Air Force’s name is one that’s popped up in possible Big 12 expansion candidates, and according to a report in the Denver Post , the conference explored the possibility of adding the Falcons. The reception? “We were approached by the Big 12, and I told them we’re not a good fit for that conference. In the Big 12, geography makes sense, the economics make sense, but recruiting makes no sense for us. I can’t recruit against Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State,” [Air Force athletic director Hans] Mueh said. “That’s why I turned down the Big 12. I can’t do that to my kids, because they’ll get beat up. I’d love the extra $12 million or whatever it would be per year from the TV money. And I know how I’d spend the money. I’d build a new soccer stadium, and I’d build a new baseball facility, all in one year. But I can’t do that.” Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait. Did I just hear an administrator consider the competitive element of sport, rather than chase money or embrace a misguided machismo of an upgrade in athletic conference? I had to read it twice to make sure. Mueh is absolutely right. Air Force may bring with it a national audience, but the admission standards and lifestyle of students in the Air Force would make life extremely difficult on any service academy in a major conference. Recruiting against Oklahoma and Texas at a level that would allow them to be consistently competitive really would be impossible. “There are terrible, terrible hard feelings in college athletics,” Mueh said. “I’m so disappointed with my fellow athletic directors. I think we have put the student-athlete in second place while chasing the dollar.” At the core, one could argue that all of the recent conference moves, Big 12 and abroad, boil down to wanting money, but they’re also more complicated than that. Regardless, we know there’s at least one major administrator left who isn’t trumpeting the idea of “student-athletes first” and immediately trampling all over the ideal. Interesting stuff from the Big 12 side, too. Unless others turned the league down, I doubt it ever would have progressed to the point of an offer, but it’s always interesting to hear any decision-maker speak frankly about how they see their institutions.
Read this article:
Big 12 advances spurned by Air Force?
Filed under Baseball, Football by on Oct 10th, 2011. Comment. 
All week, ESPN.com has been breaking down the nonconference schedules of each and every team in a dozen different leagues. On Tuesday, we began with the ACC , SEC and C-USA . On Wednesday, we continued with the Big East , Atlantic 10 and Colonial . We devoted Thursday to the West, with the Pac-12 , WCC and Mountain West . Friday is all about the Midwest. We began with a look at the Missouri Valley and the Big 12 and finished up with the Big Ten . Now, in conclusion, let’s take a look at six prominent mid-majors from outside of the 12 conferences … BUTLER Toughest : Louisville (Nov. 19), at Indiana (Nov. 27), Xavier (Dec. 7), vs. Purdue at Conseco Fieldhouse (Dec. 17), at Gonzaga (Dec. 20) Next-toughest : at Ball State (Dec. 10), at Stanford (Dec. 22), TBA BracketBuster (home) The rest : at Evansville (Nov. 12), Chattanooga (Nov. 15), Savannah State (Nov. 21), Gardner-Webb (Nov. 23), Oakland City (Nov
Read the rest here:
Nonconference schedule analysis: Others
Filed under Basketball by on Oct 7th, 2011. Comment.
For the rest of the week, ESPN.com will be breaking down the nonconference schedules of each and every team in a dozen different leagues. On Tuesday, we began with the ACC , SEC and C-USA . On Wednesday, we continued with the Big East , Atlantic 10 and Colonial . We are devoting Thursday to the West, with the Pac-12 , WCC and now the new-look Mountain West … AIR FORCE Toughest : Colorado (Nov. 23), at Gonzaga (Dec. 22) Next-toughest : Cable Car Classic (Dec. 29-30) The rest : All-Military Classic (Nov.
Read more:
Nonconference schedule analysis: MWC
Filed under Basketball by on Oct 6th, 2011. Comment.
EAST CAROLINA Toughest : at Old Dominion (Nov. 29) Next-toughest : vs. Appalachian State in Charlotte (Nov. 22), Charlotte (Dec. 3), UMass (Dec. 6) The rest : Milligan (Nov. 11), at Campbell (Nov. 14), Coker (Nov. 17), Chowan (Nov.
See the rest here:
Nonconference schedule analysis: C-USA
Filed under Basketball by on Oct 4th, 2011. Comment.
DALLAS — Texas A&M lost its top talent and top tackler from its 2010 team, linebackers Von Miller and Michael Hodges. Hodges, who had 115 tackles last season, won’t return to College Station, and Miller is busy preparing for his first NFL season after being drafted second overall by the Denver Broncos. Aggies coach Mike Sherman, however, says his defense will be even better in 2011 than the unit that ushered in the return of the Wrecking Crew in 2010. “I do believe that the second year in this defense will make the biggest jump,” Sherman said of coordinator Tim DeRuyter’s 3-4 scheme, implemented before the 2010 season. “Our guys will have a lot more familiarity and knowledge of the defense and be able to fit in a little bit better.” Sherman isn’t looking to replace a talent like Miller, though Damontre Moore will likely fill his role at the Joker position. Hodges’ spot is still up for grabs, even more so after Kyle Mangan’s struggles in the Cotton Bowl after Hodges left for good in the first quarter with a knee injury. Last year’s team had 15 spring practices and a month of fall camp to learn the new system, but the Wrecking Crew gave up just less than 22 points a game in 2010, down from a Big 12-worst 33.5 in 2009. “From a scheme standpoint, they’ll understand it better,” Sherman said. “We have some guys I’m anxious to see out there that will come into their own.” One of those is linebacker Sean Porter, but if Texas A&M is going to return to the prior greatness that’s been absent over the past decade, replacing players like Miller and Hodges will have to become commonplace. “If you’re a good program, you have to be able to handle the loss of a player like that,” Sherman said. “Oklahoma and Texas have done that over the years. Hopefully, we can do that.”
See more here:
Aggies hope defense doesn’t rest
Filed under Football by on Jul 26th, 2011. Comment.
Hamilton was drafted No. 26 overall (by Dallas but then later traded to Denver) but said he would’ve gone much higher if Barnes hadn’t bad-mouthed him to NBA scouts… Source: Sporting News
Read the original:
Former Longhorn Hamilton takes parting shot at Rick Barnes
Filed under Basketball, News by on Jun 24th, 2011. Comment.
There weren’t too many major slips in last night’s NBA draft; if anything, most of the players selected in the first round felt like they went higher than expected. There were no green room mishaps, no embarrassing Brady Quinn-style debacles. But for a few random, blasé trades, it was a relatively drama-free night. Perhaps the only true slip of the first round — if you can even call it that — belonged to Texas small forward Jordan Hamilton. Before the draft, Hamilton was seen by many as a potential lottery pick. Some thought he could go top 10. Others thought mid-first round was just about right. Few seemed to predict what actually happened: Hamilton fell to the Dallas Mavericks (and was traded to the Denver Nuggets) at No. 26, 12 picks below the lottery threshold. Hamilton seemed to impress scouts with his mixture of athleticism, scoring and versatility, and few players in the draft are capable of creating matchup problems the way the Longhorn can. So why the drop? Defense? Attitude? What about — gasp — sabotage? In fact, Hamilton told Chris Tomasson (hat tip: Norlander ) that his former coach, Rick Barnes, told NBA teams Hamilton wasn’t “coachable.” From Tomasson’s Twitter feed: J. Hamilton: “(Barnes) called some teams and said that I probably wasn’t coachable and things like that. But I feel like I can be coachable’ Asked Jordan Hamilton how knows Rick Barnes allegedly called teams and said not coachable. Wouldn’t give names, said “got some feedback.” More Hamilton on Barnes: “I love Texas and everybody is entitled to their opinion.’’ But Hamilton still later called Barnes “great coach.’’ Usually, this is the part where we criticize Hamilton or Barnes for … well, I’m not sure what, exactly. Frankly, I don’t see much wrong here. Far as I can tell, Barnes wasn’t bashing his player or holding a grudge. He was asked for his opinion by NBA teams — organizations filled with coaching contacts, old friends and colleagues — and he was honest. Hamilton did have some coachability issues at Texas, and his penchant for wandering on defense undermined the huge strides he made on that end of the floor as a sophomore. Nor does Hamilton seem to put off by the news. He wasn’t petulant or angry. If anything, he seemed to expect it. He still called Barnes a “great coach.” There seems to be some respect there. It’s OK stuff all around. Now, if I’m Barnes, do I want the world to know I may or may not have given the NBA a negative impression of one of my first-round draft picks? Probably not. That’s not the sort of thing high-level recruits like to see. But Barnes has a long and impressive history of sending players to the NBA. (Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph were both drafted in the first round, Thompson all the way up at No. 4.) This little snafu certainly won’t change that.
Filed under Basketball, News by on Jun 24th, 2011. Comment.
Jordan Hamilton #3 of the Texas Longhorns takes a shot during the second round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament. He was drafted by Dallas and traded to Denver via… Source: Examiner.com
Read the original here:
Nuggets land Jordan Hamilton in Draft Night trade
Filed under Basketball, News by on Jun 24th, 2011. Comment.
Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn says comments made by Missouri’s governor expedited the Buffs’ move to the Pac-10. After the Big Ten announced in December of 2009 that it planned to explore expanding the league’s membership, Missouri governor Jay Nixon was outspoken in support of Missouri exploring the possibilities of a move to the Big Ten. His comments, though, caused Bohn to assess what lied ahead in Colorado’s future. “”The governor’s remarks got me going. We had to do something, and fast,” Bohn told the Denver Post’s Woody Paige . The Pac-10 had hired former Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg as chief operating officer. Bohn and Weiberg fast-tracked private talks, and the Buffaloes announced intentions in mid-June to join the Pac-10. The next day, Nebraska turned to the Big Ten. Missouri was left behind. In December of 2009, Nixon made the first of several comments in support of Missouri exploring a move. “This is not something that should be kept on the sports page and treated with the back of the hand,” he said. “We have an obligation to make our schools as excellent as they can be.” Speaking explicitly of a move to the Big Ten, he said, “It’s worth looking at.” Bohn didn’t say which of Nixon’s comments got him going, but the governor’s most controversial comments came days later. “I’m not going to say anything bad about the Big 12, but when you compare Oklahoma State to Northwestern, when you compare Texas Tech to Wisconsin, I mean, you begin looking at educational possibilities that are worth looking at,” Nixon said. Nixon’s hilariously ineffective, misguided clarifier that preceded his inflammatory comments didn’t earn Missouri any friends across the conference, but I doubt anyone thought it could have accelerated the process of expansion during the summer. Nevermind that his comments were dealing with Big Ten expansion. His comments appeared to have the biggest effect on Pac-10 expansion. With half the Big 12 still mulling a move to the Pac-10, Colorado booked its ticket west to try and connect with its large alumni base in California, leaving Baylor likely without a home and the Big 12 South’s other five teams with a decision to make. Ultimately, they decided to stay in the Big 12, which is why you aren’t reading this post on the Pac-16 blog. Had Nixon kept quiet, who knows what would have happened. But at the very least, it seems Colorado’s move to the Pac-10 might have come a bit later, if at all.
View original post here:
Missouri governor spurred Buffs’ move
Filed under Football by on May 9th, 2011. Comment.
Quick hitters on the bracket: The First Four will be a good watch. Well, at least the two games involving bubble teams. USC has proved it can beat just about anyone in the field. The matchup against VCU will be one of the better early-round games. Clemson is one of the toughest defensive teams in the field and UAB is one of the more controversial picks. Oh, and Kevin O’Neill has been reinstated to coach the Trojans, meaning there are plenty of storylines in Dayton on Tuesday and Wednesday. I liked Oakland as a possible Sweet 16 team when I watched the Golden Grizzlies but once again it’s all about matchups. I don’t like Oakland beating Texas because of the Longhorns’ ability to defend on the perimeter. Wisconsin couldn’t have had a worse matchup than sneaky good Belmont. Belmont can win a first-round game. The Badgers struggled against Wofford and Cornell last season and now Mike Bruesewitz is hurt. This isn’t a positive draw for Wisconsin. The committee doesn’t play the matchup game. But geez, how odd is it that Memphis coach Josh Pastner, who played and coached at Arizona, has his first game as a head coach in the NCAA tournament against Arizona? UCLA and Ben Howland against Michigan State and Tom Izzo in the second round? Wow. It would have been hard to predict that in the preseason. There will be blood during the Butler-Old Dominion 8-9 game in D.C. This is going to be a battle with two teams that like to grind defensively
See the article here:
Bracket Impressions: Andy Katz
Filed under Basketball by on Mar 14th, 2011. Comment.
