36 days (give or take a few hours) to the Rice Game
6 days (give or take a few hours) to start of fall practice
Never say never. Things can always change.
Texas will never be back.
Those were the words of Bill Little, longtime Texas historian and coach Mack Brown's right hand man. It was 1997, one of the low points in Texas history. Three teams -- three! -- had torn down goal posts in front of disgraced Longhorns that season. The program was coming off a season in which it lost to Baylor, gave up 66 points -- at home -- to UCLA, fired coach John Mackovic and, in Little's estimation, did irreparable harm.
Deloss Dodds wants to rule the world.
"They win at everything at Texas," Barnes told me over breakfast one morning in Austin. "He said they wanted to win at basketball, too."
In other words, Dodds wanted Barnes to explain what he needed to be successful.
Long as it was reasonable, he'd do it.
And because Dodds kept his word, and because Barnes was the perfect hire, and because T.J. Ford and Kevin Durant were program-changing student-athletes, there is no denying that, 12 years later, Dodds and Barnes have succeeded in their quest to make Texas successful and nationally relevant. That helped the Longhorns land on the CBSSports.com list of the nation's best football/basketball schools.
New leaders step up this season.
Texas cornerbacks Curtis Brown, Blake Gideon and Aaron Williams were named to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list.
The Statesman continues their countdown to camp with a look at Calvin Howell.
The Horns have a new motto this season.
Defensive end/tackle Sam Acho told me at Big 12 media days that the Longhorns' 2010 football motto is "Every play, every day."
I guess "We won't play Big Ten teams because of our Longhorn Network, we are the Joneses, and good riddance, Nebraska" was too long to fit on a plastic wristband.
Barking Carnival thinks it will be a quirky year for college football.
The NCAA football landscape is looking so average this Fall that Roger Goodell and Gary Bettman are envious.
Land Thief news. Safety Quinton Carter has been named to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list. DeMarco Murray wants 2000 yards this season. (In completely unrelated news, I want ten new pair of Manolo Blahniks, but that's not happening, either.)
K-State news. The other UT coach Derek Dooley is holding running back Bryce Brown hostage and will not let him transfer to Kansas State. Dr. Saturday looks at the QB race in Manhattan.
The Ron Prince saga continues. Secret documents, a life insurance policy and a deal sketched out on a napkin. The school may have to pay Prince the 3.2 million dollar buyout.
What is it like as a student-athlete at Big 12-2 Media Days?
Losing just sucks.
For a remarkable number of people who have an emotional stake in the sport, losing is more hateful than winning is joyful. The agony of defeat outweighs the thrill of victory. Perhaps ABC understood that concept when it coined those phrases as part of its famous introduction to "Wide World of Sports": the video of Yugoslavian ski jumper Vinko Bogataj's spectacular wipeout remains far more memorable than whatever B-roll accompanied the thrill of victory.
Year three is when it all happens.
Year three, statistically speaking, is when it all starts to come together—when the no-longer-new coach's recruits and systems settle into place, and the team reaches new heights. The records of college football's current major-conference coaches bear this out: They had a .548 win percentage in years one and two combined, then a .627 mark in year three.
Growing controversy in College Station: Toilet paper-gate.
Texas A&M is attempting to trim $60 million campuswide, and one of the proposed cuts is the elimination of toilet paper in residence hall bathrooms shared by up to four people. The move, which would begin in 2011, is projected to save $82,000.
"We looked at what areas can we cut and not negatively affect our students' academics, and it was that," said Sherylon Carroll, associate vice president for communications.
Carroll added that "some students prefer to bring their own toilet paper anyway."
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