Big 12 Expansion
/hot fire emojis/ Big Ten Doing Homework on Kansas and Oklahoma. Take this with a huge grain of salt (I’m just linking what someone else has written) but Omaha’s Lee Barfknecht writes that the Big Ten haas done their homework to look at Oklahoma and Kansas as potential members to the Big Ten and similar overtures have been made to the Big Ten:
If the predictions come true that the clock is ticking on the Big 12 sticking together, remember what we previously reported from two sources at Nebraska — the Big Ten has done its “homework’’ to evaluate Oklahoma and Kansas as potential members.
Oh, and there’s also this bit here about UT’s Charlie Strong and Steve Patterson:
“Charlie Strong is a nice man who is a little overmatched. Steve Patterson is not a very nice man, and he is way overmatched.”
Football
Heffron to Make Full Recovery. I didn’t get a chance to post this later in the week, but via the LAJ, head coach Kliff Kingsbury had released a statement and said that deep snapper Kyle Heffron is expected to make a full recovery.
That’s a Lot of Throw Pillows.
https://twitter.com/TTU_Smith46/status/625507020314013696
Amaro on Tech Talk. On Saturday morning, while working on previews and things, I enjoyed listening to Chris Level and Brian Hanni on Double-T 104.3 with Jace Amaro, who said talked about his pro career as well as that Texas Tech needs to do away with the “pride” uniforms and a handful of other topics (including thinking that Oklahoma State just wasn’t that good last year).
Campus Photos. Totally Texas Tech has some new photos of the Will Rogers and Soapsuds statues as well some new photographs of the new seating at Jones AT&T Stadium. I don’t say this enough, but Totally Texas Tech is an absolute treasure and we are lucky to have this resources.
Big 12 Superlatives. SI’s Colin Becht has his Big 12 superlatives, i.e. most overrated, easiest schedule, most improved, and Texas Tech is the most underrated:
The Red Raiders should have no trouble moving the ball this season. Of course they had no trouble moving the ball last year either (6.4 yards per play), but both Davis Webb and Patrick Mahomes proved they can run a successful offense and the combination of DeAndre Washington and Justin Stockton gives Texas Tech a potent running game, too. The real reason Tech is underrated is that its defensive line simply can’t get as ravaged by injuries again. The Red Raiders were abysmal against the run, giving up 5.4 yards per carry, but nearly every member of their D-line rotation missed some time with an injury. Eight returning defensive starters means they shouldn’t be lacking for experience this year, and new defensive coordinator David Gibbs’ emphasis on forcing turnovers should pair perfectly with the Red Raiders’ offense. It’ll be an uphill battle to get back to bowl eligibility, but it’s possible.
Miscellaneous. Wanna feel good about sports? Via Wide Right Natty Light, Iowa State defensive end Mitchell Meyers has been battling cancer and he had his last day of chemo and his team all showed up to the hospital to celebrate and ring the bell . . . 24/7 Sports has the top five teams in Texas and Cibolo Steele is #5 with two Texas Tech commits, Bryson Denley and Antoine Wesley . . . DMN’s Michael DuPont has his top five things we learned for Texas Tech at the Big 12 media days . . LAJ’s Don Williams is ranking the top players at every position and ranks the top quarterbacks at Texas Tech through it’s history and has Graham Harrell, then Joe Barnes and third team is Rodney Allison while the running backs were released today and had Byron Hanspard, then Bam Morris and ending with James Hadnot . . . Wreck’Em 24/7’s Michael LaBarre has his weekly Red Raiders for this past week . . .