Yes, Texas is a contender.
“Last year they came into our house and destroyed us,” said Brown, who scored 17 of his points in the second half. “That was on my mind the whole game. I just thought that if we got this win here, it would relieve some stress. This is good for our team.”
And scary for the rest of college basketball.
Big 12 Hoops is obviously not aware of our football relationship with Kansas State.
See Sunday's BDR for more stories on the Kansas game.
Tickets to the Big 12 Basketball championships in Kansas City are on sale.
The Pokes are next
The Pokes lost to Baylor 76-57.
Jéan-Paul Olukemi is becoming a big part of the Pokes team.
"With the ability God has given him, I think there's so much more he can give and give on a consistent basis," Ford said. "He has the ability, he has shown that. But he's a young player who is hardheaded at times. But he's getting there."
Getting there hasn't been at all easy.
Football
This is what money will buy.
Stacy Searels will fit right in.
New Texas offensive line coach Stacy Searels walked into today's press conference wearing a pair of 15-year-old cowboys boots.
"I grew up on a dairy farm in North Georgia. Okay, it's not a big cattle ranch, but it was a farm. Grew up riding horses and things like that," he said. "So this is not an act or a show."
Looks like he'll fit right in at Texas.
Don't worry, Bevo is still here. Here is the road map for all the new coaching hires.
We've got a little SEC vibe going.
Mack Brown likes what he sees in terms of the quality of coaching in the SEC.
Who in the SEC hasn’t the Texas head coach reached out to, talked to or tried to woo to Austin to be a part of the Longhorns’ staff?
Texas might play in the Big 12, but the Longhorns’ staff will have a distinct SEC flavor next season.
And they’re paying some serious cash.
The Huston Chronicle has a great profile piece on Jerry Gray.
There went our No. 1 ranking.
Money, Money, Money
It's like an ATM machine!
The money Texas stands to take home yearly from the deal is a significant amount, but then again, Texas tops all schools with an athletic budget of $137 million, in the neighborhood of $100 million more than the University of Houston's annual athletic budget.
Yeah, nice neighborhood. Only Ohio State and a couple others live anywhere near the Longhorns.
Texas star burns much, much brighter.
Texas shrugged, ESPN blinked and -- voila! -- we have ourselves the next great earthquake in conference realignment. Calm down, no teams changed leagues -- this week -- but the announcement of The Longhorn Network has us on alert.
At least it should.
For those initially worried that this gives Texas the money, power and ability to go independent in football, you're way behind. Texas already is an independent in football. Wednesday made it unofficially official. Texas now has its own network and $300 million from ESPN over the next 20 years to add to the already richest athletic department in the country. You know what it has with the Big 12? A scheduling agreement.
This writer missed the memo. We are quasi-independent.
There are a few things you won't see on the new network.
Who’s Eating Garrett Gilbert?: A journey through Austin cuisine with some of the greatest chefs. They cook, they drink and they talk about the Longhorns quarterback.
Extreme Makeover: Football Program Edition: Host Ty Pennington helps coach Mack Brown overall the entire football program from naming new starters to helping the kids look like the big men on campus again.
This is a bad deal for college football.
How long before the Big Ten gets caught in the ripple effects? How long before Ohio State, the second-biggest revenue producer in all college sports, envisions its own exclusive "Buckeye Network" and seeks a spinoff from the Big Ten Network?
The NCAA must look closely at an exclusive 24-hour channel tied to one institution. It's basically a paid commercial for the school. Texas already enjoyed a tremendous recruiting advantage over its closest neighbors, especially in football and basketball. But does 24 hours of "Hook 'Em Horns" constitute an unfair recruiting advantage?
Someone who is not a UT alum thinks Texas will actually save the Big 12-2.
Believe it or not, this deal is what’s going to keep the Big 12 together. UT gets to make more TV money than any other school in the country, play its rivals in all sports and keep the Texas state politicians happy. As a result, UT is in a perfect spot and as long as they want to stay, the Big 12 will live on. Could UT make a few more TV dollars down the road by becoming independent? Sure, but that’s ignoring the fact that UT isn’t in complete control of its affairs in the same way as, say, Notre Dame, who only has to answer to its own alums. UT’s leadership has to deal with state legislators whose loyalties may lie with Texas A&M, Texas Tech or Baylor. Drawing the ire of those politicians that hold much greater purse strings beyond athletics, much less giving up its rivals and relegating its non-football sports to secondary status (noting that UT isn’t a one-trick football pony with across-the-board strong programs in basketball, baseball, softball, track and field, etc.), simply isn’t worth the extra money that might be there for independence. UT has exactly what it wants: a conference that it controls with a TV network that it gets to keep all to itself. It’s the best of both worlds.
Monkey see, monkey do. Now the Sooners want their own channel.
Oh no! We made the Sooners mad.
That was about the most civil way I could come up with to describe my feelings toward our rival this morning and still respect CC's no cursing policy. Believe me, I could think of a number of different ways to more appropriately describe my feelings but rules are rules and I will respect them.
I can assure you this will not be as thorough or eloquent as Redhawk's story from earlier in the week, so fair warning. This is 100% from a die hard OU fan who is flat out sick and tired of watching Texas run roughshod over my Sooners (and the rest of the conference for that matter). I'm tired of watching UT do this (see video) to every team in the conference.
Joe Castiglione just followed the money. Come on, jtesooner, sing along. You, too, will be rich.
Another Sooner over at CC&M seems a little more rational and looks at all the complex issues involved.
This article is a counter point discussion to JTE'S article on telling UT to stick it where the sun don't shine. I'm sure JTE hit the Knee-Jerk OU fan reaction on the head there, and there is nothing really wrong with that except it over simplifies the more complex issues going on in the college football, and with the Big 12 teams. And this is a great starting point to look at the situation.
We are just getting a kickback from ESPN.
So why the lucrative television contract for texas? It makes for a convenient kickback for ESPN for texas' assistance last Summer.
Bill Bryne speaks. The Aggies are living in historic times.
Earlier today our friends in the state capital announced their Longhorn Network in conjunction with ESPN.
As our league transitions to a 10-team conference next season, I see one of two things happening with the third-tier rights. Discussions have taken place in recent months regarding a 9-team Big 12 Network which would operate similar to how the Big Ten Network operates today. The other option, which is less likely to occur, is each of the other nine schools would form their own individual networks and/or continue to syndicate their third tier games like they do today.
If the Cornhuskers were still in the Big 12-2, they would be really pee-ood about this deal.
The future is burnt orange and green.
The only question then – besides what, exactly, is going to air on the network between retrospectives on the 1975 Bluebonnet Bowl, all-night Cat Osterman marathons and reruns of "Friday Night Lights" and "Austin Stories" – is, what other school(s) has the cachet to follow suit? Big Ten juggernauts Ohio State and Michigan are locked into the Big Ten Network; and although the SEC went out of its way last spring to emphasize that its schools are free to pursue their own media deals, no single member brings quite the high-population, high-growth, multi-market oomph of a Texas on its own. Notre Dame's current deal with NBC expires in 2015, but even if it doesn't preclude ND from setting up its own network, most media watcher seem to believe the Peacock isn't getting much bang for its buck, reportedly at $15 million per year for the rights to Irish home games. The potential for an all-Irish network may depend on how much stock a few executive are willing to put into the team waking up the echoes at some point in the foreseeable future after almost 20 years of persistent mediocrity on the field.
But rest assured, the competition has seen the future, and it is burnt orange. And green. Mostly green.
The rest of the 40 Acres
NewsOK just assumes Oklahomans hate Texas more than USC or Notre Dame.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the UT admission policy.
A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cited the Michigan case in affirming a 2009 decision by U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of Austin to uphold UT's admissions policy, which was challenged by two white students who were denied acceptance. The 5th Circuit judges, based in New Orleans, unanimously agreed with Sparks that the policy avoids quotas, is narrowly tailored and otherwise meets standards set by the high court in the Michigan case.
"We're very pleased," said Patti Ohlendorf, UT's vice president for legal affairs. "The university always has maintained that our undergraduate admissions policy is constitutional and follows the guidance of the Supreme Court."
Basketball
The Sooners have won two in a row.
Is Jeff Capel on the hot seat?
Head over to Big 12 Hoops for more on all the conference games.
Football
Bad, bad news from Oklahoma.
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State each owe a large portion of their 2010 success to the play of true freshmen.
Poke QB Barndon Weedon might have some competition.
The former Denton (Texas) Guyer quarterback has life experience beyond his years. Walsh has been interviewed for segments on ESPN. He led Guyer to the title game during a summer 7-on-7 tournament that was nationally televised. Walsh played in the Army All-American Game in San Antonio.
More importantly, he's won a lot of football games.
OSU receivers coach Gunter Brewer has taken a job at Ole Miss.
Sooner running backs coach Cale Gundy was selected as one of the best recruiters by ESPN.
I Am The 12th Man thinks the Aggies will win the Big 12-2.
Someone needs to tell the 12th Man that they did not join the SEC.
Baytown Sterling WR Chance Nelson 5'11 175 4.4 committed to the Ags today. On video he looks more like 5'9 165 to me. Looks like a guy we will put in the slot. Played QB for Sterling and has some nice speed. Does not have an impressive offer list although supposedly KSU and Houston were showing interest. My philosophy is to bring in 25 guys who can run every year and sort them out once they get onto campus. You win in the SEC by bringing in 10 guys every year who run 4.4-4.5 and molding them into football players. I do not get hung up on stars and rankings and all that garbage. I want guys who outrun everyone on the field. Recruits like Nelson and Will Randolph are a big step in that direction.
ESPN's David Ubben opens his mailbag and gets another brilliant letter from an Aggie:
Stephen in San Antonio, Texas asks: Can you call Bill Byrne and ask him to send us to the SEC? Maybe he will listen to an outsider, because he for sure doesn't listen to A&M Alums.
DU: Sure thing. I'll get to it right after I convince him to let loose a pack of wolves in his living room and build a fire pit underneath his bed. Nebraska to the Big Ten? Great move for the program. Colorado to the Pac-12? Another really good move. Texas A&M to the SEC? Program-killing move.
Dennis Dodd takes ranks the coaching carousel.
1. Will Muschamp, Florida : AD Jeremy Foley acted quickly and decisively after Urban Meyer's latest resignation. All we can do is trust the track record. Ron Zook's sin was following Steve Spurrier. Meyer turned out spectacularly. If not for a program-wide meltdown at Texas last season, Muschamp would have been more celebrated. He is still driven, still young and has started off with a bang. (Check out his staff and recruiting.) Texas' former coach-in-waiting/defensive coordinator is being given everything he needs to win. Never mind that Muschamp has never been a head coach. Texas was willing to wait as long as it took Mack Brown to retire. Then the Gators came along. Florida should expect to compete for the SEC title quickly and win a national championship eventually under Muschamp.
A Texas Appeals Court has thrown out Mike Leach's appeal.
Why doesn't anyone want to hire the Pirate?
As soon as Minnesota fired coach Tim Brewster on Oct. 17, Mike Leach's name began circulating as his potential replacement, a possibility that left many Gophers fans salivating. But Minnesota never called the former Texas Tech coach. It wound up hiring Jerry Kill of Northern Illinois.
Miami never called, either. The school had interviewed Leach four years earlier for the opening that eventually went to Randy Shannon, and upon Shannon's dismissal, Leach was mentioned as one of the names "at the top of UM's wish list." But there would be no interview this time. The job went instead to Temple's Al Golden.
Leach, the eccentric 49-year-old offensive guru and Texas Tech's alltime winningest coach, figured to be one of the hottest names on the market during the recently concluded coaching carousel. Instead, of the 21 FBS schools that changed coaches, only one -- Maryland -- contacted him.
TCU QB Andy Dalton is ready for the NFL.
The Rose Bowl had been over less than 72 hours when TCU quarterback Andy Dalton went back to work. Don't you hate the overachievers?
"I think the more preparation you have, the better," he said. "To go ahead and get started gives me a step up."
That attitude is why some NFL team is going to get real lucky on draft day. Dalton begins the process expected to go late in the first round or somewhere in the second.
The Wiz has the classless acts of 2011.
6. Carl Pelini, Nebraska
No coaches struggle with anger-management issues like the Pelinis. Carl, the defensive coordinator, and brother Bo, the head coach, are at their explosive best when things don't go their way.
But Nebraska's 9-6 loss at Texas A&M sent Carl into the stratosphere. A video surfaced that allegedly showed Carl going Woody Hayes on a credentialed member of the media after the game.
Following the gravy train of college sports and the BCS...money.
The rich get richer, the rest get screwed.
Bearing in mind the money/rationale principle and the bowls’ statuses as tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations, UConn’s trip to the Fiesta bowl this season (the school’s first ever trip to a BCS Bowl after making the leap to the FBS level) revealed another flaw with the current BCS format. After the program-defining win, Athletic Director Jeff Hathaway explained its significance," It’s all a catalyst to make the University of Connecticut better and continue striving for excellence in all we do at UConn."
Ironically, the program’s first trip to a BCS Game actually served as a catalyst for incurring substantial amounts of debt. The Fiesta Bowl, and all other bowls for that matter, put the onus on the participating school to sell its ticket allotment (17,500 in UConn’s case for a total cost of $3.5 million), purchase tickets for band members and cheerleaders, purchase a predetermined amount of hotel rooms, and cover all travel and food expenses.
As of December 30, two days before the game, UConn had only sold 4,500 tickets and resorted to soliciting donations from people with no intention of attending the game.They became victims of the secondary ticket market, including sites such as StubHub. While the school was trying to sell its allotment ranging from $111-$255, the same tickets could be found online for as little as $18.
And finally...
January 27, 2001, a plane carrying part of the OSU basketball team crashed. Keep the Pokes in your thoughts this week.
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