The best football videos that you'll ever see in your entire life and conference realignment stuff is after the jump. For those of you reading this that are paying attention, since I'll be gone this weekend, I'm going to schedule the open game day thread an hour before the game (is posted at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday), will have another thread going up at 8:00 p.m. and a final thread going up at 10:00 p.m.
TEXAS TECH
Sharp takes leadership spot at Tech | Red Raiders
Congrats to Coach Sharp for the new position at Texas Tech. I've always thought that she's a tremendous representative for Texas Tech and appreciate that she's still involved with Texas Tech University. I also cannot recommend enough the interview with Ryan Hyatt and Marsha Sharp from yesterday. Go watch.
TEXAS TECH FOOTBALL
Porter, Daniels not on Tech dress roster for Nevada game | Red Raiders
CB Tre' Porter was apparently taken off the field on Wednesday in a cart, the cause was heat exhaustion. Meanwhile, RB Ronnie Daniels will not play this week and is not on the dress roster, which means that RB Kenny Williams is on the dress roster. LAJ's Williams reported this:
Beal would not comment on Daniels' status this week. On his Facebook page Thursday, Daniels wrote, "So sorry fans, teammates, friends and family. Be back soon hopefully."
Daniels needs to keep his rear out of trouble.
New Nevada duo must replace prolific tandem in Pack’s pistol offense - The Daily Toreador: Sports
Good stuff about the Nevada rushing attack:
After two games, Lantrip, who has seen the majority of the snaps, has thrown for 331 yards, but he has only one touchdown and four interceptions. Fajardo has one interception and no touchdowns in four attempts.
"The kids we got right now are doing a good job," Norcross said. "They’re stepping in. The thing with them is they’re not trying to do too much and just do what they’re capable of doing and let the other guys do what they’re capable of doing."
Nevada is next test for Red Raiders - The Daily Toreador: Sports
DE Jackson Richards talks about how important each game is for him:
"So, to me, Texas State was a Super Bowl game," Richards said Monday. "New Mexico is another Super Bowl game. I’m so hyped up for every game. That’s honestly how I felt before both those games. I felt like we were about to go play the (Dallas) Cowboys or something like that when we were about to go play Texas State and New Mexico.
RedRaiderSports.com - Ultimate Preview: Nevada
Ultimate preview (although I think that DTN's week-long preview is more "Doege" than "ultimate".
Highlights: Texas Tech at New Mexico - YouTube
Woot!
Highlights: Texas Tech at New Mexico (via techathletics)
Subway Coach Cam - YouTube
This is pretty interesting as OC Neal Brown and DC Chad Glasgow have a camera around them and I think it's funny that when Glasgow has the camera, it's a flying fury of whistles and paper. Awesome.
Subway Coach Cam (via barryruben)
CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT
Big 12 conference tries to come together after near breakup - Andy Staples - SI.com | Big 12 tensely commited to an all-in future - CBSSports.com | Big 12 pledges solidarity after kicking commissioner to the curb - Dr. Saturday - NCAAF Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Three good reads, the first link is from SI.com's Andy Staples, who summarizes:
To hear Boren tell it, the nine remaining schools have agreed in principle to grant their first- and second-tier media rights to the Big 12 for the next six years. Boren's tone made it seem as if nine signatures will finalize the deal and the league can enjoy near-ironclad security through its next media rights negotiation. (What does it means to grant first- and second-tier rights? Basically, a school turns over the rights to its best football and basketball games to the conference. This effectively renders the schools worthless to any other conferences. If, say, Missouri wanted to go to the SEC, the Tigers could leave, but the Big 12 would get all of Missouri's TV money for the length of the deal. The Big Ten and Pac-12 have similar agreements to remove any incentive to conference-hop.) Deaton did not go nearly as far as Boren. He said the nine CEOs had agreed to discuss such a move, but he said they had not agreed upon it yet. Deaton also refused to commit to keeping Missouri -- which flirted with the SEC in recent weeks -- in the conference long-term. Asked Thursday if the Tigers could leave if the Big 12 couldn't work out its issues, Deaton told reporters, "That's a hypothetical that could occur."
And from the CBS Sports Brian Fisher article:
Yet, in a move reflective of how dysfunctional the conference still was, confusion reigned before, during and after Missouri and Oklahoma's dueling press conferences to announce those reforms. At one point, Boren's voice came through while Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton was speaking on his call. One school leader said one thing, another school's leader said something slightly different.
Boren filibustered - he is a former senator - about the Big 12 agreeing to a six-year grant of right for each all first and second tier media rights. Everybody was putting their faith in the conference for the next six years. Television revenue would be shared equally for the first time in the league's history. All for one (conference), one for all.
But that wasn't what the Tigers said. A spokesman told the New York Times that there was only "an agreement to pursue the grant of rights." Oklahoma's general counsel later told the Associated Press no contracts were signed.
Fake Dan Beebe Unleashes A Twitter Rant For The Ages - From Our Editors - SBNation.com
THIS IS PURE GOLD! YES, I AM YELLING AT YOU, GO READ THIS. IT'S GOLD I SAY, GOLD!
Bailey: Actions solidify Big 12 | Red Raiders | VIDEO: Tech AD Hocutt says stability must come before expansion of Big 12 | Red Raiders
Texas Tech president Guy Bailey from yesterday:
"I think we realize that we’re a real good fit for one another," Bailey said, "and, just like any other families, you occasionally have some disputes but you work past them. This was a very good meeting for us as a conference. It portends pretty well for our future."
And also in the article, Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said that Texas Tech is working on their third tier rights:
"Hopefully in the coming months we can continue to shape and form that to a point we could begin sharing some of our (plans) with our fan base," Hocutt said. "Right now, we’re not quite to that point, but we are talking about what opportunities and partnerships we have to create a television channel that would give us an opportunity to broadcast the third-tier inventory and other programming that we control and produce."
Longhorns need to learn how to share
High school classmate FSSW's Matt Mosley writes that the Texas Longhorns need to learn how to share, although you shouldn't expect it.
Orangebloods.com - Sources: TCU could be top target as No. 10 in B12
UT spokesperson Chip Brown says that TCU could be a target for the Big 12:
And TCU may be rising up the list of candidates to become No. 10, two key sources said Thursday.
While BYU has been the popular thought as a replacement for Texas A&M, a key source close to the situation says BYU may no longer be interested in joining the Big 12 because of the recent instability.
While BYU seemed very interested in the possibility of joining the Big 12 a month ago, a key source close to the situation said, that was before all the rancor erupted involving Oklahoma, the Big 12 and OU's attempt to land in the Pac-12.
BYU would stand to grow exponentially financially with a move to the Big 12 because the Cougars made less than $2 million in TV revenue last year and would stand to make $18 million in the Big 12 next year.
But BYU is not hung up on money, the source said.
TCU is moving up the list of potential candidates because of its presence in college football under Gary Patterson. The Horned Frogs have announced they will leave the Mountain West for the Big East after this season. But those plans could be on hold, sources said.
Expanding outside the current geographic footprint of the Big 12 has always been seen as a priority of the league (it was verbalized by Dan Beebe last year) to draw more television sets. But it appears the TV partners of the Big 12 (ABC/ESPN and Fox) would be comfortable enough with TCU replacing A&M to continue paying out the money in their current contracts with the league, sources said.
Texas appears to want to grow only to 10 schools. UT athletic director DeLoss Dodds said Wednesday he favors 10 because the path to a BCS championship is more clear without a league title game. But Dodds said it will obviously be discussed by everyone in the Big 12.
The possibility of adding schools like Louisville, West Virginia and Cincinnati will be discussed by Big 12 presidents, sources said. But some wonder if that makes a lot of geographic sense. Others want the Big 12 to grow to 12 immediately to try and solidify the conference with more numbers.
Either way, keep an eye on TCU as a rising candidate to join the Big 12.