Big 12 roundup: Who’s the preseason defensive player of the year now?
By Brian Spaen
Here are today’s Big 12 headlines, including power conferences getting more power with the money they’re receiving, re-voting for the defensive player of the year, and discussing the conference’s chances of making the College Football Playoff.
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— The Big 12’s official athletic website previews the Kansas Jayhawks’ season. They highlight the hiring of John Reagan at offensive coordinator, removing Charlie Weis as both the head coach and OC. and Weis is on a program to lose 100 pounds.
— SportsDay DFW reports that bigger conferences like the Big 12 will be given more power to use the extra money they are getting from their big TV contracts. This will give them flexibility for things such as recruiting costs and potentially helping athletes more beyond traditional scholarship coverage.
— The ESPN Big 12 bloggers are holding a re-vote of the conference defensive player of the year, and the nation will pick. Out of around 4,000 votes at the time of this post, Oklahoma linebacker Eric Striker is at the top with 34 percent; Texas defensive end Cedric Reed is second with 25 percent and Kansas State DE Ryan Mueller is third with 21 percent.
I went against the grain and picked Sam Carter on TCU, although my vote on this list would probably go to Mueller.
— Based on a ESPN poll of 65 coaches from the Power Five conferences when they went through the “Car Wash”, “46 percent (30 coaches) favored playing exclusively Power Five opponents.” You have my vote to scrap all the future schedules and make sure this gets done.
— Dallas Morning News’ Rick Gosselin and Chuck Carlton discuss the Big 12’s chances of making the College Football Playoff. They focus solely on the favorites, basically saying that Oklahoma needs to simply win the conference while Baylor will likely need a completely undefeated season.
— Despite recording 33 tackles (12.5 TFL) last season, Baylor defensive end Shawn Oakman has goals to “lead the nation in tackles for loss and sacks.”