The divide between TCU & SMU widen$

What was once going to be the best basketball conference in the nation will soon look like three day left overs, minus the mold.

The slow and sad breakup of the Big East has left a lot of good people looking at their respective places asking, "Wait, what the hell just happened?"

The NBC Sports Network is, according to ESPN (why is NBC Sports not breaking its own news?) click here for the story offering the Big East between $20 and $23 million. That roughly $20 million for the entire conference, which will number 11 members on July 1, 2015.

By comparison, the Big 12 receive roughly $20 million per school per season.

This evolution has continued to widen the considerable gap between TCU and SMU, which were once thought to be joined at the hip with an unbreakable alliance through both geography and conference affiliation.

On July 1, 2015 the Big East is scheduled to look like Central Florida, Cincy, UConn, East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Navy, South Florida, SMU, Temple and Tulane.

You have to wonder how long SMU men's basketball coach Larry Brown is going to want to be a part of this. It is not for a lack of effort or spending on the part that SMU finds itself in this position.

This financial evolution and breakup of The Big East has SMU looking very much like a mid-major, while the school just to the west is very much among the majors.

 

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Trying to find another win for TCU's basketball team is not easy

There has not been a whole lot to write about TCU's basketball team in its first season in the Big 12 conference because they are just so not good.

The Frogs lost at West Virginia 71-50 on Wednesday night, and the final score wasn't that close.

TCU is under .500 for the first time this season, dropped to 0-6 in the Big 12 and now the only remaining suspense for this season is whether the team can win another game. The safe bet is no. When the Frogs lost at home against Texas Tech on Jan. 5 that that was their last best chance at a win.

Don't pin this on first-year coach Trent Johnson. He has no players, and two of his best players - forward Amric Fields and Jarvis Ray - are hurt.

But don't buy that simply because he coaches a slow and deliberate pace of basketball that means he is a great coach. Slow basketball sometimes gives the illusion that it's well-coached basketball. Single-possession basketball can win - ask Michigan State and Butler - but you need bruising players that can defend, rebound, and know the importance of not turning over the ball.

Also, at some point, you do need to score. TCU is arguably the worst scoring team in all of Division I.

Johnson needs his guys before we can determine he can win here. That means two years, at least. This program has been terrible for so long, and is so routinely ignored, that Johnson may need longer than that. 

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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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And Casey Pachall's future at TCU is ...

TCU's spring semester begins on Monday, Jan. 14 and quarterback Casey Pachall is scheduled to be in class and is returning to the football team, head coach Gary Patterson told me today.

"He finished all of his in-patient work and has been in out-patient work up until Friday," Patterson said. "He did everything we wanted him to do."

Pachall has not been with the team since his DUI in early October, after which he disenrolled from school. He had been living in Austin with his sister as he attended both in and out-patient treatment.

Pachall is scheduled to be with the team when they meet this afternoon. There are also other issues to be addressed, namely the continued counseling Pachall is seeking; Patterson said Pachall will be assigned a sponsor as well.

Patterson said he does not know if Pachall will be his team's starting quarterback, but that he will begin offseason workouts and training with the team. Patterson said Pachall has not lifted weights or thrown a ball in several months.

"He looks great; it's like he looked when he was a freshman," Patterson said. "Right now we feel really good about this. It's never going to be 100 percent perfect but there is a chance we did the right thing and made a difference."

Patterson added: "You gotta understand, everybody is going to be watching on this."

I asked Patterson if he, or anyone at TCU, has made it clear to Pachall that they stuck their neck out for him and he needs to return the favor.

"He already knows that. He knew that the first time. He knows," Patterson said. "He met with Campus Life and one of the reasons I feel so good about this is because they feel so good about it. They feel very comfortable with it."

If this goes right, Pachall will be this team's starting quarterback in the fall of 2013. His return will dramatically improve this team's chances in their second year in the Big 12.

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Alabama at Texas A&M on Sept. 14 & other games we want to see

The 2012 college football season is over and the amateur Alabama Crimson Tide are yet again national champions with a win so boring over "No. 1" Notre Dame that most of us turned it off by the third quarter.

Cut to it - here are a a few of the area related games we can't wait to see in 2013: 

8/31 - TCU v. LSU, Cowboys Stadium. Whether this game is close depends if Casey Pachall is TCU's starting QB, and he has some line protection. If he's good, and TCU somehow wins, his draft stock should take off.

9/14 - Alabama at Texas A&M. Aggies handed Tide only loss in '12. The Aggies will be 2-0 and hosting the No. 1 Tide in what will be the biggest game in College Station in ... decades? This could be a No. 1 vs. No. 3.

9/28 - Oklahoma at Notre Dame. The Sooners lost at home against the Irish in '12 and with so much of ND returning another loss is likely for Stoops.

10/12 - Oklahoma v. Texas. This one Mack Brown can't afford to lose.

10/26 - Texas at TCU. Frogs won in Austin last year and Fort Worth will be primed for UT's first visit since the SWC days.

11/23 - Texas A&M at LSU. The Tigers play Alabama on Nov. 9 then have a bye before hosting the Aggies.

 

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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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Casey Pachall's return "not a done deal yet"

(I have no idea what I will possibly write about when this story is finished ...)

TCU's spring semester begins Jan. 14 and apparently Horned Frogs quarterback Casey Pachall is "working hard, continuing the process."

One person familiar with the situation said, "It's still a work in progress. It's not a done deal yet."

According to a pair of sources, Pachall is not back with the team as he has yet to finish the treatment program outlined for him after he left TCU in October. 

It does appear as if Pachall has done all nearly all of the required work in order to school and re-join the football team. 

There were a lot of false rumors that Pachall had returned to practice and even spoken to the team. That's not the case. He remains living away from Fort Worth with a family member where he attends an out-patient clinic.

Pachall has already begun the process of re-enrolling, but there are some remaining hoops to be cleared - namely, medical professionals conferring with the school about Pachall, and how head coach Gary Patterson wants to proceed, not to mention the shortest of short leashes that will be granted by the administration.

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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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For TCU moving forward, it's all about the quarterback

TCU's first season in the Big 12 finished with a 7-6 record, and the desperate need for improvement at the quarterback position. Never was the more evident than during TCU's 17-16 loss in the Whatever Wings Bowl against Michigan State on Dec. 29.

For the first time since Gary Patterson took over as head coach at TCU he needs much more than a passer who merely drives the bus and stays out of the way. He needs an accurate passer who makes positive plays with his arm.

He has that in Casey Pachall, who if he had remained with the team the Frogs likely finish with nine wins. Who knows what Patterson has in sophomore Trevone Boykin?

In his first year as a starter Boykin showed promise, toughness, good arm strength and athleticism. He also showed his considerable inexperience, which is not his fault, and an inability to consistently make accurate throws.

Patterson does not trust this guy yet to make passes over the middle, or his decision making.

No official word on Pachall's return has been made.

Best case scenario is that Pachall returns to the team and "wins" the job in spring practice. For the sake of his pro chances, Pachall has to be assured the job is his. If not, he needs to transfer to a place where he is guaranteed to play. He can't sit.

This scenario would give TCU one full season under Pachall in '13, and potentially two years of Boykin in '14 and '15. It's not fair to Boykin, but neither is life.

The Frogs' demonstrated they have Big 12 caliber players across the board on defense, and at the skill receiver position. Defensive end Devonte Fields has a chance to be the best defensive player this school has produced since Bob Lilly.

Their offensive line, however, was often overmatched - they were manhandled by Michigan State - and for the season the rushing game averaged 3.9 yards per carry. Their quarterback was erratic.

There are countless positives for TCU's first season in the Big 12, but in order for the Frogs to play on a stage bigger than bowl games named after deep fried food the QB has to be better.

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The last team that blocked the Texans' J.J. Watt was TCU

Watching Houston Texans' defensive lineman J.J. Watt embarrass the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday was mesmerizing. If there is a better, or more dominant, defensive player in the game today please do tell.

In 14 games this season Watt has 19.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, 15 passes defended, 17 tackles for a loss and two fumble recoveries.

Since he came into the league two years ago the Wisconsin alum has routinely over powered NFL offensive lineman in such a way that would remind you of ... Reggie White? Maybe that's much but Watt is toying with guys right now.

Thinking back to his last game of his college career - vs. TCU in the Rose Bowl two years ago - it struck me Watt never really made a play in that game. According to the final stats, he had three tackles and one pass break up.
He was a part of a defense that held TCU's running game to 3.2 yards per carry and limited their offense to 23:35 in time of possession, but never did Watt make the type of play that is making routine now.

It hurt Watt that TCU QB Andy Dalton routinely got the ball out of his hands quickly that afternoon, and the Frogs played such a clean game. Watt cried in the press conference after that game. It wasn't like it was his fault; he just got beat by a really good team.

Since that afternoon in Pasadena, Watt has only had two games in his career where he did so little - vs. the Falcons and the Titans late last season where he combined for 1 tackle. Other than that, he has been dominant and should win the 2012 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.

 

 

 

 

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