Realingment

Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported that Memphis offered the Big 12 $200 million over 5 years to join the Big 12, but the Big 12 was not keen on moving forward:

Memphis’ proposal is described as a “no-risk” concept, according to some in the Big 12, and it also sets a standard, perhaps, of expansion fees to enter a league. The school would: take zero distribution for the final five years of the league’s new television deal with ESPN and Fox; add the sponsorships in excess of $150 million over five years; and subject itself to expulsion after 2030-31 if Big 12 deems it is not adding value.

On the Hardwood

Christian Anderson was named to Germany’s EuroBasket roster and you might be thinking about what’s the big deal about that, and this is not some U19 team, but “the” German team with their best players and will play August 27th through September 14th. Quite a big deal.

On the Gridiron

The Houston Chronicle’s Kirk Bohls on how has Texas Tech become the new face of a new era of college football:

For his part, McGuire has no issues with Texas, whose payroll will rival or even top Tech’s this fall, and said he believes the Longhorns “without a doubt” are totally above board in their payouts.

He even said their two respective general managers talk regularly and compare notes. McGuire offered that he texted a congratulatory note to Texas coach Steve Sarkisian for appearing on the cover of this summer’s Texas Football magazine, a spot of some acclaim in this state.

“I love Sark,” McGuire said. “I think he’s doing a phenomenal job. I’m a big fan.”

Just two peas from the same high-spending pod.

In the meantime, McGuire and the Red Raiders will enjoy all the exposure and attention.
“It’s kind of comical,” he said. “Everybody’s doing it, and now that it’s Texas Tech doing it, it’s wrong.”

Not wrong, to be clear. Just different.

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football’s Mike Craven on people complaining about Texas Tech spending, but no one was complaining previously.

Speaking of complaining, Houston Chronicle’s Leah Vann is upset at Cody Campbell because he’s using a statistic incorrectly and says that he’s using women’s sports to push his agenda, which he is, although I think Vann doubts that he cares about women’s sports because he’s not spending as much money on women’s sports that he is with men’s sports:

The issue isn’t that Campbell supports or claims to support women’s sports, though. The issue is he’s using women’s sports to push his agenda by misquoting a study. And supporting women’s sports should not be exclusive to a political agenda. In this case, he’s advocating for the NCAA to have an antitrust exemption regarding paying athletes, removing players’ ability to be treated as employees and thus maintaining control over their earnings.

/snip/

By not allowing athletes to be considered employees, Campbell’s movement to “Save College Sports” will inevitably hurt women, preventing them from unionizing to request higher pay, negotiate collectively and secure a larger share of the spending cap.

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal’s Nathan Giese ranks Texas Tech’s games based on intrigue, team talent and potential for chaos.