In today’s college football, things can change dramatically week to week both on the field and off. One week, Missouri is leaving the Big 12 and will blow up the conference. The next, the Big 12 invites TCU to join to lock things up. TCU head honchos met to make it a done deal. They made the announcement Monday night. I can breathe a sigh of relief because for the first time, the Big 12 will actually grow and Missouri should stay put for the rest of the year. We’ll have to find out next week if something else that’s huge will go down. In the meantime, here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
HO BOY OH BOY OH BOY! It’s here! Well, one more day. But finally after an anguishing offseason, college football is back! Tomorrow night kicks it off and we get our itch scratch all the way through January. Here we go! But first, the last Crib Sheet of the offseason: Continue reading Crib Sheet: Kicking Off Another Season→
Only this time it’s smaller. Presidential hopeful Rick Perry open his mouth and pulled a Jay Nixon by saying that there are talks between Texas A&M and the SEC for a big move. Next thing you know, the whole damn college football world is on fire. Red fire! I’ve chosen to stay out of this one over the weekend. If I learned anything last year, it’s that nowadays rumors are 95% of the ‘reports’ out there and the other 5% has a shred of truth to it. So as of right now, the SEC is staying chill, The Texas A&M president has power to explore realignment as well as take his time, the NCAA may get involved, and Rick Perry now says he doesn’t expect Texas A&M to leave. If you’re asking me what will happen, I’m saying that A&M is out at the end of the BCS contract (2014). Why? The Big 12 will blow up after the restructure of the BCS and somehow, sadly, Texas finds the vacated ‘Notre Dame Automatic Bid’ and dumps the conference. The rest of the teams fill out the Mountain West, Big 10, and SEC.
Oh yeah lot’s of squawking and a talking this week. Media Days are here and the Big 12’s focus this year is the Longhorns Network, not the impending doom of the conference. Although some would say that the network is the started of a long doom for the conference. This week’s Crib Sheet delves into that as well as the usual news items that comes across my desk. So let’s dig in:
I know, I know, the summer heat based themes keep on coming. I’m still getting acclimated to the high climate down here and it’s all that’s on my brain. Some would say I’m in a drought for college football. Relief is right around the corner but as of now I’m super parched. Grab a glass a water for me and check out this week’s Crib Sheet:
Two things this week made me realize college football is right around the corner. First, Phil Steele’s College Football Preview for 2011 went on sale yesterday. Second, the Crib Sheet has over 15 news items this week. It’s coming, so get ready. But first the Crib Sheet:
It’s the last real week of college football for about a month so let’s get down to Crib Sheet business. Bowls are coming, invitations are going out, and we have a good chuck on news for you to nibble on. Let’s check it out:
My body is still out of whack due to the daylight savings time change Sunday. Hey, at least I got an extra hour of sleep work in. It seems like some people around the college football landscape are also adjusting. Who knew that the loss to Kansas coupled with the time change forced Colorado to fire Dan Hawkins? That and many more half-asleep wackiness on this week’s Crib Sheet. Read on, my friends, read on.
Irish eyes will be smiling when Notre Dame will play Navy in Ireland 2012. We’re not sure where they will play but more than likely there’s a good chance they’ll all go out together after the game and get drunk.
Communication issues have tormented Turner Gill and the Kansas Jayhawks. His solution? Yanking cell phones from players the day before the game and then giving it back in the locker room after the game. How will the players wake up in the morning or talk to their mothers? I guess that’s what computers are for. We wonder how many more losses it will take for Gill to yank computer privileges too.
The NCAA leaped to action regarding the issue of sports agents and collegiate players by writing a letter. A letter. They asked for cooperation. Nothing else. Just another reason the NCAA needs to upgrayedd or just disband. These guys are getting real irrelevant.
The Playoff PAC, the special interest group formed to blow away the BCS and instill a college football playoff, will file a complaint with the IRS regarding the tax status of the Fiesta, Sugar, and Orange Bowl. They used a load of lawyers and one accountant to pick apart the tax returns and public documents of the BCS bowls and found that some loans and director salaries were just too much. Whether the IRS will remove the tax status, we won’t know. But we do know that the Playoff PAC is digging into every crook and cranny to blow away the BCS.
It seems Landry Jones of Oklahoma will have a higher calling after he is done calling plays. Jones says he’s 98% sure that he wants to become a pastor after football. Just goes to show you all walks of life come to play football. We wonder how many Hail Marys he’s tossed compared how many he’s recited.
He’s just hanging with Tim Brewster. He’s not going for the head coaching job. That’s what Minnesota is saying after Mark Mangino was spotted on the sidelines of a game, supporting his buddy. Minnesota should’ve gotten right out in front of this. There is no way no one would not recognize Mark Mangino hanging out on the sidelines. The nose bleeder seats would’ve been able to see him.
Apparently along with the no cell phone rule for players, Turner Gill’s Kansas Jayhawks can’t be with the ladies after 10 pm. That’s a harsh rule. It’s on any night. Do mothers count? Like as in visit and talk to. Keep your mind out of the gutters, people.
Strange things are afoot for Missouri. First off, cornerback Munir Prince left the team due to the transient quadriplegia he suffered in the preseason. If he plays anymore it could get permanent. Next up, senior safety Jasper Simmons has been suspended indefinitely from the team. He had knee surgery after the Illinois game. Are they just trying to drop a scholarship or something? At any rate, some very unusual things are going down in Columbia.
We’ve been sacked from the Big 12 Media Days on this week’s Crib Sheet. We’ll go over the last media day next, as we have a major pile of news dump on you. Here we go:
The Big 12 Preseason media poll is out and we have ourselves a rivalry game for the Big 12 Championship. The sports media picked Nebraska in the North and Oklahoma in the South, with Missouri and Texas shortly behind in both divisions respectively. Speaking more locally, Iowa State’s big season last year didn’t improve their status as they were voted last. Kansas and Kansas State are neck and neck for the middle of the pack, with the benefit of the doubt going to the Wildcats and its coaching experience. Usually the sports media is wrong so we’re anxious to see how it plays out this season.
Meanwhile the All Big 12 Preseason was announced as well. Two Missouri kids, one Kansas, one Kansas State, and a whole bunch of Texas and Oklahoma kids make up the team. That pretty much tells you what the sports media thinks of the talent in the conference. Pretty obvious too.
Iowa State defensive back David Simms looks to be under the police gun for a stolen credit card number and is charged. They haven’t filed charges yet, but the police did search his place. We’ll see if he was the culprit or one of his buddies.
Kansas Frosh Jeremiah Evans’ career is officially over due to his worsened heart condition. It sucks when you can’t get on the field due to health issues and we wish him the best in whatever he decides to do with his life.
Lane Kiffin ticked off Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher by hiring his running back coach for his USC team. Fisher calls it unprofessional, we think it’s the next step in coaching evolution. Courtesy calls are out the window if you want a guy bad enough. It’s dog eat dog out there. The Titans apparently think that USC broke the law too.
Back in his NCAA days, Dan Beebe wanted to contract sports agents with universities so everything could be on the table. If a violation was found, the agent could lose potentially millions and the university may not be on the hook as much. Beebe is looking better and better every week.
Ron Prince’s side of the story was obvious, as a deposition revealed. He was guaranteed money and now he wants it. There was even a napkin thrown in by former Kansas State athletic director Tim Weiser. It’s another he said she said, with a “Memo of Understanding” between the two. The courts will take this one over and we’ll see who gets the dough.
Missouri has some beef left over from last year’s Navy blowout. Blaine Gabbert looks to be the guy and Derrick Washington looks to be his running buddy. The Tigers have a couple of chips including being picked behind Nebraska and not being invited to the Big 10.
So the athletic director and coaches meetings for the Big 12 are in Kansas City this week and the Crib Sheet is here to fill you in. We’ll start out this week with the beginnings of the meeting and then wrap up Thursday’s and Friday’s talk next week. Dan Beebe held a press conference to field questions about the first day of talks. The big picture? The league is heading into media negotiations with excitement next year because of the money the ACC got from ESPN. But they need to stay together and Beebe would like to know if they are a soon as possible, even though he knows it won’t happen. Among his case for staying together was that potential for more money, the disruption of balance in the league that could force some regulatory structuring, and that the Big 10 could very well do nothing. Beebe says it’s a young conference and would like to see it grow old together with the members. Will it happen? We’ll find out next year, but in the meantime here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
The Big East wants the NCAA to study whether or not the on field head official should be in charge of overturning instant replay calls instead of the in-booth official. We don’t think this works out to well because even though the head official is in the flow of the game, the in booth official has better looks at close plays.
Dennis Dodd over at CBS Sports reiterates what we have been saying about Rich Rodriquez: he’s on the hot seat big time this season. Dodd puts the odds at 8-4 and a bowl appearance for him to keep his job. Any takers?
The cause behind the Urban Meyer drama last year finally came out. Meyer stated he had esophageal spasms and that he has some meds to take for it. The pain from the spasms made it ultra painful to eat. Hopefully the medication will work and he can continue on in his work.
The latest road block from Texas Tech didn’t work. The judge in the case states that Mike Leach can move forward in his lawsuit against the university for his firing late last year. Notch one win for the pirates. It’s going to be quite the naval battle between these two.
Even though Oklahoma is under some potential violations, the Sooners sent a letter to the NCAA stating that they meet the requirements set by the NCAA for their probation. A probation period that came from recruiting violations and is expiring soon. So they are out of the woods but could be right back in it soon.
Some officials from Kansas are caught up in a ticket scandal that diverted a couple of million in tickets to 3rd parties for personal gain. Most of the 6 officials involved have either left or been fired. Meanwhile, athletic director Lew Perkins stated he didn’t know it was going on. This shouldn’t hurt the athletics department in terms of probation and what not, but Perkins image is damaged and the school has not only money to recoup but the Feds sniffing around for more.
On to football, the Big 12 meetings this week let loose some football schedule nuggets. The Border War will be on Fox Sports Net on November 27th at 11:30 am. The Sunflower Showdown moved from Saturday to Thursday night October 14th on Fox Sports Net at 6:30 pm. Mark your calendars. Also, note that it’s exclusively on Fox. Testing for media numbers for the upcoming negotiations anyone?
Apparently some exercise equipment loaned to Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins has come around to bite him in the form of a blackmail scheme. A former disgruntled employee, Bill Dent, tried to extort money in exchange for keeping quiet about the equipment. Dent also says that Perkins received the equipment in exchange for tickets. We’ll find out what happens here. Perkins says he is a victim, because the company that loaned the equipment went under and didn’t recover the gear.
Meanwhile at the Big 12 meetings this week, Lew Perkins talked about that as well some talk about the expansion speculation. The big takeaway? He says expansion is a super serious threat and that Kansas may or may not have been contacted by the Big 10. Diversion tactic is a go!
Okay, we’ve reached the final showdown for our week-long series on the Big 10 Expansion. Please take a moment to read up on all of the poststhatledus tothispoint. All of the information we dumped the last 7 days will show what we think will end up happening, as well as what we wish to happen. It’s been a bumpy ride, but it’s only going to get bumpier. We know change is coming, and now we will call out our cards and show you what our predictive hand plays, all in for the pot.
Okay, we talked about the Big 10 expansion with all of the goodbits on the business side of things, but what about us? What about the fans? How will the average stool jockey be affected if and when the Big 10 decides to expand out beyond its current bounds? From the Trojan sporting LA type to the gator chomping tanned Floridian, the effect could be small. Or it could be big. The closer the proximity to the Big 10, the more the fans will experience change, especially right here in Kansas City. Let’s see what can happen as we narrow the focus down to right here at the KCCGD headquarters.
