Red Raider Gridiron: Three Players Make All-Big 12; TTU Commits in High School Playoffs

Hold On. I've got a lot of links today and we've got something special today, which is Viva The Matadors Second Annual Gift Guide lined up for later today.  Should be a fun day.

VTM's Eddy Clinton on ESPN Tonight. Make sure and tune in tonight as ESPN is running a segment on the infamous Plano East vs. John Tyler game today on SportsCenter.  It's the 20th anniversary of that game and our very own Eddy Clinton, who we've had the pleasure of interviewing and is a regular here at VTM, was interviewed for part of that segment.

Robertson, Clark and Washington Honored. Congrats to LT LeRaven Clark, who was named to the first team, and RB DeAndre Washington and LB Pete Robertson, who was named to the second team, of the All-Big 12 team!

Playoffs. A couple of Texas Tech commits and recruits are in action, including WR Carlos Strickland for Skyline, who will be playing Allen this weekend and Skyline has the younger brother of a former target of Texas Tech, QB Tyrik Rollison, who ended up committing to Auburn (I think) but then ended up playing at TAMU-Commerce also playing for Skyline.  This note isn't significant, just that the name "Rollison" triggered my memory of him.  Also in action is WR Tyron Johnson (Johnson is just on the radar, not a commit) and DT Courtney Wallace, who are playing each other Louisiana 4A State Championship on Saturday. UPDATE: And thanks to a comment on Facebook from a coach at Cibolo Steele, OL Terrence Steele, is playing Katy on Saturday as well.  Thanks for the reminder! UPDATE II: And thanks to a comment, 2016 S Collin Wilder plays for Katy, so that's four.

Look to Florida. Good stuff from Voodoo Five, SB Nation's South Florida blog, about if the Big 12 ends up expanding, then the only place to look is at both of the Florida schools, South Florida and Central Florida:

TV Markets

It is inevitable that someday the Big 12 Network will come to pass. It'll be just like the Longhorn Network, except everyone will get the money instead! The rights fees to carry your network on cable packages will be a stream of revenue that all schools will need to compete within the Power 5 of college sports. And the most potential new TV sets are sitting in the I-4 corridor.

Tampa-St. Petersburg is the 13th largest media market in America. Orlando is 19th. Cincinnati? 34th. Memphis? 48th. UConn? We'll give them Hartford and New Haven, which still only comes in 30th. (Colorado Springs? Fresno? Boise? C'mon.) There are simply millions and millions more eyeballs, bodies, televisions, and wallets available to you on our peninsula than any other place you could expand. We bring potential streams of revenue with us that are larger than any of your other options. Success in college athletics can often be tied to money, and you'll get more of it from here than anywhere else.

We agree there is no way you should add the Florida schools unless the big cable providers in the area are willing to carry the Big 12 Network at a reasonable rate. It will be our responsibility to assure you of that (or at least as much as we can considering the network doesn't exist yet). Remember, though: UCF's stadium is sponsored by Bright House Networks -- a cable company. That can't hurt.

Come to Where the People and Money Are

Schools like West Virginia and Iowa State are in parts of the country where population is shrinking, while Florida continues to grow. Ask the B1G: it's a problem. We can help fix it, and give you a foothold into another area of the country with brighter long-term economic prospects.

Briles Should Pay. First, Baylor's offensive coordinator, Philip Montgomery, was named Tulsa's head coach yesterday, as Montgomery and head coach Art Briles have been together for 17 years.  Good for Montgomery.  Second, DMN's Kevin Sherrington wrote that Briles should pay for his outburst (Sherrington's word) against the Big 12 and Bob Bowlsby.

Own a Piece of the Jones. The official site is giving you an opportunity to own an old season from Jones AT&T Stadium. I think if I bought one my wife would just look at me, ask WTF, and tell me to go put it in the garage.

Miscellaneous. FoxSports' David Ubben has his 2014 Ubbies, the best of the Big 12 in the 2014 season and Ubben also has his All-Big 12 team . . . this has nothing to do with sports, but some Texas craft brewers have sued the state of Texas for their distribution rights (this is above my pay grade, but it's really interesting to me) . . .