0 comments by Allen Kenney on 12/19/2014
For degenerate gamblers, bowl season is a bit like staring at an In-N-Out Burger separated from you by a minefield. If the regular season treated you kindly, no need to risk blowing yourself up for some fast food. If you took it on the chin for the last three months, jump in and hope you’re […]
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 12/8/2014
Ever since its inception, the Big 12’s story has been one of standoffs, clashing egos and marriages of convenience. When the Southwest Conference merged with the Big 8 in 1996, tensions arose between the league’s two marquee programs, Nebraska and Texas, almost immediately over issues such as partial academic qualifiers. The Cornhuskers and Longhorns also […]
Discussing Ohio State’s loss to Virginia Tech is just one of many different components of this year’s playoff argument. Handling early-season head-scratchers is an annual feature of college football’s November debate parade.
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 12/2/2014
The toughest part of evaluating teams in college football is what could best be described as its lack of connectivity. You’ve got more than 120 teams on the FBS level, most of which play three or four non-conference games per season that are under their control. Factor in that teams from the power conferences such […]
Texas head coach Charlie Strong isn’t interested in creating a splash with his words, and with good reason. He just wants to put in the work needed to lift Texas back to the top of the Big 12… and all of college football. He’ll likely need more than a year to do so.
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 11/28/2014
Getting blasted by TCU on Thanksgiving night put an ill-fitting cap on Charlie Strong’s first (regular) season as Texas’ head coach. The Longhorns came into the game riding a three-game winning streak built on a nasty defense and steady improvement from sophomore quarterback Tyrone Swoopes. This story is supposed to end with UT upsetting TCU […]
TCU and Baylor have already played each other, but both teams will have to face Kansas State in a cluttered and contentious race to the Big 12 finish line. How the Big 12 plays out will have something to do with Notre Dame’s status at the end of the season, provided the Fighting Irish can win out and finish at 11-1.
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 11/11/2014
After the Baylor Bears finished dragging his unit up and down the field Saturday afternoon, Oklahoma Sooners defensive coordinator Mike Stoops made a telling comment in the postgame press conference regarding his attitude going into the game: “Well there is so much stress on your defense when you play Baylor. It is not only the […]
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 11/5/2014
Every team in the Big 12 this year played a non-conference game against a Power 5 opponent, save for one. Baylor, the defending conference champ, played Northwestern State and SMU in Waco. The Bears’ toughest test? A Friday night game at Buffalo. Baylor’s preseason diet of cupcakes helped the Bears fatten up on easy Ws. […]
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 10/22/2014
The mind of the modern fan is notorious for selective hearing when it comes to the national dialogue about a favorite team. I don’t think I’m wrong, though, when I say the conversation about Oklahoma and its head coach has a pretty familiar glide path every time the Sooners lose: Stop me if you’ve heard […]
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 10/13/2014
In the wake of Todd Gurley’s suspension last week for allegedly signing autographs for cash, members of SB Nation’s editorial team revealed that they passed on the story when approached multiple times by a bottom-feeding memorabilia dealer offering to dime out Georgia’s star running back. In doing so, writers Spencer Hall and Steven Godfrey gave […]
Charlie Strong does seem to be changing the way things are done at Texas, a very good thing for the Longhorns. Yet, that process of change just isn’t going to be a swift one. It will take time, and Saturday night’s loss to UCLA affirmed as much.
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 10/1/2014
A bizarre–if not laughable–report began circulating last week that beleaguered NFL commissioner Roger Goodell planned to hold a meeting with first-year Texas head coach Charlie Strong to discuss his approach to player conduct. At the time, it sounded as though an overeager Chip Brown of Horns Digest had been last in line in a game […]
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 9/25/2014
UCLA, OKLAHOMA STATE, NORTH CAROLINA, TEXAS A&M AREN’T WHAT WE THOUGHT THEY WERE. WE ALL HAD OUR OPINIONS OF WHAT THEY WERE IN THE PRESEASON. I MEAN, WHO THE HELL DOESN’T DEVELOP PRECONCEIVED IDEAS ABOUT A TEAM BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS? THAT’S WHY WE HAVE PRESEASON RANKINGS! NOW, IF YOU WANT TO CROWN – OR […]
From one vantage point, Auburn’s passing game with Nick Marshall will be a foremost factor in Saturday’s game against Mississippi State.
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 9/18/2014
Is a trap game still a trap game if everyone recognizes it’s a trap game? Unfortunately for wily coot Bill Snyder, he has lost the element of surprise. Snyder’s teams have tripped up so many unsuspecting foes in his 58 years as Kansas State’s head coach that Thursday night’s trip to the Little Apple has […]
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 9/10/2014
In light of the Ray Rice incident and high-profile allegations of assaults against women involving college athletes, I’ve had multiple conversations lately with friends about the problem of domestic violence in sports. On the subject of college-level athletes, the discussions almost always include some mention of the NCAA potentially instituting severe, uniform penalties that span all […]
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 9/3/2014
Very little about how Texas head coach Charlie Strong goes about his business resembles that of his predecessor, Mack Brown. One notable exception is an apparent fondness for hokey slogans. His mantra for this season — “put the ‘T’ back in Texas” — alludes to infusing his squad with a range of T words in […]
Launch date for the SEC Network is this Thursday, August 14. Richard Deitsch’s panel tackles that subject and much more in a far-ranging media roundtable. Your mileage may vary, but it’s worth processing what various Sports Illustrated writers have to say about the college football media landscape in a not-that-ordinary year for the sport and its identity on television.
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 8/28/2014
Two years after its launch, I’ve never seen a second of the Pac-12 Network. Apparently, I’m not alone. Meanwhile, Verizon FiOS broke the news to me earlier this week that no longer would I miss a minute of a Paul Finebaum Show simulcast. The SEC Network, which may very well be the crowning achievement in […]
0 comments by Allen Kenney on 8/19/2014
Old joke: How do you know someone went to Notre Dame? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you. If you know any Notre Dame football fans, you’ll know that the same goes for their opinion of the program’s academic standards. Rarely does a conversation about the Fighting Irish’s place in the sport’s landscape pass by without Golden […]
