By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher
Your Tuesday roundup…
NO LOVE FROM LUNARDI: How much stock can you put into 2012’s inaugural "Bracketology" that was released on April 18 for the year 2012? From an Iowa State perspective, hopefully not much. "Smokin’" Joe Lunardi gave Iowa State and really the entire Big 12 two thumbs down in yesterday’s column that didn’t even mention Fred Hoiberg’s Cyclones. All together, Lunardi put five Big 12 teams in the Big Dance. Now that number alone isn’t a big deal. I’d guess today that it will turn out to be fairly accurate. Here are the teams that he included in the field, their seeds and my thoughts.
Texas, #1 – I have no problem with this. The four number one seeds are pretty simple to guess right now in my book. Along with Texas, you’ve got North Carolina, Kentucky and Ohio State. Assuming there aren’t any big roster changes coming that we don’t know about, those four should be locks.
Baylor, #6 – Really? This is the second best team in the new Big 12? I get that Perry Jones is coming back and that once again, Scott Drew has a mighty fine recruiting class coming in. But it is the name Scott Drew that makes me ponder this pick.
Kansas, #7 – I realize that the Jayhawks are due to lose both Morris Twins, Mario Little, Josh Selby, Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed, but do you really believe that Bill Self won’t salvage a top 25 team somehow? I guess I’ll give Lunardi a little bit of credit here. He didn’t rank this program high, just because they’re Kansas. I actually respect this pick. I don’t believe it will turn out to be true, but I respect it.
Kansas State (8) – Baylor will have a lot of talent next season. Kansas is Kansas. In no way, shape or form can I wrap my mind around this. Frank Martin is set to lose his two best players in Curtis Kelly and Jacob Pullen. Really, Pullen is the guy who this program has been built around. For the last four seasons, as he went, so did the Wildcats. There is plenty of young talent being left behind with guys like Rodney McGruder, Jamar Samuels and Will Spradling, but I don’t see this as an NCAA Tournament team next year.
Texas A&M (9) – That seems about right.
CLICK HERE to see Lunardi’s entire field. Feel free to respond if you agree/disagree with my thoughts.
WOULD YOU PICK IOWA STATE? Okay fanatics…Be Joe Lunardi for a minute. Would you put next year’s Cyclones in the Big Dance here in mid-April? It doesn’t surprise me that Lunardi didn’t. The guy probably doesn’t even know who Chris Allen is. As I wrote before, I think that five from the Big 12 is fairly accurate. If you finish in the top half of that new 10-team league, you’ll likely be dancing. My point is that if you’re going to put Kansas State in, then Iowa State has to at the very least be in the conversation. I’m going off of strictly talent here. Iowa State has plenty of it. How will these guys mesh? I’m sure that we’ll all hash that out for the next six months. To answer my own question, yes, I’d put Iowa State in as a bubble team next year. But again, this is mid-April. A lot can happen between now and then.
PRICELESS: You couldn’t make last Saturday’s Cy’s House of Trivia event? You missed out. Check out these two videos that were shown featuring Paul Rhoads and Fred Hoiberg. WARNING *** Swallow your coffee now. These are funny and you very well might spit it out all over your computer screen ***
FOOTBALL/TELEVISION STUFF: The Big 12 received its big payday last week. It is now the Big East’s turn. According to THIS REPORT, ESPN is about to triple its current deal with the Big East Conference. If these numbers turn out to be true, the bigger football programs within the Big East could potentially want to stay there, as they’d be on more of an equal playing field with other BCS leagues. That is the theory at least.
Meanwhile, because of what the Big 12 saw a week ago, folks out in Pac-12 country are amped up for the dollars that they might possibly see later this spring/summer.
On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Pac-12 is seeking a deal worth $2.3 billion over 10 years.
What does this mean for the Big 12? Root for it. If the Pac-12 scores big (which they likely will), pat those westerners on the back with a big cheesy smile on your face. As Jamie Pollard put it last week on 1460 KXNO’s Murph and Andy Show, the Big 12 is rooting like heck for the Pac-12 to blow its deal out of the water.
Why? That will only rise up the price when the Big 12’s tier one rights are up in 2014-15. At that point, Iowa State’s annual $17-20 million (that’s an estimate and nothing more) could shoot up even more.
LINKS GALORE
– The Daily Oklahoman investigates how the Big 12’s new setup favors southern teams.
– Oklahoma and Oklahoma State top this Big 12 preseason poll posted by the Daily Oklahoman. The poll puts Iowa State at ninth ahead of Kansas. CLICK HERE to check it out.
– ESPN.com’s David Ubben takes a look at attendance from various spring games around the Big 12.
– More from Ubben on the Big 12’s new TV deal. CLICK HERE for an interview with Kevin Sweeney.
– A lot of folks believe that without doubt, Oklahoma should be college football’s preseason number one come September. Here’s ESPN.com’s Ivan Maisel’s take.
– The Kansas City Star’s Mike DeArmond writes that Missouri is anxious for the Big 12’s future round-robin football schedule.
– Royce Woolridge is transferring away from the Kansas basketball program.
– New Missouri basketball coach Frank Haith is close to landing a 6-foot-11 prospect named Lekan Ajayi, reports Mike DeArmond.
