In yet another sign of the season being almost upon us, the first coaches press conference was yesterday. Bill Snyder still has a logjam at running back, Texas A&M ain't sweatin' the SEC, and ISU has a quarterback named Steele Jantz, which is pretty awesome.
As discussed extensively in the comments yesterday, K-State unveiled a new basketball court. I love the K-State wordmark and the octagonal corners...but not that darker shade below the three-point line.
In yet another sign that the season is near, the previews are popping up everywhere now. Kitchen thinks the Cats win eight thanks to Miami's troubles. Meanwhile, over at the mothership, Spencer Hall has his Big 12 preview, and you should note that Bill Snyder's turnaround years are bad years for America. But oh, that recovery is so sweet. We'll have our preview this week, it's been held up by the dithering of yours truly.
Texas A&M could be gone, officially, as early as today. The Big 12 sent a letter to the Aggies outlining withdrawal procedures, although the liquidated damages to be paid by the Aggies has not yet been decided (the full amount is ~$30 million, the Aggies would probably like to pay about $10 million). I'm not particularly encouraged about the line in the story that says A&M will do what it can to help the conference find a replacement. The Big 12 should be able to handle that on its own. The only reason I see for A&M to be involved is to try and influence the conference to take Houston, SMU or TCU, for political reasons. I'd much rather have BYU, thanks.
Sam Mellinger talked with a marketing firm and came to the conclusion that Missouri is the most attractive of the Kansas City-area schools in conference realignment. That much should be obvious from a TV markets standpoint. But he completely ignores the political realities of the situation. The Missouri Legislature isn't going to care what happens to Kansas University, while the Kansas Legislature is apt to be quite interested in the fate of K-State. Beyond that, I tend to think the coming realignment is going to be more inclusive than most seem to think. Even if it is 64 schools, I tend to believe K-State makes the cut -- hell, we made the cut in the SBN Redraft, where the "commissioners" picked all kinds of crazy schools and K-State still made the 64-team cut -- because of legal and political realities. There has already been chatter of an antitrust lawsuit against the BCS from places like Utah because they weren't initially included in the BCS. Can you imagine the rumblings if traditionally included schools like K-State, Iowa State, Baylor and others were left out in the cold? Long story short (sort of), I don't think Mellinger is looking at the reality of the situation, other than noting the obvious TV market issues.