Bevo's Daily Roundup 3.17.09

One game slated for the new Cowboy stadium: Texas vs. North Caroina.

Texas and North Carolina have reached an agreement to stage a college basketball showcase game next season at the Cowboys' new stadium in Arlington.

"That's a done deal," Texas coach Rick Barnes said after his NCAA Tournament news conference Sunday. The date will be Saturday, Dec. 19.

Barking Carnival has declared open season on gophers.

Minnesota was the best draw this Texas team could have hoped for in the first round - and not just because their regional accent is funnier than ours. Tubby Smith should be commended for getting this Minnesota Golden Gophers team into the tournament, but this is a game that we should win. Unless they cover the court in ice and break out skates. In which case, Damion James’ ballhandling will actually improve.

Pete Flutak's college football playoff scenario. We win, of course.

Doug Gillett, writing for Dr. Saturday, has all the good things to coaches who wait.

Will Muschamp, Texas: Four Godots
The Longhorns weren't the first program to name a coach-in-waiting, but they certainly paid the most for the privilege: Muschamp's elevation to CIW  came with a hefty raise  that made him the highest-paid assistant in the country at $900,000 a year (he's now second behind Tennessee DC Monte Kiffin). He'll be cashing those checks for a while, though. Mack Brown's current contract runs through 2016, and it's not a sure thing he'll be in a hurry to retire even then. It'll be interesting to see how many other teams test his loyalty with new job offers between now and then — particularly Auburn, the program Muschamp left for Texas; supposedly the Tigers made a run at him to replace Tommy Tuberville  less than a month after Muschamp got the CIW nod from the Longhorns.

If you ask someone from UT, you will get a different answer. US News has some fun facts about a few schools in the NCAA's South Region.

So what exactly is a "sooner," the team nickname of the University of Oklahoma (public, founded in 1890)? An "energetic individual who travels ahead of the human procession," the school says.

ESPN's Pat Forde looks at the Big Dance. This is it for Oklahoma. 

Pressure.

Oklahoma (31). The sense of urgency should be palpable in Norman. There will be no junior season for Griffin, and coach Jeff Capel is likely to entertain big-dollar offers to relocate as well.

 

No pressure.

Missouri (36). The Tigers haven't been to the NCAAs in six years and were picked to finish seventh in the Big 12, so they're playing with house money. And their frantic style of play tends to induce much more pressure on opponents.

Conference coaches feel that the Big 12 does not get respect.

Even with a national championship by Kansas last season, Big 12 basketball coaches believe the conference is being short changed. They're channelling Rodney Dangerfield.

"It's kind of unfortunate that our NCAA Tournament teams received the bids they did and some were sent so far away from home," Kansas State coach Frank Martin said. "It continues to be a lack of respect that this league receives. It's an abosolute joke how this league is perceived and disrespected nationally.

"Over the last nine or 10 years, there's been no league that's been better in the NCAA Tournament than ours."

So, why doesn't anyone like Scott Drew?

Baylorfans.com offers an unintentionally amusing take on the latest Thayer Evans hit piece. Who knew Thayer Evans was so pro-Texas? Oh, Baylor.

If you follow Big 12 Basketball to any degree, you probably already knew that Scott Drew was universally hated by all of his colleagues in the Big 12. Rick Barnes wasn’t so much grinding a personal axe or reacting bitterly to Baylor’s first win against Texas since 1998 - he was speaking on behalf of the Big 12 basketball coaching fraternity and prepping Drew on expectations for the coming recruiting season.

Virginia fired coach Dave Leita. Is OU's Jeff Capel on the watch list for the job?

I actually found an article on spring football. CBSSports' Dennis Dodd has 25 things to watch for in spring practice.

Robert Marve seems to like the Big 12, but does the Big 12 like him? Nebraska is now on his list.

Big 12 Hardball has the weekly review.