In the end, Baylor does not deserve the NCAA tournament

1. This is why you hate college officiating. Sixteen seconds after Baylor tied Oklahoma State in the Big 12 tourney with a four-point play with 19 seconds remaining, the officials screwed up with a terrible call on a drive to the basket by OSU guard Phil Forte where there was no contact. 

Forte made both free throws, leaving Baylor guard Pierre Jackson to dribble the length of the court and try a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. He had 31 points, but the shot hit the rim and Baylor is now left to pray for an NCAA tournament bid that should have been a done deal.

2. This is why you hate Baylor, and want to throw something at coach Scott Drew. And then you remember it's Baylor, and you recall what this program was before he arrived and you have no choice but to reconsider your disgust.

One game after upsetting Kansas, the Baylor basketball team returned to being so Baylor this season in a loss against No. 14 Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City on Thursday night. OSU won 74-72 in a game it led by 20 in the first half.

Baylor may be the last team out of the NCAA tournament. The Bears needed to defeat the Cowboys to make the field of 68. This is going to leave Stephen F. Austin as the only team from Texas with a chance to make the tournament.

Considering the players Drew lost from last season's team no one should have expected a return to the Elite 8, but guys like Jackson and Isaiah Austin should have made this more than an NIT team. 

The Bears are 18-14, and their RPI is somewhere in the 60s. They were 1-8 in games decided by 5 points or less.

Drew deserves a statue for making this program nationally relevant for something other than homicides. How he has attracted top talent to his program is quite - cough, cough - incredible? Sure. Go with that word. It's what happens after the top talent arrives that can be so frustrating.

His teams play right at the fringe of control, and when the jumpers are not falling things can look chaotic. Drew's teams have a hint of a Steve Lavin "coached" team; sometimes it looks like a ball has been rolled out and the message is, "Go score the basketball, boys."

It leaves people frustrated that Baylor should be more, and maybe the Bears should be more. The talent they had this season said they were better than 18 wins.

Considering, however, what Baylor was when Drew arrived being frustrated is better than not caring.

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1 year later - The TCU drug bust was a bust

It has been one year to the day when the world ended at TCU. A large group of TCU students, including four football players, were busted for selling drugs. The high point was the vigil held by the TCU students.

Why in the name of Stupid was a vigil necessary? This was a case of students being dramatic for the sake of being dramatic. No need to create drama when it usually falls into your lap at the worst time.

One TCU undergrad received a phone call from her grandmother in Panama, who told her she was coming to get her and that she had to leave the school immediately.

One year later we know this giant drug bust wasn't a case of 18 Pablo Escobars running TCU's campus. Nearly all of these people received little punishments - $300 for court costs. Some deferred adjudication probation.

One year later we know the once pristine football team is not immune to the problems that befall most major college football teams. 

One year later we know the only collateral from this has not been with the four football players directly involved but one who wasn't - quarterback Casey Pachall. 

One year later we know, because this was indeed an isolated incident, that the program has not turned into The 1990's University of Miami Hurricanes (although for the sake of winning that may not be the worst thing).

One year later we know this was a story only because it involved four football players - defensive tackle D.J. Yendrey, defensive back Devin Johnson, linebacker Tanner Brock and offensive tackle Ty Horn.

According to Texas State University, Yendrey has spent the previous semester at the school and practiced with the team. He will have one year of eligibility remaining to play for the Bobcats under former TCU coach Dennis Franchione.

Brock has enrolled at Sam Houston State, and will have one year of eligibility to play.

The general reaction from the TCU student body was more of embarrassment more than shock. The vast majority of students I spoke with just assumed this sort of thing happens. Maybe not the dealing, but certainly some use.
The people in and around TCU didn't much care for the news vans and the way this story was portrayed. These are the same people who would gladly consume such a story, and take a little glee, if it had happened in College Station, Waco or Lubbock.

One year later we know there was a little over-reaction to this story, but that both the school and the football team handled it the only way they could.

One year later, everybody has moved on. As they should.

 

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TCU & West Virginia - comparatively speaking in the Big 12

TCU's first season in the Big 12 Conference has gone just about as good (or bad) as many of the coaches and administrators thought it would when it made this jump. The one sport the people around the school thought could immediately "hang" begins its schedule on Feb. 15, when the baseball team travels to play Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi for a three-game series.

According to BaseballAmerica.com, TCU is ranked 14th and Ole Miss is 13th.

Looking at the two athletic deparments and the "major" sports, here is how both TCU and West Virginia's first season in the Big 12 are going, compared against how each school performed in its previous conference last year.

TCU:          '12-'13 Big 12           '11-'12 MWC 
Football:        7-6, 4-5                   11-2, 7-0
M hoops:      10-14, 1-10                18-15, 7-7
W hoops:       7-15, 0-11                16-14, 9-5
Volleyball:    15-14, 4-12               25-7, 9-5
W soccer:      7-10-4, 1-5-2            7-11-1, 1-5 

West Virginia: '12-'13 Big 12      '11-'12 Big East
Football:            7-6, 4-5                 10-3, 5-2 
M hoops:          12-11, 5-5               19-14, 9-9
W hoops:          14-9, 6-6                24-10, 11-5 
W soccer:        11-5-4, 7-0-1          17-5-0, 10-1
M soccer:         9-6-2, 4-2-1           11-8-1, 6-3-0
Volleyball:      8-22, 0-16                 7-19, 5-9

Conclusion - It gets better. Ask Baylor.

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Stephen F. Austin is the best basketball team in Texas

In the same school year the Texas A&M football team represented the entire state with a Heisman trophy and a No. 5 final ranking the Aggies men's basketball team is the only team worth a poop from this great state.

Actually, that's not entirely true. But it's close. Other than Stephen F. Austin and Baylor, the men's college basketball teams from Texas this season are combining to be collectively terrible.

Texas A&M is 12-5 in its first year of SEC basketball. Not great, but better than Texas. Baylor is probably the best team in the state, but this is not one of Scott Drew's best teams.

In the latest Top 25 AP poll not one Texas school is even receiving votes, let alone ranked.

Stephen F. may be the best team, but the 'Jacks are going to have to win their conference tournament to reach the NCAA tourney, and that's always dicey.

Texas is having its worst season in years and it's so bad that head coach Rick Barnes may be in trouble, that's assuming anyone actually is paying any attention in Austin.

Of the 20 schools in this state that play on the Division I level, six have winning records.

Baylor: 13-5 (Big 12)
Texas Tech: 8-8 (Big 12)
TCU: 9-9 (Big 12)
Texas: 8-10 (Big 12)
UTEP: 10-7 (C-USA)
Houston: 12-5 (C-USA)
SMU: 11-9 (C-USA)
Rice: 4-13 (C-USA)
Texas Pan-American: 10-10 (Great West)
Houston Baptist: 4-14  (Great West)
Texas A&M: 12-5 (SEC)
Stephen F. Austin: 16-1 (Southland)
Sam Houston State: 11-7 (Southland)
Texas A&M-CC: 2-14 (Southland)
Lamar: 2-16 (Southland)
Texas Southern: 6-14 (SWAC)
Prairie View A&M: 7-13: (SWAC)
North Texas: 8-12 (Sun Belt)
Texas-Arlington: 8-8 (WAC)
Texas State: 5-14  (WAC)

 

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TCU loses major player to NFL draft, who should have stayed

On Sunday afternoon TCU head coach Gary Patterson was not sure if he was going to lose defensive end Stansly Maponga to the NFL draft, but he sounded like the announcement was coming.

On Monday afternoon, the announcement came. According to multiple reports, Maponga will skip his senior year to enter the draft.

GP told me all of the NFL scouts he has talked to said Maponga should stay in school for his senior year. There are nearly 20 quality defensive ends who are going to be available in this draft, and unless Maponga has a fantastic individual workout at TCU Pro Day, and/or NFL Combine, we are not talking about a first or second round pick.

If you are not a first or a second round pick, the guaranteed money drops fast.

Maponga is listed as 6-foot-2, 265 pounds. That's a little on the light side for a defensive end. He may be moved to outside linebacker, but he has never played in coverage.

It's a huge loss for TCU. Had he returned the Horned Frogs would have had Devonte Fields and Maponga as bookend rushers, easily the best pair in the Big 12.

This smells like another kid who simply does not want to go to school, which is his right.

 

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Blame football for this RG3 mess

Gotta hand it to Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan for having the vision to throw his one-legged franchise quarterback back into the wildcard game against the Seattle Seahawks. Who cares if Robert Griffin III could barely move? This was a wildcard game.

We know how this story has ended, or at least evolved. RGIII is having surgery on Wednesday morning to repair tears in his lateral collateral ligament and to have his ACL examined. The timetable on his return is nine to 12 months. Don't be surprised if RG3 returns sooner, as Vikings running back Adrian Peterson did this season after he ripped his ACL late last season.

Younger guys have a tendency to heal quicker. For RG3's sake, let's hope he does. He is a good pro, and good for his sport.

Football players suffer injuries all the time, and they know the risks involved even if they never think it's never going to happen to them.

Most of the criticism today, and there is a lot, is aimed squarely at Shanahan for putting RG3 back on the field against the Seahawks. He deserves his share of the blame. So does RG3.

I blame the sport. 

This whole situation confirms our worst fears about contact sports, especially football - Coaches will put a player's health in jeopardy because they don't want to jeopardize losing a game, and in turn the player will consent because he doesn't want to lose his job. It is this same mindset that has players routinely lying about concussions, or the state of their overall physical health when they are playing.

This begins in high school and does not end until a player's career is over - "Coach, I'm OK. I can go."

RG3 was in no threat of losing his job, but he wanted to push through. It's admirable, right up to the point when it's stupid. Playing in a wildcard game against the Seahawks was not worth the risk.

It shows you how powerful Dr. James Andrews is that he openly questioned Shanahan for letting him play despite the bad knee.  Shanahan said Andrews cleared him, which the doctor denies. Whom do you believe? Most doctors who are receiving a check from a team would NEVER openly say such things against the mighty head coach.

If RG3 returns to form this story will fade. Until that day happens, Shanahan is going to face a lot of deserved criticism, RG3 will be lauded for his toughness, and the Washington Redskins will pray to any God it can find that their franchise QB will be the same guy.

Meanwhile, don't expect what should be yet another cautionary tale to change anything. 

 

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The beauty that is Brittney Griner

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Google machine is a wonderful device to spread meanness as its vast empty space is the ideal location to spew hate with the luxury of hiding behind a fake name. Feelings be damned.

It's all "well and good" until you see the face of the person on the receiving end, in this case Baylor senior women's basketball player Brittney Griner. There has not been an athlete who has been on the receiving end of so much meanness in recent years as much as Griner, and it's all because she violates the unpardonable sin of not being hot.

There is not a bigger sin in sports a woman can commit than not looking like a cover candidate for Vogue. It's OK to be gay now, but for the love of God please be pretty.

Rather than offer some shallow judgement on her appearance just appreciate what she is - the best player her sport has ever had and an inspiration for tall young girls. She is, as TCU coach Jeff Mittie said, the "Wilt Chamberlain" of women's basketball, and worth the price to watch in person.

On Wednesday night in Fort Worth, Griner came to Fort Worth to play the Horned Frogs and I wanted to see what the fuss is all about with Brittney Griner. What I saw was a woman's basketball player who is not a man. Watching her play in person and then considering that idea is as preposterous as it is cruel.

If she just looked like Lisa Leslie, Cheryl Swoopes or Becky Hammon no one would be saying a thing other than commenting on her greatness. Swoopes was the most dominant player on her generation, and no one whispered about her gender.

The whole idea is just beyond mean.

What I saw was a young woman who very likely has been picked on for forever because of her height, and the resulting meanness has likely scarred her.

As to the name-calling and the meanness, Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said that has slowed down. 

"We've controlled it more. I've controlled it better as a coach," Mulkey said. "Any time I hear something as a coach I have made a committment that I'm going to stop the game. I'm going to call a time out, or get security. There is no place for that. It has gotten so much better."

Now in her fourth year at Baylor, Griner is used to this. All of it. Good or bad.

Griner is accustomed to the double and triple teams, as well as the thousands who show up consistently to see Baylor play specifically because of her. 

"I would say I'm kinda used to it," she said after Baylor defeated TCU on Wednesday night. "Sometimes I'm surprised a litlte bit. I just try to play as hard as I can and don't disappoint them."

She didn't; Griner dunked for the ninth time in her career on Wednesday night.

We have seen good and dominant women's basketball players before, but we have never seen a 6-foot-8, athletic woman who is blessed with good eye-hand coordination. That is what makes her so special.

"I never take that child for granted," Mulkey said. "I've never seen it before and I don't know if we'll ever see it again."

 

WATCH GRINER'S DUNK HERE - 

 

 

 

 

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What Tony Romo could learn from RG3

(Have to give this to Star-Telegram's Clarence E. Hill jr. (Twitter - @Clarencehilljr) for this one ...)

If you want to see the difference between Robert Griffin III and Tony Romo just look at their interceptions. The rookie season is when NFL quarterbacks enjoy a grace period of being able to toss picks right and left (Peyton threw 28 as a rookie; Elway had 14 against 7 TDs; Andrew Luck has 18). Even as a rookie, however, RGIII never throws interceptions.

He never has. He either runs, or eats it. He seldom forces the ball.

In 393 passing attempts this season with the Redskins, RGIII threw 20 TDs and was intercepted five times.

Now go back to his days at Baylor and RGIII never threw interceptions.
2008: - 15 TDs/3 interceptions in 267 attempts.
2009: - 4 TDs/0 interceptions in 69 attempts (injury cut short his season).
2010: - 22 TDs/8 interceptions in 454 attempts.
2011: - 37 TDs/6 interceptions in 402 attempts.

That is 98 TD passes and 22 interceptions in 1,585 attempts since 2008.

Tony Romo? Different story. The man is not afraid to throw the football on the football field, which at times has been a detriment to his team.

2000 Eastern Illinois - 27 TDs/12 interceptions in 278 atts.
2001 Eastern Illinois - 21 TDs/6 interceptions in 207 atts.
2002 Eastern Illinois - 34 TDs/16 interceptions in 407 atts.
2006 Cowboys - 19 TDs/13 interceptions in 337 atts.
2007 Cowboys - 36 TDs/19 interceptions in 520 atts.
2008 Cowboys - 26 TDs/14 interceptions in 450 atts.
2009 Cowboys - 26 TDs/9 interceptions in 550 atts.
2010 Cowboys - 11 TDs/7 interceptions in 213 atts.
2011 Cowboys - 31 TDs/10 interceptions in 522 atts.
2012 Cowboys - 28 TDs/19 interceptions in 648 atts.

The moral of the story - Don't throw interceptions. It can only hurt the ballclub.

 

 

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Texas Tech at TCU tops best games of 2012 in FW/d

The one thing we can never get enough of is lists. A list of our favorite songs. The best Nicholas Sparks novels. The top 10 Rocky movies.

The end of the year brings the trite, mail-it-end look back at the year that was. Because The Big Mac Blog loves cliches as much as the next, here is a look at the best games of the year. I tried to spread the wealth ...

1. Texas Tech 56, TCU 53 (3 ot); Oct. 20, 2012.
Hands down the most entertaining game of the Big 12 season. 
In TCU's first year of the Big 12, the Frogs led Tech by five in the fourth quarter before the Red Raiders rallied to take a 10-point lead with 4:06 remaining.
TCU managed to tie the game with 18 seconds lef that set up one of the more entertaining series of overtimes you could watch.

2. Cowboys 27, Steelers 24 (ot); Dec. 16, 2012.
Tony Romo played one of the best games of his career as the Cowboys rallied to win a game they trailed by seven points in the fourth quarter.
Romo passed for 341 yards and two touchdowns, one to the busted-fingered Dez Bryant.
The Steelers weren't as good as advertised but this was a highly entertaining game and offered the Cowboys at their best. 

3. Texas Rangers 11, LA Angels 10, (10 innings); Aug. 1, 2012
The Angels led 7-1 after four innings. The Rangers scored four in the fifth, and runs in the eighth and the ninth to send the game into extra innings. The Angels scored three times in the top of the 10th, but the Rangers scored four runs in the bottom of the inning, the final two on an Elvis Andrus single.

4. Texas Rangers 10, Baltimore Orioles 3; May 9, 2012
Josh Hamilton hit four home runs. 

5. DeSoto 49, Southlake Carroll 45; Dec. 8, 2012.
In the 5A quarterfinals, DeSoto trailed by 18 points in the first half before taking the lead. Carroll QB Kenny Hill was stopped on consecutive running plays from the 1-yard line, the final as time expired.  

6. TCU 20, Texas 13; Nov. 22, 2012.
Easily the biggest win of the year for TCU as the Frogs won on Thanksgiving night in Austin. The Frogs forced four turnovers, including the game-clinching pick by Sam Carter with less than two minutes remaining.

7. Oklahoma 63, Texas 21; Oct. 13, 2012.
The game was boring as hell but there was so much comedy and amazement to watch Bob Stoops' Sooners put yet another nasty beatdown on Mack Brown's Longhorns at the Cotton Bowl. It truly was watching a train wreck.

8. Dallas Mavericks 101, San Antonio Spurs 100 (ot); Jan. 29, 2012
This was before the Mavericks completely crashed in the playoffs and was Jason Terry at his best. He hit a 15-foot game-tying shot to tie the game with 1 second remaining and send the game into OT. Terry finished with 34 points.

9. Dallas Stars 3, Vancouver Canucks 2 (ot); Feb. 26, 2012
Before the Stars fell apart to miss the playoffs yet again, they rallied for this impressive win against a good Canucks team. The Stars were down 2-1 with less than one minute remaining before Mike Ribeiro scored to tie the game. In overtime, Loui Eriksson scored the game winner.

10. Cowboys 24, NY Giants 17; Sept. 5, 2012
In the NFL season opener, the Cowboys defeated the defending Super Bowl champions in what would be arguably their most complete win of the season.
Romo threw for 307 yards with three touchdowns; Kevin Ogletree caught eight passes for 114 yards with two TDs; DeMarco Murray rushed for 131 yards.

 

 

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2 coaches ranked Texas 16th in their final top 25 rankings

The people in and around Austin who fancy themselves as Texas Longhorn powerbrokers who are tired of Mack Brown can't be happy with the final USA Today college coaches' poll. Despite a third-straight blah year from Los Horns, the Fightin' Macks finished No. 25 in the final USA Today Coaches' Poll.

Don't ask how. I gave up long ago how this Texas team managed to remain ranked despite four unimpressive losses.

Click here for the link on USA Today see how the voting coaches ranked the top 25.

Of the Big 12 coaches with a vote, only one gave a final ranking to the Texas Longhorns. Art Briles (Baylor), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) and Tommy Tuberville (Texas Tech) did not vote UT in their respective Top 25. The only Big 12 coach who did was Paul Rhodes of Iowa State, who ranked the Horns 22nd.

Also of the notables who did not vote for The Macks: Nick Saban (Alabama), Bo Pelini (Nebraska), Dan McCarney (North Texas)

Be leery of these college coach rankings - a lot of voting coaches will admit they don't have the time to do this poll right, and this is often a last-minute procedure.

Here is where Texas received its votes:

25th
Dana Holgersen (West Virginia), Rick Stockstill (Middle Tenn.), Dabo Sweeney (Clemson), Jeff Tedford (California)

24th
Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech), Troy Calhoun (Air Force), Terry Bowden (Akron), Dave Christensen (Wyoming), Mark Dantonio (Mich Stat), Kevin Wilson (Indiana) 

23rd
Skip Holtz (South Florida), Mike Leach (Wash St.), Pete Lembo (Ball St.), Mike London (Virginia), Les Miles (LSU), Paul Pasqualoni (UConn), Joker Phillips (Kentucky), Rich Rodriguez (Arizona) 

22nd
Gene Chizik (Auburn), Paul Rhodes (Iowa State), Steve Sarkisian (Washington) 

21st
Dave Doeren (Northern Ill.), Ruffin McNeill (East Carolina) 

19th
Mike Riley (Ore. State)

18th
Jim Grobe (Wake Forest)

16th
Darrell Hazell (Kent State), Brady Hoke (Michigan)

 

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