2010 Schedule Madness: As you guys have already found out, Texas Tech released their 2010 schedule and, although it's not set in stone apparently, the TCU Horned Frogs game may be delayed to 2011 and 2012 as Texas Tech AD Gerald Myers has shuffled the deck chairs in order to get more television time. Here is Myers on late Wednesday per FWST's Stefan Stevenson:
"That schedule is really unofficial," Myers said. "We’ve still got some work to do on that. We don’t have the contracts signed for a couple of those games. We just inadvertently got that up on our Web site."
I think I'm firmly on the side of the fence that Texas Tech has to take chances in order to get more face time and the additional revenue that being on ESPN, ABC or ESPN2 brings to the program is a big part of this program's continued success. Since I wasn't in any sort of meeting regarding the schedule, I again assume that this simply came down to money and how much money Texas Tech could maximize out of the former opponents versus the new opponents. We discussed the disparity in coaches salaries yesterday and this is just another way to try and get that a little more even.
Sheffield Continues Improvement: LAJ's Don Williams writes that QB Steven Sheffield continues to do a little more in 11-on-11 team drills:
During Wednesday’s team period, Taylor Potts took about two-thirds of the snaps at quarterback, Sheffield about one-third and Seth Doege none, the A-J learned. That being the case, it appears likely Potts will get the start on Saturday when Tech plays No. 17 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.
Sharpe Near Nation's Best: FWST's Dwain Price talks with Captain Mike Leach about why DE Brandon Sharpe is having:
"I think he's a little better than you've seen so far,'' Leach said. "There is a level of timing, and as you have success you see it and it's reinforced in your mind a little bit. You keep rolling along and it gets better and better.
"I think that's what's happening now with the timing and visualization of what can happen if you do this technique and that technique really fast. I think as he gets rewarded more, then he will improve more.''
Oklahoma St. Cowboy and Big 12 Links: Per the Daily O'Collegian, safety Victor Johnson tore his ACL on Wednesday and is out for the rest of the year . . . NewsOK's Brandon Chatman on the Cowboys chances to go to a BCS bowl . . . Rock M Nation's Bill C.'s Beyond the Box Score picks for the week (the computers say to pick OSU) . . . Phil Steel also picks the Cowboys . . . FWST's Jimmy Burch has the remedy for the Big 12 teams' woes . . . DT's Adam Coleman writes that the Oklahoma St. offense is still potent . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich writes that the OSU offense is led by LT Russell Okung . . . Rivals.com's Olin Buchanan previews the Big 12 weekend . . .
2010 Signees: LAJ's Courtney Linehan runs down the 2010 men's basketball signees and right now, SG James Outler is the only official signee, but also expected to send in their letters of intent are PG Javarez Willis and PF Paul Cooper. Here's Linehan and Outler on head coach Pat Knight:
Jamel Outler knew when college coaches weren’t quite honest about their plans if he played for them. He remembers some saying they had four open scholarships, even though he’d look at their rosters and see only one guard leaving this season. It made him wonder how serious schools really were if they offered one spot to four different players and agreed to take the first one who would commit.
Outler says it was never that way with Texas Tech.
"Coach Pat (Knight) was so laid-back, so relaxed, so honest," Outler said. "He was the only coach who was recruiting me like that."
South Dakota Preview: DT's Mike Graham takes a look at the Red Raiders first opponent, the South Dakota Coyotes, as this is their 2nd full season as a Division I team, but are also expected to win their conference and have the preseason player of the year in Tyler Cain.
Explanation of Tempo-Free Stats: The Only Colors (SBN's Michigan St. blog) has an excellent explanation of tempo-free stats.
Big 12 Previews: DMN . . . FWST . . . Chron . . .
Local Players Sign: LAJ's George Watson and Adam Zuvanich write about the three local players who have signed with the baseball team: Coronado's C Mason Randolph and 3B/P Hunter Scott and Monterey's P Ryan Reagor.