PASADENA, Calif. (AP) – Jameis Winston (JAYM’-ihs) has a BCS championship to go with his Heisman Trophy.

The freshman tossed a two-yard touchdown pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 13 seconds remaining to give Florida State a 34-31 comeback victory over Auburn. Winston was 6 of 7 for 77 yards on a game-winning drive that took just 66 seconds and was engineered right after Tre Mason ran for a 37-yard touchdown to put the Tigers ahead 31-27 with 1:19 to play. Mason’s scoring run came after Kermit Whitfield had put Florida State on top for the first time since the first quarter with a 100-yard kickoff return to make it 27-24 with 4:31 left.

The Seminoles struggled early after winning their 13 regular-season games by an average of 43 points, falling behind for the first time since September 28. Melvin Ray’s 50-yard touchdown grab put the Tigers ahead 21-3 before FSU rallied to finish 14-0.

Winston was 20 of 35 for 237 yards, two fourth-quarter touchdowns and no interceptions before he was named the game’s offensive most valuable player. He was 14 of 20 for 175 yards in the second half on his 20th birthday.

Devonta Freeman had a team-high 73 rushing yards on 11 carries, including a short scoring run that began the Seminoles’ comeback late in the second quarter.

Mason shredded the FSU defense, carrying 34 times for 195 yards and the touchdown that put Auburn on the verge of keeping the BCS title within the SEC. Nick Marshall ran for 45 yards and a TD and was 14 of 27 for 230 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

It was the final BCS championship before it’s replaced by the College Football Playoff next season. The Southeastern Conference won nine of the 16 BCS title games, including seven straight before Florida State claimed its third national championship and first since the 1999 season.

K-State freshman Marcus Foster has been named the Phillips 66 Big 12 Rookie of the Week after averaging 16 points in wins over George Washington and Oklahoma State last week.

Foster becomes the first Kansas State true freshman to earn the weekly honor in more than two seasons since current teammate Thomas Gipson collected the award on Dec. 12, 2012.

Foster averaged 16 pints on 52.2% shooting, averaged 5.5 rebounds, and two assists in 27 and a half minutes per game during the week.  Foster scored 15 points in the Wildcat’s win over George Washington, and then 17 points in the victory over Oklahoma State.

K-State plays at TCU  Tuesday night.

The Kansas State Wildcats are ranked 25th in the latest Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.

It is the first time the Wildcats have moved into the rankings this season.

Kansas State defeated then sixth-ranked Oklahoma State last Saturday 74-71 at Bramlage Coliseum. The Cowboys fell to number 11 in the poll.

Three other Big 12 teams are ranked. They include Baylor at number seven, Iowa State ninth, and Kansas at number 18.

Texas defeated Kansas State 67-53 in women’s basketball Sunday in Austin.

The Wildcats endured a difficult shooting performance during the first half, going 4-19 from the field. Kansas State also turned the ball over 14 times as Texas held a 36-21 lead at the break.

Kansas State fell to 6-7 overall and 0-2 in the Big 12. Texas is 10-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

K-State was led by Leticia Romero with 15 points and six rebounds. Nneka Enemkpali had 18 points for Texas.

Kansas State walked into Bramlage Coliseum Saturday with the opportunity to not only take down the 6th ranked team in the country but send a message to the rest of the Big 12 that they are here to compete and that’s just what they did with a 74-71 victory.

“We called it a bar fight in the locker room,” Thomas Gipson said following the game. “It was one of the toughest games we’ve played so far. For us to be young and for us to come out and get a huge win against the number six team in the nation, that feels real good.”

Both teams were swapping punches throughout the entire game with neither team leading by more than five points at a time. It was K-State though that put their signature on their message to the Big 12 in the final five minutes.

“We rebounded, we got some shut outs and we just kind of hung in there. The crowd made a huge difference,” said Bruce Weber, KSU Head Coach.

An 8-0 run by the Wildcats with 5:44 to play gave them a five point lead and the Wildcats would not surrender the lead in part due to timely lay ups and five for six free throw shooting.

With :05 seconds left and Oklahoma State within one Nino Williams, junior forward, was fouled and sent to the free throw line where he sank both of his shots to go up 74-71. A missed 3 point shot by Marcus Smart as time expired gave the Wildcats the victory.

The Wildcats were lead in scoring by freshman, Marcus Foster who recorded 17 points and 8 rebounds. Williams added 15 points with nearly half of those coming from the free throw line.

“This is a good basketball team,” Travis Ford, OSU Head Coach said following the game.”Obviously they were banged up early in the season but they’re going to finish strong in this league. Very, very strong.”

The Wildcats will now go on the road traveling to Fort Worth, Texas Tuesday to take on the TCU Horned Frogs before returning to Kansas and heading to Lawrence to take on the Jayhawks next Saturday.

The Indianapolis Colts edged the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the AFC playoffs 45-44.

Indianapolis scored the winning touchdown on a 64 yard pass play from Andrew Luck to T. Y. Hilton with 4:20 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Chiefs finished the season with an overall record of 11-6.

The Kansas State Wildcats open their 18th Big 12 season on Saturday ( Jan. 4 ) when they host the Oklahoma State Cowboys.  Tipoff is set for 3 p.m.

Oklahoma State ( 12-1 ) is ranked sixth in the nation with a five game winning streak, while Kansas State ( 10-3 ) brings in an eight game winning streak .

The Cowboys are averaging 86.8 points on 50.3 percent shooting, including 38.5 percent from 3-point range.  Sophomore Marcus Smart paces four players in double figures at 17.2 points per game. The reigning Big 12 Player and Freshman of the Year also leads the team in assists and steals.  Senior Markel Brown is second in scoring at 16.5 points per game, junior Le’Bryan Nash 13.5, and sophomore Phil Forte 12.2 points per game.

Kansas State is coming off an impressive win over George Washington earlier this week, in which senior Shane Southwell had a team-leading and career-high 21 points. He has now scored in double figures seven of the last 11 games.

K-State won two of three meetings with Oklahoma State last season, including a 73-67 win inthe Big 12 opener and a 68-57 victory in the semifinals of the Phillips 66 big 12 Championship. The Cowboys defeated the Wildcats in Stillwater 76-70.

You can hear the game on The Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK AM.

 

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Colts coach Chuck Pagano is keeping things loose this week.

He doesn’t want Saturday’s playoff game against Kansas City to change the routine, so he’s imploring the Colts to make this week business as usual.

Conventional wisdom suggests teams must play harder and players and coaches must work harder.

Playoff veterans know better. Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles remembers losing two fumbles in his first playoff game. And NFL sacks champ Robert Mathis insists players need to have fun. They know whoever stays true to form, usually wins.

There were a lot of questions about the Kansas State Men’s Basketball team after a 3-3 start to the season, but a 7-0 December put some confidence back into a young team leading into Saturday’s Big 12 opener against Oklahoma State.

The Wildcats open conference play against the Cowboys who were picked tied with KU at the top spot in the Big 12 going into the season. Oklahoma State will be led by Marcus Smart, who was considered a top pick in the 2013 NBA Draft but elected to return for his Sophomore year and is now projected as a top pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.

“We’re going to have to guard the heck out of them,” Head Coach Bruce Weber said Thursday. “We’ve held a lot of people down, this is one of the top offensive teams in the country, we’re going to see if we can do that against them.”

The Wildcats have held 11 out of their 13 opponents this season to below 65 points, going 10-1 in those games.

Will Spradling, senior guard, said that the non-conference seemed to fly by but, “I feel like we’re ready especially the way we played the last month.”

Spradling said that this team has something to prove being last year’s Big 12 champion.”I was reading something the other day that the Big 12 goes through Lawrence. It was kind of upsetting because it didn’t even say anything about us winning it last year. It said KU won the Big 12 last year and everything goes through Lawrence, but it also goes through here.”

“We’ve talked about it since the beginning that we were defending Big 12 champs and everything is going to come through here,” Spradling said.

Junior forward, Thomas Gipson said that Saturday’s match up will come down to execution, “We just have to execute. If we don’t then they win. If we do then we have a fair advantage at winning.”

Saturday’s game is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. tip off from Bramlage Coliseum.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe has been cleared to play in Saturday’s wild-card playoff game against Indianapolis after sustaining a concussion against the Colts two weeks ago.

Bowe was among several starters held out of last week’s overtime loss at San Diego.

Kansas City could be without right tackle Eric Fisher, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft. He strained his groin near the end of Tuesday’s practice and was not working Wednesday.

Outside linebacker Tamba Hali’s status also remains up in the air. He’s been dealing with some inflammation in his knee that has kept him out of practice the last couple of weeks, though he planned to try working out during Wednesday’s practice.