TU prepares for showdown with SMS

Friday, September 24th 2004, 6:30 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Tulsa coach Steve Kragthorpe learned enough watching professional football on television last weekend to know not to take Southwest Missouri State lightly.

He watched Jerry Rice, Rich Gannon, Steve McNair and Terrell Owens --all former stars for Division One-Double-A teams like the Bears.

It's a lesson Mississippi State also learned in its 9-to-7 loss Saturday to Division One-Double-A Maine.

Kragthorpe says Southwest Missouri State is a talented football team. And he says Tulsa's not likely to look past the Bears. The two teams play tomorrow night at Tulsa.

T-U ranked 28th nationally in scoring last season but has managed just 24 points this year. The Golden Hurricane were shut out last weekend by Navy _ the Midshipmen's first shutout since 1994.