Bevo's Daily Roundup 1.29.08

Texas beat Baylor 78-72. In fact, Rick Barnes has never lost to Baylor.

Afterward, Texas coach Rick Barnes downplayed the dominance against Baylor. "It doesn't mean anything," Barnes said, "because all it says is the programs were at different levels at different times. That's all it means."

When is a rivalry not a rivalry? When the wins-losses are extremely lopsided. Texas and Texas A&M are a prime example.

Basketball

The No. 1 basketball recruit in the country has narrowed his college choices to Memphis, N.C. State, Kansas, Oregon, Miami, Duke and Baylor. Some people are calling foul.

Many recruiting experts and even more speculative fans believe Wall ultimately will give Baylor the nod. That’s because in July, Wall’s summer league coach, Dwon Clifton from Greensboro-based D-One Sports, was given a job in Baylor’s program, accepting the newly created position of director of player development.

Under NCAA guidelines, it was a perfectly legal hire. But at the time, many saw Baylor’s move as a quid-pro-quo strategy of, "Bring John Wall to Waco, and we’ll get you on the payroll."

 

The Red Raiders and the Aggies are both looking struggling in the Big 12. Is it time to worry?

The Red Raiders and Aggies sit ninth and 10th, respectively, in the standings, and for both coaches - Texas A&M's Mark Turgeon and Tech's Pat Knight - the road to recovery is manageable despite the realization that both teams have lost four of their last five games.

"Are we as confident as we were going into the league? Probably not, but we haven't lost all of it," said Turgeon, whose team ranks last in conference in field goal percentage (43 percent). "We're still confident, we believe in what we're doing, we know we have a good team."

"It's not a time start panicking," said Texas A&M senior guard Josh Carter, who leads his team with 12.9 points per game. "We knew this stretch was gonna be difficult. It didn't turn out the way we would have liked for it to. We need to start winning games now."

Football

New twist to the Marve story. Oklahoma is not interested in Robert Marve.

As for Marve, we may never know why OU suddenly appeared on his list. Marve, who was disciplined several times this past season by Miami coach Randy Shannon, has said he will wait until after the Feb. 4 signing date to make his decision.

Based on a text conversation Monday and a follow-up telephone interview Tuesday with Stoops, I'd say you could definitely rule out the Sooners.

Stoops was recruiting in St. Louis yesterday when I reached him via cell phone. He declined to mention any specific names, but was obviously referring to Marve when he said, "a lot of things out there are inaccurate or simply not true.

"We like the quarterbacks we already have."

Past recruiting classes have put Colorado and Texas A&M in a tough position.

Playing football in Texas is a blessing and a curse. There's tons of talent, but unless you're on top of it, the pick of the litter tends to end up at Texas and Oklahoma. Both programs are now annually atop college football but not long ago Texas A&M trumped both under R.C. Slocum and their "Wrecking Crew" defense. Slocum ruled from 1989 to 2002, but peaked between 1990 and 1995 never losing more than three games including four straight 10-plus win seasons.

Slocum left wisely, a few years into the hires of Mack Brown at Texas and Bob Stoops at Oklahoma. The Aggies have not been the same since. Mind you, they've snuck in a win over hated rival Texas here and there, but rode secretive coach Dennis Franchione and his ground-based offense out of town. Quiet, uncharismatic Mike Sherman is the new sheriff, promising a pro-style approach that may entice recruits but has had minimal collegiate success anywhere but the most talented of programs.

The Aggies have already moved past the 2009 season. They are looking forward to 2010 and 2011.

The downside to the sport of football. CNN looks at the damage concussions can do and the impact on a player's health and life.

Another look at the recruiting process. Some teams take a less talented player to snag a much more prized recruit.

"You'll see it a couple of times every year," said Tom Lemming, a recruiting expert for CBS College Sports Television. "BCS-type schools will try to bring in a buddy or a teammate to land a great player. And a lot of times it does work."

It's a calculated risk. Sometimes schools get stuck with the lesser player if the star decides to go elsewhere.

Dr. Saturday has Part Two of his look at recruiting rankings.

College football players should not lose their eligibility if they enter the draft.

Why should Sam Bradford or G.K. McCoy have to decide their future based on guesswork? If a college junior wants to make himself available for the draft, let the pros put their money where their mouth is.

You want a player? You draft him and you sign him.

The current system benefits the schools and the NFL, which has a free-of-charge, built-in farm system. It does not benefit the powerless players.