Burnt Orange Nation

All the Big 12-2 Conference news that is and isn't fit to read...
And some other stuff.

You just can't see this enough times...

Thank you, Manny Diaz. [AAS]

And Mack knows now, 13 games after starting the season, that it’s a lot easier to take big risks when you have as suffocating a defense as he does. The Longhorns didn’t just beat the Cal Bears — they beat them into submission.

In the fourth quarter alone, when Cal was trying in vain to come back, it managed just 7 yards of offense. Open, shut case.

Will David As be the go-to guy for the future? [AAS]

Basketball

Horns win! [AAS]

Youth isn't always a good thing. [San Antonio Express-News]

The task, like so many Texas coach Rick Barnes had given his six freshman this season, was simple. All Julien Lewis had to do Thursday was get out of teammate Alexis Wangmene's car and walk inside the gym for practice.

Somehow, though, Lewis managed to add to the degree of difficulty. He slammed the car door on his left hand, injuring it badly enough to sideline him for Saturday's game against Rice and give Barnes yet another youth-induced headache to deal with.

"Young teams make it more complicated than it needs to be," Barnes said.

Don't have the LHN? There may hope for some for you after all. [Barking Carnival]

Oh, look...Aggies win. I'll miss all those second half meltdowns when they leave. [NY Times]

A&M finally got out from under that ten-year bowl drought. [San Antonio Express-News]

The Aggies, playing their final game as Big 12 members and bound for the Southeastern Conference, snapped a five-game bowl losing streak within a football field's length of the site of their last postseason triumph. A&M won the 2001 GalleryFurniture.com Bowl 28-9 over TCU at the Astrodome.

There was plenty of celebrating over at 12th Man. [I Am The 12th Man]

And while I was away...[ESPN]

Sumlin has been an up-and-comer, and on Saturday, he up-and-arrived at Texas A&M, in a marquee job running a program that has spent more than a decade stuck shifting from second gear to third and back again.

Some out of sync advice for Kevin Sumlin. You can't win so get out now.

I will really miss those Ag message boards. [Ag Times]

Enjoy Kyle Field one last time.

And it's good-bye to A&M. Whoop.

Bob has big plans for the Land Thieves. [NewsOK]

The Sooners made a great impression on recruit Mario Edwards. [Crimson & Cream Machine]

Justin Blackmon may be the best receiver to play at OSU. [Tulsa World]

The Pokes may not be out of the title discussion just yet. [Tulsa World]

It would appear slim that either OSU or Stanford would be able to get enough votes in the Associated Press poll to grab a split national championship. Yet, it is not out of the question.

Bruce Feldman sums it up. [Tucson Citizen]

Bruce Feldman, senior college football columnist for CBSSports.com, just shrugged his shoulders.

That was his reaction when he learned that Kansas named Charlie Weis its head football coach.

The hiring was a little surprising because Weis had just returned to the college game a year after basically being forced out as offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs. It wasn’t that long ago when Weis was considered one of the hottest coaching prospects. "Now you’re taking a guy who had a pretty unspectacular stint at Florida where he did basically nothing with the offense and he’s the guy that didn’t succeed at Norte Dame," Feldman told the Victor and Matt Show on 110SportsPodcast.com.

Washington was really upset about that loss to Baylor. [Detroit Free Press]

In those coaches' defense, there isn't a lot you can do about RG3. Ask us how we know.

Iowa State lost to Rutgers in the Pinstripe Bowl. [Wide Right Natty Light]

Either Tom Herman mailed it in tonight, or Ohio State has some serious buyers remorse right now. But what playcalling could save a team that couldn't complete a simple 5 yard dump pass? Tonight, the Cyclones were equal parts lack of execution and a poor gameplan.

The Big 12 will be a cash cow soon. [CBS Sports]

Frustrated with conference defections and criticism of his school's stand-alone network, Texas AD DeLoss Dodds recently told CBSSports.com, "In the next five years, the Big 12 will be making as much [money] as anybody in the country."

That's as solid a statement as there has been about Big 12 stability since Missouri and Texas A&M left for the SEC. Those departures made it four teams leaving the league in less than two years. It's also another indication that any conference that contains Texas and Oklahoma is worth big bucks to television rights-holders.

Well, look at that. The Big 12 leads the bowl standings this year. [NewsOK]

Some stuff about our soon-to-be members.

TCU stages a comeback win the Poinsettia Bowl. [USA Today]

West Virginia is playing Clemson in the Orange Bowl. [Charleston Daily Mail]

A judge has denied West Virginia's motion to dismiss the Big East law suit. [Charleston Daily Mail]

Coaches get some plum deals. [NY Times]

Charlie Weis, who replaced Gill at Kansas, will have "reasonable travel expenses, lodging, food and entertainment expenses" for his wife and two children paid for by the university’s athletic department so they can attend games on the road. Weis’s wife and daughter make their permanent residence in Ocala, Fla. Weis also received $2 million in term life insurance paid for by his employer.

Nick Saban and Les Miles are already winners no matter what happens on January 9. [NY Times]

The Big Ten and the Pac-12 have reached a scheduling agreement. [SB Nation]

Florida has one devoted fan base. [Florida Times-Union]

Andy Staples is already making predictions for 2012 and yes, it includes the SEC. [SI]

An SEC team will play for the national title for the seventh consecutive season. That team will be LSU.

Just say no. [SI]

The Good, The Bad, The Sanctioned

Yes, universities are dedicated to educating those student-athletes. [APP]

For the second time in less than two weeks, schools are objecting to a reform measure sought by university presidents and endorsed by NCAA president Mark Emmert.More than 75 schools are asking to override a plan approved in October to allow multi-year athletic scholarships rather than the one-year renewable awards schools currently provide. That’s the minimum number of dissenters needed for reconsideration by the Division I Board of Directors when it meets next month in Indianapolis at the annual NCAA convention. The NCAA announced the change the Friday before Christmas.

And some of those same schools do not want to give stipends to athletes. [SI]

What was the biggest sports story of the year? There's no contest. [Yahoo Sports]

Ohio State will actually have to pay for their sins. [CBS Sports]

And finally...

My advice to you is just don't make any resolutions. You will be soooo much happier.

BDR doesn't endorse any of the rubbish out there in the interwebs, we just link to it. For a lot more daily rubbish on a somewhat timely basis, follow me on Twitter.com/dimecoverage.