Bevo's Roundup: All Big 12-2 (because we don't really care about any other conference)

Did we really lose? (Thanks to goingforthecorner.)

 The Horns lost in OT.

They stood face to face, the leading scorer in the country and one of the better defenders.

Kemba Walker dribbled. He cleared some space with a jab step. Then he launched a shot over Dogus Balbay, a 15-footer from the left side of the free-throw line.

The ball fell through the basket with five seconds remaining in overtime, giving eighth-ranked Connecticut an 82-81 victory over No. 12 Texas in front of 16,734 at the Erwin Center, the first sellout of the season.

MIssouri basketball coach Mike Anderson has a very smart and talented daughter. She went to Texas.

The Other Sport

Bill Parcels changed his life.

Fourteen years ago, Manny Diaz was just a 23-year-old kid who wanted a job in sports. He'd thought about coaching but hadn't played beyond high school, so he figured his best chance to get close to the action was in the media.

Then, as an ESPN production assistant, he traveled to New Orleans for Super Bowl XXXI and was part of a crew that interviewed then-New England coach Bill Parcells. As Parcells spoke, Diaz's life changed.

"At that moment, I didn't want to coach anymore," Diaz said. "I had to do it."

And so are we. Diaz is hungry for wins. 

Diaz was a graduate assistant for the Seminoles teams that played for a national title after the 1998 season and won one in 1999.

"I didn't get sick and tired playing in those national championship games,'' Diaz said Thursday. "We want to lead the nation in wins (at Texas).''

They are already planning the season.

New Texas football hires Manny Diaz and Bryan Harsin waited about three minutes into Friday's lunch with Mack Brown to start talking business.

Barbecue took a back seat to strategy and serious planning of spring practice. Ideas bounced around the table between Diaz, the incoming defensive coordinator, and Harsin, his offensive counterpart.

 At least this upheaval hasn't affected recruiting.

"I’m just really excited to be a part of a team that has that much
confidence, that much swagger and they work that hard in the offseason
and the spring and in the summer - that when you show up on Saturday,
that’s only right to expect to win. It’s only right to expect those
things when you put in the hours and the time and the sweat and the
blood that these guys are going to see here pretty soon. It’s only
right that you win games." - S&C Coach Bennie Wylie

All those naysayers...Former Longhorn coach Gene Chizik may not stay on top for long.

So that's why we went 5-7...We didn't recruit all those other players!

It was a tough breakup, but it really wasn't us. He just had issues.

He also discussed leaving Texas, where he was the "coach in waiting" should Mack Brown retire. Muschamp said the opportunity to be closer to his family and the chance to coach at UF were too good to pass up.

"When we started the head coach in waiting deal there, I felt real good about our situation at Texas and I still did up to the point that Florida offered me the job," Muschamp said. "And Mack's an outstanding coach and he was good to me at Texas and I'm appreciative of the opportunity they extended to me and the confidence they had in me.

"There was no timetable that was ever set and Mack and I had a great working relationship while we were there. I think it was going to be up to him when he wanted to (retire) and he's going to be a Hall of Fame football coach and that's up to him when he decides that day comes."

We are just lucky to be in his mere presence. Bob is brilliant.

 So much for that great Poke offense.

The Alamo Bowl was over.

Yet two plays in the waning moments of the game were a perfect illustration of the Cowboys’ defense in 2010. 

The Aggies lost to LSU in the Cotton Bowl.

A&M's program was on the rise before they even played their first down last season.

The decision to pluck defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter from the Air Force Academy addressed a glaring problem from Sherman's first two seasons. By November, the chants of "Wrecking Crew" at Kyle Field during an upset of eventual Big 12 champion Oklahoma meant a special Aggies identity had returned

Mike Leach as OSU offensive coordinator? Not likely. And he has absolutely no idea why they don't love him in Maryland.

So, regarding a Leach hire - it's plausible, but not likely. That's the consensus opinion of various OSU insiders.

Here's a concept you don't normally associate with Land Thieves.

OU crunching the numbers in regard to football

Rock M Nation has a great series (Part One, Part Two) on Gary Pinkel's tenure at Missouri. As usual, RMN does a fabulous job. This is an interesting read.

Crimson & Cream Machine is now debating Landry Jones.

Nick Saban has met his match. And if there is one thing Land Thieves know, it is a recruiting violation.

The Wall Street Journal envisions the Big Ten as Dante's Inferno. You know who was Anger.

The Cornhuskers competed in the Big 12 this season but they'll take their act to the Big Ten this fall. And few acts in college football seem as angry right now as Nebraska's. The Cornhuskers went 10-4 this season, but it's fair to say the experience was anything but angelic.

Remeber the Whack-A-Mole game? The coaching world is a lot like that.
See one here, all the sudden he ends up in another hole.

Raider secondary coach Travaris Robinson has gone to Florida.

Now you see him, now you don't. Dana Holgorsen is pilfering coaches from OSU.

Cowboys running backs coach Robert Gillespie is expected to leave the program to join the coaching staff at West Virginia, an OSU source confirmed on Monday. Gillespie will join former OSU offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen on the Mountaineers staff.

Awwwww. Mike Gundy is not happy. 

Mike Leach as OSU offensive coordinator?  Not likely. 

So, regarding a Leach hire - it's plausible, but not likely. That's the consensus opinion of various OSU insiders.

Dennis Franchione sighting! He is right down the road.

Basketball

The Aggies beat the Sooners. Whoop.

The Pokes are another team to worry about.

On the opening day of Big 12 Conference play, Oklahoma State proved some things about its toughness and resolve and its ability to beat a quality squad, pulling past No. 17-ranked Kansas State 76-62.

Things can change quickly. Are those preseason rankings holding up?

1. Kansas State: Ouch. The Wildcats have a lot to figure out if they plan to overtake Kansas anytime soon.
2. Kansas: Double ouch. When in doubt, never doubt the Jayhawks. Or something like that.
3. Texas: Pretty well done, actually. The Big 12 coaches apparently saw the potential of impressive freshmen Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph, and voted accordingly.
4. Baylor: The Bears have to beat somebody -- anybody -- to justify their understandably high preseason expectations.

 Bill Self is the face of Kansas.

This is the world new athletic director Sheahon Zenger enters. His time at KU will be judged on how well — directly and indirectly — he moves the university away from its recent run of embarrassment.

His title-chasing basketball team needs to be the vehicle to do it, and in this way, the new leader of KU’s athlc department is still only the second-most important guy around.

Here's the end of your college football season. Enjoy.

And finally...

We should encourage everyone to do the Bronx Salute.