Football

Photo from www.tvtanline.blogspot.com. (Some images on this site NSFW.)

So, are you wondering why Stephen McGee followed Sergio Kindle to the sideline after being sacked in the second half? McGee was looking for some way to fire up his team. 

When hulking linebacker Sergio Kindle slammed into him on a sack in the second half, McGee followed Kindle to the UT sideline, challenging him even while Kindle swayed in celebration.

"We needed some fire," McGee said.

And how did that work for you this year, Stephen?

The San Antonio Express News' Buck Harvey has an interesting theory: A&M's hire of Sherman has actually hurt Texas. That is not exactly what the Aggies had in mind. But Bill Byrne still stands behind his head coach.

Some congratulations are in order. Mack Brown got his his 200th career coaching victory with the win over A&M. UT has 831 wins in 116 seasons, moving into second place among college football programs with the most victories. Jordan Shipley has petitioned the NCAA for another season.

Shipley is expected to petition for a medical redshirt that will give him an extra year of eligibility.

“I would like to be back,” he said. “I’ll have to take a look and see what is going on. I haven’t heard anything back from the NCAA, so we’ll see what happens. There’s a strong chance that I’ll be back again next year.”

We beat OU on the field, but they beat us in the BCS. It just does not seem quite right.

Oklahoma finished a point ahead of Texas in the coaches’ poll — 1,397 to 1,396 — after leading the Longhorns by 42 points the previous week. The Longhorns finished 6 points ahead of the Sooners in the Harris poll — 2,575 to 2,569 — after trailing by 21 last week. But those gains were not enough.

“It is what it is,” Texas Coach Mack Brown said. “We don’t like it, we don’t agree with it or think it’s fair.”

I bet none of us can wait until next year.

CBSSports Pete Flutak writes that the Big 12 is at fault for the BCS controversy.

Don't blame the BCS system for Texas not being in the Big 12 title game. Again, this is not what the system is for. The system is set up to determine a national champion, and for the Big 12 to use it as a tiebreaker will cast a pall on the rest of the season.

Basketball

The Longhorns beat Rice 77-56 on Sunday.

After logging thousands of air miles to and from Hawaii and three games in a holiday tournament, the No. 6 Texas Longhorns could be excused if they were in need of a Sunday afternoon nap.

Texas looked like it would have a snoozer Sunday against Rice before the Owls made a game of it in the first half. The Longhorns finally woke up in the second to pull away for a workmanlike 77-56 win. Justin Mason scored 14 points to lead five Texas players in double figures.

Oklahoma isn't just good at football. Their basketball team has several talented players to watch for this season.

No. 11 Texas Womens basketball beat Florida Atlantic 88-38 on Sunday in the championship game of the FAU Thanksgiving Classic.

Around the 40 Acres

The Texas Volleyball team gets share of Big 12 title with a sweep of Colorado.

Photo from www.tvtanline.blogspot.com. (Some images on this site NSFW.)

In case you are wondering what that photo is all about.

Kansas pulled off an upset by beating Missouri 40-37. The game was won on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Todd Reesing to Kerry Meier with 27 seconds left.

"Several people asked me if this is the greatest win we’ve ever had," Mark Mangino said. "We’ve had some good wins here, so I can’t say that. Let me tell you what I can tell you: It is the guttiest win that we’ve ever had since I’ve been the head coach at Kansas. We are a very banged-up team. We had some guys limping around for two weeks. How some of them played today, the only way I can describe it is courage."

Texas Tech beat Baylor 35-28 on Saturday in Lubbock. Head coach Mike Leach had his own unique way to break the three-way tie in the Big 12 South.

Forget the BCS and head-to-head matchups. Go to the report cards, Leach suggested.

They are STUDENT-athletes.

"I think they should break that three-way tie based on a graduation rate. I think the Big 12 conference should have an executive session tonight," the Texas Tech coach said Saturday. "And I think when they do that they will find that no one's more deserving than the Red Raiders to win Big 12 South."

Baylor ended the season with a 4-8 season, but the Bears ended up as a better team than the record indicates.

“It says we played a real good game against a real good football team on its home court,” Head coach Art Briles said. “It’s just like we’ve said all year long, We don’t have to hit a driver to get to where everyone else is.’ We’re close. We’re real close.”

It was the third time this season the Bears lost by a touchdown or less - losing two of those games by three points to Missouri and Connecticut.

OU beat Oklahoma State and clinched the Big 12 South title.

Oklahoma's Sam Bradford injured his non-throwing hand and will have surgery after the game with Missouri.

Nebraska beat Colorado 40-31 in a wild game in Lincoln.

And on a very sad note, former Iowa State Cyclone running back Stevie Hicks died after he ws found lying on Interstate 480 near downtown Omaha. Our sympathies to ISU and his family.

'Round the Blogs

TvTanLine writes about Rivalry Week and sums up Stephen McGee beautifully. (Some images on this site NSFW.)

"Stephen McGee decided to challenge Graham Harrell for Biggest Douchebag of the Big 12 Thursday night. Good for him."

The Wiz Of Odds says that we got screwed. Well, we did.

The Ralphie Report cannot believe the ending of the Colorado-Nebraska game.

Barking Carnival's EyesOfTX recaps the Aggie game.

The Sports Economist addresses spreading the wealth, football's great equalizer.

Dr. Saturday has BCS Realpolitilk.

Photo from www.tvtanline.blogspot.com. (Some images on this site NSFW.)

BCS- Beyond Common Sense

In the combined voting of the USA Today and Harris polls, the Longhorns went ahead of the Sooners, but the BCS formula's six computers sided with Oklahoma. ESPN's Ivan Maisel writes that the Big 12 mess lies at the feet of the BCS.

The BCS proponents insist their system is the best because Every Game Matters. Their system is the one that declared Oklahoma, and not Texas or Texas Tech, the Big 12 South champion. Their computers boosted the Sooners over the Longhorns in the most recent standings. Every Game Matters, but the games at the end of the season do matter more.

The 2008 season. Preseason predictors could never see this one coming.

Following the gravy train of college football... money.

When coaches lose their jobs, it isn't about x's and o's.

The Border War between Missouri and Kansas could mean 1.6 million for each school.

The Baylor Bears will have a 96,300-square-foot training and academic center worth 34 million dollars. Nice.

Texas Tech will expand Jones AT&T Stadium, bringing capacity to about 60,000 and adding luxury boxes on the east side. Tech has raised about $28 million for the project, although the projected expected cost was $25 million.