Not to worry -- this FanPost is not another speculation about  who goes where, or my own plan for the next great Texas-led Megaconference.  I want to explore how much of a factor y'all believe academic prowess will play in conference realignment.

BevoBoy94's post on the rumor that the Pac-10 wants to invite UT + 5 to its conference, and the many references from commenting BONers about academics and AAU membership, led me to do some quick research. Of the 63 AAU member institutions, seven are from the Pac-10 (Arizona, Cal, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Stanford, Washington) and seven from the Big XII (A&M, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Texas). All 11 Big Ten schools are AAU members. The SEC? Just two (Florida, Vanderbilt). 

My questions:  Even though "most of us will be going pro in something other than sports," I think of the conferences more in athletic than academic terms. What am I missing? Where and how strongly does academic prestige come into play, particularly in realignment discussions? Would academics alone be enough to tank any Texas interest in the SEC? Can the Pac-10 possibly be serious about OU, OSU and Tech?

I'd appreciate some enlightenment. Thanks. 

I hope Heisman voters see this and pay attention.  Tech fans are grumbling in the comments section, but I suppose you can't blame them.  They don't seem to appreciate that the DMN names Leach coach of the year.  Besides Colt, only two other Horns named to the first team -- Orakpo (no surprise) and Shipley (yes!).

Nice argument for the Heisman:

The bottom line: McCoy did as much for his team as any offensive player in the Big 12 – or the country. Here are three of several numbers that back up the argument:

• McCoy accounted for 70.3 percent of the Texas offense.

• With his completion percentage of 77.6, McCoy could break Daunte Culpepper's Bowl Subdivision mark of 73.6 in 1998.

• He's one of just seven players in the Bowl Subdivision to lead his team in rushing and passing this season.

... he'll be giving him a prostate massage.

Sorry to be so graphic, but come on.  King's blathering on today about Sam Bradford being the best OU player of all time.  The Heisman hype for Bradford is out of control.  Reminds me of '05 and all the BS about USC being the Best Football Team of All Time -- at least until January 4, 2006.  Texas deflated the hype machine then, and Vince showed up the pretender Reggie Bush.  We probably won't get a rematch with OU this year, but I can't wait for the Sooners -- and Bradford -- to stink it up in Miami, and for Colt and Texas to come out smelling sweeter than ever.

This graph from an AP story caught my attention:

The Sooners remained No. 1 in the new AP poll Sunday, their record 97th time at the top. They had 51 of a possible 65 first-place votes, eight more than a week earlier when they broke a tie with Notre Dame for 95 appearances at No. 1.

If OU's number 1 among the No. 1s, where does Texas rank? 

Eighth, it turns out, and a distant eighth at that.  In nearly 1,000 AP college football polls published since 1936, the Horns have been ranked No. 1 just 42 times.  We're third among the Big XII teams -- Nebraska ranks fifth, with 70 No. 1s. 

Just some interesting trivia as we head into Saturday.  Hook 'em!

The UT men's tennis team advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a 4-0 win over 9th-seeded Florida on Friday.  The 'Horns haven't dropped a match since the tourney started last weekend in Tulsa, posting 4-0 victories over A&M CC, Rice and the Gators.  Texas, the tournament's 7th seed, meets 2-seed Ohio State today.  The rest of the Elite 8 are Baylor, Georgia, Mississippi, top-seed Virginia, USC and UCLA. 

texassports.com has a report on Friday's win over Florida .  ncaa.com sucks as far as tourney coverage is concerned.  Your better bet is the University of Tulsa site , where they are filling in the bracket as the tournament proceeds. 

The Horns fell one spot in the AP and rose one spot in the ESPN/USA Today polls released today.  

I know, big deal.

But there was one interesting factoid:

Ten schools were ranked in every poll this season, with North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis and Kansas spending the entire season ranked eighth or higher. The others ranked all season were Georgetown, Tennessee, Michigan State, Washington State, Duke and Texas.

Well this may take a little of the sting out of the men's loss in Lubbock yesterday.  The Texas women took this one by a full 15 points on the road, despite another double-double (her 88th) by Courtney Paris.  The victory kept o.u. out of first place in the Big XII and burnished the Horn's (18-11, 6-9 Big XII) tournament resume considerably.

The Longhorns picked up a crucial win in their bid to make it back to the NCAA tournament by handing Oklahoma its first home loss to an unranked opponent since SMU beat a 15th-ranked Sooners squad 71-68 on Dec. 21, 2002. It was Texas’ second straight Big 12 road win after starting conference play 0-6 outside of Austin.

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With the men's basketball team now 9-0 on the young season, I keep reading references to the record set by the 1981-82 team, which jumped out to a 14-0 start.  I'm wondering how that story played out.

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Following last night's upset of UCLA, the UT men's team is now ranked fifth in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.  Still awaiting the AP.

UPDATE:  Here is the AP poll, with a nice nod to the Horns in the lead paragraph.

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Forbes has a story on the most valuable (read: lucrative) college football programs in the country.  Notre Dame, worth an estimated $101 million, "is the most valuable team in college football," Forbes says.  Oh the irony of that, this year.  

Texas is a close second:

The University of Texas Longhorns, worth $92 million, was football's most profitable team last season, earning $46.2 million, of which $4.7 million went to academics. When the Longhorns play at home, Travis County sees an estimated $9.4 million of incremental spending associated with the game, a virtual tie with South Bend County during Notre Dame home games.

University of Texas merchandise royalties doubled to $8 million after the Longhorns won the national championship in 2006. Premium and club seating at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium generates $12 million a year. The athletic department even added an exclusive space, dubbed the Centennial Room, which is reserved for boosters who contribute the most money to the program.

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If Texas stumbles against a&m, and o.u. loses to OSU, I figure the Sooners win the South and go to the Big XII title game, right?  After all, if we tie, and they won the head-to-head, it's pretty simple.  

But wait!  I hadn't counted on this wrinkle.  If that gloomy scenario plays out, Texas, o.u. and OSU would be tied for the top spot in the South, and the tiebreaker would be ... the BCS rankings.

Chip Brown breaks it down.

I suppose, at that point, we would need to drop a close one, and the sooners lose badly, for Texas to move ahead of o.u. in the BCS.  But by that point, who wants to meet KU or MU anyway?  I'd just as soon limp away to the Alamo Bowl.

A lawsuit filed Tuesday by a failed sports marketing company charges everything we have already heard -- that Reggie Bush and family made out while he was still an 'amateur' at USC.  

Bush faces suit; NCAA next

The news here is that the suit gives new life to the NCAA investigation.  Here's a key graph from the Yahoo!Sports report:

If it is determined by the NCAA and Pac-10 Conference that Bush or his family received extra benefits, he would be in violation of NCAA rules. In accordance to NCAA bylaws, Bush's amateur status could be retroactively voided, prompting USC to forfeit games from the 2004 and 2005 seasons, including its latest national championship. Bush's 2005 Heisman Trophy could also be in jeopardy. Per the language on the Heisman ballot, any winner of the award "must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA student-athlete."

What would happen to Bush's Heisman?  Would it go to Vince?  Would Vince want it?

If we do, it will be the first time in 114 weeks, longest consecutive streak in the nation right now.  We'd have to tumble 6+ spots in the AP, 9+ spots in the USA Today.  But of those six below us in the AP this week, four lost or are going down as I write, and another will fall (Cincinnati or Rutgers).  Not sure there are six unranked teams to jump ahead of us, particularly considering that we played a tough game today vs. the #10 team.  

'Canes 34, Ags 17 thanks to a last-second TD pass from second-string Aggie QB Jerred Johnson.  Ags were down 31-0 at the start of the fourth.  McGee, 11-20, 109 yds, 1 INT, 0 TD.  Lane, 2 yds. rushing, Ags 99 yds. total rush.

Man walks into a sports bar in New York City .. catches the last two innings of the Texas-Nebraska game.  It's ugly. We had only one hit at that point.  We finished with two, and zero runs.  Kudos to Tony Watson, Nebraska pitcher, who pitched a complete game and stifled one of the best offenses in the country.  I am looking for our bats to explode tomorrow.  

Oh yeah, the bright spot?  Seeing our boys in Virginia Tech caps.  What a great statement of camaraderie, from a school with its own history of tragedy.  Once again:  I am proud to be from UT.

"Duke women's basketball coach Gail Goestenkors, who has taken the Blue Devils to the NCAA national title game twice and has the No. 1-ranked team this season, is the leading candidate to replace Hall of Fame Texas coach Jody Conradt, according to two sources close to the Longhorns' basketball program."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/texas/stories/032307dnspoutwomen.84abf6f.ht ml

I find myself rooting for the Ags.  They're Texans, after all.  Redneck and toothless, yes, but they're Texans!  If not the Ags, then Kansas, to reflect well on all of us in the Big XII and to give us the pleasure of knowing we played the national champs down to the wire, twice.  Otherwise, I don't feel any particular love for anyone else in the 16.  

IMO, the Times and its crap Sports section usually either ignores UT sports or plays up the negatives.  But now even the Times has fallen for KD.

Durant Puts on a Dazzling Show in Prime Time
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/17/sports/ncaabasketball/17texas.ready.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&am p;oref=slogin

Slate's prescription to the lucky team that drafts KD:  Follow the example of the Mavs, not the T'wolves.  

http://www.slate.com/id/2159498/fr/flyout

Jody Conradt recorded her 900th career victory tonight with a win over Missouri in the first round of the Big XII women's tournament.  She's second only to Pat Summitt among Division I coaches, men's or women's teams.  

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/news;_ylt=AkK5IuJhjs8BlrCQBcl_Ua5MvrYF?slug=ap-b12-conradt-900wins& ;prov=ap&type=lgns

A nice moment to savor for the 'Horns tonight.  Tomorrow may be another story -- Texas faces 11th- ranked o.u.

KD is in command of SportsNation's vote for Player of the Year, but ESPN.com has another poll on its men's BB home page, "Which player is this season's Big Man on Campus?"  Again, KD has a comfortable lead nationally (45% v. 19% for Oden).  BUT -- KD is behind in the Texas vote. My KD vote is reflected in the NY state totals -- but I thought you Texans would want to know!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/index