I threw this idea around in yesterday's DBR that nobody apparently read, so I'm resurrecting it here. It's something I want to do in a much larger post, but I thought I'd poll the audience, so to speak, first.
My top two games of the season probably won't surprise anyone. I was there for both big wins, each of which was special for slightly different reasons. I'm on record in our Season Awards as having the BlackOUt game vs. OU as my favorite of the year. Now that I've had a little more time to think (and warm myself up), I'm going to change that somewhat and go with the Texas game that won the Big 12 Championship. OU will now be second. My entire rankings look something like this, though I could be persuaded to go a different way:
1. Texas
2. Oklahoma
3. Iowa State
4. West Virginia
5. Kansas
6. Texas Tech
7. Kansas State
8. ULM
9. Buffalo
10. Wofford
11. UCF
12. Oklahoma State
13. TCU.
Despite the fact that we won, I hated nearly every second of the TCU game. There's no reason it should have been that close.
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Time to look to the future for SB Nation with recruiting in full swing and hyped HS player after hyped HS player ready to sign on the dotted line. If you're not making your way over to SB Nation's recruiting page, you should be.
College football recruiting: 2014's instant-impact early enrollees - SBNation.com
Freshmen who enroll early have a bigger chance of playing right away. Here are 2014's most likely year-one stars.
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College football's 2014 NFL Draft early entry winners and losers - SBNation.com
The SEC and Pac-12 send their usual hordes of junior and redshirt sophomore talent to the NFL.
Something you should notice (because every single CFB reporter on Earth made note of it) is that the Big 12 isn't losing all that much talent to early departure for the NFL. Where the SEC will lose 28 such players, the Big 12 has just 3. Part of that is the result of an undeniable league-wide talent advantage on behalf of the SEC, as much as it pains me to say it, part of it is sheer numbers (they have 40% more teams), and another part is the Big 12 retaining talent. As David Ubben pointed out this morning, all 10 Big 12 teams return a QB who started multiple games in 2013. 6 return their starters from the end of last season, the notable exceptions being Texas, TCU, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia. Since QB play, more than anything else, drives league performance, we could be in for a really good season next year for Big 12 teams. It will definitely be interesting, at worst, with TCU bringing in basically an entirely new offensive staff, Texas turning theirs completely over, and Oklahoma State replacing Clint Chelf with who knows.
Bryce Petty, Johnathan Gray among Big 12's Heisman contenders - ESPN
It’s never too early to start talking about the Heisman.
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Breaking Madden ended for this season yesterday. I laughed. I cried. I mourned the loss of Beeftank and celebrated his finding of self. But mostly I laughed and laughed.
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SB Nation's Top 100 CFB games of 2013 is worth a read. So ... read it. It is visually spectacular.
Top 100 college football games of 2013: Main menu - SBNation.com
Counting down the best college football contests of 2013, one of the best seasons of our lifetimes. And it might have included the wildest game we'll ever see.
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The NCAA conducted what was basically an Airing of Grievances yesterday that apparently did not go so well. Whether we'll now see any Feats of Strength has yet to be determined. Should be interesting to see how this develops with the playoff coming in 2014-2015.
The NCAA is falling apart: Athletic directors growing frustrated - SBNation.com
At the 2014 NCAA Division I Governance Dialogue, university athletic directors repeatedly expressed disapproval with the NCAA's idea of change.
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We may be looking at two new contributors to the board in the coming days. I'm excited about it. As always, if you are interested in helping out in some capacity, email me (ourdailybears (at) gmail (dot) com) and we can talk about it.
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What is the worst college football team of the last decade? | For The Win
The argument for which college football team stands as the best of the last decade has been made, remade and made again: It’s either 2011 Alabama, 2004 USC, 2005 Texas or [insert another team], right?
We didn't make the list! Celebrate.gif!!!
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Tweets Tweets Tweets Tweets Tweets:
Baylor Football Big 12 Recruiting Rankings 2009 - 8th 2010 - 5th 2011 - 7th 2012 - 4th 2013 - 3rd 2014 - 3rd Steady climb to the top
— Brian Ethridge (@TruthOrBear247) January 17, 2014
Expecting a Baylor bounce-back at home over OU Saturday, especially if Sooners continue to give up 50% from field in conference.
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) January 17, 2014
#FF ODB crew: @PrasFrancis, @pbpope, @tedvid, @unlikelyfanatic, @colbyconner, @dfank_BU, @MilesHKelly, @ImaHammerU, @mattisbear... #SicEm
— OurDailyBears (@OurDailyBears) January 17, 2014
#BackInBlack is tomorrow. Come out and support your Bears. #SicOU http://t.co/LSvku9Xmqq
— Baylor Basketball (@BaylorMBB) January 17, 2014
I like to think that Ted is partially responsible for Baylor buying so heavily into the Hype Video craze.
Crennel impressed by Baylor TE Jordan Najvar @jnaj18: "He showed up making a lot of good catches, gaining yards. He kind of jumped out."
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) January 17, 2014