Will the Big 12 be better than -- gasp! -- the SEC?
posted by LW, Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Florida beat Oklahoma in the BCS title game, and Ole Miss smacked Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. And in 2007, a high-profile opportunity for validation ended in annihilation after Georgia had no trouble eviscerating Oklahoma State in Athens.
Still, Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News makes a reasonable case in this story.
(Cue the hyperventilating in SEC country.)
Working in the Big 12's favor:
• Three teams – Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State – will probably open next season in the top 10. And excellence hasn't been limited to a few. Since the conference's formation, eight of the 12 teams have been ranked in the Associated Press poll's top five during November.
• The conference featured four of the five vote-getters for the 2008 Heisman Trophy, including winner Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and runner-up Colt McCoy. Both return this season.
"The offensive firepower and the quarterback capability in the last three years have been tremendous," Osborne said. "It seemed like every team had a great quarterback and really moved the ball."
• Seven Big 12 players were selected in the first round of this year's NFL draft, a high-water mark. That total might just be the beginning.
Todd McShay's 2010 mock draft for ESPN, released in late April, suggested the waiting area in New York could resemble a Big 12 media day. His projection: a jaw-dropping nine of the first 10 picks coming from the conference.
One of them problems, though: The Big 12 doesn't play much defense; Texas was the conference's best last year and ranked 51st nationally.
And how many times have you heard coaches from other conferences trot out the line Mack Brown does in this article:
"You can actually lose to anybody in this league."
Offering a scholarship to a 13-year-old is a tough sell from a perception standpoint, but Andy Staples says it's not such an awful idea in Tennessee's case.
Add two more to the list of former football players suiting EA Sports for using their likenesses without their permission. This is gonna get ugly ... and interesting.
In some Clemson news, The State has some details on what we told you recently: That season ticket sales are down 12 percent.
Furthermore, corporate sponsorships could wind up down by at least $500,000, and contributions to IPTAY — the athletic department’s fundraising arm — are down an estimated $1.4 million.
As a result, Clemson projects it could fall between $1 million and $2 million short of projected revenue for next year’s budget.
The difference will be made up through an emergency reserve fund containing nearly $10 million.
“It could be better than that, but I don’t think it will be worse for us,” said Katie Hill, senior associate athletic director and the department’s chief financial officer.
“All we have to do is look for a recovering economy in 2010, and we’ll be fine. Does that sound like I’ve convinced myself?”
Interesting read on Middle Tennessee offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, who appears much happier in his current digs than he was during his cup-of-coffee stint at Auburn.
The transformation never occurred at Auburn, which averaged just 18.7 points in the six games Franklin coached last season – and that included defensive scores.
But Franklin is optimistic his offense again will take root because the environment at Middle Tennessee is similar to what he had at Troy and vastly different than Auburn. He feels he has the necessary components for success – enthusiastic players, support from the rest of the coaching staff and a commitment to his system.
"Everybody has to be on the same page," Franklin said. "Rick has signs up everywhere saying, 'Everybody all in.' He made it clear privately and publicly. The players are all in. The coaches are all in. The office people are all in. The fans are all in. Everybody is into the system and the way we do stuff."
Hmmmm. Sounds familiar.
Also at Rivals, Steve Megargee has an extensive look at No. 44 Wake Forest.
Coach K was in peak bristling form yesterday, refuting rumors of a departure for the Lakers, and also scoffing at concerns that the Blue Devils could struggle after recent departures.
Speaking of ACC basketball, The Washington Times has a feature on Tony Bennett.
Back to football: Randy Shannon says there are reasons for optimism at Miami this season.
''You will see this team taking the next step,'' Shannon said in a chat in his office. ``The Georgia Tech game last year [a 41-23 loss] made us grow a lot. That will make us a better team record-wise. We're a lot more talented, have a lot more depth. You don't have to worry about [defensive-line] depth any more. Two years ago, you had only five defensive linemen to play in a game. That alone should tell you how far we've come.''
And here's a Q&A with the always-interesting Rich Rodriguez.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Based on recent events, now is not the best time for the Big 12 to be making the case that it's better than the SEC.
Florida beat Oklahoma in the BCS title game, and Ole Miss smacked Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl. And in 2007, a high-profile opportunity for validation ended in annihilation after Georgia had no trouble eviscerating Oklahoma State in Athens.
Still, Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News makes a reasonable case in this story.
(Cue the hyperventilating in SEC country.)
Working in the Big 12's favor:
• Three teams – Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State – will probably open next season in the top 10. And excellence hasn't been limited to a few. Since the conference's formation, eight of the 12 teams have been ranked in the Associated Press poll's top five during November.
• The conference featured four of the five vote-getters for the 2008 Heisman Trophy, including winner Sam Bradford of Oklahoma and runner-up Colt McCoy. Both return this season.
"The offensive firepower and the quarterback capability in the last three years have been tremendous," Osborne said. "It seemed like every team had a great quarterback and really moved the ball."
• Seven Big 12 players were selected in the first round of this year's NFL draft, a high-water mark. That total might just be the beginning.
Todd McShay's 2010 mock draft for ESPN, released in late April, suggested the waiting area in New York could resemble a Big 12 media day. His projection: a jaw-dropping nine of the first 10 picks coming from the conference.
One of them problems, though: The Big 12 doesn't play much defense; Texas was the conference's best last year and ranked 51st nationally.
And how many times have you heard coaches from other conferences trot out the line Mack Brown does in this article:
"You can actually lose to anybody in this league."
Offering a scholarship to a 13-year-old is a tough sell from a perception standpoint, but Andy Staples says it's not such an awful idea in Tennessee's case.
Add two more to the list of former football players suiting EA Sports for using their likenesses without their permission. This is gonna get ugly ... and interesting.
In some Clemson news, The State has some details on what we told you recently: That season ticket sales are down 12 percent.
Furthermore, corporate sponsorships could wind up down by at least $500,000, and contributions to IPTAY — the athletic department’s fundraising arm — are down an estimated $1.4 million.
As a result, Clemson projects it could fall between $1 million and $2 million short of projected revenue for next year’s budget.
The difference will be made up through an emergency reserve fund containing nearly $10 million.
“It could be better than that, but I don’t think it will be worse for us,” said Katie Hill, senior associate athletic director and the department’s chief financial officer.
“All we have to do is look for a recovering economy in 2010, and we’ll be fine. Does that sound like I’ve convinced myself?”
Interesting read on Middle Tennessee offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, who appears much happier in his current digs than he was during his cup-of-coffee stint at Auburn.
The transformation never occurred at Auburn, which averaged just 18.7 points in the six games Franklin coached last season – and that included defensive scores.
But Franklin is optimistic his offense again will take root because the environment at Middle Tennessee is similar to what he had at Troy and vastly different than Auburn. He feels he has the necessary components for success – enthusiastic players, support from the rest of the coaching staff and a commitment to his system.
"Everybody has to be on the same page," Franklin said. "Rick has signs up everywhere saying, 'Everybody all in.' He made it clear privately and publicly. The players are all in. The coaches are all in. The office people are all in. The fans are all in. Everybody is into the system and the way we do stuff."
Hmmmm. Sounds familiar.
Also at Rivals, Steve Megargee has an extensive look at No. 44 Wake Forest.
Coach K was in peak bristling form yesterday, refuting rumors of a departure for the Lakers, and also scoffing at concerns that the Blue Devils could struggle after recent departures.
Speaking of ACC basketball, The Washington Times has a feature on Tony Bennett.
Back to football: Randy Shannon says there are reasons for optimism at Miami this season.
''You will see this team taking the next step,'' Shannon said in a chat in his office. ``The Georgia Tech game last year [a 41-23 loss] made us grow a lot. That will make us a better team record-wise. We're a lot more talented, have a lot more depth. You don't have to worry about [defensive-line] depth any more. Two years ago, you had only five defensive linemen to play in a game. That alone should tell you how far we've come.''
And here's a Q&A with the always-interesting Rich Rodriguez.
LW
For questions or comments on this blog entry, please visit The West Zone message board.
Link to this entry - Discuss this entry - Return to Blog Home
Donnie Patterson. Donnie Patterson is the founder of Patterson Tax Service, located in Easley, S.C. He has been active in tax preparation since 1970, and offers a full range of tax and bookkeeping services.
Larry Williams. Larry has covered the daily beat at Clemson since 2004. Williams, who worked for the Charleston Post & Courier from 2004-08, joined Tigerillustrated.com in November of 2008. He may be reached by email at ldubya08(at)gmail.com. Replace (at) with @.