Ford on the Move: RP.com's Travis Cram is counting down to kickoff and profiles CB Will Ford and his move from safety to cornerback. Defensive backs coach Travaris Robinson had this to say about Ford:
"He’s a tremendous athlete," Robinson said. "He has the ability to play physical and that’s what we’re going to need. We’re going to play a lot of press and a lot of different techniques. But right now, we just have to keep working on his fundamentals. But he’s a kid that one day, if he keeps developing, he has the athletic ability to play at the next level – if he chooses to. But he’s got a long way to go in that process." And Ford thinks that the more aggressive approach by the defense will help the team win games:
"We feel like we can be more physical this season with this type of defense," Ford said. "You can see that there’s going to be a big change from last season to this year. We’re going to come out and try and dominate and win the Big 12. Defense is going to try and turn it around and make it the face of this team."
Miscellaneous: There's nothing really out there that seemed to warrant it's own bullet point so you get a bunch of links . . . In The Bleachers talks with Football Outsiders and Rock M Nation's Bill Connelly about FO's preseason rankings, Connelly talks Texas Tech about the 8 minute mark . . . DMN's Mike Graham looks at the offensive line . . . ESPN's David Ubben ranks the early recruiting classes and Texas Tech is ranked 4.a and Oklahoma St. is ranked 4.b . . .
Summer Teleconference: The Big 12 held their coaches summer teleconference and Texas Tech assistant coach Bubba Jennings filled in for Pat Knight (not sure why, PK was the only head coach no-show). You can listen to Bubb's teleconference here and LAJ's Courtney Linehan had a short blog post about how this team is thinking about the NCAA Tournament rather than the NIT next year:
"They had a little success, had a taste of a postseason run last year, and they're hungry" to make the NCAA, Jennings said of Tech's team.
Snip.
"We're going to be more well-rounded than we have been in the past," Jennings said.
You can expect a tremendously strong basketball post later this morning.
18 Game Schedule: Big 12 Sports' Wendell Barnhouse writes about the 18 game conference schedule that will happen as a result of conference realignment. Kansas coach Bill Self had this to say:
"The veteran coaches I’ve talked to in conferences that play 18 games, you’re adding two potential losses versus buying two non-conference games you’ll probably win," he said. "Everybody says the league’s RPI will improve but so much of your RPI gets determined in nonconference play. In conference, you beat each other up. It will still be important to have a great non-league RPI."