You can have the Pac12/Big10 matchup.

'Lee's night was filled with conservative, but nearly perfect passes all over the field. Then in a crucial moment, his strike to Randle hushed a raucous Mississippi State crowd and gave the Tigers a 16-6 lead.'

Now I'm not trying to equate Lee with Gilbert but the parallels there are pretty compelling. Will the OC's keep GG sharp enough to be able to come on in relief if Case/Ash are struggling in future games this season? Or if we get far enough behind that we have to rely on the pass to play catchup?

Not Applewhite v. Simms but Gilbert v. McCoy v. Ash v. Wood. An embarrassment of riches, but we've got the right guy making the decision this time.

Gone are the days when it seemed like half the gold medals in Swimming at the Olympics and World Championships were being won by Longhorns (Crocker, Hansen, Peirsol et al). In this year's WC there is one former Horn with a gold - Ricky Berens (check out the tattoo in the photo). Garrett Weber-Gale is also part of the squad but had to settle for a bronze in the 4x100 relay.

An about face decision which closely aligns with his public persona of integrity, Jim Tressel has tendered his resignation as head football coach of Ohio State University after posting a 106-22 record in ten seasons.

Jim Tressel stated, "After meeting with university officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach. The appreciation that (my wife) Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immeasurable."

The embattled Tressel's mark at the school will be a dichotomy of building a winning dynastic program balanced against controversial NCAA run-ins on the fringes. Time will only tell which way the scales tip.

Ohio State still faces a round of NCAA hearings and a long-term process to deal with the aftermath of the coaches mishandling of apparently known rule infractions. In my opinion, this action does help OSU's position as they move forward as the issues isolate the coach. OSU still potentially face lack of institutional control allegations as additional insiders reveal a program that had a few, or many, rotten apples who took advantage of rank and privilege.

Hat tip to patienthornsfan for posting the announcement. His question, "So does Pryor enter the supplemental draft now? If there is one that is," is a fitting testament to the reality that now faces a star Buckeye athlete. What a mess.

- TXStampede

"The Texas Volleyball team's three-player recruiting class, headlined by No. 2 recruit Katherine Bell, No. 5 recruit Haley Eckerman and No. 13 recruit Madelyn Hutson, has been ranked No. 1 nationally by PrepVolleyball.com. The 2011 recruiting class marks the sixth-straight season the Longhorns' class has garnered a top-five ranking."

Texas will likely be ranked #2 or #3 to start the season, and will once again take part in the Murderer's Row Tournament with Florida, Stanford and PSU to start the season, this time hosted by Stanford.

What they're losing: The guy Rick Barnes will miss most is Gary Johnson, the team's most regular contributing senior performer. However, even though Johnson and three other seniors are exiting, that may not account for the sum total of losses. Barnes' biggest recruiting project this spring is Tristan Thompson. With the NBA lockout looming and Thompson being a lock first-rounder, can Barnes keep him in the fold another season? After he solves that riddle, he'll turn his attention to all-Big 12 performer Jordan Hamilton. He'll have a draft itch as well and if both he and Thompson scratch that itch, Texas will rely on younger players to pave the way.

What they're adding: Make no mistake about it, Barnes is excited about coaching Myck Kabongo (Toronto, Ont./Findlay Prep). Texas could have four Canadians in the program next season as Kevin Thomas (Brampton, Ont./Christian Faith) pledged last week. Another Top 10 recruiting class is on the way with Sheldon McClellan (Houston, Texas/Bellaire), power forward Jonathan Holmes (San Antonio, Texas/Antonian College) and sniper Julien Lewis (LaMarque, Texas/LaMarque).

What it equals: Regardless of the potential NBA defections, this is a lock tournament team again next year and as long as Thompson stays, Texas is a formidable, Top 10 program again next season.

Damion James, SF
27 minutes 5-6 0-0 5-5 7 rebounds 4 fouls 15 points

The massive O2 Arena was sold out, giving us hope of eventually landing a franchise here. But there's work to be done in the fan base.

The unusual venue meant the public announcer had to do some extra work, explaining some of the basic rules every now and then to the British crowd -- like pointing out that a player fouled while shooting gets two free throws.

Is that where he projects in the NFL?

"Long story short, my mom thought she was helping me out," Raven said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday evening. "I wasn't home and she sent it in. I never told her I had changed my mind to Texas A&M. I forgive her for it. It was an honest mistake."

Made for each other.

Big Brother is watching!

... join 'em.

Jerritt Elliot poached one of the nation's top assistants from Penn State a couple years back, now he's done the same from Nebraska. Although, it must be said that the Gazelles have had a pretty good run of success against the Cornshuckers the past few seasons. I hope Jerritt schedules them for an OOC match every year since we won't be facing them in the Big XII any more.

ESPN The Magazine has a well-balanced and well-researched look at the impact of homophobia on the lives of coaches and players in the womens basketball game today. Though still present across all sports - mens and womens - it seems to be most deeply rooted in both college and professional WBB.

The article makes for an interesting read, in part because of the striking parallel between Mack Brown's "family friendly" atmosphere in the Texas football program and the subtle way that the same concept appears to be used in Iowa State WBB recruiting.

There are two situations that hit fairly close to home. One was the sad story of Emily Niemann, who was one of the main reasons Baylor won the national championship game in 2005. Her sudden - and at the time unexplained - departure from the school at the end of that season may well have cost Baylor a chance at a repeat.

The most notorious case for Horns fans who have been following WBB at Texas for many years involved one of the greatest players ever to come from the Lone Star State - Sheryl Swoopes. It has long been the view of Texas fans that Texas Tech used negative recruiting about the "lesbian atmosphere" at Texas to lure her away to play in Lubbock - where she helped Tech win a national championship. Ironically Swoopes came out after many very successful years playing in the WNBA.

3rd straight loss for the former #3 team. What a wacky year in the Big East.

TE Greg Smith, Texas: Considering the 2010 season wasn't a great one in Austin, Smith needed a strong performance to generate positive press. He came through, leading all Shrine Game receivers in catches (four) and yards (77), while providing the longest play from scrimmage with a 35-yard reception in the third quarter. Athletic with soft, reliable hands, Smith could sneak into the late rounds, considering this year's weak class of tight ends.

Mike Haywood was the RB and special teams coach in 2003-2004. I certainly don't remember him, but I guess that's because we actually had a decent running game that year so there were no coaches on the fan hot seat.

Has to sit 5 games in 2011 as a result of selling memorabilia. Why would he stick around?

Junior running back Johnathan Gray rushed for 325 yards and eight touchdowns in a 69-34 rout of La Marque in the Class 4A Division II state championship game. Gray finished the season with 59 touchdowns, eclipsing the single-season state record of 57 set by Ken Hall of Sugar Land in a 12-game season in 1953. The state title was the second in a row for the Bearcats and their 29th straight victory."

" Malcolm Brown, a Texas pledge, scored a pair of touchdowns to help the Knights to a 24-21 triumph over Guyer (Denton, Texas) in the Class 5A Division II state final. Despite sitting out a portion of the game with a shoulder stinger, Brown rushed for 107 yards and added a 19-yard touchdown reception."

ESPN College Sports has posted a story on Juliann Faucette on the front page today.

"Every top volleyball team has a "hammer," a hitter who at the most crucial moments usually finds a way to put the ball down no matter how much the defense keys on him or her. Faucette, whose father played football and whose mother was a gymnast, is that player for Texas. She's also a natural combination of leader/mediator, being the second-oldest of five daughters."

Jaxson Shipley finished with 14 catches for 183 yards and a touchdown, but Brownwood falls to Carthage in the state semifinal.

Is it too soon to get excited about this guy? Given the performance of our WR's this year I hope he graduates early so he can compete for playing time as a true freshman.

Texas keeps piling up accolades for what is shaping up to be the top-ranked recruiting class of 2011, as four-star DT Quincy Russell (6-3, 289, San Antonio, Texas, Sam Houston HS) was named to the 2011 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

The Longhorns have commitments from six other Army All-Americans -- OT Garrett Greenlea (6-7, 300, Klein, Texas, Collins HS), OG Sedrick Flowers (6-3, 280, Galena Park, Texas, North Shore), LB Steve Edmond (6-3, 225, Daingerfield, Texas, HS), LB Kendall Thompson (6-3, 232, Carthage, Texas, HS), RB Malcolm Brown (6-0, 220, Cibilo, Texas, Steele HS) and WR Jaxon Shipley (6-0, 170, Brownood, Texas, HS)

Great way for them to ensure they get to a BCS Bowl just about every year from now on.

What will Texas do to GD? Take away his golf cart privileges?

No recap yet, but it was a wild one in Ames. Hilton Coliseum is one of the toughest places to play in the Big XII, but Texas prevailed 22-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-19. Win streak now at 14, but still only good enough for second in the Big XII and probably a national 2 seed. Selections will be announced on Sunday at 2pm, and I expect Texas to be awarded a host slot for the first and second rounds, to go along with the Regional host slot that was confirmed before the season started.

Expect the Gazelles to get hosed by the NCAA again as they always do in the post-season. With 4 Pac10 schools in the Top 10 it's highly likely we will get Cal, USC or UCLA in our Regional, and our girls have struggled against Pac10 teams in the post-season. So they will need a rowdy crowd for all four rounds to make sure they get back to the Final Four this year.

BTW, Senior Juliann Faucette finally seems to be rounding back into the form that won her National Freshman of the Year honors. She was recognised as National Player of the Week last week. Good time for her to get on a roll, particularly as thin as we are at the moment due to injuries.

Sorry guys. That's not Mack speaking. Nor is it Rick.

That's uber-recruiter Jerritt Elliot talking about yet another monster class he's just inked for 2011. Top 3 in the country for sure, with the #3, #5 and #13 athletes in the country. With only two seniors this year, and getting Bailey Webster back from injury, next year's Gazelles will certainly be the deepest, most physical (if not the most talented) team we've ever had.

The only team I think is more talented is the one that featured Destinee, Ashley and Juliann up front - last year's NC runners-up.

"Oakland Raiders defensive end Lamarr Houston has flashed his vast ability with regularity throughout his rookie season. He naturally plays low with good strength. He also has very good movement skills for a man his size (6-foot-3, 305 pounds). Houston plays hard and is good in pursuit. He is a work in progress, but in his case, that should be viewed as a positive."

At #22 in Coaches Poll