By this time tomorrow, my to-do list will be as short as it's been in nine months, as The Eyes of Texas 2008 leaves my desk for the printer. With final exams come and gone, my hectic meter is about to plummet: fly to California Saturday, sleep for 50 straight hours, emerge from slumber human again, wander to beach.

Oh, and posting. That'll resume too.

In the interim: Putting this book together always exposes me to to a truly ridiculous number of facts about Longhorns football. So let's test your knowledge against just a few of the hundreds of facts about Texas football in the annual.

Post your answers in the comments. Don't worry if you're just guessing at times - some questions are much harder than others. Regardless, if you use the internet to look up any answers, just go ahead and change your signature to "I love Oklahoma."

1. Among the 2007 BCS conference champions, which was the only team to have as many turnovers as Texas (26)?

A. LSU

B. USC

C. West Virginia

D. Virginia Tech

E. Oklahoma

F. Ohio State

2. Which of the following 2008 opponents has the worst winning percentage all-time against Texas?

A. Rice

B. Oklahoma State

C. Baylor

D. Kansas

E. Missouri

3. Name the head coach of all four of Texas' 2008 non-conference opponents.

4a. As a varsity athlete at the Darlington School, Will Muschamp earned how many letters?

A. 8

B. 12

C. 16

4b. In college, Muschamp walked on the football team as a freshman. By his senior year, he was a team captain. Which college did he attend and what position did he play?

5. Will Muschamp's defense led the nation in total defense in which of the following seasons?

A. 2002

B. 2003

C. 2004

D. 2006

E. 2007

6. In 97 games against unranked teams, how many has Mack Brown won?

A. 70-74

B. 75-79

C. 80-84

D. 85-90

E. 91-95

7. Which Texas tailback has the lowest yards per carry average for his career?

A. Cedric Benson

B. Ricky Williams

C. Jamaal Charles

D. Hodges Mitchell

8. Who is the only Texas player to record 10 or more sacks in a single season during the Mack Brown era?

9. How many of Texas' eight senior starters on the 1983 Texas defense were drafted in the subsequent NFL Draft?

10. After the 2008 NFL Draft, there are now how many Longhorns in the NFL?

A. 20-24

B. 25-29

C. 30-34

D. 35-39

E. 40-44

[Note by billyzane, 05/16/08 10:01 AM EDT ] If you want to guess without seeing anyone else's answers first, then click through to comment and then from the pull-down menu above the comments where it says "Expanded" select "Collapsed" instead.

In the wake of the OJ Mayo fiasco, we turn our attention tonight to scandals. I'm running way behind at the moment - we start in 10 minutes - so you'll have to tune in for answers to this week's Four Questions:

1. What was the worst scandal your school ever had? 

2. What’s the worst scandal in college football RIGHT NOW? 

3. What’s the worst scandal you personally have been involved with? 

4. What’s your favorite scandal?

Tune in via the online radio player in the left sidebar or, if you please, we'd love seeing you in the live chat board for the show. Just head to the NowLive show page at 8:00 for this week's show.

I'm typing this glancing over my shoulder as I sit in knee-knocking fear of John Bianco's reprisal, but I just thought I'd point out to you all that whoever runs MB-TF.com has forgotten what it's like to have only one Playboy Preseason All-American.  From the front page:

Seniors DE Brian Orakpo has been selected as a member of the 52nd Annual Playboy Preseason All-America Football team.

First of all, kudos to Brian, and although I can't possibly imagine what he could get himself into (ahem...) out there that he hasn't already in Austin, I'm sure he'll have a great time with all of the other seniors from famous programs.  Second of all, does Bill (I don't care who wrote it, everything on that site is Bill Little's fault) even draft a new announcement for these, or did we catch him inserting names into last year's announcement?  Well, why don't you go  and  see  for yourself?  I quit linking after the last one because there's actually a single-sentence quote from Roy Williams in it, although the remainder is straight from the cookie cutter.  I looked to see if this was a standard press release that Playboy sent out when they notified the players, but the other announcements I found on official sites were all different... you know, like, unique.

Is this that big of a deal?  Not by any means.  Is it kind of amusing to poke at the castle guard from across the moat, especially given recent events?  Hell yes.

And besides, if you guys have anything more interesting to read about Texas football, please send me an email about it.  I'm drowning here.

[Update by Horn Brain, 05/09/08 4:30 AM CDT ]  They fixed it! Bwahahaha!  Sigh...  Offseason.  At least I can speculate as to how thick the file they're going to start keeping on me is.  No way I get an interview with even a towel boy as long as these guys know that I breathe.  I'm going to have to live off the grid.

One month ago, the Daily Texan reported that John Chiles was a 'suspect' in an incident on MLK Boulevard. We noted the paper's story here, but withheld comment because details were so hazy. The Austin Police Department subsequently dropped the investigation.

Now who, if anybody, is the bad guy here? There are only two potentially bad actors in this story: the person who filed the report or the Austin Police Department. One possibility is that someone wrongfully accused John Chiles of something to the police, who then correctly identified him as a person of interest in their investigation. The other is that the police inappropriately identified Chiles as being under investigation for something.

Apparently, though, there's a third possibility, at least in the mind of the University of Texas Athletic Department. That would be the Daily Texan. As the Texan reported on Tuesday :

When the Texan originally reported that APD confirmed Chiles as a suspect, assistant athletics director John Bianco wrote several threatening e-mails to Daily Texan sports editor and journalism senior Ricky Treon, calling him unprofessional and his reporting "untruthful." Bianco warned that other news agencies (and potential employers) "realize how you do business now," which "will hurt you in the long run." He also said that if the Texan's editors didn't pull the post off the blog, "John Chiles would understandably have an issue with the entire paper" which would be "unfortunate for the Texan's long-term working relationship with him."

Again, to replay the chain of events. The Texan has information that the APD is investigating John Chiles. The Texan contacts APD to confirm the information. APD confirms said information. The Texan reports nothing more, nothing less, than what APD has confirmed. When APD later withdraws its investigation, the Texan reports that as well.

All of which begs the question: what in the hell was John Bianco thinking?

The Texas Athletics Department in action.

I have some experience working with John, who as the AD for the football team was the point man in setting up my interviews with Duane Akina and Larry MacDuff for last year's football annual. I concluded the experience thinking two things: (1) that he was professional and helpful, and (2) that he would be all over me if I published anything from my interviews on BON.

So I'm both surprised and not at all surprised by this report from the Texan. I'm not at all surprised that John was working aggressively in his role as gatekeeper to the football team. But I'm shocked to hear that he handled this situation as he did.

It's inexcusable. Throwing up a moat and high walls around the football team is understandable.¹ Bullying the media - the student newspaper, no less - is way out of bounds. Blurry as the line often seems, the Longhorns football program is not a corporation. It is an extension of the University of Texas.

It is not above the law. It is not immune from media scrutiny. It is not privileged to push around those who dare disturb the kingdom.

John Bianco and the Athletics Department have every right to be as protective of the players as they think proper. There's nothing anyone can do about that, and the media isn't owed any special access to these kids. But there has to be a line, and threatening the media for what was not irresponsible reporting crosses that line.

One of the most common questions I get asked as a Longhorns blogger is why I don't try to get access to the team.

Now you know.

¹For the record, I'm not convinced it's the best approach, but that's another story.

Orson's got a lovely video of Noel Devine up over at his place, and though the tiny tailback certainly shows off some ridiculous jukes and agility, his top end speed doesn't really stand out as the best of the best. His stride covers like a yard and a half.

But watching the video reminded me of something I meant to mention after the NFL Draft a couple weeks ago. When the draft concluded, I seemed to be the only person in America who rather liked Tennessee's draft. That could make me the fool, but it also might be that others are underestimating the impact their first-round choice could have on VY's offense.

There's also the kick returning to consider. Tennessee was a different, much more dangerous team, when Pacman Jones was still making plays for the Titans on the return game.

But don't take my word for it; see for yourself. Tell me if you don't think this might help Vince as much or more than any tall receiver could.

There's fast and then there's... this.

Sports blogs and the comments within: perhaps not wholly responsible for society's intellectual demise after all.

From this, we get the following exchange in the comment section:

Billyzane: Public opinion is consensus when a majority of people agree with you and the ill-informed views of a nation of rubes when they don’t agree with you. We have a proud tradition in this country of attempting to temper the vagaries of public opinion with institutions that are more methodical and thoughtful. See the Federalist Papers for a thoughtful analysis of why doing everything the majority wants is the worst idea man ever had. And while I don’t pretend to equate the gravity of national government with something as frivolous as the college football postseason, the point is the same.

Public opinion is by nature capricious, and on matters such as this it is, taken as a whole, largely ill-informed. People voting on ESPN haven’t sat down and thought about a college football playoff the way those charged with deciding whether there should be one or not have. I, personally, have thought more about this that probably anyone else on this blog (and have definitely written more extensively about it). At first I blindly thought “Of course a playoff would be better. That’s obvious.” But after spending weeks thinking about it and studying it and writing a treatise on what a system for crowning a chmpion should be, I came to a somewhat different conclusion.

My point isn’t that if you think about it, you’ll agree with me. My point is that the public hasn’t thought about it in any meaningful way and to take their opinion as conclusive evidence of what would be best for college football in the long run is folly. Perhaps it is conclusive evidence of what the public wants right now, but that’s only part of the equation that the representatives of these conferences need to take into account. And I for one am glad that they think about it, weigh the competing concerns, and bring their own biases into the debate rather than worshiping at the altar of public opinion.

If that makes me elitist, then so be it. It puts me in good company.

Skin Patrol: I think you're wrong.

First, I think it’s probably wrong that government is better off when decisions are taken from the people.

Second, even presuming that assertion is right generally and as relates to government, the kinds of decisions best left to people are precisely those that are frivolous and lacking in gravity.

Third, even presuming you’re 2-0 on the above points, I disagree that the general public is ill-informed on College Football. Maybe they aren’t the most edumecated folks in the world, but by the very nature of the question, the only people who could possibly be informed are… the people. The question is which would fans prefer, the answer is fans would prefer a playoff. Since CFB isn’t a policy decision, has no importance outside that generated by the people who watch it, shouldn’t it follow a system the people watch? Are you suggesting College Football fans are uneducated on playoffs generally, that they don’t understand the term or concept of a playoff? Surely that can’t be the case.

Fourth, you’re a lot smarter than most of the people on the internet, and certainly me. And you’ve written extensively on the subject; I trust your knowledge on a playoffs moreso than I’d trust others. But people who have really, really, thought about a playoff system for CFB abound throughout the internet, and they don’t all happen to agree with your conclusion. There are a lot of intellectually serious people who think a playoff is preferable.

Finally, and I’m repeating myself, what’s “best for college football” is whatever the fans say is best. Since we’re talking about a sport, what’s important is not some elusive objective right/wrong for the institution, but rather whatever wets the dick of college football fans. There isn’t anything inherently worthwhile about the sport independent the value invested in it by, say, forty eight thousand seven hundred and thirty seven fans.

Ultimately it’s important to remember that we’re talking about making a SPORTS decision. Since playoffs have not demonstrably collapsed into nothing any of the EVERY SINGLE OTHER SPORT THAT UTILIZES IT, it’s safe to say we aren’t talking about the potential end of College Football when we propose a playoff. Essentially we’re talking about nothing more important than the color of the uniforms. I doubt the masses are so helpless that we wouldn’t let them make those kinds of decisions, those poor dumb bastards.

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It's May 1st, meaning we've spent four months without Texas football and have four more until it returns. Halfway home, boys and girls.

Same as last year, we'll take couple cracks at projecting the depth chart, once now before summer and again at the beginning of August when fall workouts begin. Let's pray it's a quiet, trouble-free summer and we're not talking about attrition to grades and jail.

Les Roster

QBs (3) - Colt McCoy (JR), John Chiles (SO), Sherrod Harris (SO)

RBs (8) - Chris Ogbonnaya (SR), Vondrell McGee (SO), Foswhitt Whittaker (RS-FR), Tre' Newton (FR), Jeremy Hills (FR), Cody Johnson (FR), Antwan Cobb (SO), Luke Tiemann (SR)

WRs (11) - Dan Buckner (FR), Brandon Collins (SO), Quan Cosby (SR), Brock Fitzhenry (FR), DJ Grant (FR), DeSean Hales (FR), Antoine Hicks (FR), James Kirkendoll (SO), Jordan Shipley (SR), Montre Webber (SO), Malcolm Williams (R-FR)

TEs (4) - Blaine Irby (SO), Peter Ullman (SR), Ian Harris (RS-FR), Josh Marshall (SO)

OTs (6) - Tray Allen (SO), Aundre McGaskey (SO), Adam Ulatoski (JR), Kyle Hix (SO), Mark Buchanan (FR), Luke Poehlmann (FR)

OGs (6) - Cedric Dockery (SR), Charlie Tanner (JR), Michael Huey (SO), Britt Mitchell (SO), Steve Moore (SO), David Snow (FR)

Cs (3) - Buck Burnette (SO), Chris Hall (SR), Greg Smith (SO)

May Projection, Offense

Four months out, we lack a lot of the requisite information to make an opening day prediction, but this would be my guess as to where we stand heading into the summer. A few thoughts:

* I don't think this is necessarily our best top-to-bottom offensive depth chart, nor one I expect to see at the close of the season. This projection gives greater deference to veterans than I expect the season will uphold. Sophomores Tray Allen, Michael Huey , Buck Burnette, and Aundre McGaskey will all challenge for starting jobs, if not by September 1, then by December. Sophomore Kyle Hix had a terrific season of his own last year, so he won't be unseated easily. Ulatoski, Tanner, Hall, and Dockery will all need to remain healthy and perform consistently to avoid being passed by this young crop of O-Line talent.

* While the situation at wide receiver isn't hurting for depth, it certainly is in clarity. I honestly have no idea how this will play out and, at this point, think the only thing we know for sure is that a healthy Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby will start. Beyond that, it's a mad scramble for position.

* Tight end depth? None. What the hell do we do if Irby gets hurt? (Edit: Brain fart overlooking Harris and Marshall. Regardless, the depth is an issue if Irby goes down, considering Ullman's limitations as a pass catcher and the inexperience of Harris and Marshall.)

* We've discussed John Chiles v. Sherrod Harris already, the resolution of which could shake things up a bit. Assuming Chiles sticks with QB as he intends, one of the young wide receivers needs to step up as a playmaker this season.

Thoughts?

What to do when your sanity requires a break from the drudgery that is property law?

Browse BCS history, that's what. As noted in a FanPost, the conference commissioners met this week to discuss the possibility of playoffs and voted - perhaps predictably - to continue with the current BCS format, at least through 2014. As ESPN.com quickly found out, the commissioners are not exactly in step with the overwhelming majority of fan preference:

According to ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach, only the ACC and SEC commissioners were interested in discussing a playoff, with the remaining four conference commissioners and Notre Dame Athletic Director Kevin White flatly rejecting the idea - be it a multi-team playoff or a plus-one system.

That story sent me to the BCS wiki page to look at how each conference has fared since the BCS was implemented. With some basic accounting, I was able to sort out some quick and dirty performance metrics for each conference over the BCS' 10-year history:

¹The Big 12 has twice sent a team that didn't win the conference championship game (Nebraska 2001, OU 2003) to the BCS Title Game, both of whom are counted above as at-large participants. 

Assorted Thoughts

* The ACC, not Big  East, is the redheaded stepchild of the BCS. Even taking away Miami's 2-1 record as a member of the Big East, the conference has comfortably outperformed the woeful ACC. Florida State (lost '98 title game, won '99 title) was strong in the BCS' formative years, but as it has faded to mediocrity, so has the conference.

* For what it's worth: At-large BCS teams are 12-8 in BCS games.

* Both the Big 10 and Big 12 have garnered more bids, but it's the SEC that has performed best in the big money bowls thus far. Sample size caveats apply, but a .733 win percentage and 4 national titles in 5 as many tries ain't shabby.

* Notre Dame is bad at football. But good at optimism.

* Three teams - Utah, Boise State, and Hawaii - have clawed their way into a BCS game, with the Utes and Broncos picking up wins. At the risk of wading too deeply into meta waters, this is one reason why I like the idea of a playoff. There's enough parity in college football that it's silly to crown two teams the best of a given year and limit the ultimate prize to them and them alone. Boise State's ceiling? A trophy filled with Tostitos dipping chips. Meh.

* Without question, television contracts have an enormous role in all this. A proper review of the situation would look at the current deals in place, their expiration, and whether the conferences and broadcasters stood to make more money from a playoff system. Among all the variables, this one's probably dispositive.

* As always, there's probably a lot more to learn with a more robust look at all the available data. In an alternate universe where I actually had enough free time, I'd want to know:

1. Profiles of at-large teams. How did they earn their bids? What was their non-conference strength of schedule? How strong was their conference?
   
2. Profiles of national title participants. How strong was the field of suitors for the berth? How many teams might we reasonable argue were unjustly excluded from a shot at title glory?
3. What correlation exists between preseason ranking and likelihood of BCS bowl participation? Between preseason ranking and national title game participation?
4. Do the make-up, intra-conference scheduling policies, or existence of a conference championship game have any bearing on likelihood of BCS participation?

Though we rarely, if ever, get it from mainstream reporting on the topic, there's a substantive discussion to be had about these types of questions. Ironically, a day after this nonsense, I'm happy to say that the discussion is alive and well on, yes, the interwebs. Those damn radical kids...

In the wake of the NFL draft, we thought we’d do our own draft-themed show. Tonight's four questions:

1. Name a player for your school who, once "drafted" by your team, never really panned out. Remember Marquis Johnson, the Parade All-American, five-star recruit from Illinois? You don't? That's because he didn't bother going to class, quickly failing out of UT. (He eventually went to Junior College before transferring to Tech, where he never caught on, picking up 74 total receiving yards in his career.)

[Note by PB @ BON, 04/29/08 10:34 PM EDT ] As noted in the comments, Johnson got hurt before arriving in Austin. I'd completely forgotten about his accident, and just remembered him not making it at UT, but as DrunkArmadillo reminds, he never even academically qualified to make it to campus.

2. Name the most overrated draft pick from your own school. OT Mike Williams, selected fourth by the Buffalo Bills in 2002. A very wealthy man, Mr. Williams soon became a very fat man, ballooning to 370 pounds by 2006. The very definition of a big bust.

3. You get to draft a quality you lack into your life. I really wish I were a better joke/story teller. Think of the person you know who's best at telling a joke. Not necessarily the funniest - just the best at telling jokes and spinning yarns. Don't you wish you were more like him or her? Unfortunately, my delivery is B-. The shame...

(But tune in to my radio show tonight!)

4. Draft something foreign into these United States of ours. Presented without commentary:

Talk to you tonight at 8:00 p.m. CT at NowLive.

A new Big 12 Roundtable, courtesy of Crimson and Cream Machine.

1. Who are some of the new faces that emerged in the spring who could be serious playmakers for your team this fall?

Offense: For Texas fans, the question is especially relevant in light of the departure of its three top offensive playmakers to the NFL - Jamaal Charles, Jermichael Finley, and Limas Sweed. For the Sooners in the audience, that means Texas lost its top tailback, tight end, and wide receiver from a season ago.

As far as replacements go, I'm not one who believes there's much (if anything) to be learned from spring practice. With the depth chart supposedly wide open, we won't have a good grasp on who might best become a playmaker for Texas in '08 until late August at the earliest. More realistically, we won't know if Texas has a playmaker problem until conference play begins the first week of October. Players I'll frantically be watching for game-changing ability: John Chiles, DeSean Hales, Malcolm Williams, Vondrell McGee, and Foswhitt Whittaker.

Defense: I'm already in love with this Texas defense, both for how it sets up in 2008 and its potential for dominance in '09. The Longhorns will lose Brian Orakpo (DE), Roy Miller (DT), Aaron Lewis (DT), Rashaad Bobino ('MLB'), and Ryan Palmer (CB) after this year. Orakpo and Miller are potential All-Americans this season, but the rest are either already passed on the depth chart or about to be by younger, better players. By 2009, the optimist in me sees Deon Beasley ready to be a Thorpe candidate, the young Wells-Scott-Thomas trio at safety ready to shine, a terrifying (for opposing offenses) Kindle-Norton-Muck linebacking trio, plenty of talent at defensive end, and only one question mark - at DT.

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