All the Big 12-2 Conference news that is and isn't fit to read...
And some other stuff.
We're No. 1! [ESPN]
Forget the Longhorns' record last year and remember this: If Mack Brown retired tomorrow, the agent for every coach in America would feverishly dial numbers in the 512 area code. Texas has the wealthiest athletic program in America. According to data submitted to the U.S. Department of Education, the Longhorns raked in $461.6 million in revenue the past five school years, including a whopping $143.6 million in the 2009-2010 school year. The numbers will only rise after Texas launches its own TV network. The Longhorns have their annual pick of recruits from the state that produces more BCS conference signees than any state besides Florida, where Florida, Florida State and Miami have jockeyed for top position for decades. Texas essentially runs a major conference. Obviously, the coach at Texas is under tremendous pressure to win, but he has the most tools at his disposal to win big every year.
Common sense from an Aggie. [I Am The 12th Man]
Enjoy the highlights.
Here is your off-season countdown clock.
One year ago today...The Big 12 is dead! [Tulsa World]
Newspaper and Internet stories the second week in June 2010 carried headlines announcing the league's imminent demise.
An Internet reporter in Austin, Texas, who had a direct line to sources in the Texas athletic department, went on ESPN and emphatically declared: "The Big 12 is dead."
Officials from every Big 12 school had just returned to their campuses after a contentious gathering in Kansas City, Mo. Nebraska and Colorado headed home from those spring meetings determined to put the Big 12 permanently in their rearview mirrors.
The Sooner love fest may come to an end. [Tulsa World]
OU is expected to be ranked No. 1 in several preseason polls that will come out in a few weeks. Many pollsters are already predicting the Sooners will be in New Orleans next January to play in the BCS title game at the Superdome.
Coach Bob Stoops didn't seem too concerned over the possibility that all the June warmth showered on him could evaporate in January if OU doesn't live up to all the preseason hype.
The Cyclones aren't ashamed of their enthusiasm. [Sioux City Journal]
Gary Pinkel isn't going anywhere soon. [Kansas City Star]
Pinkel has received overtures from Washington and Michigan and is on most lists of possible replacements for Jim Tressel at Ohio State. But Pinkel — born in Ohio, a tight end at Kent State and coach at Toledo for a decade — is now a Missouri Man.
Basketball
Too early? Here are your preseason Big 12-2 basketball rankings. [NewsOK]
The powers that be have figured out a 10-team format. [Blogging The Bracket]
The round-robin format is going to be difficult. [NewsOK]
"With a tough league schedule, it may affect what you have to do or need to do with the non-conference schedule," Kruger said. "It may change a little from year to year."
It is the new and improved Big 12-2. [Sporting News]
Good for Missouri. [Rock M Nation]
The school formerly known as a member of the Big 12-2
Shouldn't they have worked out these details before they joined the Big Ten? [Omaha World]
The only difference is those games will be shown on an open or public-access channel instead of on the channel assigned to BTN, and the games would be labeled "Big Ten Conference'' instead of BTN.
As of now in Nebraska, that list of operators is at one — DirecTV.
What about Time Warner, the system that serves Lincoln?
"Nothing yet,'' Silverman said.
Thanks to www.lostlettermen.com.
Someone needs to tell the museum that Reggie Bush doesn't need his Heisman. [Sports Illustrated]
tOSU's case is worse than USC. [Yahoo Sports]
Checks? Oh, my.
It could be the smoking gun that proves Ohio State’s 11-day investigation last December into Pryor and his teammates profiting off memorabilia sales was nothing but a shallow show designed to sweep the scandal under the rug and get the players back on the field for the upcoming Sugar Bowl.
It’s the proof that the school, and its highest leaders, not only failed to monitor the behavior of its star athletes, but even when tipped off by federal authorities of a major scandal, failed to find out what was actually going on.
Big 10 Commish Jim Delany had an "un-refreshed recollection." [CBS Sports]
It pays to be a college athlete. [ESPN, Outside The Lines video]
The signings for cash, which would be a violation of NCAA rules, occurred a minimum of 35 to 40 times, netting Pryor anywhere from $20,000 to $40,000 that year, the former friend says. The source spoke to ESPN under the condition that his face not be aired on TV and that his name not be published.
He said Pryor was paid $500 to $1,000 each time he signed mini football helmets and other gear for a Columbus businessman and freelance photographer, Dennis Talbott. Talbott twice denied to ESPN that he ever paid Pryor or any other active Buckeyes athlete to sign memorabilia. He said last week he has only worked with former players to set up signings.
Terrell Pryor should have talked to Rhett Bomar. [Tulsa World]
"Don't make the same mistake I made," Bomar answered. "It's not worth it in the end. I know that for a fact. Just do what you're supposed to do and then leave. Don't get caught up in the wrong people. Don't listen… Don't let somebody tell you that this is what you can do and things like that. Just do your job and get out of there."
It is amazing that this is even a loophole that needed to be closed. [Sports Agent Blog]
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano wants to eliminate kickoffs. [Sports Illustrated]
If you hire the father, will the son follow? [CBS Sports]
Which is why I won't criticize Billy Gillispie (Texas Tech), Billy Kennedy (Texas A&M) or Trent Johnson (LSU) for offering jobs to John Reese in hopes of landing his son, Class of 2012 standout J-Mychal Reese. Rather, I'm going to commend them all because it shows that those three men, if nothing else, understand they are paid lots of money to win basketball games, and it shows they're willing to do what it takes to try to win them.
They should have checked with Mack Brown before they got themselves into this mess.That Head-Coach-In-Waiting isn't working out so well in West Virginia. [Sporting News]
When asked Tuesday if, in hindsight, the coach-in-waiting plan wasn’t such a good idea, Luck told a Pittsburgh radio station, "We can all second-guess. Would I do it again? I don’t know."
Word fight! A newspaper takes on Sports Illustrated. [Columbia Dispatch]
A few wondered why we didn't use more information from an article published the day after Tressel's resignation in Sports Illustrated, which alleged that many more than six players traded or sold memorabilia with local tattoo parlors. The magazine also published scathing anecdotes about Tressel.
Much of the story was known and previously published by The Dispatch and other news organizations over the past decade. New information in the story generally came either from anonymous sources or ones we deemed questionable. We were uncomfortable using such damaging allegations when we could not judge the veracity of the sources.
Do you have actual documentation that you deserve that title? Tommy Tuberville wants that 2004 championship. [ESPN]
Former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said Monday the Tigers should be declared retroactively as 2004-05 national champions.
"Yes," Tuberville said. "Someone should be awarded (the) title. If not, the team that had to forfeit is not really punished."
And you thought that Boise field was bad? [The Wiz of Odds]
And finally...
BDR doesn't endorse any of the rubbish that is out there, we just link to it.