Here’s what I’m watching for in the Big 12 this weekend. 1. Kansas State Snydering so hard on Oklahoma . No risky plays for big losses. No head-scratching turnovers (seven in 2011, the fewest in the Big 12). No penalties (Only OU has fewer than K-State’s 41) and opportunistic special teams and defense. Oklahoma’s more talented, but K-State has put itself in position to win games this year … and then won them. I’d be surprised if K-State wasn’t in position to win another game via Snyderball. 2. Bounceback for the Sooners’ stars. Landry Jones ‘ accuracy was off last week against Texas Tech. Ryan Broyles had a dropped and an inexplicable fumble that we haven’t seen from him often, if ever. Kansas State’s defense will be better than Tech, but will the Sooners’ offense rebound? Those two will need to make it happen. 3. RG3 on the loose. Oklahoma State fans love noting that the most-often statuesque Brandon Weeden (19 yards) outrushed the track star Robert Griffin III (15) in last year’s win over Baylor. Will that be the case again? Or will RG3 go back to having success as a true dual threat? 4. Brandon Weeden’s complementary threats. The Cowboys think Justin Blackmon is going to play after getting “dinged” in the head last week and undergoing concussion tests this week. If he does, he won’t have Hubert Anyiam with him. Isaiah Anderson slides into his role, but does Weeden look Josh Cooper ’s way more without his fellow No. 2 target? 5. Which Kansas shows up? Texas is a winnable game for KU, but the Jayhawks went from showing some fight for a game and a half against OU and Kansas State to getting trounced in the second half. A win on Saturday would be the biggest for Turner Gill at Kansas, and would go a long way toward inspiring some confidence in the future. The Jayhawks are just 1-18 in their last 19 Big 12 games, dating back to the final seven games of 2009, before Gill arrived. 6.
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What to watch in the Big 12: Week 9
Filed under Football by on Oct 27th, 2011. Comment. 
For the college sports junkie, the past few months of fandom have been particularly unpalatable. If you strung together all the headlines culled from Twitter feeds, they would sound like a remake of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire”: “Realignment, tattoos, even Bill Russell sues / Shapiro taking down the U / Aggies’ Longhorn Network blues / Double reverse by TCU / What is Emmert gonna do?” So to mask the distaste on your collective palates, I’m here to provide the minty freshness of an off-the-beaten-path college hoops season. For those who don’t know me — and that’s pretty much all of you except my family and our dog, Lionel — I’m Ryan Marks, the third-year coach of the Texas-Pan American Broncs , and I’m a rebuildaholic. Similar to my stints at D3 Southern Vermont and D2 St. Edward’s (Austin, Texas), UTPA is a D1 program not without its challenges. The team I inherited in June 2009 was on probation with only half its scholarships filled. To boot, we compete in the Great West — the only D1 conference without an automatic bid to the Big Dance (why do we pay NCAA dues again?) and the only league in which the HQ is run out of the commissioner’s basement. (Foosball, anyone?) But we’ve made progress over the past 28 months — mostly off the court. The team has reflected great academic performance and community involvement, and our recent Midnight Madness introduced a squad superior to the ones that amassed just six wins in each of the past two seasons. Success will hinge largely on depth and the savvy play of our perimeter vets — Nick Weiermiller , Aaron Urbanus , Jared Maree and Brandon Provost — whom I’ve collectively nicknamed W.U.M.P., as in “The WUMPty dance is the Broncs’ chance to get over the hump.” When the season starts, you’ll recognize me as the pudgy guy pacing the sideline next to a stuffed penguin named P-Diddy. I adopted him as an unofficial mascot for my 2005-06 St. Edward’s team as part of my preseason theme. That year, the lesson was teamwork, and I showed my players March of the Penguins. P-Diddy has been with me ever since. This season, he’ll wear a T-shirt that reads “Live Big, Act Small.” That’s a reference to the documentary A Small Act, which is the source of our new motivational theme: You never know which small act will begin the domino effect toward more voluminous accomplishments, and you’re increasing your odds of making a difference with each additional small task performed. I’m looking forward to introducing you to the Broncs this season. Up next, I’ll recap early practices and look ahead to our much-ballyhooed Nov. 5 exhibition with the mysterious Mexican outfit from Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon. Go Broncs! Coach Ryan Marks is our behind-the-scenes guide through the trials and tribulations of a small D1 program. This is his first piece.
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Marks My Word: UTPA coach begins blog
Filed under Basketball by on Oct 25th, 2011. Comment.
SAN ANTONIO — Here’s a quick preview of the Florida State-Virginia Commonwealth matchup: No. 11 seed VCU (26-11) vs. No. 10 seed Florida State (23-10) 9:57 p.m. ET (TBS) What to watch: Turnovers. Specifically, how many do the Seminoles commit and/or the Rams force? VCU is at its best when pressuring opponents and taking away the ball. The Rams are plus-129 in turnover margin in 26 victories, and plus-four in 11 defeats. If they’re not creating havoc, they’re in trouble. Florida State just happens to be susceptible to being sloppy with the ball — the Seminoles are a minus-25 turnover margin on the season and have 109 more turnovers than assists. FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said Thursday his team has been better with the ball lately, but the Rams figure to be a more in-your-face defensive matchup than Notre Dame or Texas A&M. Who to watch: Jamie Skeen is VCU’s leading scorer and rebounder, but he’s gotten ample help from Bradford Burgess and Joey Rodriguez in this NCAA run. Burgess has averaged team highs of 14.7 points and 8.7 rebounds, while Rodriguez has had a ridiculous 23 assists and three turnovers while averaging 12.3 points. The Rams are too diverse to single out Skeen on the scouting report. For Florida State, guard Derwin Kitchen has been its leading scorer and best player in the NCAAs. But the X-factor is Chris Singleton — the injured star player who returned to the court in Chicago after missing eight games with a broken foot. Singleton didn’t do a lot in two games, producing five points and four rebounds in 26 minutes of play, but Hamilton said he had two great practices this week. If arguably the nation’s best defender is able to give the Noles more here, he could be the difference between losing and going on to Houston. Florida State wins if: The Seminoles execute offensively the way they did in Chicago. This is a defense-first program that has started to find its groove on the other end of the court. In victories over Texas A&M and Notre Dame, Florida State improved its season field-goal percentage two points, it’s 3-point percentage five points and its free-throw percentage two points. Perhaps most importantly, the Seminoles had more assists (29) than turnovers (25). Everyone knows the Noles will guard until the last dog dies — but if they shoot a decent percentage, take care of the ball and get to 70 points, they’ll be tough to beat. VCU wins if: The Rams hold their own on the glass, hit some perimeter shots and keep FSU unsettled with their pressure defense. In its losses, VCU has been outrebounded by more than eight per game and shot just 31 percent from 3-point range. In its wins, VCU is only a minus-1.2 on the glass and shot 38 percent from 3. What they’re saying: VCU coach Shaka Smart, on playing the underdog card with his team: “It’s something that we still do. It’s still a factor. I saw somebody had us rated 16th out of the 16 teams still left in the Big Dance, although I think some of my friends in the media are starting to do it on purpose, just to give us something to use. Thank you for those of you who are, because we do use it.” Florida State’s Bernard James , on no-nonsense coach Hamilton: “He tells you how he wants it, and basically that’s how it’s going to be. I think any good coach needs to be like that. The coaches, they’re there to manage the program, to manage the players. They can’t take their cues from the player. You can’t let a player take over the team or there’s just going to be chaos.” Noteworthy: Smart got TV analyst and legendary shooter Steve Kerr to take on Rodriguez in a 3-point shooting competition at the end of VCU’s open practice Thursday. Rodriguez won, which surprised his coach
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Sweet 16 preview: Florida State vs. VCU
Filed under Basketball by on Mar 25th, 2011. Comment.
I try to throw it out to Travis Bader or Reggie Hamilton and get open shots and if we knock down our 3-pointers in the beginning of the game, they usually go away from the double-team.” Oakland shoots 38 percent from 3-point range, while the Longhorns’… Source: Mount Clemens Macomb Daily
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VIDEO: Keith Benson ready to lead Oakland University Grizzlies to the Dance floor
Filed under News by on Mar 18th, 2011. Comment.
TUCSON, Ariz. — The Southeast Regional games here pits teams from major conferences against a pair of so-called “mid-majors” that each won 30 games. Should the higher-seeded power conference teams be worried? Probably. Wisconsin vs. Belmont, 7:27 p.m. ET The setup: Wisconsin had won eight of nine before losing its final two games, including a plodding 36-33 defeat to Penn State. Still, the Badgers MO is they don’t beat themselves. Belmont, which has won 12 in a row, is a deep team — nine players see at least 14 minutes per game — that forces a lot of turnovers, shoots well from 3-point range and takes care of the ball. Who to watch: The Badgers feature an outstanding inside-outside combination in forward Jon Leuer and in point guard Jordan Taylor . Both earned All-Big Ten honors and average more than 18 points per game. Belmont is all about balance. Four players average between 7.7 and 12.4 points per game
Filed under Basketball by on Mar 17th, 2011. Comment.
It was something of a scandalous night in the great countdown — among the key developments were an officiating meltdown in the Big East tournament and an 11th-hour NCAA suspension in the Big 12. Both contributed heavily to eliminating teams from national championship consideration. Rutgers was rubbed out by the complete abdication of officiating duty in the final seconds of its loss to St. John’s. The end of that game might serve as a flashing neon “RETIRE” sign for two of the best (but also two of the oldest and most voluntarily overworked) refs in the game in Jim Burr and Tim Higgins. And Baylor was dismissed after the suspension of star freshman Perry Jones III by the NCAA before the Bears played Oklahoma on Wednesday. The NCAA reportedly said Jones received pre-enrolled improper benefits, but apparently failed to find the conference tournament to be the same postseason “unique opportunity” for a rule-breaking student-athlete to compete in as, say, the Sugar Bowl. So Jones sat and Baylor ended a thoroughly poor season with an emphatic loss to the Sooners. Those were two of the 26 teams bounced from Big Dance consideration Wednesday. The full list of the departed, as we cut the field to 145: Big 12: Nebraska (beaten by Oklahoma State); Iowa State (beaten by Colorado); Baylor (beaten by Oklahoma); Texas Tech (beaten by Missouri to end the Pat Knight Era in Lubbock). Big East: Rutgers (beaten by St. John’s); South Florida (beaten by Cincinnati). (Fellow Big East losers Georgetown and West Virginia will be in the NCAA tournament as at-large teams and remain alive in the title chase.) Big Sky: Montana (beaten by Northern Colorado). Conference USA: Central Florida (beaten by East Carolina); Tulane (beaten by Southern Mississippi); Houston (beaten by Marshall); SMU (beaten by Rice). MEAC: Howard (beaten by Norfolk State); South Carolina State (beaten by Bethune-Cookman); Maryland-Eastern Shore (beaten by Hampton). Mountain West: Wyoming (beaten by TCU). Northeast: Robert Morris (beaten in overtime for the automatic bid by Long Island). Pac-10: Stanford (beaten by Oregon State); Arizona State (beaten by Oregon). Southland: Northwestern State (beaten by UT-San Antonio); Stephen F. Austin (beaten by Sam Houston State); Nicholls State (beaten by McNeese State); Southeastern Louisiana (beaten by Texas State). SWAC: Prairie View A&M (beaten by Jackson State); Arkansas-Pine Bluff (beaten by Texas Southern) WAC: Hawaii (beaten by San Jose State); Fresno State (beaten by Nevada).
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Counting it down: Title field cut to 145
Filed under Basketball by on Mar 10th, 2011. Comment.
The Longhorns (25-6) are far from the team that was 23-3 and eyeing a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance just two weeks ago. They’ve dropped three of their last five and barely escaped at Baylor on Saturday. Don’t be surprised if the Longhorns pull off a… Source: MSNBC Sports
Filed under News by on Mar 8th, 2011. Comment.
We asked you to provide a few things you love about your team last week, and you answered in a big way. It was a little difficult to pare down all the responses, but here’s why you guys love your respective teams. Eathan in Manhattan, Kan., writes: The one thing I love most about my Wildcats is the overwhelming feel of family. We are allowed the best seats for students. The school puts emphasis in alum and fan relations and makes sure they are happy. K-State is a family and you feel at home when you step on Wildcat soil. Matt Kuhns in Lakewood, Ohio, writes: Love about the Cyclones: Being “the cyclones.” Lots of bulldogs, large cats and predatory birds in sports; not many tornadoes. So at least we’ve got that! mhbtiger in KC, Mo., writes: My favorite tradition is the MIZZOU to TIGERS during pregame. The band makes the transition during the Fight Song. And speaking of…I like how we have 2 songs that fit together so nicely..A close 2nd is the Missouri Waltz at the end of the 3rd Q. Go! Fight! Win! TIGERS!!! Tanner D. in Huntsville, Ala., writes: The things I love most about Oklahoma are Bob Stoops (not our first great coach), and seeing our players wear the Golden Hat Trophy after beating Texas. Patrick Woo in State College, Penn., writes: About my Texas Longhorns , I LOVE…the burnt orange, Bevo, the logo, the success, but most importantly how Mack Brown and others conduct themselves and the class they do with it. Those are the people in the world that you should admire.I am FIRED up for 2011 and I love absolutely love Bryan Harsin. TEXAS is my life, but I’ll admit I was riding the Boise Bus in 2010 and now we have Harsin. Matt in Texas writes: I love the way oklahoma absolutely buries everybody at home, even top 5 teams! I just wish they could do it on the road…this is an abusive relationship. Alex in Dallas writes: I love that our school, Baylor, lets the freshmen on the field to celebrate with the team before the game! Nowhere else can say that! Dan in Dallas writes: What’s my favorite thing about Iowa State: The story of Jack Trice, who Iowa State is named after. Amazing letter he wrote to himself the night before he died from injuries at the football game the next day. Great story here . Tommy B in Stillwater, Okla., writes: I think one of the best atmospheres is at Boone Pickens Stadium. Where else is the student section no more than a few feet away from the field with paddles banging on mats the whole game? As former Texas A&M coach Jackie Sherrill once said, “I always hated playing in Stillwater because the crowd is right on top of you. The fans sit right on top of the field. You turn around and there is a fan in your face.” Better tell Landry Jones not to turn around this year…. Jesse in KC writes: I love that we have a coach the whole school can get behind now, and have faith in, even if the first year was kind of tough: Turner Gill! Josiah in Houston writes: David, gotta say love the blog. i’ve been an Aggie fan since they day i was born and i gotta say the thing i love most about my team is waching the team saw varsity’s horns off after a win. Drew in Austin writes: I love the burnt orange and white, the thundering roar of the crowd, the eyes of Texas, Texas fight, cannon shots after Texas touchdowns, old friends you see every football season, the overall aura of Saturdays at the DKR, it just doesn’t get any better than that. I love the Red Out Around the World video Nebraska launched, and then proceeded to get beat yet again by a Texas team that history will show was inferior. What a beautiful way to send Nebraska out of the Big 12. 9-1 in Big 12 play against Nebraska. Brian McCandless in Manhattan, Kan., writes: My absolute favorite things about K-State are the two things that I believe are the most unique as well. First is the Wabash Cannonball. There’s nothing like watching the student section perform this mind-boggling back-and-forth dance that harks back to a fire that burned down the music building. The only surviving piece of music was the Wabash Cannonball and the band played it a lot for the basketball game following the fire. Thus the dance.The other is Willie the Wildcat doing K-S-U.
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A little love for every Big 12 team
Filed under Basketball, Football by on Feb 14th, 2011. Comment.
For more on Steve Fisher, Rick Barnes and Jim Calhoun, check out the rest of our Coach of the Year debate in the Nation blog. For now, here are 10 other coaches who deserve praise for a job well-done this season: Rick Pitino, Louisville: This was supposed to be a gap year for the Cardinals and gap years aren’t traditionally pretty in the Big East. Instead, Louisville — picked to finish eighth in the league — is tied with equally surprising Notre Dame (see below) for second. Pitino has reinvigorated his team by going back to his roots, playing a more uptempo offense and solid defense. His buddy and associate head coach Ralph Willard has said this is Pitino’s best coaching job. Hard to disagree. Chris Mack, Xavier: His best shooter, Brad Redford , blew out his ACL in October. His top reserve, Jay Canty , hurt his knee at the end of December. His best recruit, Justin Martin , was ruled academically ineligible. So what does Mack do with nine scholarship players? The same thing Xavier always does… win. The Musketeers are 7-0 and tied atop the Atlantic 10 standings. They ditched preseason favorite Temple and just roasted Richmond on the road. The beat goes on. Dave Rose, BYU: Yes he has The Jimmer, but Fredette isn’t the only reason BYU is rolling. Lost in the Fredette Frenzy is the fact that the Cougars are solid defensively, have surrounded their superstar with great talent, are playing unselfish basketball and have hit the boards hard. That’s coaching. Mix in the fact that Rose is the guy managing The Jimmer mania, helping to keep his player and his team from soaring too high in the crowd, and you’ve got a maestro coaching performance to go with a maestro player. Thad Matta, Ohio State: OK, some might argue: How hard it is to coach a team loaded with so much talent? Well remember, the Buckeyes lost a lot of talent too, in the form of national player of the year Evan Turner. Yet Matta has Ohio State atop the rankings as the nation’s only unbeaten team, exploiting opponents with its balanced offensive attack and solid defense. Is there plenty of talent on hand? Sure. But give credit where credit is due. Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s: A season after Saint Mary’s surprising Sweet 16 run and after losing Omar Samhan to graduation, Bennett has the Gaels right back in the thick of things. Saint Mary’s won the first showdown with rival Gonzaga on the road — its first victory in Spokane since 1995 — and is in position to score an at-large bid even without a conference tourney title. Matt Painter, Purdue: For a team that had such high expectations in the preseason, the heartbreaking, season-ending ACL injury to Robbie Hummel on the first full day of practice was absolutely devastating. Many counted out Purdue right then and there. And while it’s true the Boilermakers can’t be considered a true national-title contender at the moment, it’s also true that they’ve hung in there quite fine, thank you. With Painter steadying the ship, Purdue is in second place in the Big Ten and 18-5 overall. Ron Everhart, Duquesne: Threatening for years in the Atlantic 10, Duquesne appears to have finally arrived. Seasoned by a tough nonleague schedule (aside from a loss to Robert Morris, none of the Dukes’ defeats are bad ones), Duquesne is rolling through the A-10 at 7-0. Standout players Bill Clark and Damian Saunders have been joined by the missing piece to Everhart’s puzzle, a savvy, scoring point guard in the form of freshman T.J. McConnell . The unselfish Dukes lead the nation in assists, averaging 19.2 per game. Mark Turgeon, Texas A&M: Like his team, Turgeon constantly flies under the radar. Texas A&M isn’t flashy, doesn’t have a turn-the-head superstar and their coach isn’t going out and stumping for attention. It’s possible you haven’t heard of any of their players, but the Aggies are as reliable as an old slipper. They will play lockdown defense, will be in the top 25 and will be in the NCAA tournament. Mike Brey, Notre Dame: All Brey has done this season is reinvent how Notre Dame plays. Successfully. Reliant on Luke Harangody for four years, the Irish now have gone to the perimeter, relying on the hot-shooting of Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis to lead them to a surprising 17-4 start. Brey may have found a secret to his team’s success at the end of last season when he was forced to slow things down while Harangody was injured. This team is now comfortable going up and down the court (80-75 win against Marquette) or forcing the tempo toward a snail’s pace (56-51 win at Pittsburgh)
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COY: The case for 10 other contenders
Filed under Basketball by on Feb 2nd, 2011. Comment.
Cali Swag District performed at UC Irvine’s Midnight Madness event , and the dance craze that the hip hop group launched with “Teach Me How to Dougie” was also on display at other Madness events with college basketball players across the nation given the opportunity to show off their moves. One university president did the Dougie as well. At Texas A&M’s Madness event, Dr. R. Bowen Loftin managed to upstage Mark Turgeon’s players and the cheerleaders in doing his own version of the Dougie . The bow tie-wearing Loftin’s dance can be found on YouTube and is such a hit that fans of it are leaving props on his Facebook page . For ESPN Page 2’s Bomani Jones , Loftin’s dance perhaps signals the beginning of the end for the Dougie. Sure, you could look at this as proof of the Dougie’s popularity, and maybe you should. When a man so far removed from the hip-hop generation is even aware of a dance, it’s come a long way. And that’s a good thing because, without all that momentum, there’s no way the Dougie could have jumped all the way over the shark. Kudos to Dr. Loftin, who displayed a sense of humor about himself in dancing in front of thousands of college students that most — read: me — don’t possess. But inadvertently, he may have spelled the end of an era.
Filed under Basketball, News by on Oct 18th, 2010. Comment.
