40 Acres Sports

A&M approves $4.4 million buyout of Franchione. Wow. Wish I could get millions for sucking at my job.

The Aggies aren’t officially in need of a head coach yet but that hasn’t stopped the crazy train for getting going full steam ahead. Coaching candidates from across the country including Tommy Tuberville, Mike Sherman, and Paul Bear Bryant have all reportedly begged to have the job and silently accepted the position.

The latest hot name is the one and only Steve Spurrier, but Aggie fans aren’t sure he’s good enough for them. Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel probably spit coffee all over his keyboard when he read this email from Aggie Matt from Corpus:

I am sure you are tired of hearing questions about the Texas A&M coaching situation, but I heard Steve Spurrier mentioned as a possible candidate. Do you think the Aggies will actually consider him, and if so, how do you think he would compete against Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech in recruiting?
–Matt, Corpus Christi, Texas

Mandel’s response is a classic:

At some point, I’d like to take a visit to whatever planet it is Aggies fans come from. Would A&M “consider” Spurrier? Sure. They’ve already set their sights on Tommy Tuberville, and Dennis Erickson is apparently on their “Plan B” list. Why not throw Spurrier into the mix as long as we’re playing Monopoly?

Now, will Spurrier “consider” the Aggies? Sure… for about as long as it takes to read this sentence.

The guy specifically chose South Carolina because at this point in his career, he wanted a low-pressure environment where the expectations are manageable. Texas A&M — where they expect the coach to compete at the same level as Texas, despite an all-time record of 35-73-5 against the ‘Horns — does not fit that description.

Nice to see we’re not the only ones who can have a good chuckle at the Aggies’ expense. They may not be from another planet but they sure can drink the Kool-Aid in College Station. I love the note about their expectations and hopes to be as good as Texas, and of course pointing out their horrid all-time record against the Horns.

Hilarious.

Aerial assaults on the rise in Big 12, at least in part thanks to the awful pass defenses of the Longhorns and Aggies.

Video: Yahoo sports previews Texas at Texas A&M. Both Terry Bowden and other guest beleive Horns win by at least 14.

Texas leads Big 12 with 23 all-academic selections. Not only are we better but we’re smarter than everyone else too.

Maturation has been a key for Texas during 5-game winning streak. Plus other notes for Texas-Texas A&M game.

There’s a bit of confusion over the issue but it appears that Texas will win the Big 12 South if [tag]Oklahoma[/tag] falls to in-state rival Oklahoma State this Saturday. Even if the Longhorns lose to the Aggies on T+1 the three-way tiebreaker rules in the Big 12 seem to indicate that Texas would represent the south if the Horns, Sooners, and Cowboys all end conference play with identical records. Or at least that’s one interpretation.

Here’s the confusing explanation from the Statesman:

1. The records of the three teams will be compared against each other. (If Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are tied with 5-3 records, this tiebreaker would not decide things. The teams would all be 1-1 against each other.)

2. The records of the three teams will be compared within their division. (Again, no decision here. All three would be 3-2 in the division.)

3. The records of the three teams will be compared against the next highest placed teams in their division in order of finish — 4, 5 and 6. (Now it gets confusing, because at this point Texas Tech and Texas A&M would be tied for fourth in the South with 4-4 records. Big 12 officials say that they won’t implement a tiebreaker at this point to decide who’s fourth (if they did, Tech would be considered fourth, and Oklahoma ultimately would be eliminated from the championship game mix). Instead, that fourth-place tie would mean that this criteria wouldn’t settle anything.)

4. The records of the three teams will be compared against all common conference opponents. (Again, this doesn’t settle anything.)

5. The highest ranked team in the first Bowl Championship Series Poll following the completion of Big 12 regular-season (intra-) conference play shall be the representative. (This, then, should settle it, but it’s up to the human voters and the BCS computers, which will produce new standings when all the dust has settled next Sunday.)

6. The team with the best overall winning percentage shall be the representative.

7. The representative will be chosen by draw.

Every explanation I’ve seen other than this one has Texas winning the thing because of the 4th tiebreaker. I’m not sure why you would ignore the other tiebreakers when calculating this one. If there’s a tie for fourth place it seems to be common sense that you would break that one before figuring out who wins the division. If that tiebreaker doesn’t fall Texas’ way I think OU wins the thing because they likely have the highest BCS ranking if both teams lose.

Of course all this is a moot point if the Longhorns win against the Aggies on Friday. With a win the only possible outcomes would be a two-way tie which favors the Sooners or with an OU loss Texas would win the South outright. The Horns need to take care of business on the field and let us dorks figure the rest of this out.

Oklahoma 27, Texas Tech 34.

Because of the Oklahoma loss the Horns are still in the hunt for the Big 12 crown and the Sooners are knocked out of the national title discussion. Not that the team needed it, but now the team has a little something extra to play for next Friday against the Aggies.

Go Raiders!!! (Your quarterback is still a punk and your coach is still whiny and wrong. And your fans suck too.)

Mike Leach is probably still whining about it, but the Texas Longhorns outscored his [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] Red Raiders to win for the ninth time this season. Tech falls to 3-4 in Big 12 play and 7-4 on the season.

Here’s what people are saying about the game from around the Interwebs…

Austin-American Statesman

• McCoy’s 6 TDs Help No. 15 Texas Hold On
• Texas a team on the rebound
• Leach goes off deep end with comments on officiating
• Longhorns vs. Red Raiders photo gallery

Dallas Morning News

• Staying grounded: UT rushes past Tech
• Determined Longhorns still in BCS hunt
• UT front line puts forth yeoman’s effort

San Antonio Express-News

• McCoy’s play helps UT easily wreck Tech
• Longhorns showcase line depth vs. Raiders
• Brown’s optimism paying off yet again for Texas

Houston Chronicle

• Texas offense rolls in victory over Texas Tech
• Texas Tech-Texas Summary

Inside Texas

• Horns Outgun Raiders; Aim For BCS
• Upon further review…
• Photo Gallery – Texas Tech

Other

• McCoy, Horns use late surge to pull away from Red Raiders
• Texas makes some serious noise with 551 yards of total offense
• Offensive explosion fuels Texas win
• Charles’ 174 yards lead Longhorns past Red Raiders
• Riding High In The Saddle

We thought it was going to be an exciting, high scoring game and Texas and [tag]Texas Tech[/tag] certainly didn’t disappoint when they took the field Saturday afternoon. The Longhorns were able to put up enough points to make up for a defense that couldn’t consistently stop Graham Harrell and the Red Raiders explosive offense. The win moves the team to 9-2 on the season and keeps the Horns in position for a possible BCS birth.

ESPN highlights from the game below:

Real weak highlight package from ESPN this week. These are the clips they showed on College Gameday Final and even Sportscenter showed more. I can’t believe they didn’t show Colt McCoy’s fantastic touchdown run or Nate Jones’ TD where he tip-toed down the sideline for 30+ yards. I guess when you have to spend 5 minutes discussing Notre Dame losing again you don’t have time to show more than 41 seconds of highlights of an exciting game featuring a ranked team.