first-place finish, 11 for second, 10 for third, etc.
• Regular-season standings are used for football, volleyball, soccer, basketball, baseball, softball and tennis. Tournament scoring is used for cross country, wrestling, track and field, swimming, gymnastics and golf. In track and field, indoor and outdoor team scores are combined.
• Five bonus points are awarded to the conference-tournament winners in six major sports that also use standings to determine a regular-season champion. Bonus points awarded to: Oklahoma football, Texas A&M soccer, Oklahoma State men's basketball, Baylor women's basketball, Nebraska baseball and Texas softball.