As the long summer hiatus from college sports is drawing to a close with the Big 12's football media days going on yesterday and tomorrow and football camps opening up next week its time to crank up the ole' quoteboard again. Here's what is buzzing on SBN's Big 12 blogs.
As the last two days have passed, it has been interesting reading the thoughts of various people across the blogosphere about the possibility of A&M or Oklahoma leaving the Big 12. The same set of misconceptions seem to be popping up regarding A&M and OU and texas' longhorn network. The claim I see often, mostly from texas fans, is that Aggies and Sooners are angry because we're worried about the network because of the economic advantage the extra $15 million a year (on average) texas will receive from ESPN. This is patently false. An extra $15 million a year isn't going to become a game-changer for texas, because they already have bigger athletic budget than everyone else. That $100 million plus budget didn't keep them from going 5-7 last year. texas already has more money than they know how to spend in their athletic department, the increased revenue isn't going to change anything. The issue with the longhorn network stemmed around texas' spoken intention to televise the high school football games of prospective student-athletes they are recruiting; such a practice is an NCAA violation, and A&M and OU were right to call texas out on it.The other issue was the intention of ESPN to televise a Big 12 Conference game on the longhorn network. The deal between Fox and ESPN to exchange a Tier 1 game for Fox to drop a conference game was really an attempt by ESPN to increase possible ratings for their network, but it set a dangerous precedent, because texas didn't step up to nix the deal. Such a deal would have required an opposing fanbase to pay texas to watch their own team play the 'sips in Austin, something which is unacceptable to opposing fanbases. I think the other athletic directors in the in conference also voiced their vehement disagreement with such a deal, and Dodds and ESPN came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth fighting over. - I Am The 12th Man
Johnny Deaton is transferring to another school, leaving Oklahoma State with just three scholarship quarterbacks on campus - including Brandon Weeden. The other two left to compete for the role of backup are Clint Chelf and JW Walsh.
Chelf is an athletic, 6-1 192 pound sophomore from Enid. As a redshirt freshman, he saw action in five games. His best outing was a 8-11, 165 yard, 2 TD performance against Tulsa. The other four games he played in were mostly hand off hand off hand off knee performances.
Opposite Chelf is heralded Denton Guyer recruit JW Walsh. The 6-1, 190 Walsh was absolutely the best QB in Texas last year and he's been on campus since January. He hasn't played a single down in college, outside of the spring game, but even then he showed signs of brilliance. The kid is clearly the quarterback of the future at Oklahoma State. - Cowboys Ride For Free
In an attempt to help universities show off their pre-game traditions, EA Sports has started putting it pre-game cutscenes that one would normally see before a game - Chief Osceola (Florida State) planting his spear at mid-field, Notre Dame tapping the "Play like a Champion today" sign, Oklahoma's Sooner Schooner, etc. Sadly, no such pre-game tradition exists yet for Iowa State. The cannon fired after touchdowns is included (Thanks, Alpha Sigma Phi) and some generic audience chants provide ISU-centric content. - Clone Chronicles
Getting close to wrapping this series up and today we're voting on best gameday/pregame tradition. The thing an opposing fan should take note of or make it a point to check in on. Yes the reality is that we're a little bit on the sub-par side of things in this department. It's easy to point to the must-do's at Allen Fieldhouse but a little tougher to find those at Memorial Stadium. Nonetheless Kansas does have some solid traditions that make Saturday's in Lawrence a pretty good time. - Rock Chalk Talk
If you're wondering where all our updates from Big 12 media days are.... uh, this is probably it. Although some of the journalists who cover the conference make the most out of a dull situation, on the whole the event is far too predictable and scripted to be of much interest. Journalists waste time either trying to create something resembling a sensational storyline (see: Longhorn Network hysteria), or asking extraordinarily useless/predictable questions that garner extraordinarily useless/predictable answers.
Those two points actually combine to introduce the only thing I'm interested in discussing related to Big 12 media days: Mack Brown's decision to bring three defensive players (Keenan Robinson, Emmanuel Acho, and Blake Gideon) and just a lone offensive player (senior RB Fozzy Whittaker). Asked why he didn't bring any quarterbacks to media days, Mack Brown explained: - Burnt Orange Nation
There are a handful of players that didn't return. Right now, I don't really have any answers or explanations as to why, but here's the players that I didn't see listed on the final roster that were part of the 2011 signing class or on the 2010 roster: - Double T Nation
We've talked before how OU is the early favorite in Vegas to win it all in 2011 and now, ridiculously early of course, some individual game betting lines have been released. I've never really been sure if we had that many gamblers here at CCM, but even if you're not risking your own money the betting lines are always kind of interesting and can lead to some lively debates. The Sooners are very likely to be favored in every game this year, so while that aspect of these lines likely won't surprise you, the spread of a couple just might. So 40+ days before they've taken a single snap, here are a couple early lines if you're feeling lucky. - Crimson And Cream Machine
The event known as Big 12 Media Days does not get nearly the same level of hype as its SEC counterpart, and really, that's disappointing, if for no other reason than Gary Pinkel was on an absolute roll yesterday and T.J. Moedeserves many moments in the spotlight. Alas. While we might not see the same breathless coverage on television, plenty of local news outlets were on the beat. Here's a summary of the best of Day One for each school involved. - Rock M Nation
Haskin reports from Big 12 media days about...well, about a lot of things.
It's no surprise the Longhorn Network was the primary discussion topic yesterday. It may be a surprise that the most outwardly disgusted coach was...Gary Pinkel? Meanwhile, Texas has been summoned by the NCAA to discuss the new network. - Bring On The Cats