The Texas baseball team finished the job Sunday with a 15-7 win over [tag]Kansas State[/tag] in the Big 12 Baseball Championships. The victory gives the Longhorns their third Big 12 tournament championship, second only to Nebraska since the conference was formed.
The wind was blowing out and the ball was jumping off the Texas bats all game long. Just like on Saturday against OU the team jumped out to an early lead and then had to hold on tight as things got crazy in the middle innings. Texas had a 9-1 lead but gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the 5th to make things interesting. The Horns didn’t panic and answered back right away by putting 3 up on the scoreboard in the 6th. They added 3 more in the 8th to make things comfortable.
The team will find out where they’re going and who they’re playing Monday morning when the NCAA announces tournament pairings.
Related Links
Posted March 22nd, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, NCAA Tourney
A great day of basketball yesterday with some fantastic finishes and upsets. I would have loved to have been in Tampa yesterday to watch all those top seeds go down in dramatic fashion. Now on to round two of the tourney, where it’s less about the underdog and more about watching good basketball. Only one match-up today really jumps out of me but it should still be a good day to sit on the couch and be a college basketball fan.
Here’s what to watch on the first day of round two:
(11) Kansas State vs (3) Wisconsin – 3:20pm
Michael Beasley led K-State past fellow phenom OJ Mayo but the Badgers are a lot tougher inside than USC. Prediction: Wisconsin
(6) Marquette vs (3) Stanford – 5:45pm
Winner takes on Texas/Miami winner in Houston. Stanford is a tough team and the Lopez twins (both with girl names, Brook and Robin) and might be a tough match-up for the Horns so root for the Golden Eagles. Prediction: Stanford
(5) Michigan State vs (4) Pittsburgh – 8:10pm
The game today that I’m most interested in, but since it’s head-to-head with the Aggie game we won’t get to watch it. A couple of really good teams that have both been playing well. Prediction: Michigan State
(9) Texas A&M vs (1) UCLA – 8:15pm
The Aggies played well against BYU but tonight’s game against UCLA should be a whole different level. Can they keep it close and be around at the end with a chance of an upset? Probably not. Prediction: UCLA
Related Links
Posted March 20th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, NCAA Tourney
This weekend is one of the best times of year to be a sports fan. Wall-to-wall college basketball on television and everybody has a little something extra riding on the games. March Madness finally begins today.
Here are some of day one’s most interesting games:
(3) Xavier vs (14) Georgia – 11:20am
Can the Bulldogs keep any of that SEC Tourney magic going or are they worn out? A lot of people have Xavier going pretty far and I think they win this one easily. Prediction: Xavier
(11) Kentucky vs (6) Marquette – 1:30pm
Billy Clyde Gillispie’s Wildcats started off the season terribly and I thought he might not survive his first season in Lexington. They went on a late conference run and I think it continues today with the upset. Prediction: Kentucky
(11) Baylor vs (6) Purdue – 1:50pm
One of the games I’m most interested in today. Scott Drew has brought [tag]Baylor[/tag] lightyears from where they were a few years ago, can they get a first round victory? I think so. Prediction: Baylor
(11) Kansas State vs (6) USC – 6:10pm
Probably the premier national game of the day pitting two of the country’s top youngsters. Will [tag]Kansas State[/tag]’s Michael Beasley or USC‘s OJ Mayo prevail in this match-up of this year’s top five NBA draft picks? Prediction: Kansas State
(9) Texas A&M vs (8) BYU – 6:25pm
Farmers versus Mormons… fight! The Aggies will go as far as giant freshman DeAndre Jordan will take them. He’s not the best player on their team, but he’s the most important. Prediction: BYU
Related Links
After seeing the first spring Big 12 power rankings from ESPN and disagreeing with their placement of the Missouri Tigers at number one, I am now proud to present the first 2008 Bevo Sports Big 12 Power Rankings. This will be a weekly feature during the season and we’ll likely post updates at the end of spring practice and again in the preseason.
-
[tag]Oklahoma[/tag]
I’m not 100% behind Sam Bradford as a top quarterback but he’s definitely good enough to lead this team. They lost several good players early to the NFL Draft, but they’ve got talent and running back DeMarco Murray is a stud.
-
Texas
Too many question marks to be ranked any higher this early, but early practice reports from this spring are encouraging. If the Horns’ secondary and linebackers improve and flourish under coach Will Muschamp they’ll be my conference favorite.
-
[tag]Texas Tech[/tag]
I struggled deciding between Tech and Missouri, but I ended up placing the Red Raiders third thanks to a slightly better defense and a love for pirates and Michael Crabtree.
-
[tag]Missouri[/tag]
I don’t trust Gary Pinkel, I think he lucked into last year’s success and was tempted to put the Tigers much lower. Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin could be poised for a huge season, but their defense leaves a lot to be desired.
-
[tag]Nebraska[/tag]
I think the Cornhusker players will play with a new enthusiasm after being rescued from Bill Callahan’s regime. Marlon Lucky is a very talented running back and coach Bo Pelini’s return should immediately improve the defense.
-
[tag]Colorado[/tag]
This is a team I’m really not sure about. They could go either way, either compete for the Big 12 North or completely suck. They lost a couple of good linebackers but if QB Cody Hawkins makes plays and Darrell Scott is as advertised they could compete.
-
Texas A&M
I think this is a transition year for the Aggies and new head coach Mike Sherman. I think he’s a step up from Fran but I’m not sure he’s the longterm solution. The defense should be improved under new coordinator Joe Kines, but losing Yemi Babalola off the offensive line hurts bad.
-
[tag]Kansas State[/tag]
I like quarterback Josh Freeman a lot but the two other guys that killed the Horns the last two years (particularly Jordy Nelson) are gone. Ian Campbell is a beast on defense.
-
[tag]Kansas[/tag]
Welcome back to reality Kansas fans, though I still think the Fightin’ Manginos are headed in the right direction. They don’t have the same season they did in 2007 but they’re going to be a contender in the Big 12 North again soon if Mangino stays.
-
[tag]Iowa State[/tag]
Other than a win over rival Iowa last season the Cyclones and former Texas coach Gene Chizik had a rough 2007. Chizik reportedly has things headed in the right direction and two conference wins late last year might be an indication of that.
-
[tag]Oklahoma State[/tag]
The only coach in the Big 12 I think less of than Mizzou’s Pinkel is the Cowboys’ Mike Gundy. They’ve had more talent in previous years and not done much with it, this is a down year and they’ll finish near the bottom and Gundy won’t be back in 2009.
-
[tag]Baylor[/tag]
I think bringing in Art Briles was a genius move by Baylor. It is going to take a couple years for him implement his scheme and bring in his type of players, but he’s got a chance to turn the Bears into a Texas Tech caliber team. They’ll suck this year.
Update: Preseason Big 12 Power Rankings are released! (8/27/2008)
Posted February 16th, 2008 by Brian
Filed under: Football, Quick Hits
CFN takes another look back at 2007 season in the Big 12. Nice capsules on all the teams.
Not that anyone wants to relive yesterday’s game, but ESPN’s highlights of the loss to [tag]Kansas State[/tag] are posted below if you’ve got the stomach for it:
It makes it even worse to know how close we were to taking the thing back over at the end of the first half and again in the third quarter. The kick and punt returns for touchdowns just absolutely killed any momentum and fire the team was able to muster. Every time the team (and me at home on the couch) thought we were back in it KState would do something to rip out our hearts again.
Just to help me back away from the ledge a little, videos of Florida, West Virginia, and of course Oklahoma getting upset this weekend are posted after the jump.
Wow. Today’s game was something else. I’m glad I got to hear most of it. The TexasSports.com story claims that the team “coasted” to the win. I’m here to tell you: that is not the case. Uh-uh. The Kansas State Wildcats jumped out to a 4-run lead in the 2nd. Texas starter Kyle Walker did not make it out of the 2nd. Thankfully, Joseph Krebs was there to pick up the slack and pitch a very solid 5 innings of no-score relief.
Down 4-0 in the bottom of the 2nd, the Horns scraped together a run and then broke things open in the bottom of the 3rd. They sent 15 men to the plate in the 3rd and scored 10 (the most in a single inning all year). Kansas State actually used 4 different pitchers in that inning. So, yeah, at that point, it did kinda look like the Horns were gonna coast to a win. Especially since the Big 12 uses the 10-run rule during the tournament (for all but the Championship Game). Texas scored 2 more in the 7th to go ahead by 9 and it looked, for all the world, like the 10-run rule would actually kick in.
However, the Wildcats would not roll over. Pat McCrory went to the mound for the Horns in the 8th and they jumped all over him. With 3 runs across, 2 outs, and runners at the corners (and a 13-7 lead!), the Horns decided to send Randy Boone to the mound to shut things down. Alas, things did not go exactly the way Texas hoped they would. The Wildcats’ left-fielder took the 2nd pitch he saw over the left field fence. His first home run of the year. Suddenly, the Horns were only ahead by 3 and those 2 runs they’d scored in the bottom of the 7th were looking mighty good. Randy did toss a strikeout to the next batter he faced, though. All Texas had to do from that point was hold the Wildcats for one more inning. But, first, the bottom of the 8th.
Chais Fuller grounded out to start the Texas half of the 8th. Nick Peoples followed that with his 4th home run of the year. And, then Travis Tucker was hit by a pitch. So, trailing by 4, Kansas State sent Daniel Edwards, their closer, to the mound. He had 11 saves on the year, a 1.30 ERA, and had not given up a home run all year. K-State had plans. They were gonna hold the Horns and then score more in the 9th. Alas, best laid plans and all…eh? Edwards walked Jordan Danks and then plonked Kyle Russell to load the bases. Chance Wheeless then singled to score two. With runners at 1b and 2b, Bradley Suttle approached the plate. Bradley has been stuck at 10 home runs for a very long time. Today was the day he’d get over that. Yep, he hit a 3-run dinger over the right field fence. Texas answered the 6 runs K-State scored in the top of the 8th with 6 of their own in the bottom of the 8th. Amazing. The Wildcats got a couple aboard in the top of the 9th but all for naught.
The Horns came away with a 19-10 win. Which, yeah, sounds kinda like maybe they coasted. But, really, that game was a lot closer than the final score makes it look. Yikes! You just gotta love baseball, doncha? Anything can happen.
– – –
For those that aren’t familiar with the format, the Big 12 sends the top 8 teams to the tournament. They’re divided into 2 pools (#1, #4, #5, and #8 seeds in one and #2, #3, #6, and #7 in the other). The pools play separate round-robin mini-tournaments and the winner of each pool advances to a “winner take all” Championship Game. As of this posting, Nebraska and Texas are 1-0 in the 1st pool. OU won the first game in the 2nd pool. Baylor and OSU are scoreless in the 5th in the final game of the day.
For more details about today’s Texas game, please see the game report on my page.
Update. Baylor beat OSU. So, Texas, Nebraska, OU, and Baylor are 1-0. KSU, TAMU, Mizzou, and OSU are 0-1.
Posted April 4th, 2007 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball, Quick Hits
Is Bob Huggins one and done at K-State? He may be headed to West Virginia. (Update)
If you watched any of the game, no doubt the imagine above is something you saw often. Texas’ secondary continually got burned and ultimately just gave up too many points.
Texas fought hard to comeback and showed a lot of heart, but it was just too little too late and now Texas will miss out on their opportunity to repeat as National Champions.
This loss is tough to take, but now we have to focus and make sure to take care of business against A&M so that we can at least play in the Big 12 Championship game. Man this sucks…
Loading ...
