The Texas Keys

If Texas Were a Chick:

Texas is the Homecoming Queen, the Prom Queen, and the County Fair Queen all rolled into one. If you land Texas: The Good News is she is smokin’ hot and everyone else wants her just as bad as you. Her modeling career treated her well, she carries a Visa Black Card with an ESPN emblem on it. The Bad news is she knows she is hot and she doesn’t like to share. Texas is all kinds of Bitchy, like 28 days out of the month. You’ve also made your last decision about what to wear or what you’ll be allowed to eat. Learn to enjoy birthdays and anniversaries, Sparkey, because these are likely the only times you will be allowed to see her naked, if you have been well behaved. Enjoy sleeping on the floor when you have actually had the nerve to voice your opinion. Afterward your allowance will have been suspended.

1. Let Steele Jantz loose and allow him to be creative.

Through three games, Jantz has thrown for 666 yards and six touchdowns, solid numbers by any measure– but has been just as effective on his feet, running for two touchdowns and 112 total yards. Jantz’s ability to scramble and throw on the run will present a challenge to the Texas defense. Edge Iowa State

2. Contain the Texas Passing game.

Iowa State has given up a total of 619 yards through the air to a total of 414 on the ground. Case McCoy– and David Ash, if used– must find a way to throw the ball downfield and test the Cyclones’ secondary. Texas has run the ball well through 3 games. However, they have struggled in the passing game. Last week they brought in Case McCoy (Colt McCoy’s younger brother) and played a 2 quarterback offense. Utilizing 2 quarterbacks has never been an offensive strategy I have loved. If Iowa State can force Texas to rely on the run and keep the game close or play from ahead for once it could be a back to back victory. Edge: Iowa State

3. Special teams and turnovers.

Through 3 games Texas has been susceptible to turning over the ball. Iowa State has as well but ISU has been able to overcome those obstacles, play from behind, and push through for victories. Edge: Texas

4. Confidence and Focus.

Texas is facing Oklahoma next week, while Iowa State is heading to (Wacko) Waco Texas to face Baylor. Both teams are coming off a bye week and inevitable both teams have begun preparing for the following week’s match-up. Oklahoma is rated Number 1 in the nation and Baylor is rated number 15 with a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate in their standout quarterback Robert Giffin III. Whoever is most focused and confident about winning the game right in front of them will prevail. Iowa State beat the Longhorns in Austin last year, and you can see the confidence building in each game. Paul Rhoads emotional coaching style and riverboat gambler mentality is very contagious. Edge: Iowa State

ISU's Paul Rhoads on College Game Day.

ESPN To Air Paul Rhoads Feature On College Gameday Saturday

AMES, Iowa - An ESPN video crew was in Ames Wednesday filming a segment on head coach Paul Rhoads and the 3-0 Iowa State football team for College Gameday.  Be sure to check out the feature on ESPN College Gameday, beginning at 9 a.m. CDT on ESPN.

The Dumb and The Rest of Us.

This week on: The Dumb and the Rest of Us

· Dan Beebe steps down as Big XII Commissioner

· Texas A&M officially joining SEC Conference

· 5 Teams in the Big XII Ranked in Top 20

· Texas Currently Ranked Number 17

· Iowa State has sold the most season tickets ever

The Texas A&M Aggies will officially join the SEC conference in July 2012, making this football season the school's last in the Big 12. Postponed due to opposition from other schools unwilling to waive their right to sue the SEC, talk of opposition has died down in recent days as the national media casts its collective eyes on yet another last-second survival by the Big 12. It's unclear at this point whether or not those schools waived their right to sue or if the SEC removed that condition for acceptance.  The move is effective July 1, 2012, with competition to begin in all sports for the 2012-13 season. 

Texas President William Powers declared Wednesday that the Longhorns are open to a new revenue-sharing model and have already suggested that top-level television and cable money be shared equally.  What's not on the table is the money from Texas' 20-year, $300 million deal with ESPN to create the Longhorn Network, which has been blamed in large part for Texas A&M's pending departure from the SEC.  The Big 12 splits the revenue from its $1.2 billion Fox Sports contract evenly, but only half of the money from its top-tier deal with ABC goes into equal shares. The rest is weighted toward the programs that play on the network more frequently, such as Texas and Oklahoma.

This thing has got me scratching my head more than complex fractions.   I was of the understanding there would be no math (part of the reason I became a Marketing Major).   Honestly, this story line is as complicated as a non-linear equation with more variables than I have fingers to count on with a couple Cosines and some derivatives added for extra spice.   So, here is my Math word problem:  If Pittsburgh and Florida are parachuting from a plane flying at 15,000 feet with a landing pad in the ACC, and Texas A&M is leaving on a train heading East toward the SEC at a speed of 75 miles per hour, and Missouri is standing on the street corner like a $50 hooker waiting for the highest bidder, and TCU is being Fed Exed back and forth between The Big East and The Big XII, and BYU, West Virginia, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Boise State are all hanging with their homies, how long will the Big XII survive?????

Through Wednesday of last week, Iowa State has sold 37,446 season tickets and orders continue to come in. The previous record was 36,610 in 2007. The Cyclones' opening two home games drew the second (56,085 vs. Iowa) and fifth-largest (54,672 vs. UNI) crowds in Jack Trice Stadium history.  "We have already sold more than 53,000 tickets for our game against Texas (Oct. 1)," said Pollard.  Iowa State is on a pace to average more than 50,000 fans per home game. The Cyclones' current home attendance average is ranked 35th nationally. That mark is higher than seven schools in the Big East, eight schools in the Pac-12, seven schools in the ACC and five schools in the Big Ten.

Poo for Sale.

“In light of the widespread speculation about potential scenarios for Conference re-alignment, the Pac-12 Presidents and Chancellors have affirmed their decision to remain a 12-team conference. Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said, “after careful review we have determined that it is in the best interests of our member institutions, student-athletes and fans to remain a 12-team conference. While we have great respect for all of the institutions that have contacted us, and certain expansion proposals were financially attractive, we have a strong conference structure and culture of equality that we are committed to preserve. With new landmark TV agreements and plans to launch our innovative television networks, we are going to focus solely on these great assets, our strong heritage and the bright future in front of us. “

Let’s translate shall we, “We worked very hard to get USC and UCLA to agree to equal revenue sharing in the PAC 12.   Texas you don’t want to share revenue from your Longhorn Television Network worth an estimated $300 Million.  Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas Tech you can call anytime. You have our number.   But, you can’t move in next door without Texas.   So for the time being we, The PAC 12, have decided to shut the garage door.   But you have the pass code and you know where we store the spare key, but next time bring some beer.  So it appears the Big XII has to make this conference work.   The tremors have temporarily subsided.   But, people this is like saying don’t worry about earthquakes we live in California and vacation in Japan.  

Here is some good news, Oklahoma insisted that there be change of leadership in the Big XII for OU to stay in the Big XII.  Yea, um Duh.   Can someone please grab a sharpie and draw a mustache on Dan Beebe, Big XII Commissioner, and a put a sign on his back that says, “Kick Me (out the door)”.  Because dude, has been passed out since he celebrated the 1.2 Billion contract negotiation with Fox last spring, that might as well have been drawn up on toilet paper.

Are you with me camera guy?   This is moving fast, let’s glance back to the Big East.   They are in worse shape than the Big XII.   Pitt and Syracuse leaving The Big East makes it a basketball conference.  Reports surfaced earlier this week that West Virginia had been rejected by the ACC and Southeastern Conference, but the university has not publicly confirmed or denied that.  "As I stated before, WVU is an excellent flagship, land-grant University, with national-caliber athletic and academic programs," Luck said in the statement.  Does this sound familiar? 

Let me break it down a little further for you.  West Virginia has been a perennial top 20 program for a significant period of time.   This is where Bobby Bowden, famed Florida State Head Coach,  started his career and then catapulted Florida State to a consistent Top 10 Football powerhouse program similar to Hayden Fry only much bigger.  So, it doesn’t really matter how well you perform.   What really matters is population or available eyeballs to watch these programs on television.  Boise State, Missouri, West Virginia all big names in college football over the last 5 years are getting shunned, only because they don’t have a big enough Television draw.  

The real power brokers and the folks that have the most control in this whole ordeal are ESPN, FOX, CBS, and NBC.  These are the guys with the money and the power, everyone else is just a pawn.   Unfortunately for Iowa State, Texas and Oklahoma are the King and Queen.   More to come on the Networks. 

Bye Bye Birdie.

This week the Cyclones have a bye.   I was thinking, “Wow, this is great we get a week off to tune up before our game with the Darth Vader of the Big XII – Texas.”  But, then I checked Texas’ schedule and they have a bye this week as well.   So, they too get a chance to rest the wounded and have a chance to watch plenty of game film to defend Iowa State’s juco transfer standout quarterback, Steele Jantz.  No football this Saturday, whatever is a man to do? 

The Big East:  So after an Iowa State win over U Conn last weekend it was rumored that ISU was lobbying to get into the Big East.   Which all sounded great until Pittsburgh and Syracuse announced they were leaving for the ACC.   This is the equivalent of Texas and Oklahoma leaving the Big XII.   Texas and Oklahoma Board of Regents met on Monday and gave both schools approval to begin looking for a new conference. So it would appear — as I predicted —- that the Big XII is a lame duck conference.  The Big XII and the Big East are looking like a couple of house parties that have run out of beer.   Everyone is either looking to hook up with the best available suitor or move on to the most attractive night club.  The Pittsburgh and Syracuse Ruse came out of nowhere.   The ACC and the aforementioned schools kept everything extremely quiet.   This absolutely changes the landscape in college football once again.  Expect Oklahoma to announce their departure from the Big XII before month-end, with Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and possibly Texas to follow.   Rumor has it the Pac 12 already has the plan laid out for a nice little 16-team conference in the west.  

So it looks like 4 super conferences are shaping up.   The SEC, the Big 10, and the PAC 12 have secured their positions as three of the elite football conferences.   With the Pitt and Syracuse move to the ACC, it appears the ACC becomes the fourth major football conference.   Kudos to Jamie Pollard for trying to be proactive and go after the Big East.   But, expect U Conn and Rutgers to exit the Big East for the ACC in the coming weeks.   I would predict that West Virginia most likely has a home in the SEC when Texas A&M leaves after Dan Beebe (Big XII Commission) turns off the Big XII Beer Sign.   Look for the Big East and the Big XII to form some sort of revised Midwest combination.   This may be good for Iowa State.   The Big East and the Big XII both have BCS rights, however let me pour a glass of reality on the situation.   As things change the BCS rights are in jeopardy, big time, for two reasons.   First, the teams left do not hold or provide enough TV appeal without the cornerstone teams.   And secondly, which I believe is just as important, this whole shake-up is due to the demand for a  playoff system in college football to determine a clear-cut champion at the end of the year.   Four conferences sets up very nicely for a playoff scenario.  Five or six conferences makes it messy.   Anyway you shake this basket, Iowa State ends up in a smaller, weaker conference and very likely becomes a mid-major school.  

Keep an eye on a couple of schools.   First Notre Dame.   Notre Dame was notably upset with the departure of Pitt and Syracuse.   I’m sure they thought they could slide into the Big East for football anytime they wanted, because they are part of the Big East in basketball.   This changes things and changes things dramatically.  Notre Dame has been sitting on the side, because just like Texas they don’t want to share their television revenues.   If they join a conference (other than the Big XII) they would have to share that television revenue equally — something neither team wants to do unless forced.   Here is the funny thing, it appears Texas is willing to make concessions to the Pac 12, but on the other hand, is lobbying to keep the Big XII together.   Their was talk of Texas going independent, but the major talk is for Texas to join the Pac 12.   It is believed that Texas can make the rules up as they go in the Pac 12.  However, they are playing with the entire cheerleading squad and also flirting with the ACC.   Texas realizes if they go independent, they most likely forego any shot at a National Championship in the future.   This is why I believe Notre Dame will be forced to pony up and decide to go steady with one of the major conferences.   Don’t be surprised if Notre Dame joins the SEC and really shakes up the landscape.   Geography means nothing in this discussion.  Plenty more to come with this story.  

Zane Brugenhemke, Iowa State student and Cyclone Mascot, broke his arm after falling down the steps at Rentschler Field during Iowa State's 24-20 victory against Connecticut on Friday.   How exactly Brugenhemke fell is what is in dispute. One account says that Brugenhemke, in the costume, tripped and fell, breaking both bones in his left forearm. Another account claims he was pushed by a UConn fan after getting hit in the face by his wing.   Maybe Zane can return the favor with a different kind of bird. I’m out until next week.

I could use a cigarette.

Final Score ISU 44 Iowa 41:  It took the Cyclones three overtimes to pull out the victory.   Yet it was it a satisfying win.   I actually believe this was one of the best days in quite sometime for tailgating and football.   The weather was fantastic, Iowa State had a full stadium, and the Cyclones won.   Before the game there wasn’t much wind, the only air movement was that of the Hawkeye fans talking about their assured victory.   After the game things turned quiet.  Before the game I predicted that turnovers would be the difference.   I was wrong, ISU lost the turnover battle, but won the third down and fourth down conversion battle.   ISU won the total yards battle 473 to Iowa’s 365.   ISU was dominant in both rushing and receiving.   Iowa edged out the time of possession 31 to 29 minutes.   But overall Iowa State had a very good handle on this game.   This game most definitely provided a Happy Ending. 

Next up Connecticut:  The Huskies are the 2010 defending Big East champs and the conference’s BCS representative, and they’re coming off their fourth straight bowl appearance and an 8-5 season after a loss to Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. The Huskies lost on Saturday to Vanderbilt at Vanderbilt Stadium after a Casey Spear's 32-yard field goal, that gave Vanderbilt a 24-21 victory.  Last year U-Conn beat a Vanderbilt team handily, handing Vanderbilt a 19 point loss at home.  This weeks loss brings the U-Conn Huskies to 1-1 record on the year.  There has been talk about Iowa State possibly getting an invitation to the Big East Conference when the Big XII tears down the Conference Tailgate .   The Commish says that is unlikely, but for those who enjoy a good story line, perhaps this game is a glimpse into a future Big East Rival. 

   

History in College football this week.  Alan Moore, a 61-year-old Vietnam veteran and grandfather of five, became the oldest player in a college football game when he kicked an extra point for Faulkner, an N.A.I.A. college in Montgomery, Ala. Moore wore a square-toe shoe and eschewed a soccer-style kick for a straight-ahead approach. He gave Faulkner a 25-0 lead in the second half of a 41-19 win over Ave Maria, playing its first game ever.

Moore, who kicked during his freshman year at Mississippi’s Jones College in 1968 before going to Vietnam, “is a couple of months older” than Tom Thompson was when he kicked off for Division III Austin College in 2009, according to Kent Stephen, a historian at the College Football Hall of Fame .  So you are saying there is a chance.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good:  ISU wins 20-19, and we get a little glimpse of our team for the 2011 football season.   It was a close call, we almost let one slip away from us.  "It's good to be 1-0," Head Coach Rhoads said. "We have absorbed and learned a lot since Saturday and now it is time to take that knowledge and improve our football team. "There was an overall lack of execution by our football team in the first game and that overrides any thoughts ... on what was successful or not."

The Bad: Iowa Hawkeye week usually musters up as much interest as Shark week on The Discovery Channel.   However, The last two years the Iowa-Iowa State football game has been nothing more than an easy non-conference tune up for the Hawkeyes.  Iowa won both games by a combined total of 70-10. For the Cyclones to reverse that trend, head coach Paul Rhoads said ISU needs to assert itself up front.   For some reason I’m really not as much into the Iowa Game this year.

The Ugly:  Texas A&M informs The Big XII they are planning to leave the conference.   Oklahoma has stated they are more actively looking at options than any other school in the Big XII.   This signals the demise of the Big XII,  Sources say Missouri has received feelers from the Big Ten, SEC, Pac-12 and Big East. Kansas has also received feelers from the Pac-12 and Big East, sources said. Kansas State has also received feelers from the Big East, sources said.  Iowa State doesn’t even get a mention.   The Musical Chairs game is on, the music has stopped and Iowa State doesn’t have a seat.   If Iowa State is lucky enough to land in a conference it is likely to be with a Mid-Major Conference.  "There are so many moving pieces right now, everything can change in an hour," said one Big 12 administrator Monday afternoon. "But it's total chaos right now."  Iowa State, Baylor, and others have stated it will take legal action against A&M for leaving the Big XII.  

 

Updates: Terri will be pleased to know that the Commissioner has been busy gaining a firm commitment from our latest Sponsor: Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar.   This is a coveted sponsor for the 2011 tailgate season.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar.   Martha Specializes in Red Raspberry Jam filled Heart cookies.   And the crowd favorite, “Swedish Lips” cookie.   Which is a tasty little bisque that has a frothy  white icing that I can only pray to God is some sort of Meringue.  

Some of you may have noticed Carl missed our tailgate this last weekend.   And perhaps you were curious what he was up to.   I can’t say exactly what he was up to but I was able to secure a picture from his weekend on the left.   We should have fun this weekend.  Get ready for a good Tailgate breakfast and pancake benefit—following the game will be pizza.