Big 12 to concede all future titles to Kansas after it signed nation's top player

Baylor, nice try.
Same for Oklahoma State.

Just when the Big 12 was ready to crown a new men's basketball champion for the first time since 1934, Kansas just had to step in and go all Kansas on the conference yet again.

In a highly, highly anticipated decision, top prep basketball prospect Andrew Wiggins said he will attend the University of Kansas to play basketball beginning in the fall.

Wiggins is listed as a 6-foot-7 small forward; he has been called one of the top recruits in the past decade.

HOORAY FOR KANSAS, and specifically the institution of higher learning and edumicashion.

This has to be KU's biggest name recruit since Larry Brown hired assistant coach Ed Manning so his son, Danny, would play basketball in Lawrence. Ed apparently was a dynamite coach.

Wiggins is the best prep player in the country, and he was attracting interest from every blue blood program in the nation. He picked KU over Kentucky, North Carolina and Florida State to play college basketball.

He may even attend class, although I don't why.

(* It should be noted that I am a KU undergrad alum, class of ... just very recently.)

This guy is so gone to the NBA this time a year from now the only classes he should be taking are How to Change My Cell Phone Number Every 15 Minutes, The History of Groupies and Entourage Studies.

KU could potentially have the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NBA draft - Ben McLemore - and '14 draft, Wiggins.

Both Baylor and Oklahoma State should have an edge in terms of preseason conference ranking because of the number of quality returning players, but the addition of a talent like Wiggins to Kansas changes everything.

Just prepare now for another KU Big 12 title.

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Texas A&M just another school spending whatever it can on a football stadium

Since logic and common sense vacated the premises on the spending in college athletics roughly 20 years ago, it makes perfect sense that Texas A&M is considering spending about $450 million for a renovated football stadium.

Just when the University of Texas thought its renovated digs at Darrell K. Royal Stadium were going to be grand, the good people wearing the maroon and white have unveiled a plan to make the new Kyle Field large and expensive.

The plan was presented to A&M's board of regents on Wednesday.

Seating capacity would be 102,000 and the price tag on this expansion is $450 million. This project would begin immediately after the 2013 season, or when Johnny Manziel is done playing his last college game. It would be done in time for the start of the 2015 season.

Yes, that means Texas A&M's attendance will be bigger than UT, which currently holds 100,119 proving once and for all that more people can potentially attend a home Aggies game than a UT football game. I think we know some university that has its priorities in order.

But UT wants to expand the stadium again to a capacity of 112,000, so take that. Hopefully by then Texas A&M will have a plan to increase Kyle Field to 113,000.

Seriously. This is insane to spend this much money on a venue that is used six times a year. Maybe eight. It also completely consistent with the rest of the great state a Texas, and the United States.

If you are doing the math ...
* SMU built Ford Field for a cost of $42 million.
* TCU renovated Amon G. Carter Stadium to the price of roughly $164 million.
* Baylor is building a new football stadium just across the Brazos River from campus with a price of $250 million.
* Texas Tech spent roughly $85 million over about a ten year period to upgrade its football stadium.
* Texas A&M wants to do a football stadium that will cost $450 million.
* Houston plans to spend $100 million for a new football venue.
* North Texas spent $78 million on its new digs.
* Texas spent a total of $450 million over a 15 year period to remake all of its athletic facilities.

Also of note, many of these athletic departments are also associated with schools of higher learning. 

It goes right along with the dream of all Division I college athletic programs that have football: If you spend it, they might win, and then they'll come, and then you might break even on the rest of the department.

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Baylor lands huge "recruit" in men's basketball

Not sure how Baylor men's basketball coach Scott Drew pulled this off, but his team should contend with Oklahoma State for the Big 12 title next season.

Center Isaiah Austin is returning to Waco for his sophomore year rather than declare for the NBA draft. Most mock drafts had Austin being selected in the first round. By sticking around this should give Austin the chance to gain some weight. He's 7-foot-1, and approximately 123 pounds. He is listed as 220 pounds but that appears to be about 50 pounds wrong.

Austin averaged 13 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks as a freshman last season for a Bears team that won the National Intramural Tournament in New York City.

"We're extremely excited to have an opportunity to work with Isaiah for another year," Drew said in a statement. "I think it's a compliment to Baylor Nation, the university and the team that Isaiah wants to return, and I know Baylor Nation is really excited to have him back for another year."

Somewhere Drew had to be high-fiving anybody with a hand at this news. His job just got a lot easier since the season ended.

The team does lose Pierre Jackson to graduation, but will not only return Austin but senior forward Cory Jefferson (13. ppg., 8.0 rpg.), guard Brady Heslip and Rico Gathers. The Bears are going to be loaded.

If the Bears or Oklahoma State do not end Kansas' run of nine consecutive Big 12 titles the rest of the conference schools should no longer play basketball.

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Baylor is Texas' best chance in '13-'14

The college basketball season is over, and now the eyes of the great state a Texas can focus on what it really cares about - football practice. Or 7 on 7. Or football speculation. How are there not any football coaches fired yet?

This college basketball season in Texas will be marked by the giant flop by every team in this state for failing to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Because 21 Division I teams just isn't enough.

This state, however, did win the National Intramural Tournament - Baylor was the 69th best team in the nation. Kidding. Baylor's talent said it should have been in the NCAA but the results said otherwise.

Stephen F. Austin should have reached the NCAA tournament but lost in the Southland Conference tourney finals, and Baylor gagged away too many close games to make it.

Heading into this offseason, however, Baylor should be the best team in this great state when next season begins.

This team, however, figures to lose much: Point guard Pierre Jackson is gone, and it would be a real shock if 7-foot-1 freshman center Isaiah Austin returns.

The swing guy is Cory Jefferson. He is a 6-foot-9 junior who averaged 13.3 points and 8 rebounds. If he remains in Waco, happy times for coach Scott Drew. Forward Rico Gathers should be better, and contribute more with more touches. Along with incoming recruit Ishmail Wainwright, Baylor should have the necessary toys to win 20 games next season and much more.

Kansas should lose all five starters from a Sweet 16 team; Texas' leading scorer is transferring, and the Horns are likely going to lose point guard Myck Kabongo to the draft; Oklahoma State can't expect Marcus Smart to return. Iowa State and Kansas State should be tough outs but Baylor has the pieces to not only return to the NCAA tournament but win this conference.

The other teams to watch out for: UTEP, because Tim Floyd knows what he is doing, and SMU. Head coach Larry Brown already had a solid recruiting class, but he landed the best recruit in the history of the program when he recently added McDonald's All-American Keith Frazier, who chose SMU over Texas Tech.

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Why the Mavericks should sign Brittney Griner

This lost season for the Dallas Mavericks continues to be more about gimmicks, and eighth place, than basketball.

The push for .500 and the chance to shave their beards, and now the owner is contemplating adding a girl to his team.

Mark Cuban said he would consider drafting Baylor center Brittney Griner, which is another gimick but clearly the Mavs owner grasps the concept of professional sports as well as Jerry Jones or anyone else - it's entertainment dressed as sport.

And a "Dallas Mavericks 42 Griner" jersey will be far more profitable than a "Dallas Mavericks 42 Brand" jersey. 

Adding Griner would be for discussion, which is why Cuban should do it. Let's see what arguably the best woman's player of this decade can do against guys. Even in a practice or two.

Maybe she will suck. Maybe she can hang. We didn't know what Annika Sorenstam could do until she played at the Colonial in 2003 and failed to make the cut. She didn't embarrass herself. She beat a few guys.

People were upset because adding Sorenstam threatened the integrity of the game. Don't waste your time with that 1950's idealism crap - the integrity of the game is rooted in selling tickets, creating an interest, moving merchandise The real integrity of the game is business.

There is no need to waste a draft pick on Griner, but sign her to a rookie contract and give her a tryout in the summer. She what she can do. Griner has likely played against guys her whole life, so she would at least be used to it on some level.

At 6-foot-8, 207 pounds Griner's physical stature matches some college prospects. Georgetown forward Otto Porter, who is projected as a lottery pick, is 6-8, 205.

The problem, of course, she does not have a forward's game. She has a center's game, and no 6-foot-8 player in the NBA is a center. The other problem is the size of the ball; it's one thing for Griner to dunk with a woman's regulation-sized basketball; can she it do the same with a larger basketball?

And it would appear the coordination, and strength, to put the ball on the floor and hit 15-foot shots against bigger, athletic bodies isn't there.

Or we don't think it's there.

Let's find out.

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Kim Mulkey's mouth overshadowed the end of a brilliant Baylor career

Women's basketball doesn't much move the needle but there are exceptions, mostly because Baylor senior center Brittney Griner is the ultimate aberration.

Her college career is over after Louisville pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of an NCAA tournament by defeating Baylor 82-81 in the Sweet 16 on Sunday night.

Griner will leave Baylor as the rarest of examples of a female college athlete whom the university actually profitted from rather than the other way around. She drew big crowds, generated untold revenue in media publicity, and led her team to an NCAA title.

And after the most disappointing defeat of her life, she handled herself with the class her head coach should have emulated.

Louisville leaned and beat on Griner all night in a game the officials never really controlled. Griner still finished with eight free throw attempts, tying her with teammate Odyssey Sims for the most in the game. Baylor was 19-of-26 from the line; Louisville 12-of-16.

"Most of the time you get more calls. You just play through it," Griner told the media after the game.

Notice - no complaining from the player who was being treated like a giant tackling dummy.

Then her coach, the verbally gifted Kim Mulkey, decided she was going to make sure the world knew the officiating sucked and rather than be a decent sport she sounded like a sore losing whiner.

“I'll be glad to answer any referee question you want to ask me, because I don't mind getting fined, so ask me,” Mulkey said in the post game presser. “Now is the time to ask me, OK?”

And then ...

“I thought the game started out way too physical, way too physical. I thought that all three of them, if they go past this round of officiating, it will be sad for the game.”

As a member of the media, many thanks for the candor and the hyperbole. But this is not the best example of leadership.

Officiating basketball is a difficult, and thankless, gig. Just start with the baseline that all college officiating honks.

Mulkey mentioned the refs blew a couple of late game calls, but the officials had little to do with Louisville making 16-of-25 3-pointers, including a few from NBA range. The refs didn't help the Cardinals shoot 48 percent from the floor. 

The refs didn't hand Louisville a 19-point lead.

Mulkey was justifiably upset because she knows she had the best team in the nation and her team should have won another NCAA title.

But this is sports where upsets happen.

Her points about the officiating, and specifically a couple of those calls, may be accurate but like everything there is a time and a place.

It would seem that Griner knew that but Mulkey deliberately forgot.

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Baylor so much closer to moving out of Floyd Casey

WACO, Texas - Even if you are not a fan of Baylor football, but have had the pleasure of going to a game at Floyd Casey Stadium - especially at night - these pictures are great news.

If you have not been on I-35 by the Baylor campus recently, this is a very -ish picture is of what should be named RGIII Stadium, which is scheduled to open in August of 2014.

As you can see, the support beams are under way and just about all of the necessary land next to the Brazos River has been cleared out, and crews are making what appears to be quick progress.

For more information on this new stadium, click here.

 

 

 

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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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