Do you feel it? Is it looming over you, its shadow slowly expanding to fill the room?

It's here. And it's ugly. The off-season.

There are a few things that make this off-season different from recent years:

1. It's shorter. Hooray for baseball! By going three games, they extended their season to the latest possible date. So our gameless months are shortened considerably.
2. There's more anticipation. This holds true for both money-making sports. Both the football and men's hoops programs are regarded as top 5 pre-season prospects. Wow. Just, wow.
3. Personnel is particularly fascinating. Perhaps it's just me. But because of 2 above, the scrutiny regarding potential lineups is greater than ever. What's more, the breathless anticipation for the opportunity to evaluate new talent (particularly for running back and point guard, yes I know I'm mixing sports) is high, since these critical roles must be filled if there is any hope of a national championship run.

Any other Burnt Orange themes and ideas to preoccupy us? After all, today is the first day of the rest of the off-season.

According to the Statesman, Harrison Smith is leaving to play for another school.

Here's the scoop.

So this brings up a couple of questions:

1. Will we miss Harrison? He hasn't contributed much overall, but was starting to come on with a few decent performances late last year. He pulled the trigger a bit too often for my taste, though, with some questionable shot selection.

2. Will this solve the scholarship issue? By Harrison leaving, Damion James now will retain his spot with no problem. If J'Covan Brown actually qualifies (as his dad claims, but the clearinghouse hasn't said so yet), Texas will be +1. Word has it that the transfer knew when he signed up that he may not get a scholarship the first year.

Any insights? I'm so very excited about this team.

ESPN greatly surpassed my expectations of homerism last night. No, it wasn't the worn out small-ball storyline. Nor was it the "mighty" bats of LSU.

It was the wardrobe.

Yes, I'm a girl. But that wasn't why I noticed. Actually, my dear husband saw it first. We were watching around the third inning or so, and he says, "What the hell are those guys wearing??" I had to back up the tape to see ... all three ESPN commentators were wearing LSU purple. Unbelievable. I've never seen such a thing ... you'd think that the wardrobe folks would have made sure something like that wouldn't happen.  I can NEVER remember a sporting even where the entire on-camera crew wore the colors of one of the teams that was playing.

So tonight, what will the homerism be? Will one announcer play with a stuffed tiger doll? Will the story line focus on LSU's invincibility during the playoffs? Will Orel find yet another way to talk down UT's pitching staff?

Personally, I'd like to see all three of them wearing tiger-stripe makeup on their faces and doing that "claw" thing.

Any better ideas we should pass along to the ESPN crew?

Ever since the Reggie Bush Heisman debacle and the allegations that soon followed, I know many of my fellow BON'ers have shared my interest in the compliance of USC with NCAA rules.

Things got much uglier over the last few weeks, when new allegations made the rounds about the basketball team. Nope, the dirty deeds were not limited to football.

Tim Floyd threw more gasoline on the fire today, when he resigned. He claims innocence ... but this sure seems like a strange way to prove you're not guilty. He was accused to handing an envelope of cash to a handler. No joke.

Tim Floyd flies the coop

Last week, the LA Times also had some interesting coverage ... all about how the AD and the head coaches were being so tight-lipped about their situations. Allegedly, the NCAA is just about finished (finally) with their investigations.

So will this affect their MNC seasons? Hmmmm ....

So every time I flipped to ESPNU this weekend, there was a game from the East or the West ... it seemed like an overload of SEC and Pac-10 teams. Not once did I see coverage of the Austin or Fort Worth regionals. Nor did I see coverage of OU or OSU.

Is it just me? Did I miss something?

What do you think? Is the East Coast/West Coast sportswriter bias really alive and well at ESPN - even in baseball?

Yes, the non-conference competition has been less than stellar.

But even if the Horns were playing a pickup team made up of me and my oldest, most-decrepit relatives, I still wouldn't expect Colt to have a QB rating this high.

His cumulative rating for the season is a mind-boggling 210.01.

Broken down by game:

• Fla. Atl. - 181.20
• UTEP - 189.27
• Rice - 260.16
• Piggie - 223.37

Now, forgive me if my numbers are slightly off ... it's getting late. But I'm sure that I'm in the ballpark.

The real question comes next week ... how will the QB rating survive the conference schedule?

Hook 'em.

I hope the drinks were really tasty.

Cedric has been booted by the Bears, according to the Statesman.

So does he get picked up elsewhere? Or is he radioactive for now? I've seen some speculation out there that the Titans might be interested, since they need a strong back. Also, he would already have the VY chemistry going.

Of course, there's the possibility that owners won't want to deal with the commish. Unless, of course, Jerry Jones needs a hard case to fill a hole. Since that's not currently the case, might he be unemployed this year?

First there were the allegations that The Rocket aubsed steriods.

Now there is more ugliness, with claims that Roger Clemens had a 10-year affair with country music star Mindy McCready. The nasty part? The affair allegedly began when she was 15 years old.

So is Roger destined to be another black eye for the University's athletic program ... right up there with Ricky's weed habit?

Continue reading this post »

Some time ago, there was a poll on BON asking what would make us happy. Would Rick Barnes have to take his team all the way to a national championship for this season to be considered a success? Or would a win or two in the tourney be enough?

I'm interested to see how the BON community's feelings have changes - or perhaps have not - since that prior poll. How do you feel now? What does Rick have to deliver to avoid "Coach February"-type sentiments?

Poll

What would make you satisfied with the basketball season?

18%

I'm already happy - Sweet 16, baby!

27 votes

38%

This team will be underachieving if they don't make it to the Elite Eight.

55 votes

34%

Only a trip to the Final Four down I-35 is acceptable at this point.

49 votes

8%

National Championship or bust.

12 votes

143 votes | Poll has closed