College Confidential

Texas, Texas Tech draw two Thursday FB telecasts, including T'givng night; TCU, Baylor get one #UT, #TCU, #Tech, #Baylor

Texas and Texas Tech will play in two of four Thursday night football games to be played by Big 12 teams during the 2013 season, including a Thanksgiving night matchup in Austin, league officials announced today.

The Thursday night telecasts, with times and networks to be announced later, include Texas at Iowa State (Oct. 3), TCU at Texas Tech (Sept. 12), Oklahoma at Baylor (Nov. 7) and Texas Tech at Texas on Thanksgiving night (Nov. 28).

_ Jimmy Burch

 

Texas A&M golfer Mocio, a FW Arlington Heights grad, to join TCU golfers in LPGA qualifier #TAMU, #TCU

Officials at the North Texas LPGA Shootout announced the 18 college golfers who will be competing for two spots in the field at Dallas-Fort Worth’s new LPGA Tour stop, April 25-28 in Irving.

The college participants will play an 18-hole qualifier, dubbed the North Texas College Shootout, on March 12 with the top two finishers earning berths in the LPGA event in April. The qualifier will be played at Las Colinas Country Club, the same venue as the LPGA tournament.

Among the college participants are three golfers from TCU, four from SMU, one from Texas and five from Texas A&M.

The A&M contingent includes Chelsea Mocio, a junior from Fort Worth Arlington Heights. TCU’s threesome is comprised of Alexandria Bonetti, April McCoy and Sanna Nuutinen. Texas’ participant in the qualifier, Madison Pressel, is the younger sister of LPGA participant Morgan Pressel.

Tournament officals also announced Tuesday that two high school golfers will play their way into the field from an 18-player group in conjunction with an April 22 professional qualifier at Las Colinas Country Club. The names of the high school participants have yet to be released.

Below is a look at the 18 college golfers taking part in the March 12 qualifier in Irving (in alphabetical order):

Alexandra Bonetti, TCU; Flower Castillo, Incarnate Word; Sarah Beth Davis, Texas A&M; Marisson Dodd, Wake Forest; Casey Grice, North Carolina; Jenny Haglund, SMU; Mary Michael Maggio, Texas A&M; April McCoy, TCU; Chelsea Mocio, Texas A&M; Sanna Nuutinen, TCU; Jennifer Park, SMU; Madison Pressel, Texas; Natalie Reeves, Texas A&M; Alexandra Ann Rossi, SMU; Katerina Ruzickova, Texas A&M; Taylor Slagle, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Kelsey Vines, Oklahoma State; Melanie White, SMU. Alternate: Hally Leadbetter, Arkansas.

_ Jimmy Burch

TCU men's tennis hoping to set attendance mark Friday vs. SMU

TCU men’s tennis is hoping to break an attendance record against SMU at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
To encourage attendance, TCU coach David Roditi has devised up to $2,000 in prizes. The First 500 fans who arrive before 6 p.m. are eligible. Fans can arrive as early as 5 p.m., but not later than 6 p.m.
-- Stefan Stevenson

Spring football drills open Thursday at Texas; fellow Big 12 members TCU, Baylor begin March 1

Texas will open its spring football drills Thursday in Austin, just 15 days after adding its latest crop of recruits on National Signing Day. And the remainder of Big 12 schools will not be far behind the Longhorns in returning to the field for workouts.

Baylor and TCU begin spring football drills on March 1, with Oklahoma (March 6), Oklahoma State (March 11) and Texas Tech (March 24) opening later in the month. Texas will close its spring drills on Saturday, March 30 with its Orange-White Game in Austin (6:30 p.m., Longhorn Network).

Below is a look at the spring football schedules for league teams:  

 
Big 12 spring football dates
Baylor: March 1 start, spring game April 6
Iowa State: March 26 start, spring game April 20
Kansas: March 5 start, spring game April 13
Kansas State: April 3 start, spring game April 27
Oklahoma: March 6 start, spring game April 13
Oklahoma State: March 11 start, spring game April 20
TCU: March 1 start, spring game TBA
Texas: Thursday start, spring game March 30
Texas Tech: March 24 start, spring game April 20
West Virginia: March 10 start, spring game April 20

NOTE: Dates are subject to change.

_ Jimmy Burch 

TCU golfer Julien Brun included on 2013 Ben Hogan Award watch list

TCU golfer Julien Brun, a sophomore from France who won an event as an amateur on the 2012 European Challenge Tour, is one of 27 players on the watch list for the 2013 Ben Hogan Award, given to the nation’s top college golfer.

Brun, who won in September at the Allianz Golf Open Toulouse Metropole on Europe’s developmental tour, was joined today on the watch list by three fellow Big 12 golfers: Texas’ Brandon Stone, Oklahoma State’s Talor Gooch and Iowa State’s Scott Fernandez.

California had the most golfers on the watch list, with four:  Brandon Hagy, Max Homa, Michael Kim and Michael Weaver.

A list of 10 semifinalists, which could include individuals not on today’s watch list, will be released April 18. The list will be trimmed May 8 to three finalists, who will be in Fort Worth for the May 20 announcement of the winner as part of tournament week activities at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

A full list of players on the watch list is below:

 2013 Ben Hogan Award Watch List

(in alphabetical order)

Daniel Berger (Florida State, So.), Julien Brun (TCU, So.), Albin Choi (North Carolina State, Jr.), Corey Conners (Kent State, Jr.), Scott Fernandez (Iowa State, So.), Steven Fox (Chattanooga, Sr.), Ben Geyer (St. Mary’s, Sr.), Talor Gooch (Oklahoma State, Jr.), Brandon Hagy (California, Jr.), Max Homa (California, Sr.), Michael Kim (California, So.), Jace Long (Missouri, Sr.), Tyler McCumber (Florida, Sr.), Cheng-Tsung Pan (Washington, So.), Kevin Penner (UNLV, Sr.), Thomas Pieters (Illinois, Jr.), Patrick Rodgers (Stanford, So.), Trevor Simsby (Washington, Jr.), Brandon Stone (Texas, Fr.), Julian Suri (Duke, Sr.), Ben Taylor (Nova Southeastern, Jr.), Justin Thomas (Alabama, So.), T.J. Vogel (Florida, Sr.), Michael Weaver (California, Jr.), Pontus Widegren (UCLA, Sr.), Chris Williams (Washington, Sr.) and Bobby Wyatt (Alabama, Jr.).

 

_ Jimmy Burch 

 

Big 12 ADs support seeking alliance with other leagues, have not ruled out expansion

IRVING _ Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said league athletic directors expressed unanimous support for exploring a scheduling and marketing alliance with the ACC and other conferences during a Monday meeting but did not close the door on the possibility of future expansion.

Bowlsby said Big 12 administrators seek to prepare themselves for “any eventuality” on the realignment front and discussed multiple options during a three-hour discussion about the league’s future. But he stressed that league officials would not rush to expand from the existing 10-member configuration unless it makes financial sense.

Based on a recent Forbes projection for the current school year, the Big 12 is expected to have the highest average payout of any conference in terms of television, bowl and NCAA Tournament revenues _ roughly $26 million per school. Prospective new members would have to bring a comparable amount of value to the table to trigger voluntary expansion.

“Anybody we would look at would have to bring pro rata or a very high likelihood of sustained growth that would bring benefits to the league,” Bowlsby said. “We are never going to get bigger just for the sake of getting bigger.”

Bowlsby acknowledged expansion by other leagues could force the Big 12’s hand and said officials “have to be prepared to respond to that changing environment.” Speculation has centered on Big 12 interest from Florida State and Clemson, with Connecticut and Cincinnati among the most desirable remaining assets in the crumbling Big East.

But the league’s favored option, expressed in a unanimous vote at Monday’s meeting, would be an alliance with the ACC and two other leagues Bowlsby declined to name. Commissioners from the Pac-12 and SEC said Monday they are not part of the discussions with the Big 12, ACC and other leagues.

“Our group said these alliances have merit and we’re willing to support it,” Bowlsby said. “The discussions are probably furthest along with the ACC, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what we’re going to end up doing.”

Big 12 athletic directors deferred questions to Bowlsby but indicated they joined him in considering Monday’s session a step forward in solidifying plans for the league’s future.

“I think we did gravitate around some principles that will guide us going forward,” said Bowlsby, who declined to offer details. “I think we created some filters that we all agreed on and I think there was a fair amount of unanimity in the room.”

The two-day meeting continues today, with discussions about future football schedules and bowl partnerships.

 Twitter: @Jimmy_Burch

_ Jimmy Burch

TCU's Amric Fields will have knee surgery Friday

TCU forward Amric Fields will have knee surgery Friday. Fields tore both his anterior cruciate ligament and his medial collateral ligament early in a game against SMU Nov. 15.
Fields was expected to be the Horned Frogs’ scoring leader this season. He made 9-of-14 shots in his first two games and was averaging 11 points and four rebounds.
Aaron Durley, TCU’s freshman center who injured a knee before the season, had surgery last month.

-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs 

No further penalty for Oklahoma lineman's "push" on TCU's Maponga

Oklahoma offensive lineman Tyrus Thompson will not be suspended for what TCU fans considered a punch to the head of TCU defensive lineman Stansly Maponga in last week’s game.
The Big 12 Conference supervisor of officials Walt Anderson reviewed Thompson “pushing” Maponga’s “head to the ground.” His review of the play supports the foul penalty assessed by game officials, an email from the league said. The Big 12 will take no further action.
Thompson was assessed a 15-yard personal foul on the play in the second quarter of OU’s 24-17 win. Replays appeared to show him on top of Maponga and striking him a couple times with his right arm.

-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs 

Where is TCU going bowling? My guess is back to San Diego or Houston but final week could alter destination for many

So where is TCU headed bowling? Wish I could tell you. Too much is still riding on the outcome of the final week of games, especially the Horned Frogs’ regular-season finale against No. 11 Oklahoma at 11 a.m. Saturday at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
The outcome could affect where the Horned Frogs (7-4, 4-4 in the Big 12) are headed in the postseason. If TCU upsets the Sooners, and incidentally, wins its first Big 12 game at home, Oklahoma's hopes of earning a BCS bowl berth would be dashed. The Sooners (9-2, 7-1) could still win the Big 12 title and earn a Fiesta Bowl appearance with a win and a No. 6 Kansas State loss to No. 18 Texas. If Oklahoma loses, then they’ll likely play in the Cotton Bowl.
If the Frogs lose to Oklahoma, they appear headed to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. That's if San Diego isn't sick of TCU. The Frogs have played in three Poinsettia Bowls, also in San Diego, since 2006, including last year. The Meineke Car Care Bowl in Houston would likely be attracted to TCU, expecting more Frogs fans to travel to Reliant Stadium for the Dec. 28 game against a Big 10 team. The Frogs have played three bowls in Houston since 2001, the last coming in 2007.
Of course, more than conference finish comes into play when bowl representatives are looking to fill the matchups. If TCU wins Saturday, then the Frogs would finish ahead of Texas Tech (7-5, 4-5) and would seem to be in line for the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. And if Baylor wins its third consecutive game by beating Oklahoma State Saturday then the Bears would potentially finish in a four-way tie with TCU, Tech, and West Virginia at 4-5. If that happens, then all bets are off on bowl positioning, at least for the middle-tier bowls.
The bowl matchups will be announced Dec. 2.

Here’s how I project the Big 12 standings finishing, with the favored team (Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and West Virginia) winning Saturday, with bowl destinations and bowl payout (per team) for each bowl:

	Projected standings	Projected bowl	Payout per team (in millions)
Kansas State	11-1, 8-1	BCS Fiesta (Glendale, Ariz.)	$17
Oklahoma	10-2, 8-1	BCS Sugar (New Orleans)	$17
Oklahoma St.	8-4, 6-3	Cotton (Arlington, Tex.)	$3.625
Texas	8-4, 5-4	Alamo (San Antonio, Tex.)	$3.175
Texas Tech	7-5, 4-5	Buffalo Wild Wings (Tempe, Ariz.)	$3.350
TCU	7-5, 4-5	Holiday (San Diego, Calif.)	$2.075
West Virginia	7-5, 4-5	Pinstripe (New York City)	$1.8
Iowa State	6-6, 3-6	Heart of Dallas (Cotton Bowl)	$1.1
Baylor	6-6, 3-6	Meineke Car Care (Houston)	$1.7
Kansas	1-11, 0-9

-- Stefan Stevenson
@FollowtheFrogs 

TCU's 2013 football schedule released

The Big 12 Conference released its 2013 football schedule Tuesday.
TCU opens against LSU in the Cowboys Stadium Classic in Arlington at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 31 on ESPN. The rest of the times have not been set. The Horned Frogs will play six games at Amon G. Carter, including the home opener against Southeastern Louisiana Sept. 7. TCU opens Big 12 play at Texas Tech the following week. The Frogs must travel to Oklahoma State for the second consecutive season because of a previous agreement with Texas A&M before the Aggies left for the Southeastern Conference.

Here’s TCU's 2013 schedule:
Aug. 31 LSU#
Sept. 7 Southeastern Louisiana
Sept. 14 at Texas Tech*
Sept. 21 Bye
Sept. 28 SMU
Oct. 5 at Oklahoma*
Oct. 12 Kansas*
Oct. 19 at Oklahoma State*
Oct. 26 Texas*
Nov. 2 West Virginia*
Nov. 9 at Iowa State*
Nov. 16 at Kansas State*
Nov. 23 Bye
Nov. 30 Baylor*
* -- Big 12 game
# -- Cowboys Stadium in Arlington