I'm calling it.  ISU will defeat OSU on Friday.

This is downright creepy stuff.  I dreamed last night that ISU beat OSU.  In fact, I didn't even know that they were scheduled to play each other this week.  When I looked up the schedule this morning, there it was.  Weird, huh?

So, if this actually happens, I think I'm ready to officially call myself a psychic.

As if it weren't enough that I was ahead of the curve on both Eric Ward and Tommy Tuberville.  Maybe I should relocate to Vegas.

The conventional wisdom is that Texas Tech never had a defense when Mike Leach was head coach.  However, I think those of us who follow Tech football can tell that our defense under Tuberville is as bad as it has ever been.  So... what do the rankings say?

Year Defensive Ranking

2000 24

2001 50

2002 85

2003 106

2004 46

2005 30

2006 58

2007 45

2008 79

2009 49

2010 114

2011 96

I know... I know... Leach isn't coming back.  That's not the point.  The point is to demonstrate that Tubs has downgraded us from the standard that we have been used to.  Chew on this... Leach had a losing conference record once in ten years.  He only fielded a defense worse than our 2011 team once in ten years.  

Start a movement to cut him loose now or keep blaming the coordinators until he runs our team into the ground?

Seriously... it's not their fault.

UT is only doing what is in their nature.  That is, they're going out and getting the best deal possible for their school.  Let's pretend for a second that it's Texas Tech.  Let's say that CBS Sports (because eff ESPN) comes along and offers us millions of dollars and our own tv network.  Let's say that the Big XII rolls over and lets us run off with all that money without sharing any of it.  Do we take it?  Hell yes, we do.  Is that greed, or is it just doing what's best for your own interest?  I don't think we can blame UT, because we would do the same thing in their shoes.

On the other hand, I do blame Dan Beebe and ESPN.  

ESPN is supposed to be an objective media outlet.  For them to profit from the success of a single team creates an unquestionable conflict of interest.  How can they be expected to offer objective reports or even equal airtime to other teams when they have a vested financial interest in the success of UT and the SEC?  How can they be expected to offer honest reporting on athletic scandals when the very athletes in question appear in their commercials (a la Barry Bonds or Lance Armstrong)?  One is left with the conclusion that ESPN has forgotten its mission as a sports media outlet and is bent instead upon ambitions to manipulate college athletics for its own financial gain.  That is greed.

Moreover, Dan Beebe is to be blamed not because I think he was a willing conspirator, but because he is so clearly incompetent.  What exactly did he hope to gain by allowing UT to rake in all the profits?  As a commissioner of an AQ, I'd expect him to know that the thing that makes athletic conferences great is parity.  The SEC is a great conference (albeit a backwards, redneck, barefoot, cousin-dating one), because you never know who is going to win.  South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Auburn, LSU... all these teams could compete for the conference championship.  Hell, even Vandy wins sometimes.  But in the Big XII, it's always the same old shit... OU, then UT, then OU, then UT.  Frankly, it's boring.  Revenue sharing would have gone a long way toward solving that problem.  Instead, Beebe just rolled over like a UT cheerleader and let Bevo have his way.  I don't think the Big XII can be saved at this point, but if it can Beebe must go.

That's my analysis.  UT is just doing what any other school would do in their shoes and hardly deserves the blame.  I'd like to see much less "Eff UT" and much more "Eff Beebe" and "Eff ESPN" in the comment sections of this and other blogs.

Flame away.

Rivals.com just put up their top 100 list for the football class of 2012.  There are a handful of athletes that list Tech in their 'long list'.  Among them are the following:

Kwan Alexander 4* OLB from AL

Jelani Hamilton 4* DE from FL

John Michael McGee 4* OG from TX

Adolphus Washington 4* DE from OH

Dwayne Stanford 4* WR from OH

Kennedy Estelle 4* OT from TX

Tyriq McCord 4* DE from FL

Dominique Wheeler 4* WR from TX (We're actually on his short list)

Brian Nance 4* OLB from TX

Brian Poole 4* CB from FL

So here's the thing... these are Rivals 100 athletes who have listed us as teams that they are interested in.  That's exciting!  What I can't figure out is why we haven't offered Washington, Stanford, or Nance.  They hold offers from power-house schools, so why are we holding out?  Anyone got the 4-1-1?

Anyway, I feel good about the number of kids that are considering us, and I sure hope we can land some of these blue chips.

In an attempt to adequately address Seth's #3 question (from 5 Questions, Baylor Edition), I propose that we devote a thread to the discussion of our receiving corps and the changes that it has seen in the last year.

The team stats look like this:

2009 Passing Stats:   QB Rating 143.76 Completion Pct. 67% Y/A 7.5

2010 Passing Stats (4 games):  QB Rating 134.91 Completion Pct. 63% Y/A 6.3

2009 Receiving Stats: Y/C 11.22

2010 Receiving Stats (4 games): Y/C 9.95

What accounts for the drop in productivity?  Theories after the jump.

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