So who all will fit in the glass slipper that the Big 10 is dangling out in front of the college football landscape? In our series, we talked about how the traditional Big 10 aims to scratch their expansion itch and what could happen to every conference around them when they do. Today we look at the candidates either actively or inactively campaigning to be ones who get the golden ticket of an invite. There are oddball choices as well as solid, sensible choices in this competition. Not all will be covered, but we’ll see the ones that matter. Then after that, the swimsuit competition! On with the show!
We laid the foundation with our last 3 post for the Big 10 expansion. Now let’s talk about how other conferences are reacting. Some of them could be massively depleted whereas others are moving to counteract the possible Big 10 growth. Every major BCS conference has about two cents to toss in and little brother mid major conferences are chirping in as well. It’s time for the conferences to lay down their tiles and see just how much they could change.
It’s the middle of May and many of the big time conferences are in the middle of meetings. Athletic directors and coaches nationwide are now meeting to check up on things and discuss to goings on of their respective schools. Now usually, this will blow over with not much of a drop of news to report. This year, however, it’s getting bigger attention because of the expansion talk coming from the Big 10. Where last year there might have been one or two beat writers covering the meeting, this year it’s a media hoopla. No, the KCCGD Crib Sheet did not travel to the Big 10 meeting, but the Big 12 one is in Kansas City next week so we may crash that party. In the meantime, read up on our Big 10 expansion series and check out this week’s Crib Sheet:
Blair Kerkhoff speculated last week how Kansas City could be affected with Missouri and/or Nebraska leaving the conference. We’ll cover it later this week, but this is a nice roundup of how serious of a move this is for the local area.
Mike Sherman’s been away to Iraq talking to Aggie troops. He went out there for the Aggie Muster, which is a roll call of fallen Texas A&M soldiers on April 21. He ended up being late and had to stay later due to the Iceland volcano blowing ash. Sherman’s got our respect here for spending his own dough and sticking through to keep up the tradition.
Notre Dame and Miami are looking to renew their rivalry. Sounds good to us. Back in the day, this game meant national championships. Today, well, these teams are struggling to get back to the big time. Maybe this renewed tussle will help them get back on the track.
It seems like there is some trouble going on over in Lawrence. We might have not mentioned it before, but there is a big brewhaha over former fundraiser Rodney Jones’ abuse over tickets and plane ride solicitations. On the field, first stringer defensive tackle Jamal Greene is off the team because of his arrest for a little breaking and entering and armed robbery. At least they are cleaning things up now.
The speculation for the Big Ten expansion now grows toward the Sun Belt, according the head honcho Jim Delany. Let the fake reports triple because of this.
Bennie F. Abram, the Ole Miss player who collapsed and died on the field during a workout, had the sickle-cell trait. The enlarged heart due to that caused the seizure. When will the NCAA institute a rule that monitors this disease in football players? Every year there’s a new kid that dies because of this. Where is the clamor?
It was bound to happen. The discussion blew up late last December and now we have legitimate motions telling us that the Big 10, and college football, is about to run into some big changes. Ever vigilant, we here at the KCCGD Headquarters decided to toss our hat into the speculation ring and offer up our analysis as to just what the hell is going on. It’s plenty to chew on so we will be breaking up into bite size chunks of creamy goodness. At just the right time too, the Big 10’s athletic directors and coaches are meeting this week and the Big 12’s crew will do the same next week. Why does the Big 12 matter? The conference is among some of the institutions affected by this move. Strap it on, because we are about to ride the hottest off-season college football activity we haven’t seen in a long time.
So the Big 10 expansion speculation that’s been building the last couple of months has finally come to a head here at the KCCGD Headquarters. We’ll give our thoughts about the whole shebang in the next couple days, but we wanted to whet your appetite with some tasty nuggets of information in the Crib Sheet. You, too, can munch down on expansion rumor to fill your belly with enough information to win your sports bar argument. Sports screaming at its finest, folks. On to the Crib Sheet:
In case you thing we’ve forgotten, Mike Leach’s case against Texas Tech has a hearing coming up May 14th and last week Texas Tech officials filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit altogether. They say the sworn statements are all that is needed and that Leach’s treatment was an offense worthy of termination. Leach on the other hand is making the case that it was about his contract and the bonus he was about to receive.
Kansas State, ever the team to take on tough new challenges, forged a mega deal to face the fearsome University of Texas San Antonio. Who? Yes that’s right, The Roadrunners, led by former Miami coach Larry Coker, will face the Wildcats in their inaugural FCS seasons. Man, UCLA isn’t that tough. Leave it up to Bill Snyder 2.0 to find the scrubs of the scrubs.
Notre Dame tight end Mike Ragone was feeling green big time last Saturday. No, not green for the Fighting Irish, but green for rolling doobies. New coach Brian Kelly is going to bitch slap him around a hit and call it a done deal. It’s the new century, football players get stoned all the time, even the pious ones.
So the speculation has been about what conferences will do to react to the Big 10 Expansion. Well, on the Big 12 side it seems they may be exploring options with a pact between them and the Pac 10 (see the play on words?). Basically, the two conferences will have something similar to the hardwood series we enjoy but on the football field. The speculation is that there is also a potential Rose Bowl spot that could be up for grabs too. Remember, it’s speculation only.
Cinco de Mayo not only brings the Mexican in everyone, but it also brings out another week of the Crib Sheet! We’re going to celebrate by munching some nachos and busting open a pinata or two. No cervesas here. It’s a school day. Or more importantly, it’s not a college football primetime night or a Saturday chock full of football. On to this week’s Crib Sheet:
Mark Emmert is your new NCAA president, starting November 1. He’ll have to deal with all of this expansion hullabaloo from the Big 10 as well as television and money deals. This came as a shock to everyone as the former Washington guy is more progressive than the other counterparts considered for the position.
Speaking of the NCAA, they are making the schools come up with detailed plans on handling concussions after they recommended that they sideline players for the rest of the game if symptoms show up. It’s great that they are being proactive on this medical issue now they need to put forth some effort on sickle cell disease.
In the case of blogging gone wild, the local Missouri run news crew let slip last week that Missouri to the Big 10 was a “done deal.” The only problem, it was based on a 3rd person recount of talk overheard from a Pac 10 AD. On a podcast! Okay, so this expansion thing is going to rule the rest of the summer and we’ve had a lot of time to think about it. Our thoughts about it will show up here eventually, but in the mean folks try not to jump on every little rumor.
Joe Montana’s son, Nick, was looking good during Washington’s spring game. Is it genes or head coach Steve Sarkisian? Welp the coach is the former offensive coordinator during the national championship run of USC. We’re going with coach.
Big East coaches are putting the pressure on Notre Dame to commit fully to the conference. The basketball team plays there and now they want the football team. The Fighting Irish is the pivot in the expansion talks. They are the ones with their own national tv contract. If the Big 10 was smart, they would pick up the national exposure and double down on the title game on NBC.
Quick somebody get us some facial tissue and some decongestants. It’s allergy season here at the KCCGD Headquarters! We’re sneezing our heads off and we’re barely making it through the week. That’s not stopping us from delivering your favorite weekly news roundup: The Crib Sheet! It’s chock full this week with a ton of diva grandstanding from college conference officials. It’s a good thing our noses are stuffed because we think alot of that talk stinks. On to the Crib Sheet:
So the graduation rate for college athletes are on a curve. The College Sport Research Institute factored in longer years and lighter classloads to determine that the reported 79 percent rate is actually 54.8 percent, compared to 73.7 percent of other students. Looks like the NCAA needs to take some more math classes.
All the hype leading up to the commissioner meetings this week was whether or not the Big 10 would accelerate expansion plans. Big 10 commissioner Jim Delany came out of the meetings to speak on this rumor to reporters. “Nope” was pretty much all he said. Crisis averted.
Northwestern will play Illinois at Wrigley Field. Finally! All those people in Chicago will have an opportunity to root on two disappointing local teams that don’t play baseball. Way to go guys!
The BCS came out with a 3 pronged formula to help determine who gets an automatic bowl bid after the 2012 season. They take the highest ranked BCS team, the total BCS numbers for the conference, and the number of teams in the top 25 to determine who gets the nod. This is an obvious gesture to the Mountain West Conference, whose Boise State team has been rolling the last couple of years and has an opportunity to start in the top 3 once the preseason rankings come out. It will be interesting to see how this adds to the pressure and expectation the Broncos have this year.
So the first round highlights of the NFL Draft include Tim Tebow going to the Denver Broncos. Huh? What is he gonna do? Be a running back. Good thing the Big 12 represented big time with 9 picks going from the conference, including the top 4. Way to go Big 12!
Bill Snyder 2.0 is weighing the decision to get surgery on his torn ACL and MCL. More and more we’re thinking that Snyder 2.0 is a cyborg version of the original. It’s only reason we can come up with to answer Snyder’s statement that it doesn’t hurt much. What’s up with that? A jammed finger hurts like hell. This guy just walks it off. He’s hiding a gun in his leg, we swear.
The NCAA approved two more bowls for a total of 35, including the Yankee Bowl and the Dallas Football Classic. The later is the former Cotton Bowl and will have a place on New Year’s Day. Huzzah! This is the kind of expansion we enjoy here. Not the kind where you at more teams to the playoff. New Year’s Day next year will be mega stuffed with more football.
We probably should let everyone know that if an expansion from the Big 10 happens, expect the SEC to counter move. Yeah, it’s going to domino all over the place. We really just need two conferences. That way we can determine a champion the easy way.
Coming back to the somewhat near future, ESPN announced its 2010 College Football Primetime schedule and we have a whole bevy of games from the Big 12. The Lonestar Showdown with Texas A&M and Texas on Thanksgiving should be a treat. So’s the rematch between Nebraska and Kansas State on Oct 7th. Football can’t get here anytime sooner.
When we started doing the Mascot Monday posts here at the KCCGD, we knew we had to go over each and every one of the Big 12 mascots. Welp, today is the big day. This is our last mascot we will feature here from the Big 12. Now, there is some talk that a certain conference that is expressing certain expansion talks, so who knows? Maybe there will be more teams that we haven’t featured yet be wrapped into the loving arms of the Big 12 and enable us to check out its fluffy cheerleader. Until then, we saved the best for last. This week on our last Big 12 mascot, we will be taking a big look at Ralphie from the Colorado Buffalos.
Welcome to this week’s Crib Sheet where we give you wall to wall coverage of the NFL Draft! Well, maybe not. This post will be about as much as we will put into the pros and their cherry picking of primo college talent. After this weekend, college football reloads and we are one more week closer to the start of the best sport ever. No, not the National Football League, but college football! So kick back, relax, and enjoy some Crib Sheet tastiness:
No more fun for you football players out there! No more hidden shout outs on your black eye tap! No more wedge blocks? Okay, so the NCAA approved a couple of rules that tightens taunting on touchdown plays and removing points from the board, restricts players from putting messages on their black eye tape, and making the wedge block on kick offs illegal. Um, where did all of the fun go? If they were concerned about player safety or individuality like the pros, then they should pay them like a pro.
Chris Harper, the Oregon transfer, is pumped to switch to full time wide receiver for Kansas State. Back at Oregon, he tried to fulfill his dream of being quarterback and played a dual threat role. Ever since the Bill Snyder 2.0 coaches pulled him aside and said he could pull pro money if he went full time receiver, he’s been catching balls and being content. All it takes is the potential of major cash to change some one’s mind. America!
Welp, Mike Leach’s attorneys finally filed a lawsuit claiming his firing was all a big conspiracy. This was pretty much expected, unlike his firing. Isn’t he in Key West? Is he really in a hurry to get back to coaching? Maybe the pirate is trying to pilfer and plunder a couple of extra gold coins here.
Boise State will replace their beloved blue turf for ….. more blue turf! The glare from the light reflecting from the turf bothered everyone in the stands. The blue field itself still bothers us on the television. What could’ve been an advantage over opposing teams may seem like dressing for their rumored top 3 debut in the BCS Standings later this year.
Former Kansas State quarterback Dylan Meier died in a hiking accident in Arkansas. He was the quarterback from 2002-06. Our condolences go out this his family and friends.
Another Monday and another mascot served up fresh for you KCCGD’ers out there. This week we come back to the Big 12 and talk about the mascots for a team that’s had quite the rocky offseason. Texas Tech’s offseason included sending a pirate of a head coach in Mike Leach to plank. Now we’ll switch from pirates to The Masked Rider and Raider Red. Both mascots serve their purpose on both sides of the mascot spectrum. They, along with new head Tommy Tubberville, must help pick up the pieces and start anew. Let’s find out where they came from and how much they can help.
Okay it’s not as exciting as signing day or the first day of summer practice, but it’s enough to get us here at the KCCGD excied for some more college football! This week’s Crib Sheet dives into cracks and pulls up some loose change and football news. It doesn’t matter, it’s great to see the kids on the field getting ready for another season. We’re saving the change for stadium popcorn. On to the Crib Sheet:
We’re heard stories about college players getting arrested for drug and/or alcohol related crimes, but we haven’t heard the story about other players removing student newspapers that feature such crimes on the front page. Welp, it happened in Texas and the coach is backing his players for the removal. Is it suppression of free speech? Or is it a team rallying together? We don’t know, but we do that a campus full of students walked into class that morning without a crossword puzzle to distract them and that’s just wrong. At any rate, the coach later apologized.
Dan Beebe told everyone to chill about the permanent championship homes for the Big 12. At least not until June. It looks as though the rumor was Football in Jerryville, Baseball in OKC, and Basketball at the Sprint Center in KC. Maybe he’s holding out for more money from Jerry Jones, but my guess is that the Big 12 can get more from each city in the Big 12 area when putting the location up for grabs each year.
The Notre Dame athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, let slip the possibility that the Fighting Irish may have to join a conference and lose its independence if expansion happens all around them. This could be a bad thing for the Irish and a great thing for the conference that nabs them.
Coaches in Texas and Maryland get a one year reprieve from the new rule that limits successors in waiting to recruit for the team. The gates are open, boys, take as much as you can before the clock runs out!
Speaking of Notre Dame and Maryland, they will be playing each other at FedEx field in 2011. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will be the home team. Huh? FedEx field is IN Maryland. Okay now we see why this independence is going away for the Irish. That’s just ridiculous.
President Barack Obama honored the Alabama Crimson Tide at the White House this week for winning the BCS National Championship. It must be be tough for a Big 10 guy to honor an SEC team, but hey, he’s a politician and he rolls with the tide.
The Crib Sheet returns! We’re in the first lull of the year as Spring Practice is right around the corner. The second lull is the summer, of course. We here at the KCCGD find many things to pass the time. Dodgeball for instance. It’s not exactly football, but it is alot of fun. We think that colleges should catch on to this trend and officially support dodgeball in their athletic programs. It can work. We all just have to will. DUCK! Here comes the Crib Sheet:
The rumor mill was hot that Texas or Notre Dame could join the Big 10. Not anymore. The Big 10 has hired a firm to assist with their expansion plans. They reportedly have a list of about 15 school. Our money is on Nebraska, Iowa State, and Missouri from the Big 12 being on the list.
The Dayton Daily News has a great story about a one handed safety from their area succeeding in division III football. There’s nothing like a little inspirado to make your week go by faster.
Joe Paterno’s glasses were auctioned off for charity at $9000. JoePa recently opted for Lacik surgery so he doesn’t need them anymore. What other iconic college football items could go this high for charity? We’re thinking maybe Rich Rodriguez’s tear catcher, Mark Mangino’s blanket-sized bib, or Pete Carroll’s recruiting cloaking device.
The big talk the last week or so has been conference expansion. Well, never fear, because here at the KCCGD headquarters, we are perfectly happy with out size. Now there have been some talks of expanding out to St. Louis or up into Omaha, but does KC St. Louis Omaha College GameDay sound great? We say no. Granted, the barspots might be a little more glorious if we end up at an Old Chicago in St. Louis, but for now we are perfectly satisfied with what KC has to offer in bars and feel no pressure to hitch up and roll out every week. That said, here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
What is the deal with other conferences wanting to poach schools from the Big 12? First it was the Big 10 and Missouri and now it’s the Pac 10 and Colorado. Yes it makes sense for both side to get the television markets. What this will signal is some massive changes (and payouts) to all the schools in the Big 12. Do you honestly believe Nebraska will go to the Big 10?
So we know about Missouri, but the Big 10 talking with Texas? Huh? Okay, no we’re thinking other conferences want to consolidate into just one big conference with all of the television markets. That’s the only way that makes sense. Texas won’t have an easier challenge up there. Just strange.
Goodbye Tim Griffin. We used his quick news on the goings on for news here at the KCCGD headquarters and we’re sorry to see him go. We wish him the best and we hope to see him or hear from him real soon.
The NCAA rolled out a rule severely limiting recruiting by coaches who are deemed as the successor in the head coach line at colleges. Naturally, Texas is not happy with this. What are they worried about? They are Texas. They get the best kids in Texas. Recruits do not need to promise of some other coordinator to tip scales for them.
JoePa will get lasers shot into his eyes. Yup, no longer will we see the iconic, thick-framed, bespectacled Joe Paterno, but now we will see the I big nosed, mega old dude on the sidelines. Hey, it just goes to show that you’re never too old to get procedures done to your body. Let’s hope he doesn’t get pectoral implants next.
The NCAA wants to take away touchdowns for taunting. Okay, we get it. Sportsmanship is truly a noble attribute. But doesn’t it say something about society as a whole when we have to legislate it? Why take a away a touchdown? A penalty assessed on the kickoff or extra point should be enough. Those are kids out there and they have a hard time controlling their emotions. The NCAA needs to focus on making the kids safer first.
Bo Pelini got yet another raise. He goes up to $2.1 million per year through 2015. Congrats to everyone’s favorite gum chewing Cornhusker. That’s gonna buy him a load of Bubble Yum.
Here’s this week’s police blotter: Frosh Mizzou quarterback Tyler Gabbert got the Owen Wilson treatment and broke his nose in a fight inside a Gumby’s Pizza. The ladies still find Owen hot, somehow, so he should be good. Meanwhile, LaMichael James, the Frosh offensive player of the year for the Pac 10, is in jail for strangulation, assault, and menacing. Welp, we might have a LeGarrate Blount situation here. Only difference was one was on a field against a dude and the other was off the field against lady. Oregon should kick this guy off the team.
Here we go with another week of the Crib Sheet. Signing Day is gone so we are looking toward spring practice as the next big event. Spring practice. In spring. We got a long way to go to get there. So the news will trickle out until then. Never fear, however, we’ll dig up any dirt with our ninja shovel and flick the dust specs of college football news in your face. Bring some goggles, here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
You know how they call Kansas State’s stadium the Bill Snyder Family Stadium? Ever wonder why? Welp, signing day gave us another reason why when Bill Snyder 2.0’s grandson Tate Snyder accepted a scholarship offer from the Wildcats. Tate’s dad, Sean, was a punter for Bill Snyder early in his first run and is now an associate in the athletic department. The little apple does not fall far from this tree.
So signing day is over but we have many more to come. The 2015 class, for example has its first commitment in the form of 13 year old quarterback David Sills as he verbally committed to USC last week. Huh? That’s a little young. His personal coach worked with current USC field general Matt Barkley. How much are this kid’s parents paying this guy? Seems like alot of hype for such a young’un.
The Texas college stars beat the national squad of stars last Saturday to prove once again that best college football players come from Texas. For this game. Yeah it’s the Big 12 area, but why did the SEC win the national title again? Welp, maybe just the scrubs play this game. They gotta show off in front of NFL scouts somewhere.
Darrell Scott has come crawling back to the Colorado program. Okay well, maybe not crawling. If he sits out this year, Hawkins might be fired by then and he could compete for the job with a new coach. We guess UCLA wasn’t all that it’s hyped up to be.
It looks like the students at Missouri are looking for a live Tiger mascot. We’d like to think our profile of Truman spurned this movement, but it’s probably more of matching the live mascots that already dot the Big 12 plain. Yeah, we’re talking Bevo, Ralphie, Boomer, Sooner, and the rest of the gang. Hopefully, they will pull this one off. Those live mascots are treated like kings.
Another week of the Crib Sheet and we are finally starting to see things calm down around the college football landscape. There’s still some action here and there but we envision the news will be trickling out here in there for the offseason. There’s still some loose ends that need to be tied up and we will stay there to make sure the granny knot is tight. So keep in step with this week’s Crib Sheet:
Skip Holtz is your new South Florida head football coach. After USF tanked Jim Leavitt, they pick up on East Carolina prodigy and son of former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz. Admittedly we’ve seen more of Lou than Skip and we can only hope that the kids down there can actually understand him when he talks. The kids up in East Carolina apparently did so it looks like a good hire.
Christopher Tritto from the St. Louis Business Journal breaks down the money situation for Missouri if they leave the Big 12 for the Big 10. Basically, they will make about $10 million more annually than the position they are in now. Tritto also points out that recruiting would be hurt as they pull alot of their kids from Texas. So do they give up being competitive to get paid more? Tuned in next year.
Tim Tebow is fresh out of college and ready to hock Christian morality. He’ll be in a Super Bowl commercial that will take an anti-abortion stance. However long his NFL career may be, you can be sure that he will be making a push into politics after he’s done.
