Football

Colt McCoy has met Ohio State before, Sept. 9, 2006.

"I was pretty nervous ... It was kind of the first big game after Vince left," McCoy said. "You learn a lot from a loss and I was able to bounce back and play pretty well the rest of the year."

Mack Brown is going back to school.

"We will have somebody who understands computers fully investigate the six (programs) and see what is important. We hear all these things out there that are true and untrue. Is margin of victory important? I hear the away game counts twice as much as the home game. There are things that players and coaches need to understand."

The computers' rankings count for one-third of the BCS formula that determines which college football teams play in the BCS national title game. The USA Today coaches poll provides another third and the Harris poll, which surveys a panel of voters, forms the final third of the equation.

40acressports has video from Mack Brown's press conference. And according to the site:

Word from Orangebloods sources is that the coaches and players are fired up and practices are spirited and the team will be ready for Ohio State in January. Could be bad news for the Buckeyes if the Horns are both prepared and pissed.

A trip down memory lane. Buckeyextra looks at the 2007 season and how it set the groundwork for this year.

A 2007 regular season that began with high expectations ended with a humbling loss to rival Texas A&M and a trip to the Holiday Bowl. A trip to San Diego in December is not exactly torture, but Longhorns coach Mack Brown did his best to make it feel that way for his three-loss team.

Bowl practices started at 6 a.m. and were full contact. He told the team all positions were up for grabs, and five did change hands. Players were forced to apologize openly to their teammates for mistakes.

Texas routed Arizona State 52-34 in the Holiday Bowl, but the success in that game served merely as an hors d'oeuvre for this season.

The Ohio State University Buckeyes

Mack Brown thinks very highly of Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor.

Here's what Brown, who will face Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 5, said today on a conference call with reporters:

"We recruited Terrelle and thought he was the best quarterback in the country last year and he's shown that already on the field. And I don't think there's any doubt Jim will win a national championship with Terrelle, when you look at his ability and his confidence and Jim's ability to put things together. I just hope it's not on the 5th."

Big10Insider had another quote from Mack Brown about OSU.

Despite his record, OSU coach Jim Tressel takes some heat for losing the past few national title games.

BROWN: "I’m amazed at any criticism of somebody who has been in the last two national championship games. Sometimes, I think it’s better to finish fourth than second."

Buckeye receiver Brian Robiskie talks about the Texas defense and coach Jim Tressel talks about the Colt McCoy and UT's speed.

Does Jim Tressell feel any pressure to win the Fiesta Bowl? The Buckeyes lost three big games in recet memory, national championships to Florida and LSU, and this season against USC.

"Do I personally feel the pressure to deliver?" Tressel said, repeating the question. "If we do (deliver), that will be wonderful (but) it won't change my life. If we don't, that will be disappointing but it won't change my life.

"You might write some bad things about me, but I'll get over it. So, no, I don't feel a pressure. I feel an excitement. I feel a responsibility, especially to these (players). I feel a responsibility to Ohio State because Ohio State deserves our best. I feel a responsibility to the Big Ten because the Big Ten deserves our best. But personally, I don't know."

Seats are still available for the Fiesta Bowl. Buckeye fans have not purchased the 17,500 allotted to OSU for several reasons, according to BuckeyeCommentary.

The Winners Manual, written by Jim Tressel, is a book about what it takes to succeed on and off the field. Proceeds will benefit the the renovation of The Ohio State University main library. 

Basketball

We lost. And Rick Barnes' pal, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, figured out just how to make that happen.

The way Texas coach Rick Barnes figures it, his pal Tom Izzo from Michigan State must have enjoyed watching those exploitation films.

You know, the two recent ones featuring Texas State and Texas Southern sneaking through the cracks in the Longhorns' foundation: rebounding and defense.

Few coaches are better than Izzo at taking advantage of such leaks.

Barking Carnival has some thoughts about the Michigan State game.

In case you missed the drama, The March To Madness has it for you.

Five Big 12 players are candidates for the 2008-09 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. Texas had two players on the list , A.J. Abrams and Connor Atchley.

Football

There are good reasons to take the job at Iowa State. Eight, to be exact. No. 2 sums up what ISU fans are feeling about Gene Chizik.

You're not Gene Chizik. Mean Gene had to replace a native son in Dan McCarney, who took the Cyclones to five bowl games and made the Iowa-Iowa State game a rivalry again. You? You have to follow a Florida native who won five games in two years and jumped ship at the first chance available. You're going to be beloved by default, if nothing else. Cyclone fans are desperately looking for someone to embrace. You can be that someone.

Iowa native Paul Rhoads is the new head coach at Iowa State. The Cyclones traded their head coach to Auburn for the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. It will be interesting to see which school gets the better deal.

So now the question is... is Rhoads the coach for ISU?

Oklahoma State takes on Oregon in this year's Holiday Bowl. Both teams are in the top 10 in the nation in rushing yards per game, total yards per game and points per game. The defensive players should have a busy evening.

OSU's Dez Bryant has accomplished a lot this year: First-team All-American by several publications and committees, Biletnikoff Award finalist and the Big 12 conference's special teams player of the year. He was also on the Big 12 All-Academic team. But what makes him stand out is just how far he has come from his life in Lufkin, Texas.

Colorado AD Mike Bohn is happy with coach Dan Hawkins. Hawkins' job is not in jeopardy.

Bohn said he believes the vast majority of CU fans realize the scope of the problems Hawkins inherited and continue to be patient with the program.

He also acknowledged hearing some voices who are "anxious" for success. He said he understands that sentiment and expects results to improve.

Missouri safety redshirt freshman Gilbert Moye has been suspended for the Alamo Bowl.

Missouri players Chase Daniel and Stryker Sulak have accepted invitations to play in the 2009 East-West Shrine Game.

Should I stay or should I go? Will Missouri's Jeremy Maclin return for his junior season?

Maclin said there are upsides to staying at Missouri for another season, even though senior quarterback Chase Daniel and senior tight end Chase Coffman won’t be around. He’s been encouraged by freshman quarterback Blaine Gabbert’s growth over the last few months and likes the emerging cast of playmakers at other positions.

Ole Miss has a quarterback named Jevan Snead. You may remember him.

ESPN's Tim Griffin has his Big 12 bowl picks.

'Round The Blogs

Rock M Nation has Part Four of Gary Pinkel vs. OU, Texas and Don James.

Double T Nation looks at the Cotton Bowl. This time it's the defensive line.

At least one person over at The Ralphie Report is getting a little impatient with the football program.

According to I Am The 12th Man, the Aggies have one more reason to hate Dennis Franchione, not that they needed one.

Clone Chronicles may be warming up to Paul Rhoads.

It Is Time To Go Bowling

There's a reason to go to the Sun Bowl in El Paso. How often do you get to hear The Village People?

Fox Sports' Peter Schrager has his five thoughts on the bowl season.

Other Stuff

The recent passing of Sammy Baugh has brought back memories of a great player at a school with a long, storied history: Texas Christian University. TCU was part of the old South West Conference and has played football since 1896.

Remember that infamous Christmas sweater photo with Graham Harrell and Eric Morris? Well, a station in Lubbock has the story.

News8Austin has an interview with Texas football legend Dave Campbell.

UTSA has now approved a football program and may play Texas one day, according to one student.

"I think UTSA can start a good rivalry with Texas State. Hopefully, some day UTSA will be playing Texas."

And the coaching search begins for San Antonio... Oklahoma assistant football coach Bobby Jack Wright hasn't talked to anyone at UTSA, but he wants the job.

"In all honesty, I'm not a candidate," Wright said.

He chuckled before adding: "But if they offered it to me, I'd take it."

Wright didn't say anything that would indicate he was joking.

John Henderson of the Denver Post is playing Santa. He has a gift for Sam Bradford.

Sam Bradford: A Florida witch doctor who can lift the curse on Heisman Trophy winners in bowl games. Last season, Michigan crushed Tim Tebow's Florida Gators; the year before, Troy Smith and Ohio State flopped against Florida; and three seasons ago, Reggie Bush was merely mortal in USC's loss to Texas. This decade, Heisman winners going bowling are 2-6.

Some Oklahomans have their own idea about what Sam Bradford's Heisman statue in Norman should look like.

Dr. Saturday has his own take on Auburn, the Gene Chizik hire and the possble lawsuit from the Black Coaches and Administrators.

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

College football players will get what amounts to bonus pay at the end of the season if they get an invitation to a bowl game. But they have restrictions on what they can earn each year and for some players, it does not add up.

Oregon State's Jacquizz Rodgers wants to go home for Christmas before the Beavers play in the Sun Bowl. But if he does, he'll be reimbursed for only half of his travel expenses, according to a university spokesperson. Because the Sun Bowl is providing a chartered plane for the team to return from El Paso, Texas, to Corvallis, Rodgers doesn't have the $800 travel option available to the Oregon Duck players.

"I get one-half of my airline ticket paid," Rodgers said.

The Pacific-10 Conference's offensive player of the year loses money if he wants to play in the bowl game and see his mother on Christmas morning, which is why he and his older brother James have a decision to make. It's also why he's decided he'll give his younger brother a pair of his OSU football cleats this year for Christmas, because buying gifts isn't an option on his running back budget.

Said Rodgers: "My entire family is getting Oregon State stuff."

When 12 million just does not seem enough. Mike Leach and Texas Tech have not come to terms about his five-year, $12.1-million deal that would keep him at Tech through 2013.

Texas Tech Chancellor Kent Hance declined to say how far apart the two sides might be, and neither Hance nor Leach could provide a time frame on when there might be something definitive.

Mike Leach said, "They’re talking. It’s a work in progress. I think we’re all optimistic. In my case, I’m just focused on the Cotton Bowl."

Asked to elaborate on what made him optimistic, Leach said, "Well, just that the two sides are talking."

It is tough out there and it is getting tougher for athletic departments to keep funding programs with higher budgets. So what do they do? Raise ticket prices, of course. Colorado is considering just that. It does not seem to matter that they have not had a winning season in three years.