67 days until the Louisiana-Monroe game.
Now we know we are getting close. Media days. July 29th is the big day for the Horns. The schools do not announce what players they are bringing to the media event, but ESPN's Tim Griffin has his wish list.
KU Sports muses over the Colt McCoy vs.Vince Young issue in Texas football history.
I think Big 12 fans think of McCoy as a really good QB. Statistically, he is far and away the best to ever play at Texas. But I get the feeling he's not historically great just yet in the eyes of Longhorns fans.
That's because historically great at Texas tips the scale in favor of trophies over stats. Particularly now, in an age where throwing for 300 yards in the Big 12 is hardly front-page news. No, historically great at Texas can be summed up by Keith Jackson in three words: "Vince...Young...scores."
McCoy isn't quite on that historical level, but he's close. Texas is a consensus Top 5 team this season, and much of the reason is because of McCoy's leadership and experience. He should be a finalist again for the Heisman Trophy and the Longhorns have every intent of playing for the BCS Championship.
If McCoy wins the Heisman — Vince Young never did — and leads Texas to a BCS Championship this season, he won't only be the best quarterback in UT football history, but perhaps the greatest player to ever wear a Longhorns uniform.
Such are the expectations at Texas.
Tim Griffin is still counting down his list of the Big 12's most memorable football games. The 2001 UT-Colorado game comes in at No. 11. Sorry I missed No. 22. It is a much better memory for the Horns.
I'm sure you have heard, but Sergo Kindle ran into a wall (literally) and suffered a concussion.
Baseball
"I don’t think we lost this tournament," said Texas head coach Augie Garrido, fighting back
tears of his own after the game. "LSU won it. They did everything they needed to
beat us, twice. They deserve to be champions."
We have absolutely nothing to complain about.
But Augie sure tried. He motivated his players, coaching until the end. Eventually, you just have to sit back and let the game unfold as it will.
And maybe that was his game plan after all. As a veteran of this sport, the man knows when to allow his players the freedom to form their own destinies.
In the end, it was the Tigers against the Horns on the field, and eventually the Tigers simply decided to outplay their burnt orange counterparts. To no one’s fault, not even Augie’s, Lousiana State cashed in on its nine-year CWS drought with a stellar performance that turned the Longhorns from a team of destiny to just another case of too little luck too late.
The College World Series was a ratings bonanza for ESPN.
Oh, please. And just how many times has A&M been to the college world series?
The Sooners
Bob Stoops is starting the press tour early. He is already pushing the Sooner defense. And he is really sorry for being such a jerk to the Sooner fan base.
"I do apologize about calling you out before the Texas Tech game," Stoops said. "I did not mean to offend anybody. I was challenging you, though. Let's face it: anybody have fun at that game?"
Stoops' challenge last November was clear: OU fans aren't loud enough. They cheer just fine, but they don't punish visitors with an unrelenting crush of noise. His team needed just that, he said, when it was to face the No. 2-ranked Red Raiders in a few days.
We really liked your special teams play last year. OU published the special teams depth chart and Stoops talks about the players who missed spring workouts because of injury.
We get to see Bob's face on the sideline of the Cotton Bowl until 2015. Not only did Bob Stoops receive a lot of money from the OU athletic department, but the school did as well.
Not surprisingly, the headline-grabbing news coming out of yesterday's OU Board of Regents meeting in Ardmore was this: "Stoops is college football's $5 million man."
Equally not surprising was that this headline didn't receive similar attention: "OU athletics give $3 million to academics."
In fact, the OU football coaching staff cleaned up. Not bad for losing the national championships how many times?
Oklahoma State
MIke Gundy will be around, too, even though he hasn't signed his contract.
The OSU/A&M Board of Regents announced last December that it had approved a new seven-year contract worth $15.7 million for Gundy, who is 27-23 in four seasons at his alma mater.
The contract, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2009 and runs through December 2015, pays Gundy an annual compensation of more than $2.2 million per season. His previous six-year contract, which escalated in value each season, was worth $1,053,000 in 2008.
Six months after it was approved, Gundy has yet to place his John Hancock on the dotted line. Not to worry, according to Holder.
Some guy named Geoff in Oklahoma has quite a bit if time on his hands. He spent hours researching which Okie school has a better basketball program. Looks like the Sooners win again.
Overall record: OU 1,468-936 (.611) OSU 1452-1018 (.588).
Bedlam Wins: OU 126, OSU 89
Winning coaches: OU 10, OSU 6
All-Americans: OU 22, OSU 17
Conference titles: OU 22, OSU 17
1,000-point scorers: OU 35, OSU 30
Draft selections: OU 42, OSU 32
NCAA appearances: OU 26, OSU 23
Home-court win streak: OU 51, OSU 46
It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
-Dr. Carl Sagan
This is an Aggie joke, right? The Tuscaloosa (Ala.) News put out their annual ranking of the top football programs and A&M came in at No. 19.
(Video music may not be NSFW.)
The New York Times college football blog The Quad ranks Kansas at No. 70 in the 120 to 1 2009 countdown.
Colorado's Dan Hawkins is very optimistic about the Buffs chances this season.
Despite a 13-24 record through his first three seasons in Boulder, Hawkins didn't cringe when a reporter asked him Thursday if the Buffs were in position to make a run at the Big 12 title this fall.
"Do we have the potential to do that? Yes, we do," Hawkins said after a long pause. "But you've got to get hot, you've got to get some confidence going, you've got to avoid injuries. And then you never know how those things will go. But I think we're definitely getting closer to knocking on the door."
Big 12 Sports asked some sports writers to rank the games of the 2008 season. We probably have some idea about what will come in at No. 1.
As far as we're concerned, we already have. The Big 12 appears ready to surpass the SEC in football.
ESPN's Tim Griffin really wants football season to get here. He's fantasizing about Big 12- SEC match ups.
This is the only sports channel that we do not have that we desperately want: Big 12 Network. Maybe one day...
Dr. Saturday looks at pass vs. run in college football. And he has a hand-out.
As if you couldn't see this one coming. The college football playoff proposal was sacked.
And finally...
Our thoughts go out to former Tech quarterback Graham Harrell, his father and his family. Sam Harrell, long time Ennis High School head football coach, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis four years ago but just let the public know about his condition. We wish Coach Harrell a very long and properous life and career.