Big What?

I promise I will write about the college football conference mess. Someday.

It is just the most distasteful thing imaginable, because it leaves no doubt as to what really runs big time college sports, especially football.

Money. Money. Money.

Two Good Moves

Two good moves were reported in sports news today--they were both initiated by the people with the issues.

The first is that after blowing his third save in a row for the Royals, Joakim Soria went to manager Ned Yost and asked to be removed from the closer role. He said in his post game interview that he was doing this because his ineffective work had lost games for the team. If I remember right, Soria has blown 5 saves, and the Royals lost all but one of those games. Aaron Crow, the Mizzou product, will get the job for now. Good on Soria for going to Yost and all but forcing his hand to make a change. The plan is to pitch Soria in "low pressure" situations and hope he gets his stuff together. I would send him to the doctor too, even though he says he feels fine, just to be sure.

The second is that Jim Tressel resigned as coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team. I am very glad he did this, as the program had gotten out of control. Talk about lack of institutional control! Ohio State players were found to have sold school stuff for money, gotten deals on cars and gotten money. Tressel at times has made a big deal out of integrity and being a Christian blah blah blah but has gotten into trouble--and not just picayune trouble but big trouble--at the last two schools he coached teams. He needs to think about what it means to profess Christ with his mouth and to do what God desires in the cut throat world of big time college sports. I am glad he had the guts to resign--he needs a good spiritual retreat and time to figure out what he wants to be--perhaps he would do better at the pro level where the rules are different?

So two needed step aways--one we will see results right away, the other not until the fall when the new Buckeyes take the field.

Two in for Final Four

Well, we have two of four. Butler upset Florida in a game I really thought Florida should have won. Butler was just better under pressure, better coached and just generally better. It was a great college basketball game!

If I read the bracket right, if Kansas prevails over Virgina Commonwealth, it will be Butler they face.

The second game put rebuilding basketball powers UConn and Arizona against one another. This was a game of surges but UConn always seemed to have the last word. Arizona had several solid chances to win or tie the game but just could not get the ball to fall.

Connecticut now awaits the winner of Kentucky and North Carolina.

Not to look too far ahead, but KU would end up playing one of these classic programs from the southeast should they get by the streaking VCU Rams and the tough Butler Bulldogs.

NCAA March Round Up

March Madness is pretty nuts this year and it could have been nuttier.

Duke almost lost. VCU--yes, they had to play in!--is through to the Sweet 16.

The Big East has stunk it up pretty good including the lost of #1 regional seed Pitt.

Kansas is lone Big 12 survivor--and looks good to have the chance to win it all. The Morris twins were on fire against Illinois.

Heart breaking loss for Kansas State against Wisconsin in a game I thought was very badly officiated.

Ohio State lurks though and the Buckeyes have just been taking care of their business.

So...here are your match ups:

Ohio State (1) vs. Kentucky (4)

Marquette (11) vs. North Carolina (2)

Duke (1) vs. Arizona (5)

UConn (3) vs. San Diego St. (2)

Kansas (1) vs. Richmond (12)

Virgina Commonwealth (11) vs. Florida State (10)

Butler (8) vs. Wisconsin (4)

Brigham Young (3) vs. Florida (2)

There are parts of the bracket that are quite intact and there are parts that are blown up completely. And the prez didn't do too badly--he got 10 of the 16 teams correct. Considering the upsets that's pretty good.

A few high seeds just escaped loses in the early rounds--Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke all came within a whisker of being upset. I would watch for these teams to be more focused. However, it does mean that vulnerability have been shown and better teams might be able to take advantage.

Basketball, Basketball, Basketball!

Kansas started the tournament run against America East's Boston U (Kansas City Star photo)

The college basketball post season is in full swing and the NCAA March Madness thing is down to 32 teams before play started today. As usual, there were bracket busting upsets, mostly in the match ups between the 11-12-13 seed and the 4-5-6 seed. To wit:

Xavier (6) lost to Marquette (11)

Vanderbilt (5) lost to Richmond (12)

Louisville (4) lost to Morehead State (13)

Georgetown (6) lost to Virgina Commonwealth (11)

Texas A&M (7) lost to Florida State (10)

St. John's (6) lost to Gonzaga (11)

UNLV (8) lost to Illinois (9)

In addition Arizona (5) and Kentucky (4) just escaped the upset bug--Kentucky with a last second hoop against Ivy League school Princeton. (Darn, that's too bad...and it might have woke them up too. Today they had no problem with West Virgina [5])

Locally, Missouri, seeded 11, lost to Cincinnati. The Tigers continued to shoot poorly and they could not stop the Bearcats on defense at all. Any time Mizzou got a little run on, Cincinnati would just breeze through the Tigers' half court defense and score pretty easily. The team needs to be bigger, and perhaps just a little tougher next year to progress in the tournament.

Kansas State's game--and seed (5)--scared me. That 5-12 match seems especially susceptible to upsets. Kansas State prevailed over a game Utah State team. Jacob Pullen had a nice game leading the Wildcats but many contributed to a good firm win. Next up for K State is Wisconsin tonight at about 7:40 pm our time.

Kansas (1) started slow and tight, but in the second half got their act together and pulled away from America East rep Boston University (tabbed with the dreaded 16 seed). The Terriers showed well for the conference of the UVM Catamounts giving Kansas everything they wanted until just wearing out in the second half. Next up for the Jayhawks: Illinois (9) who won their 8-9 match handily over UNLV.

Speaking of Vermont, the Catamounts played in the NIT. Seeded No 7, they drew No. 2 Cleveland State. Playing without Evan Fjeld, UVM gave the Vikings all they could handle, but ended up losing 60-63. UVM ended the year with Fjeld's injury stealing precious momentum and wins. It might have been the Cats giving the Jayhawks a tough time instead of BU.

Plenty left to watch--sorry for all you who filled out brackets. Take heart though--your chances of winning were pretty slim to begin with as this article points out.

UVM played tough against Cleveland State without vital cog Fjeld. (photo: Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Mid America Nazarene Loses

The reports are not all in yet, but MNU lost their quarter final NAIA game to Sioux Falls University. From a peek at the stats, turnovers did in the Pioneers. The score was 17-0 at half, but MNU fumbled in their first possession of the second half and never could recover, losing 38-0.

Congratulations to the MNU Pioneers for a fine season!

More info can be found here at the MidAmerica Nazarene sports website.

Kansas Football Is Hurting and Other Thoughts on College Football

Border War was border rout.

Retreat! Missouri by a bunch in a game that was never close.

Turner Gill, a likable Christian coach, may be in over his head at a school like KU.

How about a nice Nazarene school, Mr. Gill?

Not MNU though, they seem to be in good hands presently--on their way to the NAIA semifinals next week. Congrats again to the Pioneers.

Boise State was upset after losing a large lead, then missing two game winning FG kicks, losing to Nevada, who is also ranked. I am disappointed as I was looking forward to Boise in a BCS bowl, but on the other hand, if there is more than one good team in Boise's conference, that can help Boise in the long run.

Auburn also came back from behind to win, preserving their undefeated season.

So we have three teams without losses--Auburn, TCU and Oregon.

We'll miss you, Boise State!

Prep and College Round Up

The beginning of the winning play by Smith Cotton against Ruskin.

What a difference a week made for Kansas. The team that looked ill prepared and disorganized against a far inferior opponant got their crap together and upset a top 25 opponent, Georgia Tech. They did it with great defense and a power running game and steady play from QB. They are probably not this good, just as they were not as bad as last week. So everyone in Jayhawk nation, take a breath. Your football team does not stink. Meantime Missouri and Kansas State took care of business against cupcakes, both squads able to get lots of players playing time.

In the preps, a bunch of games were suspended and continued on Saturday afternoon. It was wonderful weather! Ruskin had its first close game for this combined team. Ruskin had quick strike offense and some defensive turnovers against Smith-Cotton. But the Eagles could never consistently stop the Tigers' run and penalties again reared their ugly heads, stealing vital yards from the offense and giving up yards for the defense. In addition, in the tensest part of the game, there was a short lived scuffle on the sideline between Ruskin players. Let me tell you, the crowd in the stands, which was mostly adults, shouted down the fighting players and urged them to stop and save it for the field. In the end the Eagles lost by two on a touchdown run in the last minute by Smith Cotton. My hope is that the coaches use this first close game extensively as a teaching opportunity for the team. At the end of the season, when winning the last couple games can give an opportunity to go to state play offs, this experience should serve the team well.

Big XII Minus II Still Standing

As we predicted, the Big XII's fate revolved around the decisions that the folks at the University of Texas would make. They jumped their Tuesday regents meeting by a day and began declaring on Monday that they would stay in the conference. Apparently, they are being fed mo'money.

It's nice that your schools are in a conference that gives them lots of exposure and helps with money for the athletic program as a whole and helps with recruiting students and such. I'm happy that the exposure will continue for the worthy state institutions of Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri. But my biggest concern is not as a sports fan but as a resident of a medium sized city in the plains of America. College athletics are a big part of our identity in Kansas City, a big part of our investments, and a big donor to our economy. I still feel pretty vunerable that this could come apart at any minute. Remember, this all started with rumors of Missouri leaving the conference.

We are secure for now. What can we do to insure college sports continuing presence in our city? What can we do to insure that our really cool rivals still play each other--or are economics going to undo 100 years of athletic history? We can't bask long in this victory. We must shore up our proverbial levies. I'm pretty sure there will be another hurricane.

Texas Talks Up Big XII

The question is should we believe any of it? I have never heard so much rumor in my life. First, Texas (and by extension Tech and maybe A&M) are definitely going to the Pacific 10. Now, not so much. Also, how many schools are rumored to be interested in joining the Big XII, especially if Texas stays? And if the Big XII sticks around, will it stop at 12 schools or try to get more?

Texas regents meet tomorrow. Real answers might be forthcoming then. And I would expect the news to break quickly, like a Kansas City flash flood. So just like the waters of Indian Creek, this bears watching. It could go quickly either way.

Down to 10

The countdown on the demise of the Big 12 Conference is at 10, as Nebraska has joined up with the Big 10 conference. Mizzou meantime, is outside looking in at the Big 10 (13) ironic as it was rumors of the Tigers joining the Big 10 that got this thing started.

Many commentators believe that any continuing existence of the Big XII will depend on the Texas schools. Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech are reportedly eying the Pac 10. Oklahoma is considering the Southeastern Conference.

It's just a matter of time, folks.

Sam Mellinger considers all the ways this just sucks for Kansas City in this column here.

Big 12 Update: Colorado to Pac 10

News today is that the University of Colorado is definitely out, going to the Pacific 10 Conference. The other news is that Oklahoma State is denying Pac 10 ambitions. The third item is older news from yesterday: Missouri officials are saying they have no invite from the Big 10 Conference to join.

By Monday, the Big 12 will be just a fond memory, I think you can book it. I would be shocked otherwise.

Just follow the money, honey $$$$$$

Well, It Looks Like the Big 12 Is Kaput

With the reports that the University of Nebraska is joining the Big 10 conference, I do believe that we can see the end of the Big 12 conference. I don't see how Nebraska can be replaced, and if Mizzou goes also, the Big 12 is definitely history. There are three effects from this, none of which I have a crystal ball for.

1. Football. The BCS will get stronger, and we may see another breakout of the colleges that play football. The big boy schools will join together in 3 or 4 superconferences and then play each other to determine a champion. The not-so-big boys, which includes Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State and a whole bunch of other schools will not be able to participate in any sort of national championship. I think you could still have these programs going on, but any hopes of a Boise State, or a Kansas or a Cincinnati playing for the national championship or in a BCS type setting are pretty much done. And smaller schools, playing on the D I level might drop a level for their football programs or create a new slightly lower level.

2. Basketball. More schools are better at basketball, and the list of "majors" is longer and I also think, easier to crack (see Butler), and the tournament in its present format allows for participation by midmajor programs, so I think the changes will be less seismic. You'll probably see more changes in the regular season.

3. Kansas City. Kansas City has long been a centering point for Big 6/8/12 hoops, both because of location and enthusiasm. Plus if KU and MU and K State all end up in different places, rivalry games might be lost or lessened, which would be a pity. So Kansas City will lose the opportunity to host championship and rivalry games, and will be a lesser participate in the national college sports scene. This will mean a loss of prestige and money. A tough pill to swallow.

Remember as you consider this: While the colleges actually do educate a few people along the way, and money is made through these big sports so that other varsity sports can go on, the primary point of big time college athletics has become MONEY. Whatever makes the most money, that is the resolution you'll see. Players and boosters may find themselves in new and uncomfortable positions.

So, buckle up, folks, cause change is coming, whether you are ready or not.