We may be seeing the search for Missouri end real quick. We also may see the search for the Big 12 heat right up. The Tigers are planning on leaving for the SEC and we may know about it here by tomorrow. Alot of people, including myself, thought that they would wait unilt the end of the season to get the ball rolling but apparently they want to move fast. So in the middle of the football season, we will see even more conference realignment. I’m just going to avert my eyes from the pain and check out this week’s Crib Sheet:
Continue reading Crib Sheet: Hello Goodbye →
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:
Continue reading Crib Sheet: Horned Frogs Homecoming →
Man I don’t even know where to start. The reports are spinning right round, baby right round about anything and everything related to conference alignment. Everyone knows what’s going on as of now. I would dump here in the Crib Sheet, but going over my starred items in Google Reader is proving to be a fruitless endeavor. Stuff as new as earlier this afternoon is now wrong. I just can’t drop it in here as a developing item when it will more than likely be false. The Crib Sheet is just too good for that. The only thing I can say is that the Big 12 is in huge trouble and will more than likely go away next week. That’s about it. No links or nothing. There’s plenty out there to read from. If you’re looking for something other than conference Armageddon then check out this week’s Crib Sheet:
- A booster from Ohio State admitted that he helped give some cash to Ohio State players that missed the first two games of the season. You know, if there were more legitimate ways to pay players, we wouldn’t be seeing this kind of stuff.
- Okay, is everyone getting on the uniform bus. Maryland had some crazy ones and now Michigan State is getting some snappy ones. It’s too much. Just look at the dude covering it for ESPN. He’s the uniform watch columnist. Yes, there is a position like that. I just threw up in my mouth a little.
- Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill left the hospital last Thursday, after suffering a seizure on the field last weekend. I think he coached the game. I wish him all the best.
- The College Football Hall of Fame flooded its basements over the weekend due to an improper sprinkler fitting. Doh! It’s located in South Bend, Indiana so I guess bad luck is going on all over around there.
- This is how rivalries should be between fans: A Notre Dame fan had a heart attack at the Michigan game and was revived via CPR by another fan in the stands. Take note, everybody, it’s just game. Rivalries should be held in high respects but not to the point where you wish damage on the other.
- How fans should not act: The kid who wore the Iowa State mascot uniform known as Cy fell from the stands an broke his arm. He didn’t say anything happened to the cops, but he posted on Facebook that some Uconn fans pushed him. Wow, not cool people. Not cool.
- A Texas associate athletic director Cleve Bryant was canned for sexually harassing someone. Yup, you can’t go and do that even when you think you run the state, partner.
- So Nevin Shapiro apparently ponzied Miami and now Luther Campbell, former 2 Live Crew kid and Miami booster, wants to sue him. The charge? Defamation. Apparently the guy who rapped about being so horny doesn’t like other people raking his name through the mud.
- Osceloa, Kansas wants the University of Kansas to drop the name ‘Jayhawk’ because of its Civil War connotations. Too early? Um, too late. The response was hilarious though. I mean come on, they need to keep that name. How else can I call them Chickenhawks?
- So you know how War Eagle flew into a window during Auburn’s pre game last week? Welp, PETA assembled and is scratching for some publicity by calling out against having any eagles during Auburn’s pre game. What a shocker. Go back to funding your porno website PETA, nothing to see here.
- A former Northern Illinois student sued the NCAA for its concussion rules. Apparently he suffers from the classic chronic symptoms of concussions and blames the NCAA for not doing a good job. You think conference alignment is going to change football, wait until the concussion stuff bubbles up. 7 on 7 two hand touch, I’m not kidding.
- Oklahoma State linebackers coach Glenn Spencer left the team during the three hour weather delay to be with his family. His wife died shortly after the game started. My condolences go out to his friends and family.
- South Carolina athletes were accused by the NCAA for receiving over $55,000 in impermissible benefits. Again, it’s getting to the point that ESPN (and Disney really) is pumping money out the yang for television. These players are the ones doing all the work. This kind of stuff would go away if they actually got paid.
- Bob Stoops got a seven year, $34.5 million extension Monday. He’s sitting prettier than alot of the schools in the Big 12 right now.
- The Sugar Bowl revealed that they may have made a couple of illegal donations to a politician in the mid 2000s, and the Playoff Pac jumped all over it. That’s right, the almighty complaint to the IRS will strike down on the Sugar Bowl and slowly but surely ruin any chances for the current BCS system to service. Check and Mate for the Playoff Pac.
- The New York Times has an interesting article about a South Korean kid named Seung Hoon Choi who started for the Nebraska Cornhuskers over the weekend. I usually thought it was Samoans from across the seas that get line work. South Koreans? I didn’t know. Fascinating.
- Ho man, chalk one up to Texas A&M and the creative billboard they dumped in Waco, the home of the Baylor Bears. Now as much as it sucks for the Big 12, it still is pretty funny.
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 →
So it’s not too late to talk some mascots, is it? The NCAA College Basketball Championship played out already and I figured it would be hot time to talk about the mascots for the competitors of this oft ignored sport (at least here anyway). So I’ve already done the UConn Huskies and that mean we focus on the Butler Bulldogs, who made their second straight championship game appearance tonight. The end didn’t fare too well for the Bulldogs, but I’m fairly certain that both Butler Blue II and Hink cheered them on along the way.
Continue reading Mascot Monday: Butler Blue II and Hink →
Baseball’s right around the corner and I figured the news would be super quiet for college football. Boy was I wrong. There’s tasty chunks of news going around all over the place. I’m done salivating you taste buds, time to feast on this week’s Crib Sheet:
Continue reading Crib Sheet: Tis the Offseason →
Whoops! I guess I missed a Crib Sheet last week. . You know, I was in the midst of SXSW and was about to endure the worst Montezuma’s Revenge on this planet. I’m all caught up now and will deliver on this week’s Crib Sheet. That’s right, it’s a double sized version of the Crib Sheet. Whip out the bib we are about to get messy:
- Stanford’s getting rid of their ‘easy’ classes for student athletes. Um, since when is any class at Stanford easy? Oh wait, I guess ‘Beginning Improvisation’ or ‘Social Dances of North America III’ can be classified as easy. Hey, Stanford’s rep is that they are in the upper echelon of scholastics so they need to make sure that everyone falls in line with it.
- Oklahoma made about $10,000 in the Fiesta Bowl due to a policy in the Big 12 that states that the conference absorbs unsold tickets for the bowl game. Man, too bad UConn and the Big East didn’t have that one, the Huskies ended up losing out big time for the game.
- On that same trip, let’s see what the Big 12’s finances were for the school last year. Obviously Texas made and spent the most dough. I think it’s interesting that Kansas State spent the least amount of money in the conference and still made a bowl game. Facts to chew on.
- So while I was out, a rumor popped up that Fox was in the running for a new television deal with the Big 12. Numbers are flying all over the place but the important point is that there is demand. Predicted demand. I can fall asleep a little better tonight knowing that the smoke here will fire up the flame to keep the Big 12 warm for a long time.
- So a lawyer, and former Ohio State player, tried to warn Jim Tressel about violations and it got Tressel in big trouble. So Jim Tressel violated NCAA rules and apologized to all about his err of ways. Being the great guy that he is, Tressel then decided that his two game suspension was not enough and took the same 5 game suspension that the players who broke the rules got. The only thing I see coming down from this is that the Big 10 next year is wide open. Maybe the streak for Big 10 titles for Ohio State will end next year?
- I don’t like talking NFL as much, but former Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert is tearing it up. Not only was he sharp on the ball, he was also sharp in the Wonderlic. Having taken the Wonderlic myself recently, I can say that it’s very impressive to score as high as he did. Gabbert just may be the real deal.
- In no surprise to everyone, Indiana regulators fined Notre Dame for six violations that led to the death of a 20 year old student. Hopefully everyone can take a look at this and try harder to make sure all personnel involved in college football are safe.
- Kirk Herbstreit moved out of Ohio because the locals don’t get that being an analyst means that you should be objective. I guess the fans there complain about fairness and give away freebies to the local players. Great state that Ohio is.
- A frosh lawmaker backed away from hinting that a recent bill introduced in the Texas legislature to allow former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach to sue the state was money driven. Money as in money toward the guy that introduced it. Did I mention how much I love Texas?
- Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops talks about his Twitter policy. I’m glad they didn’t ban it altogether but it is a little creepy that school officials are monitoring the accounts. But hey, everyone is monitoring everyone’s Twitter accounts, right?
It’s a tasty Crib Sheet this week as I’m packed up and ready to head to Austin for SXSW. I might stop by Daryl K Royal Stadium and give homage to the team that Kansas State has owned the last couple of years. That is if I can make it there between the haze of tech and music. The next Crib Sheet might be heavily abbrieviated. Just sayin. Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
Continue reading Crib Sheet: The Road to Austin Bekons →
Back again and were in love. The Crib Sheet today reminds us that every single thing, including the offseason lull, makes up the whole of our love for college football. Now, I’m not going to get all smushy and corny, but I will say that if college football was a person, I would hand it a candied heart that says, “Don’t Stop.” Now on to the Crib Sheet:
- Surprise, surprise! Tate Forcier spurned Kansas State and signed with Miami of Florida. Dang I hate being right all the time.
- So a thrid party approached Wisconsin and TCU about a week and half after the Rose Bowl to see if they were interested in an opening day rematch next year. Wisconsin was all about it and TCU had better things to do. My guess that someone from the Big 10 couldn’t stand a mid-con whupping up on a stalwart in the hallowed gardens of the rose. This bit of news just made my day.
- An agent summit will happen at USC, of all places. Everybody from the college to the NFL to the agent ranks will be on hand for talks about how to hide more money from kids in college. Sheesh, this is the epitome of hyperbole. Heck even states are looking to cash in on this mouthfest.
- So instead of using students to make sure Kansas players go to class, the school is using really old people. It’s like the movie Red without the bullets and missles. I guess it’s a dream job for that retiree who wants to relive the glory days of Kansas and it’s great basketball team and weak football team.
- Congrats to former Kansas State alum Jordy Nelson on his Green Bay Packers Super Bowl win. The game was pretty entertaining as I watched with friends. Maybe Jordy took a chunk out of Cowboys Stadium like I did for Chowboys Stadium? INSERT PHOTO
- It looks like college football will once again try to emulate the NFL by adopting some of their rules again. The biggest one seems to be the 10 second run off rule. Let’s just hope that college football doesn’t adopt the ridiculous overtime rules the NFL had for the playoffs. INSERT LINK
- The crybaby donor for Uconn, Robert Burton, agreed to leave the $3 million in donations after meeting with officials. They must’ve given him a pacifier to match his bonnet.
- Ruh-roh. The Fiesta Bowl hired a lawyer that specializes in the federal crime defense. I wonder what’s going on here? Maybe that Playoff Action Committee is pushing the right buttons? Or is the fact that chairman John Junker being placed on administrative leave have something to do with it? It looks like he dumped some money on politicians. I’m not sure this will damage the BCS but this will get interesting.
- Jerry Gray took a the job as the NFL’s Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator, just weeks after taking a defensive backs position with the Texas Longhorns. That has to be the quickest turnaround in Austin. That’s okay, however, as Duane Akina came back to the defensive backs position he left for to work in Arizona. Coaching carousels are fun!
- Joe Montana’s son, Nate, left Notre Dame and will transfer to Montana University. I wonder if there’s a special deal where the school will change its mascot to Joe Cool or something like that. We wish Nate well.
- Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy has a bromance with Justin Bieber of all people. It seems Bieber has Gundy’s “I’m a Man! I’m 40!” rant as a ringtone and Gundy has a Bieber song on his. Oh that’s so cute.
The coaching carousel is almost at a stop and now we are getting closer to signing day. Who will go where? I don’t know. But one thing I do know is the Crib Sheet will keep you updated with all of the latest commitments and decommitments:
- With TCU heading to the Big East, it seems that are also heading to the big time in recruiting. Local star, Brandon Carter changed his commitment from the venerable Oklahoma Sooners over to the Horned Frogs. Maybe the Texas kids are thinking they can shine better in the Big East than the tougher Big 12?
- Jim Leavitt is going to the big time. Not Kansas State Defensive Coordinator, but San Fransisco 49ers linebackers coach. It stinks for Wildcats fans as they were hoping Leavitt would come in and fix the defense. Maybe Bill Snyder 2.0 has something else up this sleeve? Meanwhile, defensive backs coach Keith Burns is taking his show back to Ole Miss.
- ESPN and the Texas Longhorns reached a 20 year, $300 million deal for a Longhorns Network. The school will be up for a tasty profit while the broadcast network will food the technical bills. Is this the end of the Big 12? Check back here in about 2 years.
- Texas Tech dropped TCU from their schedule last year and they are doing it for the upcoming season. It seems they need some room for the tougher Big 12 schedule.
- Speaking of the Red Raiders, a Texas judges tossed out a portion of Mike Leach’s suit against the university, only allowing non-monetary claims for the firing of Leach over Adam James’ concussion. If you’re wondering why Leach has yet to be yired, look no further than here.
- It seems Kansas is picking up the trail on the recruiting side of things. Turner Gill’s stealing recruits from neighboring states. I’m guessing his pitch is like this, “I’m a Nebraska guy that’s still in the Big 12. Kansas will be the new Nebraska of the Big 12.” That can seal some kids right there.
- Oklahoma Sooners coach Bob Stoops coached the Harlem Globetrotters Sunday. I wonder if he got to toss the bucket of confetti on the ref during the game?
- Fired sportscaster Ron Franklin is suing ESPN over the incident where he called a woman, “Sweetheart” in a production meeting. She objected and he called her an a-hole. I don’t know what to think about this. In the workplace, you can’t trust anyone when you say something because they may be out to get you canned, especially if it’s gender-related. I would say it’s safer to just be quiet and act professional. That said, “sweetheart” and “a-hole” is a pretty weak case to get fired over.
- Here’s your BCS payout sheet. So the Big 12 was on the lower tier of payouts for the 6 BCS Conferences. Not bad, but if they had 2 teams in the BCS bowls then they would’ve been up higher. Notre Dame gets a pretty good chunk for being independent. The argument against the BCS right here is that the small guys are getting the smaller piece of the pie. I will merely point to TCU and how they are moving up by winning.
- Some donors have high expectations. Take Robert G. Burton, major booster for UConn. Apparently he doesn’t like the athletic director and wants his $3 million in donations back and his name taken off the stadium. I’m pretty sure once you donate something, you can’t expect to get it back. But then again, if I had that kind of cash then I’d feel like I can run anything, too.
- Ex Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins agreed to a $4,000 fine for improperly receiving exercise equipment as a gift. This should be the last we hear of this guy.
- 12 Iowa football players were hospitalized for kidney issues related to offseason workouts. What’s going up there? Between drugs, legal issues, and now improper condition, this team is falling apart. Yet, they beat Missouri in the Insight Bowl. Just think, if all of this stuff was gone, they might have contended for a Big 10 title for real.
- Welp, since TCU is leaving the Mountain West Conference, the conference retaliated by changing the site of the Boise State game with the Horned Frogs back to Idaho. It was supposed to be at TCU’s home field. Way to get your revenge, mid-con.
This Purple Yeti is too busy chopping wood for the fire to bring you much for the rest of January. Look for some new giblets starting February. In the meantime, I have the Crib Sheet to you warm. Check it out:
- So ESPN’s David Ubben points us to the overall bowl record for conferences. The Big 12 finished at the bottom, tied with the Big 10. It’s pretty bad for the conference when they notch the same record as an overrated conference that needed to expand to stay relevent.
- It looks like an imminent NFL lock out is scaring at least some college players from coming out early. Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden and mega star Justin Blackmon are both staying behind for one more round. The Cowboys will be a tough cookie next year to chew on.
- Michigan contacted Gary Pinkel’s agent to ask for an interview. Pinkel turned it down. One dis from the Big 10 deserves a dis right back. That and Missouri already competes for the title now. It will take Michigan a couple of years before they get back on track.
- RichRod dumped about 430 maize and blue gear on the Salvation Army on his way out of Michigan. At least he did one good thing while he was up there. I wonder if he cried on his way out of the store.
- That said, things are looking up for Michigan, now that they’ve replaced RichRod with Brady Hoke. The ‘Predator’ Denard Robinson decided to stay and Hoke landed the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Greg Mattison. I swear this is the last Michigan news for a long, long time.
- The Big 10 is keeping the Legends and Leaders division name for the 2011. Dang, I was hoping they’d change it to the Losers and Lamers divisions.
- Help me out on this one: So the NCAA shut down a proposal that would stop head coaches from offering scholarships to kids as young as middle school age but they then want tougher rules against parents shopping around their kids. So, the NCAA wants coaches to bribe kids without parents getting in the way? Um, usually middle school kids need a legal guardian to represent them. This seems very contradictory. Or obvious. The NCAA wants to take full advantage of the kids and no one else, including the parents of the kids.
- Rodney Jones, a former university official, plead guilty to in his part of the $2 million ticket scalping scandal at the University of Kansas. Cue the Law & Order music.
- Continuing on our legal theme, John Lomax III plead no contest to the killing of UConn football player Jasper Howard. Again with the Law & Order music.
- Texas Tech was so impressed with Tommy Tuberville’s first year that they’ve already given him an extension. Can he keep it up? It’s doesn’t matter now because his buyout will probably be sweeter.
The bowl season ended Monday and there was a ton of news that happened over the last week. It’s mostly who’s coming and who’s going. It’s what I like to call the Carousel Hell. So put your seatbelt on get ready to go round and round, here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:
- Mike Leach’s legal battle with Texas Tech may have cost him the Maryland job. He said that he thought he was the frontrunner, but the Terps went with UConn coach Mike Edsall. He hasn’t been contacted by other schools at the moment.
- RichRod is officially out of Michigan now. Blow up the program part two. It makes me warm inside to think the same thing that happened to Nebraska a couple of years ago with Bill Callahan is now happening with another team I dislike immensely. Good days.
- It’s even better for Brady Hoke. The former Michigan alum and former San Diego State head coach is now your new Michigan head coach. They wanted a Michigan man and they got one. I give it about another 3 years before a turnaround happens.
- After showing up Michigan’s Denard Robinson and holding the team to 14 points, Manny Diaz will take his talents to Texas as defensive coordinator. He leaves Mississippi State and will be belting buckles in Austin. Let’s hope he didn’t fall for that ‘coach in waiting’ stuff.
- No surprises here. Fox has the rights to the Pac 12 Championship Game. They already show conference games on Fox Sports Net so it makes sense they do the title game.
- The Playoff PAC is looking to stir up some smoke on the BCS. They are filing a complaint with the IRS regarding a cruise the Orange Bowl put on for college athletic directors over the summer. Shady or not, this seems like arrows instead of missiles for the Playoff PAC people. If there’s going to be a change, they can’t dink and dunk it.
- Stanford’s Andrew Luck is staying behind for another year of college. This will make Blaine Gabbertt a sexier pick for the NFL Draft coming up in a couple of months. He’ll have to battle for the top quarterback spot with Arkansas’ Ryan Mallet, though. Gabbert may see his Aldon Smith in the NFL as well.
- So TCU won the Rose Bowl. Someone then paid for a billboard congratulating the team. Except it was in Columbus, Ohio. Yeah someone with big pockets wanted to rub it in the Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee’s face. He was running his mouth earlier about the mid-con teams not being worthy and now I guess he gets to eat crow.
- Speaking of the Horned Frogs, head coach Gary Patterson notched himself a 2 year extension with the program. You go undefeated in two regular seasons, you deserve that and a ham sandwich.
- Stud Oklahoma receiver Ryan Broyles will be coming back for another year.
- A Boise State assitant coach is going to big time. By big time I mean Texas Offensive Coordinator. It seems Mack Brown and company lured Bryan Harsin away from the Broncos to infuse the team with a flashier offense.
- Texas Tech told the NCAA that they texted too much. That’s alliteration. And that’s the news!
- Head BCS Honcho Bill Hancock reminded everyone that a playoff is way below in priority for the college bowl partners. He said that even the old way of bowls would be considered first. Seriously, he does a great job of stirring the pot.
- Kansas State athletic director John Currie also gets a two year extension to his contract chock full of some tasty incentives. He’s done an alright job. The goal now is to maintain it.
- The BCS Championship Game happened Monday and it garnished the best cable ratings ever. Yet, the actual viewership is down. This is what happens when the biggest game of the year ends up on cable. Seriously, why didn’t Disney toss the game on ABC instead of ESPN? Television is becoming more live sport driven than anything else. Still, until I can replicate the experience of a sports bar in my basement, I will be going out for the games.
- LSU’s Les Miles went to Michigan to talk about an open job but decided to stay with the Tigers. Listen up childrens, this is the classic strategy head coaches employ to get them off the hot seat or get a raise.
- Man we feel for UGA VIII, the mascot of the Georgia Bulldogs. He didn’t make the trip to the bowl game last week and now we know why. UGA VIII has lymphoma. Jinkies, is the team as cursed as this dog is?
- Former South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt settled out of court for some extra cash from the school. He was canned for reportedly striking a walk on student. He’s a defensive guy and because of that, the rumors are now flying about Leavitt coming back to Kansas State to take a defensive coordinator position. Tune in next week, this is getting hotter.
College Sports, Kansas City style
