LongJim

A Wayne Feeds cap looks better.

No offense, and I love the interlocking NT, but that design is horrible.

Classic.

Link

I do not disagree with your assessment.

There is a reason Lindy's is usually the first preview that gets put out.

Prayers your way Grenade. God Bless.

Harry, can you speak to strength and conditioning? I'm hoping that this area has improved, as it seemed that late in games last year is where the D really suffered. I realize that their time on the field per game contributed to this, but even so, I'm hoping to see some pumped up guys out there this fall.

JOE POSNANSKI The Kansas City Star Ten years is a long time in college football. If you go back one decade, to the opening of the first Big 12 football season, you see what now looks like an upside-down world. You see all the dominant football teams in the North Division. Nebraska was in all its glory then. Kansas State was ascending. Missouri seemed to be, as well. Colorado was a national power. That first year, to give you an idea, Kansas beat Oklahoma 52-24, and barely a month later Nebraska put up 73 points on the Sooners. Of the 22 every-down players on that first All-Big 12 team, 15 were Northerners. Three Big 12 teams were in the top 20. All three were from the North. Yes, 10 years is a very long time in sports. The Big 12 has turned inside out. Now, you look hard at this conference and you have to wonder if the Northern teams will ever be competitive again. Since Kansas State's stunning upset of Oklahoma in the 2003 Big 12 championship game, the three Southern powers - Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech - have not lost to a single Big 12 North team. That record is 20-0. The average score in those 20 games is 41-16. But the dominance goes way beyond that. Last year, the top three scoring teams in the conference were from the South. The two best defenses were from the South. Ten of the 14 offensive players and nine of the 13 defensive players on the All-Big 12 team were Southerners. And more than any of that, Rivals.com has already ranked Oklahoma's 2006 recruiting class as the ninth best in America (the fifth straight year the Sooners have been in the top 10). Texas's class is ranked fifth. The dominance goes on. When you look hard at this conference now, you wonder how it can ever turn back again. Over the next couple of weeks, we will look hard at the conference, its successes and failures, the way it brought out the potential in Texas but left Missouri searching for its own personality, the battle for bigger facilities and the difficulties of cost cutting. But for fans, I think the biggest question heading into the next decade is this: Will the Northern teams ever break through again? I'm talking football here. In other sports, like baseball, the North has made big strides. And there have been all kinds of twists and turns, and I suspect that will continue. When you look at men's basketball - and consider that both Oklahoma schools lost near-legends as coaches while Kansas State and Missouri hired different but promising new coaches - we might see a major shift there. But let's not kid anybody: The Big 12 was put together for football. And football has flown South. There are probably a million reasons - money, luck, facilities, timing - but I think there are two major causes for the South dominance: 1. Coaching and identity. When the conference was formed in 1996, the best coaches - Tom Osborne, Bill Snyder, even a young Rick Neuheisel - were in the North. The Northern schools had a clear idea what they were about. They had a direction. At the same time, traditional powers Oklahoma and Texas struggled. In college sports, much more than pro sports, coaches define the team. Well, you know the story. Osborne retired, and Nebraska has been in an identity crisis. Neuheisel flamed out. This year Snyder said goodbye, too, and while Ron Prince is an impressive presence there's really no knowing now which way Kansas State will go. Meanwhile, Texas hired Mack Brown, the best CEO in college football. He immediately made Texas a recruiting power. It took the Longhorns a little while to quit stepping on themselves, but those recruits were too good. The Longhorns became good, then great, then a national champion. Now they look unstoppable. At the same time, Oklahoma hired Bob Stoops, who immediately re-instilled Oklahoma pride and won the national championship in his second year. Texas Tech hired a gunslinger, Mike Leach, who isn't afraid to run up 70 points on any team that won't stop him. Those teams know exactly what they're about now. 2. Recruiting. This one's pretty obvious, but how does the North overcome? The state of Texas is obviously the richest recruiting region in the Big 12. Everybody recruits Texas. So when Texas was floundering, when Oklahoma couldn't get its act together, coaches could go into Texas and take some of the best players. Not anymore. "I can't even begin to tell you how big an advantage Texas has," one former Big 12 coach says. "I mean, some of the best players in America are right there. Mack can just throw a net out his office window and pull in four blue-chip prospects. How can you compete with that?" It's a good question. Our own Blair Kerkhoff, the dean of Big 12 reporters, thinks that the only way schools like Kansas, Missouri and Kansas State can compete is to recruit more nationally. They cannot hope to win in this conference by going into Texas and taking the players that Texas and Oklahoma don't want. I would agree. You can't be a coach in the Big 12 and not recruit Texas, of course. But I think to compete the Northern schools do have to expand their vision and try to find players in less hotly contested places like the Northeast. They have to find Texas-caliber talents in other parts of the country. That will be hard. It will cost a lot of money. And, in the end, it might not even work - heck, everyone is trying to win out there. But it had to go this way. Ten years ago, a few powerful thinkers built the Big 12, America's first super conference. And in a super conference, the big rule of nature applies: Only the strong survive.

I've alluded to this in tongue-in-cheek replies to our Ark. St. friends, but here is proof: Adults 65+ Who Have Had Their Natural Teeth Extracted--By State

The link below will download a Power Point slide show. It's funny. Get it here.

OU pays better. You're ok in my book, then.

56-39-5.

The Mavs need to keep driving the lane. If they can keep doing that and working the ball inside first, they'll beat PHX tomorrow. Great game by Dirk.

The current favorites to win the BCS title game in January, 2007, according to bodog.com: Team Odds Notre Dame 6-to-1 Oklahoma 6-to-1 Ohio State 6-to-1 Southern Cal 8-to-1 West Virginia 9-to-1 Florida 10-to-1 LSU 11-to-1 Texas 11-to-1 Florida State 14-to-1 Miami (Fla.) 16-to-1 "Notre Dame should be scary on offense with quarterback Brady Quinn, running back Darius Walker and receiver Jeff Samardzija, but the Irish have all kinds of defensive issues. Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson is a tremendous running back and quarterback Rhett Bomar figures to be vastly improved, but they're behind an uncertain offensive line. Troy Smith, Ted Ginn and Antonio Pittman give Ohio State a high-octane offense, but its defense – which lost nine starters, including several to the NFL draft – might be running on fumes. USC doesn't have a proven quarterback or running back and its defense wasn't overwhelming last year when it had Frostee Rucker and Darnell Bing. They're gone now. Texas doesn't have Vince Young. Risking hard-earned money on teams with unsettled issues like these just doesn't make sense. Next season appears so wide open that teams like 70-to-1 Clemson or 80-to-1 Boston College are as good a bet as any." --Rivals

Hmm. Full ride and 4 years in Greeley... I might be able to get used to it.

I have no problem with showing mercy to an overmatched foe. In fact, I expect it, but the limitations should be that the team that is scoring is playing it's reserves and not trying to stop clock unnecessarily, or throwing downfield. I don't believe it shows class for a team that is pummeling another to just take a knee whenever they have the ball in order to be 'merciful', or to quit trying to play. That's it. Otherwise, the team getting beat should play football, shut your mouth, and take your whippin' without whining. If you're getting beaten fair and square, remember, work harder, get better, and shut your mouth! And while your doing it, show some class and congratulate the other team for whipping your ass! THANK YOU SIR! MAY I HAVE ANOTHER!? Coaches that pile it on should be penalized on the field as far as I'm concerned. Their behavior should be examples to the opposing young men of what classless looks like. I will also say that these coaches are typically in the minority, and coaches are pretty self-policing as a rule. But again, this illustrates to the young man that things aren't always "fair", and is a lesson in life. This illustration doesn't need to be legislated out in order to save our children "embarrassment", IMO.

Plum, weren't we talking about this topic last week?--this stadium, to me, looks much like an above-ground GR Ford, something similar to which UNT would do well to have.

I agree with this statement. I just want to see MORE. I did finally have the opportunity to see most of the EP campus last month. Went up on a lark after visiting relatives in Denton. Unfortunately, I was wearing burnt orange, but I figured, what the heck, as I was excited to see the construction first hand. Got a couple of rude looks from people inside based on my attire, but that was to be expected, and, I might add, a good sign. Really a very nice facility. Particularly impressed w/the practice fields, and the new building is great. Very big step up for the program. That area has so much potential, and room for growth.

That is freakin' awesome.

Thanks to all who serve, and have served.

It is neat! Thanks for the link.