Survival of the Fittest

MON 1/31
Things look grim for the Missouri Tigers. The team is flirting with a .500 record -- probably not good enough to earn it an invitation to March Madness. According to early bracket models, surging UMKC has become a more popular pick than Mizzou for the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, the Kansas Jayhawks are cruising, thanks to a scrappy supporting cast and several fantastic freshmen. Still, when the rivals square off at 6 p.m. Monday at Allen Field House (1651 Naismith Drive in Lawrence), the game promises to be closer than the records would predict. The Tigers sleepwalk against lesser squads, inexplicably spotting almost every opponent a double-digit lead, but close road losses to Oklahoma State and Illinois prove that these young contenders crave challenges. For tickets, call 785-864-3141 or 800-344-2957. -- Andrew Miller

Cold Feet
Check out these living stars on ice.

SAT 1/29
When we mentioned Stars on Ice to a friend, he launched into an energetic round of Six Degrees of Ted Williams, the legendary Red Sox slugger who caused trouble with his postmortem plans to be cryogenically frozen. The game eventually stopped when our friend linked Williams to John Landis, director of Blues Brothers and Spies Like Us. We'll let you figure out the steps. But we were actually referring to the ice skaters who are planning a KC stop for 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The show, including 2002 Olympic champion Sarah Hughes, world champions Todd Eldridge and Yuka Sato, and eight-time British National Champion Steven Cousins, comes to Kemper Arena (1800 Genessee) to one-up the 2004 Time tour, which snagged an Emmy -- for, um, costumes). Tickets start at $26; call 816-931-3330 -- Annie Fischer

The Sod Squad

SAT 1/29
We've found that calling someone from Nebraska a sodbuster in a condescending tone is a good way to get a mouthful of dirt. After all, Nebraska families paved the Oregon Trail with their flesh and bone to start new lives in the Midwest -- it isn't nice to make fun of them. But sometimes we do anyway. As penance for our wicked needling of our cornhusking friends, we'll pay the Oregon Trail a visit. But because it's too cold outside, we'll substitute a jaunt to Independence's National Frontier Trails Museum (318 West Pacific Avenue, 816-325-7575), where, at 10 a.m. Saturday, the museum's curator, Dave Aamodt, leads us on an interactive treasure hunt through the museum's collection of trail artifacts. -- Jason Harper