The Horns have receiving options.
The Longhorns have lost their No. 1 receiver in Jordan Shipley, and Mack Brown and offensive coordinator Greg Davis have decided to go under center with new starting quarterback Garrett Gilbert in the fall. But Texas has racked up a pretty appealing receiving corps for 2010.
Dennis Dodd has the Longhorns at No. 7 in his post-spring top 25.
The 'Horns will be tougher physically, if that's possible. No longer with Colt McCoy to lean on, Mack Brown is installing more of a pro set with a fullback. You'll see Texas line up and pound people for a change instead of passing on third-and-2. The 'Horns should win the Big 12. It's up to Garrett Gilbert, McCoy's successor, as to how far they rise nationally.
Ten again: Look for Texas to win at least 10 for the 10th consecutive year. Ten of the 12 games will be played in-state. The toughest stretch is UCLA, Oklahoma (followed by a bye week) and then at Nebraska.
Killing time in the off-season with expansion talk here, here, here, here, and here. Barking Carnival has more on the subject, too.
We have all the toys. What is at the bottom of Missouri's discontent in the Big 12?
"Missouri has the St. Louis TV market and is the biggest of the state's universities. It's also not terribly happy with Big 12 finances. When the Big Eight either expanded to include four newcomers from Texas (the Big Eight version) or died, before the Big 12 was magically formed and the four Texas schools allowed its refugees to join them (the version the rest of the Big 12 tells), a rather complicated and unique revenue-sharing plan went into place. It basically boils down to this: Texas gets all the money."
Rice and the University of Houston are following all the expansion talk.
The Big Ten is contemplating expanding from 11 schools to as many as 16. In no way, shape or form does UH or Rice fit into those expansion plans, but that doesn't leave the two schools as disinterested bystanders.
"That's what's so great about this," UH athletic director Mack Rhoades said. "There are so many scenarios, so many different ways this can play out. It can be seismic, or there could be very little change."
It seems to be a consensus. Colorado should go to the PAC 10.
As the Pac-10's new, ambitious brain trust assesses its future and expansion Colorado appears firmly in its crosshairs.
New commissioner Larry Scott will not comment on specific schools he is targeting, but listen to his criteria for adding schools and he describes Colorado nearly to the Buffs' football helmet design.
"Looking at it from a business perspective, first and foremost, what's going to add value: TV, a football championship game," Scott said. "There does need to be compatibility to our conference, and of paramount importance is academic compatibility. But there are other important issues such as athletic compatibility and geographic compatibility when you look at costs.
Moral and ethics have no place in college sports. The PAC 10 sees itself as morally and ethically superior to the Big 12, but they might lower their standards to make a few more dollars.
For decades, the Pac-10 viewed itself (rightly or wrongly) as being on higher moral and ethical ground than the SEC and Big 12, for instance. Certainly, it viewed itself as more committed to academics than those conferences.
But if the dollars are right, I’ve been told, we might see an entirely different approach.
"There will be no moral high ground if it can be monetized," the source said.
Dr. Saturday mulls over the Sooners' 2010 season.
Mack Brown and Nick Saban, together again.
For all the Craig James haters out there...He isn't going away.
Craig James, the ESPN analyst who threatened to sue Texas Tech if it didn't fire Mike Leach, will continue to have an active role in the network's college football telecasts this fall.
Norby Williamson, ESPN's vice president of production, told Richard Deitsch of SI.com that "Craig still has a connection with coaches and players and there is a trust element there."
As for the connection with viewers, that's another question.
Colt has become a very popular name.