College Confidential

Stallings wavering; regents meeting scheduled

Texas A&M regent Gene Stallings now says the Big 12 staying together would "tickle me to death." This comes after a weekend when it appeared A&M was gung-ho to leave for the Southeastern Conference, contemplating overflowing football crowds every week and wiping out any athletic department deficit.

It appears to be a master stroke by Texas, if indeed this is the scenario: Keep the Big 12/10 intact, promise gobs of money for Texas, A&M and Oklahoma, and make A&M the bad guy if the Aggies decide to be the deal-breaker and go to the SEC.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma State and Oklahoma regents have scheduled meetings at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The UT System regents meet Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Kansas regents say the league can remain “extremely viable” with 10 schools, according to The Associated Press.

The Texas House has a hearing scheduled Wednesday.

-- Vince Langford

Frogs go up 3-0 in the bottom of the seventh

In the bottom of the seventh, Aaron Schultz powered up and hit a two-out, two-run home run to give the TCU Horned Frogs a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh against Texas in the deciding game in Austin.

The Frogs are six outs away from Omaha.

Taylor Featherston worked a two-out walk against Texas relief ace Chance Ruffin and then rode home on Schultz's blast over the fence in left field.

TCU takes the first lead 1-0, in the fifth

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Taylor Featherston led off with a double and advanced to third base on a throwing error by the right fielder. Jason Coats then singled in Featherston to break up the scoreless pitching duel.

After a sacrifice bunt moved Coats to second, Brandon Workman retired Brance Rivera and Jerome Pena to end the inning.

In the top of the sixth, Kyle Winkler set the Longhorns down 1-2-3.

Chance Ruffin has now entered the game for the Longhorns as coach Augie Garrido doesn't hesitate to get his relief ace in the game.

Workman gave up four hits, one run and walked none in his five innings of work.

Frogs, Longhorns 0-0 going into the bottom of the fifth

Kyle Winkler struck out Russell Moldenhauer to end the top of the fifth inning with a runner on second and two outs. Tant Shepherd reached base on shortstop Taylor Featherston's error, taking second on the wild throw.

Winkler, who pitched and lost in the super regional against Texas last year, has given up only three hits through five innings today.

Joe Weik got the Horned Frogs' second hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth with a single, but Brandon Workman struck out Jantzen Witte swinging.

This is Game 3 of the Austin Super Regional, the winner advancing to the College World Series, which starts Friday in Omaha, Neb.

Other than those that pitched Saturday, every pitcher is available to pitch today. The Longhorns have yet to use ace reliever and former starter Chance Ruffin in the series. Tyler Lockwood finished off the Horned Frogs' win Friday in relief.

Frogs, Longhorns 0-0 after three

The game is now on ESPN after South Carolina defeated Coastal Carolina. Thanks, ESPN.

OK, maybe the game is on DirecTV 211.

TCU's Kyle Winkler worked around a double by Kevin Lusson in the top of the second, and TCU went 1-2-3 against Brandon Workman in the bottom of the second.

Workman had another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third after Winkler gave up a two-out single to the dangerous Tant Shepherd but suffered no damage in the top of the third.

Texas has two hits, TCU one.

Frogs, Longhorns in first inning

To follow the Frogs-Longhorns game go to GameTracker via the gofrog.com site.

At least for some satellite and cable customers, ESPN evidently hasn't switched North Texas to the TCU-Texas game, and the game as of 3:15 p.m. wasn't being shown on ESPNU or the ESPN alternate.

In the top of the first inning (remember, TCU won a coin flip Thursday to be the home team today), Texas had runners on second and third after Frogs starter Kyle Winkler walked two batters. But Winkler struck out Cameron Rupp to end the threat and the inning.

In the bottom of the first, TCU catcher Bryan Holaday singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. But Longhorns starter Brandon Workman got both Matt Curry and Joe Weik on swinging strike threes.

The Frogs have shuffled their batting order today in a bid to create some offense after scoring three runs and one run in the first two games. TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle mentioned in the pregame show on KTCU/88.7 FM that the Frogs would try to do some things on the bases today to boost the offense.

TCU plays for first College World Series berth at 3 p.m.

TCU plays Texas in Game 3 of the Austin Super Regional at 3 p.m. today, ESPN telecasting the game from Disch-Falk Field.

 The winner advances to the eight-team College World Series in Omaha. Kyle Winkler will be the starting pitcher for the  Horned Frogs, Brandon Workman, from Bowie, Texas, born in Arlington and a second-round draft choice of the Boston Red Sox, will start for the Longhorns.

For Texas, a victory would be fitting, a team that has been there 33 times to be part of the farewell to Rosenblatt Stadium.

For TCU, a victory would be historic, emotional, cathartic, mind-blowing.

A TCU victory would be part of a college shake-up of which Saturday's Game 2 was a unwitting participant on the front lines. As captured by ESPN cameras, watching from their Disch-Falk perch, but actually  sitting on a college tsunami, were Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds, UT president Bill Powers, UT women's athletic director Chris Plonsky and UT football coach Mack Brown. It was maybe a respite as they pondered a break  with the Big 12 and creating a huge gulf, perhaps unbridgeable,  between Texas and Texas A&M.

The past two weeks in college athletics is mindful of June 17, 1994, the day that will be revisited in an  upcoming ESPN film. On that Friday, network telecasts captured O.J. Simpson in the white Bronco leading a slow-speed chase, Arnold Palmer saying farewell to big-time golf in his final U.S. Open and the NBA Finals game between the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets, "the city that never sleeps versus the city that  never wins."

For TCU in the  past week, two former Frogs pitchers, Jake Arrieta and Andrew Cashner, have pitched in the  major leagues and plans were revealed for the Frogs home baseball stadium to be doubled in seating capacity. Think of that.

TCU wasn't supposed to be here, with so many freshmen in key roles, after losing to Texas last year.

That the Frogs could go to Omaha partly due to a gift from the Texas Rangers because former UT big wig Tom Hicks couldn't pay his bills or Matt Purke adds to the surreal nature of June 2010.

-- Vince Langford

Reports: A&M leaning SEC, Big 12 working on new TV deal

Orangebloods.com's Chip Brown reports that Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe is working on an enchanced TV package that would entice the remaining members of Big 12 to stay together as a 10-team league once Colorado and Nebraska officially exit.

The key to the proposal would be increasing the payout to each school from $7-$10 million to $17 million annually, a level that the 12 Southeastern Conference schools enjoy.

But each Big 12 school would also be permitted to pursue its own television network, which appeals to the Texas Longhorns.

Meanwhile,  there are multiple reports that SEC commissioner Mike Slive was in College Station on Saturday as Texas A&M officials wrestle with going west with Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to the Pac-10 or head east to the SEC. Brown reports that the regents votes appeared to line up 6-3 for the SEC, but with A&M carefully weighing a decision to cut ties wiith Texas.

Texas Rep. Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, was quoted in an article on the Houston Chronicle website that the SEC makes more sense for Texas A&M fans: “You can road trip to Mississippi,” he said. “You can't really do that to California.”

On the other hand, you can't see the University of Texas being part of a conference with the Mississippi schools. Maybe some of the recruiting success Texas and OU have had in luring California players to the heartland explains why those school look west to the future.

Texas regents to meet Tuesday as Big 12 continues to crumble

Texas regents have scheduled a Tuesday morning session in Austin to discuss conference realignment. Texas is believed to be favoring a move to the Pac-10 conference in the wake of recent defections from the Big 12 ranks by Colorado and Nebraska.

Colorado accepted an invitation Thursday to join the Pac-10. Nebraska officials voted today to accept membership in the Big Ten, according to reports from the Omaha World-Herald and The Associated Press.

Texas A&M regents have yet to set a date for a meeting, based on a statement distributed by A&M officials.

Any switch of conference affiliation by either school would require approval from school regents.

_ Jimmy Burch

UT System Regents to meet Tuesday on conference affiliation

This  announcement could signal that Texas is ready to decide a course of action in the wake of the upheaval in the Big 12.

"The University of Texas System Board of Regents will hold a special called meeting on Tuesday, June 15, in Austin. The meeting will be held on the ninth floor of Ashbel Smith Hall, 201 W. 7th St.

The Board will convene at 11:00 a.m. to discuss the following agenda item:

• UT Austin:  Discussion and appropriate action regarding athletic conference membership "