College Football Confidential

Big 12's big finish

The Big 12's strong bowl performances provided a pleasant surprise today for league officials: four Big 12 football teams cracked the Top 10 in the post-season polls, with Texas jumping to No. 10 in both the AP and coaches polls.

Voters placed Big 12 schools in this order on their final ballots: Missouri (4th in AP; 5th in coaches); Kansas (7th in AP; 7th in coaches); Oklahoma (8th in AP; 8th in coaches) and Texas (10th in AP; 10th in coaches). Texas tied with Boston College for the No. 10 spot in the final AP poll.

It marked the first time since the 2001 season that the Big 12 has placed four teams in the Top 10 in the final polls. In addition, Texas Tech cracked the Top 25 in both polls, giving the Big 12 five ranked teams in the final polls. Tech finished 22nd among AP voters and was 23rd on the coaches' ballots.

It marked the first time since the 2000 season that the Big 12 placed five teams in the final Top 25 polls.

_ Jimmy Burch

Nice rebound by Baylor

Today's announcement that Art Briles will be the new football coach at Baylor marks a nice rebound for athletic director Ian McCaw in a search that had been sprialing in the wrong direction -- from a perception standpoint -- since Baylor legend Mike Singletary took his name out of the running last Wednesday.

Baylor may not be as committed to pursuing a national championship as Singletary would like, but the Bears showed some commitment to trying to climb out of the Big 12 South Division basement by putting together a reported seven-year package for Briles, at $1.8 million per season. The length of the contract is more significant than the payout because it suggests a willingness to let Briles recruit and develop his own players before he is judged by the W' and L's. That's key in any turnaround situation.

With Briles, Baylor gets something it would not have had with Singletary: a coach with longterm ties to the Texas High School Coaches Association. The former Stephenville HS coach is well-liked among that group and should be in position to pluck some plums from off-the-beaten-path HS programs thanks to input from his former THSCA peers.  At the very least, he should be well-positioned to know about -- and, hopefully, sign -- a promising, undersized QB from Texas who can play at the Big 12 level before letting the next Todd Reesing (5-foot-10) go off and resurrect Kansas' football fortunes instead of Baylor's.

With Briles' wide-open, spread offense, Baylor's existing personnel should be a good match for the incoming coach and make for a more seamless transition period than is usually the case in these situations. But the big assest is Briles' recruiting ties to Texas' HS football coaches. Baylor will have to find its share of hidden jewels in that talent pool to turn things around, as they once did under Grant Teaff. Briles gives them a well-connected opportunity to do that.  A better opportunity, frankly, than they would have had with Singletary.

Will this work? No one knows. Baylor has suffered through 12 straight losing seasons. It will take time and talent to turn things around. From the looks of things, Baylor officials are willing to give Briles the time it takes. Bringing in the talent to do it is up to him. At the very least, he's well-connected with the people a Baylor coach must know to get the talent upgrades the school needs to get back to a bowl game -- forget about a championship -- sometime in the next three to four years.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

Fast-starting Aggies

Texas A&M has jumped out on top of Texas, 7-0, and is doing it through the air. On the Aggies' first drive, QB Stephen McGee completed 3-of-3 passes for 73 yards and a TD. The scoring pass was a 35-yarder to Mike Goodson. There's a long way to go. But if McGee keeps throwing like this (he's now 3-of-4 through two drives), we could be looking at an upset by the end of the day.

-- Jimmy Burch

Big blow to Baylor search

Baylor's football coaching search just received the boxing equivalent of a standing eight count when former Bears' standout Mike Singletary took his name out of consideration on Wednesday night. Not only was Singletary the runaway choice among the majority of Baylor loyalists, he was the only candidate capable of uniting a fractured fan base. Regardless of where AD Ian McCaw turns now, he'll be hard-pressed to land a candidate who will get the unanimous support among regents and key boosters that Singletary would have received.

To his credit, Singletary -- a class act and a straight shooter -- did not belabor the process once he made the decision that he'd rather make his coaching mark in the NFL. He got out quickly, thereby allowing Baylor officials to move on to other candidates ASAP.

But if I'm a Baylor fan, I'm troubled this morning by what Singletary told S-T colleague Dwain Price in today's editions. Singletary said he told McCaw: "If you're talking a national championship ... then I want to talk to you. If you're talking just competing, I don't want to be part of that."

Unless Singletary is doing some negotiating through the media, trying to shake loose a larger commitment from Baylor folks in regard to facilities and coaches' salaries before "rethinking" his position and resurfacing as a candidate, that's a troubling comment. That does not strike me as Singletary's style. Instead, he's telling everyone that Baylor -- a year removed from a victory over a Kansas team that remains in contention for the 2007 national championship -- lacks the commitment at the highest levels of administration to play with the big boys in the Big 12.

That message will resonate with other candidates as well, making this a tougher job to sell today than it was before Singletary turned it down. If Singletary truly is out of the picture, as I suspect, it just became tougher to convince Houston Nutt that he should be interested in working in Waco once he becomes available at the end of Arkansas' season.

_ Jimmy Burch

Finding Fran's successor

Officially, there is no head football coaching vacancy at Texas A&M ... yet.

But we all know that is coming, as soon as the final gun sounds Nov. 23 in College Station. That will mark the final home game for coach Dennis Franchione, opening the door to a long list of potential successors that include Tommy Tuberville, Mike Sherman, Bob Davie, Jeff Tedford, Butch Davis, Steve Spurrier, Rich Rodriguez and others.

All of the above names have been lofted, at least in casual conversations, with parties who have interst in/knowledge of the A&M situation. Once the official search begins, look for athletic director Bill Byrne to close ranks and be tight-lipped as he engages in the search process with the help of Chuck Neinas, a go-between in lots of high-profile coaching searches.

As things stand now, here's how to handicap the field when it comes to viable/unlikely candidates:

-- Expect someone with A&M connections to wind up filling the vacancy. With one huge caveat. If A&M truly is willingto pay $3 million a year to its next coach, as some insiders believe, the Aggies will attract interest from a successful, sitting head coach with no A&M connections -- like Rodriguez, Davis, Tedford or Spurrier -- and may land him. Davis and Rodriguez probably would be the most likely of that quartet to relocate for big money. Spurrier and Tedford, in all likelihood, would only use an A&M offer/dalliance to get conncessions from their existing schools.

But Davis, who used to be a Dallas Cowboys' assistant, knows his way around Texas. He has yet to purchase a house in North Carolina and figures to be on the short list if a coaching vacancy arises, as expected, at Arkansas. A&M would need to strike quickly, in other words, to beat Arkansas to the punch if Davis is deemed "The Man." Rodriguez's head could be turned, perhaps, if the price is right.

-- Now, back to the guys with A&M connections (all of whom are past A&M assistants). Tuberville stands out among that group and, from all indications, would give the Aggies a serious listen. Sherman, the Houston Texans' offensive coordinator, likes the college game and was a good recruiter for A&M during his tenure there. Davie has been an ESPN analyst since leaving Notre Dame. He was a rising star in the industry before he took the ND job and the layoff can't help. But he was wildly successful as A&M's defensive coordinator back in the early "Wrecking Crew" days and he knows the recruiting landscape in Texas. He could succeed at A&M, I believe, despite the extended stint in the TV business.

One wild card: Don't forget about Atlanta Falcons coach Bobby Petrino. He's lived a nightmare, none of it his doing, in his first season in the NFL and some consider him a candidate to be one-year-and-done as a pro coach -- as Lou Holtz did with the NY Jets -- before returning to his comfort zone at the college level. If that is true, A&M would be wise to sound him out before moving strongly in a different direction.

_ Jimmy Burch

Big chance for Big 12

Oregon's loss is the Big 12's gain. Literally.

In an upset-filled season that has seen lots of teams play their way into, out of, and back into the national championship picture, the Big 12 suddenly has the next three teams in line to join top-ranked LSU in the BCS championship game. With No. 2 Oregon out of the picture after Thursday's loss to unranked Arizona, the next three teams in the current BCS standings are No. 3 Kansas, No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 5 Missouri.

The problem is, two of them are guaranteed to lose between now and Dec. 2 -- one in the Mizzou-Kansas game on Nov. 24 and another in the Big 12 championship game on Dec. 1, which projects as the MU-KU winner vs. OU. The upside, from a BCS standpoint, is that whoever wins the Big 12 championship game will have beaten a quality opponent on Dec. 1 and should not be jumped by another team in the final BCS standings on Dec. 2.

The challenge, of course, is for the Big 3 from the Big 12 to hold serve this weekend against unranked league opponents to set up some games with national implications on Nov. 24 and Dec. 1. Heading into Saturday's games, I'd say all three are eligible to become upset victims but Missouri seems most vulnerable.

The Tigers (9-1) are headed to Kansas State (5-5), where they will face a talented but inconsistent team that is desperate to win its final home game to become bowl eligible. K-State, which is coming off consecutive road losses to Nebraska and Iowa State, does not want to put itself in a must-win situation on Nov. 24 at Fresno State to become bowl-eligible.

So, expect the Wildcats to look like a different team Saturday in Manhattan, Kan. (where they are 4-1 this season) than the clueless bunch that got run out of the stadium last week by Nebraska, 73-31. Expect K-State to look much more like the team that throttled Texas, 41-21, in Austin on Sept. 30.

Missouri, by the way, has not won a game at K-State since 1989. The Tigers are 1-13 in the teams' last 14 meetings. So you can expect a little angst on the Mizzou sideline if K-State grabs an early lead (likely). The key will be whether coach Gary Pinkel and team leaders like QB Chase Daniel allow that to morph into full-fledged panic. I think Daniel is as clutch as they come. Pinkel? Not so much. Mizzou fans better hope the Tigers feed off their QB, not their coach, if/when adversity hits in Manhattan.

As for the other two Big 12 teams, Oklahoma plays at Texas Tech. Any trip to Lubbock is dangerous for the visiting team because of Tech's explosive offense. OU's offense has been far more productive inside the state of Oklahoma (54.4 pts per game) than in other states (23 pts per game) in 2007. Look for a tight struggle but the Sooners' defense should allow OU to escape with title hopes intact.

Kansas? The Jayhawks (10-0) play at home against an Iowa State team that is 3-8 but has won two in a row. Although KU has never won 11 games in any season in school history, this is the year. They've got the right opponent in the right venue to make it happen. I'm more concerned about KU falling in subsequent games when the pressure mounts against Mizzou and OU (if the teams meet in the Big 12 championship game).

On a 1-10 scale of Saturday upset alerts for the Big 3 in the Big 12, I'd give Mizzou a 9, OU a 6 and Kansas a 3. If not for the presence of Chase Daniel, in fact, I'd pick K-State to pull the upset. But I think he'll carry the day and the Big 12's big opportunity for BCS glory will continue with three times in the mix for another week.

_ Jimmy Burch

Leach's fine: It may be a good investment

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach received word today that he has been fined $10,000 and has been given a public reprimand by Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe for comments Leach made about game officials after Saturday's 59-43 loss to Texas.

In the Big 12's announcement of the sanctions, Beebe cited the fine amount as "the largest fine issued to date by the conference." It is double the $5,000 fine assessed Kansas coach Mark Mangino for comments about officiating made after a loss to Texas in 2004.

Tech officials responded with a statement saying no one from the school's athletic department would discuss the fine. Not Leach, not athletic director Gerald Myers. Not anyone.

But here is what some of them must be thinking behind closed doors: A pretty cheap investment if it prevents certain officials who live in Austin from working Tech games in future seasons. Or if it leads to changes in Big 12 officiating policies in the future (check back on that after the 2008 spring meetings).

Leach makes more than $1 million per season, so a $10,000 fine hardly qualifies as a huge financial hit. If the school actually pays the fine, it's an even smaller blip on a larger financial radar screen.

Make no mistake: Leach's rant was calculated and delivered in a calm voice. He knew what he was doing, knew there would be a financial price to pay.  He also wanted to get his message out there and believed its value -- when put into the public consciousness -- would be potentially greater than the financial hit he would take for delivering it.

It will be interesting now to see how the Big 12 handles things, up front and behind closed doors, in dealing with Leach and future assignments of game officials for Tech games. For Leach and Tech, this could be the best $10,000 they've ever spent.

-- Jimmy Burch

Texas Tech

If the Texas Tech Red Raiders want to be mentioned among the big football programs in the nation, they can start today by beating Texas in Austin and finishing off Oklahoma next week in Lubbock. I believe Tech will split the two games at best, with a win over the Longhorns today. UT's luck of waiting until the fourth quarter to show a pulse will run out with Tech QB Graham Harell and All-American-to-be-WR Michael Crabtree having a big day.

-- Dwain Price

 

Calling coach Singletary

The fact that Baylor has run out of patience with coach Guy Morriss after five losing seasons and an overall record of 18-38 (heading into Saturday's game against Oklahoma) is not surprising. With his contract close to expiring, Baylor either needs to commit long-term to Morriss -- who will leave the program in much better shape than he found it -- or go in a new direction. They've chosen Door No. 2, which should lead to the homecoming of former Baylor standout Mike Singletary as the Bears' new football coach. He's currently on the staff of the San Francisco 49ers.

The lingering question: Can Singletary, a relative coaching neophyte who has never coached at the college level, handle all the recruiting/staffing responsibilities that comes with a major-college job in the Big 12? If he's half the coach that he was a player, he'll be a success. If he's half the coach that he is a human being, the same is true. Singletary remains one of the most impressive individuals I've ever met, in any walk of life. He's got the football knowledge and temperament to be a star in the coaching profession.

But if he coaches and recruits like a guy learning the ropes at the college level, that's a recipe for disaster. The college game is different from the NFL and that can be a tricky transition. The next Baylor coach, whatever his name, will be fighting an uphill battle and the school can't afford to have another coach learning -- and floundering -- as he goes (Does the name Kevin Steele ring any bells?).

Bottom line: Singletary is worth a shot because he'll unify and energize the Baylor fan base -- at least until his first loss. After that, he'll have to win and lose games based on his coaching and recruiting abilities. For Baylor, the biggest issue will be recruiting. And we've got no idea, at this point, how well Singletary can recruit.

If his skills in that area aren't as sharp as his linebacking skills from yesteryear, don't be surprised if Baylor fans are sitting here five years from now, looking for yet another new coach after yet another failed coaching era.

- Jimmy Burch

"Mean" Joe in the house

"Mean" Joe Greene, the former Steeler DL great and North Texas' all-time-everything player, is getting a good show tonight. UNT leads Louisiana-Monroe 24-7 with, coincidentally, two defensive touchdowns and 17 points off turnovers. Greene is usually in hiding or inconspicuous with he comes to UNT games, but he's lovin' the love tonight. He just did a 100-yard sideline stroll for the ESPN Regional cameras. Athletic director Rick Villarreal is chewing on his ear down there, too.

I'm guessing "Mean" Joe doesn't have the kind of Coke money it takes to build a new stadium, but Villarreal knows Joe knows people who can probably help. Any little bit.

--Troy Phillips