0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
When I sent interview requests to sports information directions of the Big 12, most of them quickly responded to let me know that the conference is called the "Big 12" and not the "Big XII," as I had always thought. At first I was embarrassed with my mistake, but then I realized that the conference's logo is the Roman numeral, so it's not really my fault that it is so misleading. Plus, we're talking about the same conference with schools like the University of Kansas (known as "KU" instead of "UK" or "U of K"), the University of Oklahoma ("OU"), the University of Colorado ("CU") and the University of Missouri ("MU"). It's pretty obvious that this is a conference that has a history of being misleading with its names. I set out to get to the bottom of all this by talking with a few walk-ons from the conference, but I never got my answers because we somehow got sidetracked and talked about cheerleaders and which school has the most comfortable bench.The best team: Kansas JayhawksKansas spent most of last season as college basketball's top-ranked team before ultimately being added to the long list of heavyweights to have been knocked out by Ali. No, not Muhammad Ali, but rather Ali Farokhmanesh and everyone's darling team of last year's NCAA tournament, the Northern Iowa Panthers. Kansas will have to replace a ton of talent from last season, but as is usually the case with the Jayhawks, finding talent to fill in the holes is never much of a problem.The best player: Marcus Morris, KansasMorris, a junior, is yet another head-scratching example of one twin teammate being better than the other. Brook Lopez was better than his twin brother, Robin, when they played at Stanford, and before them Reggie Miller was better than his twin brother, Brad, when they both played for the Pacers. I'll never understand it. Sure, Marcus' brother, Markieff, is no slouch himself, but the walk-ons of the Big 12 have made it clear that Marcus is not only the best twin, but also the best player in the entire conference.The best student section: Texas A&M AggiesIt's no secret that Texas A&M has one of the best college football student sections in the country, but the Big 12 walk-ons think the Aggies' basketball student section is every bit as good. I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but it seems to me that any student section that actually has "yell leaders" to go along with its cheerleaders is a student section that takes its job quite seriously.Bench ratingsThe most comfortable? Those at the home of the Kansas State Wildcats.Least? Oklahoma State Cowboys.Having never played (read: sat on the bench) at either of these schools in my career, I really can't speak for the comfort of the benches, but luckily there is someone who can at least explain what makes Kansas State's bench so great.Texas A&M's Marshall Carrell: "Most schools other than A&M (and Kansas State) like to short the visitors by roughly four chairs."The most attractive cheerleaders: Texas LonghornsSome comments I got here are unprintable, but let's just say the notion of an overall No. 1 quality rating was won in a landslide.Best conference road trip: Again, TexasThis happened in the Big East too: Miami won cheerleaders, Miami won road trip. Austin has now won cheerleaders and road trip.Missouri's Jarrett Sutton: "I love their city, their food, their atmosphere, and the history and traditions that Texas has." Colorado's Javon Coney adds: "Austin is a great town. They have great barbecue and other food there. There city has great scenery. Also, the hotel we stay at there is always pretty nice."Coolest tradition: Rock Chalk, JayhawkIn a recent poll that I just conducted in my head, research shows that zero percent of people living outside of Lawrence, Kan., have any idea what "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" actually means. Heck, my guess is that even some Kansas fans have no idea what it means. But that's not important. What is important is that Teddy Roosevelt once called the "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" the greatest college chant he had ever heard. And while that tells me that Roosevelt never heard the O-H-I-O chant at Ohio State, it also tells me that "Rock Chalk, Jayhawk" is obviously pretty awesome if it impressed the toughest president in American history.The risersThese are some guys who were benchwarmers last year but figure to have a much bigger impact (or at least an impact) this season:For Texas A&M, look at Derrek Lewis and Andrew Darko. Their teammate Carrell says: "Derrek has always been a great player, but he's always had to play behind even greater players. He has a great 3-point percentage, hustles every play, and moves well without the ball. Andrew currently has the highest percentage shooting in our preseason workouts. He has earned a scholarship and works extremely hard every day. Darko is a freak athlete who will surprise a lot of people this year with his explosiveness and leadership."For the Missouri Tigers, check out Steve Moore. Sutton says: "He played in a spot role last year and he gave us great minutes when we lost Justin Safford last season. I feel he has improved in certain areas that he needed to improve. Time will tell, but I love Steve's attitude and work ethic and feel he has made significant strides."Nolan Dennis is a guy to watch on the Baylor Bears, who made the Elite Eight last year. This pick is all mine, and not based on interviews with walk-ons. With the departure of Tweety Carter and the recent suspension of Baylor's leading scorer from last season, LaceDarius Dunn, Dennis will have to take over a good chunk of those abandoned minutes at the guard position. Sure, he doesn't have a cool name like Tweety or LaceDarius, but if the sophomore guard can turn his opportunity into a breakout season, I sincerely doubt that Baylor fans will mind all that much.I also like Jai Lucas for the Horns. He had to ride behind Avery Bradley for a while, but Bradley is gone (to the NBA). Lucas was one of the top high school recruits in America a couple of years ago -- he initially played for the Florida Gators -- and this seems like the season he should establish himself as a very legitimate college player, as well.Mark Titus, a former Ohio State Buckeye (a walk-on from 2006 to 2010), is the author and founder of the blog Club Trillion and is a contributor to ESPN Insider.
guy has cancer
KU is right on par with Notre Dame ... when it comes to adding additional conference revenue
Beer pro tip: never drink anything other than BL, coors, pbr, maybe a few others that I'm forgetting
in the end, EMAW will always win.
