Football

Notebook: IPF Update; In Midland for Spring Event; and North End Zone Update. LAJ’s Don Williams has an update on the three items listed above, namely that there should be a ground-breaking ceremony to start construction of the proposed indoor practice facility near the spring game and that Texas Tech has raised $46 million of the needed $48 million to complete the project:

“We’re looking to break ground officially around our spring football game,” Hocutt said. “That’s our hope, to break ground ceremonially. We have raised right over 46 million dollars toward that project, so we’re going to move forward and we are continuing to work to close it out completely.”

Hocutt said plans call for construction to begin by the end of March and proceed on an 18-month timeline for completion. The Sports Performance Center will be part of the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. Athletic Complex that also encompasses the Red Raiders’ Football Training Facility and practice fields.

Williams also notes that it is likely that Texas Tech will return to Midland for a spring football scrimmage, although no decision has officially been made. Also, as to the North endzone renovation is in full swing and the former Letterman’s Lounge has been gutted.

Upgrade.

The Red Raiders Weight Room just got an upgrade! pic.twitter.com/jj31161Nqd

— Rusty (@rustywhitt) February 9, 2016

Pre-Spring Rankings. ESPN has some pre-spring rankings, for both running backs and also for quarterback. They have Texas Tech 7th at running back and 3rd at quarterback. Here is the bit on running back:

7. Texas Tech: Gone is DeAndre Washington, Tech’s only 1,000-yard rusher of this millennium. He won’t be easily replaced. Still, the Red Raiders have been excited about the potential of Justin Stockton, who’s been Washington’s backup his first two college seasons. He’ll have the opportunity to prove he can also be a feature back. Tech also has former ESPN 300 recruit Corey Dauphine to chip in, as well.

They also did their post-signing day team rankings and have Texas Tech 5th.

Ole Miss May Be in Trouble. Via the AP, it appears that Mississippi’s football program may actually be in some pretty serious trouble as 13 of the 28 allegations are actually against the football team. As you may recall, SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey reported in January that sources told him that the football violations were secondary violations and that Bud Elliott was told that the vast majority of the football allegations were more than two years old.

This is not what the AP is reporting.

Mississippi’s football program was cited by the NCAA in nearly half of the 28 rules violations levied against the school in the Notice of Allegations the university recently received, said a person with knowledge of the investigation.

The person said Tuesday that 13 allegations involve the football program, and nine of those occurred during current coach Hugh Freeze’s tenure. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The violations are a mix of Level I — which the NCAA considers most serious — and Level II and III. Many have already been self-reported by the school.

Make no mistake, the SB Nation report was right before National Signing Day and I would guess that there was certainly some information being fed in order to keep a class intact.

Sexual Assault Suit Filed Against Tennessee. Oh, boy. Yesterday, six women filed a federal lawsuit against the University of Tennessee claiming, “claiming the University of Tennessee has created a student culture that enables sexual assaults by student-athletes, especially football players, and then uses an unusual, legalistic adjudication process that is biased against victims who step forward.” I suppose that the reason I have continued to post these sorts of articles, particularly about Baylor, is because I see this being a possible result, but as mentioned in a comment last week, I wonder when that lawsuit doesn’t just reach out to a university, but to a head coach. Here are the details of this case:

The lawsuit, filed by plaintiffs identified only as “Jane Does,” accuses five Tennessee athletes of sexual assault. They are former basketball player Yemi Makanjuola, former football players A.J. Johnson, Michael Williams and Riyahd Jones and a current football player named as a “John Doe.”

The lawsuit also details an incident involving a female student who says she was sexually assaulted by a nonathlete, who was named a John Doe. The alleged assault took place after attending a football team party at Vol Hall, a campus dorm where she was served drinks by former UT player Treyvon Paulk, the lawsuit says.

In making its case that the university enabled an environment of bad behavior and used a disciplinary system that favored the players, the lawsuit cited more than a dozen incidents involving football players that included underage drinking, sexual harassment, assault, armed robbery and sexual assaults that did not involve the Jane Doe plaintiffs. Some of the incidents cited have previously never been reported.

If your house isn’t in order, it better be in order yesterday.