Thanks for keeping things going yesterday. Some of these links may be repeats or already posted on DTN.
TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL
Locksley, Lobos hope to put struggles behind them this weekend | Red Raiders
New Mexico head coach Mike Locksley talks about what he wants to do on offense:
"We’re going to take what the defense gives us," Locksley said. "Part of our philosophy is the zone read, and the defense dictates who the ball carrier is going to be. If they decide to make the quarterback the primary ball carrier, then obviously our quarterback will play a vital role in the running game."
Red Raiders Football Notebook: Gearing up for grass | Red Raiders
Meh. Nothing new here except that the team is going to be playing on grass, weather talk and players are getting over a stomach virus.
VIDEO: Red Raiders ready to see improvement after off week | Red Raiders
Didn't get a chance to watch the video this morning.
ABQJournal Sports " Ex-La Cueva Star Daniels Ready To Face Lobos
RB Ronnie Daniels says that he's going to play a lot on Saturday:
"I’ll be playing," he says. "I’ll be playing a lot."
He says the Red Raiders are not overlooking UNM.
"We’ve got to play our game," Daniels says. "Let’s not beat ourselves. We know they will try to bring everything. We know their scheme, we know what they’ll do. We pretty much know all about them."
Rivals | Olin Buchanan | Week 3 preview in the Big 12
Always enjoy Buchanan's previews.
Scout.com: Texas Tech D Ready For Next Test
Cram has a different way to look at the defensive numbers from yesterday:
Texas State ran 20 plays for 86 yards and put up 10 points in the first two drives while chewing nearly the entire clock in the first quarter. Then once the Red Raiders defense started to contain the option, the Bobcats only had 51 plays for 201 yards over the final 11 drives resulting in no points, four turnovers and a safety . That’s an average of just 4.6 plays and 18.2 yards per drive. They were held to 13 yards or less on six of the 11 drives.
TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL
Texas Tech Announces 2011-12 Basketball Schedule - Texas Tech Red Raiders Official Athletic Site
I don't know that I have much to add other than the Big 12 is going to be really tough.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
The Shame of College Sports - Magazine - The Atlantic
This is a must-read if you want to know what's wrong with college sports. It's going to be something that you'll want to bookmark as it's going to take you some time, but its incredibly well-written.
This Week In Schadenfreude: Notre Dame Is Dead (Again) - SBNation.com
I always enjoy this.
CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT
Big 12 schools face economic impact of shuffling - ESPN
(Hat-tip centex) This is good and it's true as Katz gives examples of teams like Iowa St. and Kansas St. counting on that Big 12 money in order to make improvements. I loathe conference realignment and it appears that it's becoming nasty. Katz ends his article with this quote:
"Who can you trust now? It's so unfortunate that it has come to this," said a source with knowledge of the Big 12's situation. "Everyone is working independently. No one is being straight with anyone anymore."
I absolutely believe that no one is working together.
Chuck Carlton (ChuckCarltonDMN) on Twitter
Some interesting links from Carlton yesterday, who talked with ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit:
Kirk Herbstreit on a conference call today, when asked about the Big 12's turmoil: "I think it all has to do with Texas. Herbstreit mentioned frustration "from the other members – that Texas gets preferential treatment, that Texas is kind of like the alpha. Herbstreit on Texas A&M: "I think the other members are looking at this Longhorn Network and probably thinking that was the final straw."
Is Herbstreit the first ESPN anchor/reporter/personality that has said that it's Texas' fault for the whole conference realignment issue?
ACC, It’s Easy as 1, 2, 3 Hundred Million for Texas " FRANK THE TANK’S SLANT
Frank takes a look at the positive and negative consequences of a possible move to the ACC. The biggest reason why I'm posting this is that the only things I've read are positive things for Texas' move to the ACC.
Texas drove everyone away, now begging for ACC acceptance - NCAA Football - Sporting News
Saving the best for last. I don't usually blockquote so much, but in this case I am and I'm asking that you click on the link even if you don't read the entire article:
Nebraska saw it first in the summer of 2010, and left for the Big Ten. Then again, Tom Osborne knew it all along. At some point, the Texas ego would black hole everyone.
It was Osborne who was the lone public voice of displeasure back in the 1990s, when the Big Eight absorbed teams from the troubled Southwest Conference during the evolution of the Big 12—yet all the league power moved south. Even the league offices were moved from Kansas City to Dallas.
"We were, in essence, saving them," Osborne told me earlier this summer. "That certainly was a thorn of sorts that never really went away."
And this is what the ACC wants?
It was hard enough to invite Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College in the early 2000s, with some longtime basketball coaches and administrators having to be dragged into the 21st Century. There still are hard feelings about the last ACC expansion, especially considering the limited impact it had on the ACC’s football standing—and the zero impact it had on the league’s storied basketball history.
Now throw We’re Texas And You’re Not into that mix. Watch Texas make millions upon millions with its Longhorn Network, and eventually suck the very life out of the league.
For those who believe that Texas, Virginia Tech, Miami and Florida State could eventually develop into an SEC-type foursome, we give you this: Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Nebraska were there before you.
Now one team is playing in the Big Ten, one is headed for the SEC, and one has its sights on the Pac-12.
And one is standing on the corner of burnt orange and karma.