40 Acres Sports

Baseball drops ugly one to Rice in Houston College Classic. Two poorly played games in a row means two losses in a row for the Horns.

Men’s track team wins third straight Big 12 indoor title. Miler Leo Manzano wins fourth in a row.

Texas men’s swim team lit the Tower orange Saturday with its 12th straight Big 12 title and 29th consecutive conference crown dating back to the SWC. Congrats guys!

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.

1. [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.

2. 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.

3. [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.

4. [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.

5. [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.

6. [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.

7. 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.

8. [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.

9. [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.

10. [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.

11. [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.

12. [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)

They really need to space these doubleheader games out better, it seems no channel does it well with either basketball or football. I guess they’d rather have games overlap and piss off fans than have to fill time between games. Either way, we’re once again missing the start of the Texas game and if it goes to overtime it could mean we miss most of the first half. We’ll have live opinions on the game as soon as CBS switches to the Texas versus [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] game in Lubbock.

First Half

• Texas is up 4 to 3 early. Five minutes gone by but not much scoring so far.
• Watching ESPN’s game tracker [tag]Alexis Wangmene[/tag] already has two rebounds. Getting more early playing time for the youngster.
• I really hope this Georgetown player chokes on this third free throw. I don’t care about his trauma, I just want to watch the Texas game. Crap… maybe at least CBS will be smart enough to switch the Texas region to the game.

Texas 18, Texas Tech 16

• Good. With 11 minutes left in the first half CBS has switched over to our game.
• Texas Tech presses and it worked pretty well but after [tag]Damion James[/tag] breaks the press and Tech forgets to cover [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] in the corner. After struggling a little at the beginning of Big 12 play Abrams has found his groove and will kill you if left alone.
• Nice to see freshman [tag]Clint Chapman[/tag] handle a pass and take it to the hole. Not sure about his form from the free throw line but he is nice and smooth just made two easy ones.

Texas 23, Texas Tech 20

• Looks the Red Raiders are hanging around at least in part due to some lucky shots. They’ve had at least two or three shots go in on some crazy bounces just since I started watching.
• Great pass from Chapman to James. Threaded in there right under the basket giving James an easy hoop.
• Wow! What a block by Tech’s Martin Zeno. James was going in for a big dunk and Zeno does a great job swatting it away.
• I like the attitude of [tag]Justin Mason[/tag] but he just picked up a technical foul with his mouth. Not sure what he had to say or who he was talking to.
• I haven’t seen [tag]Connor Atchley[/tag] at all today, must have picked up early fouls again.

Texas 30, Texas Tech 26

• [tag]JD Lewis[/tag] swishes a three and then I think runs down the court giving Tech’s Voskuhl grief. If Lewis had gone to Tech he’d have started/played as much as Voskuhl the last 3 years.
• Pretty bad officiating again as usual. Zeno just flattened [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag] who was standing with his hands straight up but they called it on Augustin. That call is missed pretty bad both ways though.
• Big [tag]Dexter Pittman[/tag] still leaves his feet too much after the pump fake. He has to better job being under control on defense.
• Not sure what the announcer is watching. Abrams took the ball to the top of the key, pump faked, and calmly shot a wide open three. I’m not sure how that makes Texas rattled on offense to have the conference’s best shooter take an open shot.
• One of Tech’s many ugly white gguys apparently didn’t like the fact that he undercut a Texas player and then fell down. He had to be held back but no Texas players even noticed him.
• Rebounding on both ends killed the Horns the last few minutes of the half. Gave Tech too many second chances and didn’t help themselves out at all on the other end.

Halftime: Texas 37, Texas Tech 41

(more …)

ESPN previews Big 12 spring practices. A few quick notes on all the teams.

Wangmene is listening (and understanding) more and that means more time on the court. I think he’s got a huge upside.

T.J. Ford is back in action, says Jose Calderon should be starting. Heck of a PG duo if TJ can stay healthy. (via)

Connor Atchley lacks the ego but has the game. Young man has really stepped up and silenced his critics this season.

Texas-Texas A&M game returns to traditional Thanksgiving night date. The game will now be on ESPN, I’m not sure if this means more viewers or not but I love the going back to tradition.