On the Diamond
Another morning where I am up too early for the preview to be ready. This is link to the win over Oklahoma and the video below is fantastic. Tonight’s game against Texas is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be on ESPN. If you are hungry for something to read, this preview of the series by On3’s Brady Vernon is very informative.
On the Gridiron
ESPN released their FPI, all based on a formula, and Texas Tech is at No. 35, but a few of the writers think that Texas Tech is the team most likely to make a move:
Trotter: Texas Tech landed the nation’s top transfer portal class, beefing up the trenches on both sides of the ball to a team that went 8-5 last season. With 24 career starts behind him, quarterback Behren Morton should be even better after throwing for 3,335 yards and 27 touchdowns last year. If the portal additions playing up front defensively, combined with the arrival of new defensive coordinator Shiel Wood, can bolster a unit that ranked just 108th in EPA last year, the Red Raiders could threaten for a conference title and playoff berth in what figures to be another wide-open Big 12.
CBS Sports’ John Talty on the situation between the SEC and the Big Ten on the auto-qualifiers versus at-large bids:
Those involved in the discussions and participants in the meetings say once Big Ten leaders laid out the reasoning for a move to more automatic qualifiers — chief among them taking away power from a perceived inconsistent selection committee process and allowing for better non-conference scheduling — it gained traction within the SEC. The Big Ten believed a move to more automatic bids would lessen the selection committee “conflicting itself week-to-week,” according to one source familiar with the discussions, and allow for consistency that it didn’t think was possible for a 13-person group that changed its membership year-over-year.
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Therein lies part of the problem moving forward. The SEC doesn’t like how the selection committee handled last year’s playoff field. Guess what? The Big Ten has similar concerns, which is why it is trying to deemphasize the committee’s impact with the introduction of more automatic qualifiers. In the Big Ten’s plan, the committee would primarily focus on seeding. It would only have to select three at-large teams — if it expands to 16 teams — rather than the seven teams it currently picks.
CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello on how the deadline for a final judgement has been pushed back to June 27th from June 6th. There are a ton of implications for this, namely that this simply creates chaos between now and the deadline, which tends to work out in Texas Tech’s favor more times than not.
Former players on the new facility.