Morning Coffee is out as I start exams Monday a.m. In its stead, the best Longhorns/Big 12 daily link round up on the web, courtesy of Dimecoverage. Amazing work, day in and out. --PB--

Football

You probably already know this, but it bears repeating. Will Muschamp is not leaving Texas to take the job at Auburn.

"I have not talked to Auburn about this job and I have no interest in the job," said Muschamp. "I really don’t know what else to say. I’m going to stay at Texas until they fire me."

Music to our ears.

The results are in. Colt McCoy did not win the Heisman. Congratulations to Sam Bradford.

Wondering how McCoy will respond to losing out on the Heisman? The San Antonio Express-News' Buck Harvey has some ideas.

The Dallas Morning News has both McCoy and Tebow's responses to Bradford's win. Tim Tebow's is the best.

He didn't approach that level after coming in third Saturday, but he didn't try to downplay that Bradford's win might be motivation for Tebow's Florida team in the national championship.

"I've already got quite a few texts from those guys," Tebow said of his defense, which will go up against Bradford and the Sooners.

If the Heisman loss motivates Florida to beat OU, that could certainly alleviate some of the pain in Austin. GO GATORS.

By winning the Walter Camp award, McCoy has met the first criteria for number retirement.

The Walter Camp Award may not generate anywhere near the hype that surrounds the Heisman Trophy, but in one very important measure it carries the same weight.

On Friday, UT men’s athletic director DeLoss Dodds said the award, won by Colt McCoy this week, would meet the first criteria for retiring a player’s jersey at the University of Texas, since it recognized McCoy as the national player of the year.

Maybe this would have solved that pesky 1.81 problem. Texas had Utah scheduled but Urban Meyer thought the game would be too difficult. 

The Austin American Statesman has a list of Longhorns currently playing in the NFL or NBA. Impressive.

The Ohio State University Buckeyes

Buckeyes don't know this Glendale. Ohio State has been to the Fiesta Bowl several times, but they may not recognize the area. The uninhabited area around the stadium was transformed into a sports and entertainment district.

The farmland has been transformed into what the city now calls its sports and entertainment district, a massive mixed-use development that features nearly two dozen restaurants, a dozen retailers, a 20-screen movie theater and several hotels.

The 223-acre development -- known as Westgate City Center -- is kind of a Crocker Park on steroids. Minimally opened since late 2006, Westgate had its grand debut this year when Glendale hosted the Super Bowl in February.

Tickets for Ohio State fans go on sale Wednesday. Just in case you can't find a ticket around here.

A Buckeye blogger has ten reasons why she hates Texas. This probably stems from her issues with an ex from UT.

I think it’s safe to say that you’ll always hate the team your ex cheered for, especially if that ex is a UT graduate. Having been dumped by that ex weeks before the 2005 OSU-TX game, watching OSU destroy Texas in 2006 was almost more satisfying than any OSU victory over Michigan.

Rivals.com has a mailbag and there are two questions concerning Ohio State and their bowl appearance. The second question even talks about one of our favorite Big 12 coaches.

Ohio State started the season with quarterback Todd Boeckman, but he lost the job to freshman Terrelle Pryor after three games.

Asked how tough his senior season has been after losing the starting quarterback job to freshman Terrelle Pryor after three games, Boeckman's first reaction was to smile, then chuckle. But his answer was serious.

"This whole situation has been tough," Boeckman said. "It would be tough on anybody. If you lost your job, it would be tough on you, right?

Two reporters at the Columbus Dispatch take a look at the Fiesta Bowl.

OSU players to watch at the tortilla chip bowl.

First up, Chris Wells, also known as Beanie. Wells, one of eleven children, is a Buckeye through and through saying "I think I came out of my mom’s womb wanting to go to Ohio State." You have to admire that kind of dedication to a school.

Why do they call him Beanie? "I got the nickname because when I was a baby, I came out and my big brother said I had a bean head."

Coming out of high school, Chris Wells was as a Parade All-American and rated the nation’s top running back. As a true freshman (music on video possibly NSFW), he played in all 13 games and gained 576 yards on 104 carries for the season.

His sophomore year (music on video possibly NSFW) he had 1,609 yards for the season with 15 touchdowns. Wells was named second-team All-American and first team all-Big Ten. He was also on the Big 10 all-Academic list. Talented and smart.

Despite missing three games due to injury this season, Wells racked up 1,091 yards. He will probably opt for the draft in 2009. His coach, Jim Tressel, does not think it is even a decision.

"If it were me, it wouldn't be tough," Tressel said.

He should go?

"Shoot, yeah," Tressel said. "In my opinion he ought to be one of the first five guys picked."

Here is Wells in action. And here. And here's another.

Basketball

No. 6 Texas Women's basketball team beat No. 7 Tennessee on Sunday 73-59. Congratulations to the Horns!

Texas beat Texas State on Saturday. It wasn't necessarily pretty, but it was a win.

Texas expected tough games from UCLA and Villanova.

Texas State? Not so much, at least not until the sixth-ranked Longhorns found themselves trailing midway through the second half before pulling out a tough 81-73 victory Saturday.

A.J. Abrams scored 30 points, including 13 of Texas’ final 16, as the Longhorns pulled away late in a lackluster performance on the heels of two wins over the Bruins and Wildcats, also members of the Top 25.

"Some guys weren’t ready to get it done," Texas coach Rick Barnes said. "I let them know that after the game."

And another congratulations to the Horns! Texas is going to the NCAA Volleyball Championship semifinals next Saturday. Nebraska will be there, as well. Always good to have great Big 12 representation in the NCAA finals of any sport.

Thanks to BON reader dec3169 for the link to Jon English's music about the Horns.

Football

It's official. Gene Chizik is Auburn's new coach. Boy, is it getting ugly. ESPN's Tim Griffin weighs in on the issue when Chizik was still in the interview phase. A poster over at Sporting News has a different take.

It is not a good omen for Chizik when the athletic director gets heckled.

The Big 12 leads in the Football Writers Association of America's All-America Team.

Isn't that nice. Aggie quarterback Stephen McGee was nominated by Texas A&M for the second annual College Football Rudy Award, given by The Rudy Foundation. This award honors student-athletes that exhibit character, courage, contribution and commitment to their team. McGee was also awarded the Aggie Heart Award at the Texas A&M football banquet.

"Stephen McGee is an excellent Aggie Heart Award winner," Aggie Head Coach Mike Sherman said. "He has been the heart and soul of Aggie football for several years. Not only does he give his best on the football fields in practice and in games, but he is an excellent student, a man of faith and gives back to our community. He is one of the fiercest competitors I have ever been around. He is a true leader in every sense of the word and is very deserving of this honor. To be selected by your teammates is the greatest compliment a football player can attain. The players respect him and when he was injured and unable to play, it felt like we had an extra coach on the sidelines."

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson is building a time-consuming unit at Nebraska.

The Huskers were 12th nationally in total offense, 18th in scoring offense and second in time of possession. After a rocky start with the running game, Nebraska finished 37th, gaining over 300 ground yards twice in Big 12 play. Fifteenth in third down conversion percentage, 14th in passing efficiency, 13th in total first downs. All this while juggling three running backs, working with a new staff and integrating elements of the spread offense into a classic, tight-end-driven version of the West Coast Offense.

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel has named David Yost, Missouri's quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator, as his offensive coordinator. Yost will replace Dave Christensen.

Oklahoma's Sam Bradford won the Heisman Saturday night, but it came down to less than 130 points and Bradford did not get the most first-place votes. Fox News had the right headline, but the wrong story.

Bob on a tirade. Again. Reporters asked the three Heisman finalists about the NFL. Their answers were non-committal. Stoops "went on a diatribe that could have melted Mel Kiper’s hair gel."

“You don’t know that,” Stoops said sternly to a reporter who said that Bradford projected high in the N.F.L. draft. “Those people who are projecting that have no idea about that. You guys are making something that isn’t there unless you have got a draft projection back that I didn’t. O.K.? So you’re going on speculation that rarely is correct. If he’s a top-five guy, he ought to go. If he isn’t, he’ll be a top-five guy at some point in his career. At least that’s my belief. There’s a big difference. He still has a lot he’ll improve and mature and physically grow and mentally handling everything. There’s so much that people don’t talk about that throw those projections around that don’t take into consideration.”

Opinion piece from The Bleacher Report. This article looks at the evolution of the offensive system and its impact on college football, specifically our beloved Sooners.

Graham Harrell got left out of the Heisman conversation, but he did get to meet the President. And that's good consolation?

Another chance for Graham Harrell to get some respect. Harrell is up for the AT&T Player of the Year Award, along with Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy.

Fans will determine the winner by sending the text message VOTE to 51234 from a wireless phone and casting their vote for who they think earned the title of best college football player in the country. Fans who participated in the AT&T All-America Player of the Week voting will automatically receive a text message with the nominees for Player of the Year.

Be sure you read the instructions. There is no limit on voting for Colt McCoy, and each vote counts as one entry into a sweepstakes to win a trip to the 2009 Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship game in Miami. Again, text message VOTE to 51234 from a wireless phone!

Basketball

Oklahoma beat Utah 70-52, even though Blake Griffin did not make a field goal on Saturday.

Griffin—who entered the game shooting 58.9 percent from the line— finished with a season-low 11 points in 23 minutes, but Oklahoma (10-0) matched its best start since 2003-04. The Sooners have won 68 of their last 70 home nonconference games.

"He had a tough go because of foul trouble," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said of Griffin. "… But our guys stepped up. Certainly we don’t want to play without Blake in the game for us for extended minutes, but we showed today that we beat a good team and we were able to find a way. We feel like we have some other good players and I think they’re starting maybe to find their groove a little bit."

Kansas lost to UMass.

Baylor beat Prairie View 90-63.

A&M beat Alabama on OT.

Big12Sports has a preview of Kansas State, Missouri and Nebraska.

'Round the Blogs

Barking Carnival has the annual Longhorn football banquet.... Who won awards, etc. They also have a take on the 2008 season, The 2008 BCS and Texas. The BCS article is a good one.

I Am The 12th Man's Beergut makes his Heisman choice.

McCoy doesn't have that type of a big-game performance late in this season to really push him over the top.

He wasn't impressed with our last game of the season? We didn't get enough style points?

Double T Nation has the scoop on Graham Harrell's Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. We send our congrats, as well. Harrell had a great season and he deserves the recognition.

Clone Chronicles is less than pleased with Gene Chizik. But they have found some use for those Chizik coins.

Auburntron has the reasons Colt McCoy will follow Will Muschamp to Auburn.

The War Eagle Leader is calling Chizik the Ed Orgeron of the Big 12. I don't think they meant that as a compliment.

Dr. Saturday did not have a Heisman vote and would not cross the street to cast one, either. But he does have an opinion about who should have won.

The Wiz of Odds believes it is just a matter of time before Auburn power brokers clear Chizik out and get Turner Gill.

BCS- Beyond Common Sense

Someone named John Swofford killed the BCS. Unfortunately, the reports of its death are greatly exaggerated.

So this is news? College football as politics.

Other stuff

NBC Sports

Did Tim Tebow get the shaft in the Heisman ballot?

Tebow finished 151 points behind the winner. That means had the 154 voters ranked him at least third, Tebow would have won by three points.

"I do think it shows that either they love us or they hate us – Gator Nation,'' Tebow said. Tebow, an obviously fake smile glued to his face, said all the polite things, but was obviously riled by the results.

"I appreciate everybody that voted for me and thought I was worthy of it. If they didn't think I was worth, oh well, I can have one more chance, right?''

They either love us or hate us... Something UT and Florida have in common. Well, that and the Sooners.

CBSSports' Dennis Dodd laments the number of college All-Americans that bolt for the NFL.

San Diego State has come to their senses. It's about time.

Michigan running back (or should I say former) Sam McGuffie, a four-star prospect coming out of Cy-Fair High School in Houston, has been granted a release from the university. He is free to transfer.

McGuffie does not have a future destination set, but did mention that he would prefer to be closer to his hometown.

"I'm looking to stay in or around Texas," he said. "There are a couple of schools that I had them send my release to - Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU and Oklahoma State."

He did say that Texas A&M would likely be considered the front runner as of right now.

The University of Texas at San Antonio is considering fielding a football team. The issue is under discussion by the University of Texas System regents.

In 1965, five of 11 players on college football’s consensus All-America defense were Texans, but only two of the five played for Southwest Conference schools. It was the 1960s and African-Americans were not highly recruited in the old SWC. HBO is airing a documentary, Breaking the Huddle: The Integration of College Football, on Tuesday at 9 p.m. The film examines how racial barriers were broken in the Atlantic Coast, Southwest and Southeastern conferences.

Andrew Hemminger is writing a book about the top football coaches. OSU's Jim Tressel, UT's Mack Brown and OU's Bob Stoops are some of the interviews.

Romance, Sooner style. A man and his fiance are getting married in front of the Orange Bowl and then they are going to watch the game. The thought of getting married in front of the Orange Bowl could leave a girl speechless, and not in a good way.

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

The University of Hawaii might not even break even, despite the fact their intended bowl game is in their own backyard.