Football Saturday!!! Three games to watch

With realignment talk finally on the back burner for good (well, at least for now), let's look at three big matchups for today!

* Oklahoma State at Texas A&M


The Cowboys hit the road for a top-ten tilt that will give the winner a clear shot to challenge Oklahoma for the Big 12 conference title. Brandon Weeden has led the Cowboys to three straight lopsided wins over outmatched opponents, but has been inconsistent with a league-leading six interceptions thus far. Ryan Tannehill is still looking to quiet the doubters, sporting higher effeciency rating than Weeden (164.8/157.5) and only one interception.

The biggest question for both teams is arguably defense. Oklahoma State surrendered a jaw-dropping 365 yards rushing to Tulsa in their late night marathon a week ago, but most of those yards came with OSU playing out the string with a huge lead and Tulsa playing without their starting quarterback. A&M has played virtually no competition of much note, so how they will fare against Oklahoma State's high-powered passing attack remains to be seen.

It sez here that OSU on the road against one of the toughest home environments in college football will be just a bit too much for the Pokes to overcome. With A&M on its Big 12 Farewell tour, look for Texas A&M to post a wild 42-38 win over OSU this afternoon.

* Arkansas - Alabama 


The Crimson Tide may have one of the the best defenses in the country, teamed up with one of the best pair of running backs in the country. So what's a Razorback fan to do? Still, Bama hasn't exactly blown out its first three opponents, but has never been seriously challenged, either. Arkansas did blow out its first two opponents, but found itself in a bit of a battle against Troy before prevailing 38-28. Neither team has enjoyed success in winning the turnover battle (Bama at -3, Arkansas at -4), and Bama's special teams - particularly in the FG department - has been less than special.

One interesting difference is offensive efficiency. While both offenses have been productive inside the redzone,  Arkansas has been better at converting those trips into touchdowns, while 'Bama has been settling for field goals. The Razorbacks have converted 100% of its 13 trips into points, settling for field goals only three times. By contrast, Alabama has converted only eight into touchdowns. That highlights the potential risk for Bama should the game come down to  one of trading TD's for field goals.

It sez here that, honestly, though, FG's and redzones won't matter. Playing at home, Alabama will use its defense to upend a solid but largely untested Arkansas offense, and secure a 27-14 win over the Razorbacks


* Oklahoma - Missouri


Last year, the Sooners went to Columbia as the #1 team in the country, but a mistake-prone Sooner offense stumbled its way to a 36-27 loss at the hands of Blaine Gabbert and the Missouri Tigers. This year, the Tigers visit Norman with a young, inconsistent quarterback, a nearly-as-young team, and a Sooner squad fresh off a national TV road win against then-#5 Florida State.

It seems too easy, doesn't it?

It seems impossible to think Oklahoma could enter its contest tonight with the same emotional intensity it showed against Florida State, and that gives Missouri an early-game opportunity to make things interesting. If Oklahoma's defensive tendency to play guts-and-blood defense 90% of the time while allowing an inexplicable big play the other 10%, Missouri has the offense to take advantage. The key: A great early start for Missouri quarterback James Franklin.

If the Oklahoma offense comes out and establishes tempo, Missouri will be in trouble. Combine that with Oklahoma's defense that held Florida State to 27 yards rushing a week ago, and Missouri had better pounce on any early game opportunities - or it could be a long day for the Tigers.

It sez here Oklahoma may have a sluggish early-game start, but the friendly confines of Oklahoma Memorial Stadium combined with a revenge mindset gives the Sooners every chance for a lopsided win. Look for Oklahoma to come away with a 41-20 win.

Legal Knots: Realignment Wednesday

Update 9:47 9/7: Word started to trickle in about 90 minutes ago that doubt was being cast on the veracity of the Waco Tribune story that said six Big 12 schools were working in concert to block the A&M move to the SEC unless Oklahoma agreed to stay. Subsequent updates and tweets from several sources now indicate the Waco story was, at best, bogus, and that the actual primary actors are most likely Baylor via Ken Starr and, possibly, Iowa State.


The story started to unravel when Texas Tech denied any involvement with any lawsuits (heck, their legal team is still tied in Mike Leach knots), and Oklahoma denied any knowledge that it was being made into the fall guy for the Big 12's future. Ultimately, this appears to have been a craftily laid land mine possibly set into motion by Ken Starr of Baylor. 


How this does or doesn't affect the Big 12 issues at hand remains to be seen, but clearly the line of the night award belongs to ESPN's Pat Forde, who lead off his column tonight with the following gem:

There is nothing funny about what's going on in the Big 12 right now. Except for the fact that it's fall-down hilarious.

Stay tuned. Please feel free to add your comments below, or join EndZoneReview!


With the SEC vote to accept Texas A&M now known, it became clear early today that the invitation wasn't quite that clean cut. Word had been communicated to the SEC that one or more Big 12 schools weren't crazy about the pending departure, and were not standing by a previous agreement from the Big 12 to release any claims the conference had against A&M for their departure. As a result, the SEC's invitation was conditional upon a waiver from each Big 12 school of their right to sue.

Word comes down that eight of nine schools are refusing to waive that right, unless Oklahoma decides to remain in what's left of the Big 12.

Now, no one knows quite what will happen next. As for an opinion, I believe the refusal to waive rights has been orchestrated by Texas itself in order to put that "extreme pressure" on OU to remain in the Big 12. Texas would like nothing better for OU to take the role of villain in the dismantling of the Big 12. For OU, it seems imperative that they not knuckle to this lowest-common-denominator blackmail, and pursue its own best interests.

Something's rotten in Denmark: CBS reports that Texas Tech has denied any threat to sue anyone regarding conference realignment. George Schroeder tweets that some info he's learned makes him skeptical of the original Waco news report indicating this "band of 6 threat." Exactly what is going on is unknown, but something is clearly rotten in Denmark. At worst, its ridiculous propaganda, at worst its malevolent posturing. 


Where is this all heading? No one really knows. To an extent, the entire theater is getting a bit ridiculous. The core of this round of realignment is the Longhorn Network, and for Texas to shift the blame to any other party is laughably disingenuous.

Stay tuned

Early rumor: SEC VOTES TO EXTEND A&M INVITE

This is very early and unconfirmed, but David Sandhop, the publisher of Aggie Websider has tweeted that he believes the SEC has voted to extend a conference membership invitation  to Texas A&M! Slive has also reportedly been authorized to negotiate with Missouri and West Virginia about becoming the 14th team.


Confirmation as I hear it!!!


Update: Aggie Websider has published a story on the SEC vote:


Update 10:39 PM: Chip Brown now says West Virginia was initial target for 14th team, but with Big 12 apparently imploding, Missouri is legit target. 


SEC votes to invite A&M, negotiate with Missouri, W. Va.