When Nebraska joined the Big Ten, there were some that figured they would be the new bully on the block. Wisconsin took care of that notion with a 48-17 beatdown Saturday night.
Nebraska helped start the exodus of schools in the Big 12 along with Colorado and there is no love lost between some of their old rivals.
Yesterday Texas A&M made a decision to leave the Big 12 by July of 2012, more than likely to the SEC. The Big 12 has been in survival mode since last year when Nebraska and Colorado jumped ship to the Big Ten and Pac-12 respectively. The conference nearly imploded and pledged to stay together for the future.
That was until the people in Aggieland got so upset at their blood rivals in Austin and figured they’ve had enough. Now there’s this, right out of the Austin American Statesman. Kirk Bohls wrote a piece titled ‘One more move and Big 12 is over’.
If you read this, they’re putting the future of the Big 12 squarely on Oklahoma’s back. In the process keeping the blood off of their hands. The folks at Texas would love for Oklahoma to make the first move and bolt for the Pac-12 so that they can blame the conference’s demise on someone other than themselves. I’m no insider but I bet if I asked anyone down in College Station who blew up the Big 12 and they’d say Texas. To me Texas and Oklahoma are joined at the hip and they aren’t going anywhere without each other. On the other hand the Big 12 still has options as long as Oklahoma and Texas are around.
So far the speculation has linked Arkansas, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, BYU, Air Force, Louisville,Houston and SMU. The Big 12 would love to have Arkansas come back home and return to their roots but I’m not sure they are feel ing the same way toward the Big 12. Notre Dame has reaffrimed their independence and axes Pittsburgh as a possible mate. Notre Dame’s independence makes me want conference armageddon to come sooner than later. I’m not sold on Louisville as a Big 12 member, but they would be credible in basketball but who cares about that sport anyway. All of this is football driven. I’ve always thought that Houston should’ve been included in the original Big 12.
There are stories about BYU and Air Force having contact with Big 12 officials and SMU has been politicking to get back into the big time.
If there’s this much backbiting going on as the article stated, they should’ve parted ways already.
The Oklahoma Sooners football program has had a rough couple of weeks. First starting linebacker Austin Box died from an apparent overdose. Then the brother of defensive coordinator Brent Venables passed away.Now former Sooner All-American safety, Brandon Everage has died from a reported drowning.
According to Sheriff David Greene of the Milam County Sheriff’s Office, Everage, 30, drowned in the Little River about 80 miles northeast of Austin.
Authorities received a call late Friday about a possible drowning and commenced a widespread [search] into the night. Everage’s friends told police he had been swimming, went under water, but never resurfaced.
Everage’s body was finally found by a dive team about 10:50 a.m. Saturday, and he was immediately pronounced dead. His body has been sent to the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.
Everage was an All-American in 2001 and a member of the Sooners’ 2000 national title team. He played for the Sooners from 1999-2003.
The Sooner family has had a lot ot endure this offseason. Man alive, this has been a tough few weeks for the Sooner family. Condolences and thoughts to all the families and friends that have been impacted the past few weeks.
Let’s hope the Sooners will be able to bounce back from the string of tragedy.
Former Oklahoma Sooner quarterback Sam Bradford is the latest to be immortalized for his collegiate feats. At the Sooner Spectacular gala event Saturday night inside Cox Pavilion at State Fair Park, Bradford’s official Heisman Trophy statue – the one that will stand alongside Billy Vessels, Steve Owens, Billy Sims and Jason White in OU’s Heisman Park outside Memorial Stadium – was unveiled.
Bradford seemed to be in awe of the whole ceremony.
“I never thought I’d be standing here giving a speech in front of a statue of myself,” Bradford said, with confetti still in his hair. “Pretty cool, though.”
He also feels that he’s too young t be seeing a statue of himself.
“You know,” Bradford said, “I’m pretty young to be walking around looking at a statue of myself.”
Bradford won’t be the last to be bronzed at Oklahoma.
Various reports are saying that Oklahoma will name UNLV’s Lon Kruger as its men’s basketball coach. Oklahoma says they will hold off on the announcement until the players at UNLV are informed. Kruger has told CBSSports.com that he hasn’t seen the report.
Say anything to soften the blow. Kruger said he was staying at UNLV as recent as yesterday and now it’s looking like he has a change of heart. It’s known that coaches will always do that. Say one thing and do another. It’s in their DNA. As far as Kruger goes he’s becoming another version of Larry Brown. He can’t ever get comfortable in one place. He’s not a bad guy, just a rolling stone.
This is a good hire for Oklahoma and a big loss for UNLV. He’s won everywhere he’s been, except the NBA. There’s never been a hint of scandal anywhere he’s been and he is a class guy. He should have the Sooners back to respectability in a few years.
UNLV might have to turn to a former Rebel to take over (Dave Rice, Reggie Theus). This is going to be a key hire for the program. They’ve built up some momentum after being irrelevant since the mid 90s. They need someone to keep the ball rolling, not a big name seat filler.
Following in the footsteps of many that have copied Pittsburgh rapper Wiz Khalifa’s hit ‘Black and Yellow’, Oklahoma Sooners safety Tony Jefferson has his own version. It’s called ‘Boomer Sooner’, something he’s been pushing locally.
It’s something that won’t be playing in my car, but at least he’s doing something other than making trouble. Maybe this will be an inspiration for the Sooners and propel them to a national championship.
I don’t mean to be ultracritical, but Jefferson’s no “Swiperboy”.
Just Sports & Just Us 