Big 12 2014 Season

[BoysFan4ever]

OU defense is terrible. Big win for Baylor, they should win out. Texas may blow WVU out...WVU is overrated.

I don't think they're overrated. They've had a good season & from our WVU fans on here were not expected to be very good. I think they are pretty darn good.

 

[TheCoolFan]

I don't think they're overrated. They've had a good season & from our WVU fans on here were not expected to be very good. I think they are pretty darn good.

They're very tough to beat at home and yeah it's still a successful season for them but I say overrated because I don't think they're really a Top-25 team in the country like their rankings suggest right now IMO.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

They're very tough to beat at home and yeah it's still a successful season for them but I say overrated because I don't think they're really a Top-25 team in the country like their rankings suggest right now IMO.

I am so confused by all this playoff stuff I cannot keep whatever rankings teams have straight.

I like WVU. They're fun to watch.

 

[jterrell]

Interesting how TCU has an undergraduate population of about 5,500 and lots of endowment money, just about the same as SMU, but one has developed a successful program, while the other has floundered in even a better metroplex market. Winning is elusive, and there's good evidence that it emanates from the head coach.

This is not that strange to be honest.
SMU is MUCH harder to gain admittance to and the school has seldom lessened standards for athletes to enter post Death Penalty.
SMU wouldn't let Larry Johnson in for basketball for example.

Part of why Jones quit is he said he couldn't get kids into school.
He couldn't fill gaps or fight off attrition with JUCOs because of admittance requirement.

TCU is quite easy to gain admittance to and takes a number of transfers and JUCOs in line with most major football programs.

 

[jterrell]

Patterson actually was initially in the mix (as was just about every other successful HC) for the UT job, but he's under contract and happy. Can't blame him for wanting to avoid theglasscauldron that is UT, Bama, or others like Florida or Ohio St.

Patterson was never gonna be offered the job.
Like Briles he pulled himself when he was vetted but not offered, realizing it was better to look loyal than hang on for the slim chance of a late hire.

Patterson was behind 3 or 4 others in the search all along.

He is a very good coach but he is not the hand shaker they wanted at UT nor is he a big enough name to excite UT masses.
Even Charlie Strong was controversial and seen as too small a hire.

Now if Patterson wins the Big 12 and shows well in the CFBP I think that would change things dramatically for him.

It will be interesting to see if Michigan comes after Patterson.
They certainly could money whip him and provide him with resources galore and a very winnable conference.

 

[Doc50]

This is not that strange to be honest.
SMU is MUCH harder to gain admittance to and the school has seldom lessened standards for athletes to enter post Death Penalty.
SMU wouldn't let Larry Johnson in for basketball for example.

Part of why Jones quit is he said he couldn't get kids into school.
He couldn't fill gaps or fight off attrition with JUCOs because of admittance requirement.

TCU is quite easy to gain admittance to and takes a number of transfers and JUCOs in line with most major football programs.

Didn't know that about the admission requirement differences. Just visited both schools with my 17 yr old son, and it appeared on the surface that the criteria were nearly the same. I credit SMU for taking the high road, and other schools, such as Northwestern & Duke have only recently climbed out of the cellar, while Stanford is the exception. Would like to see Rice competitive again also.

 

[jterrell]

Didn't know that about the admission requirement differences. Just visited both schools with my 17 yr old son, and it appeared on the surface that the criteria were nearly the same. I credit SMU for taking the high road, and other schools, such as Northwestern & Duke have only recently climbed out of the cellar, while Stanford is the exception. Would like to see Rice competitive again also.

Yea, the average SAT score for SMU is over 1900 and the avg ACT is 28. TCU is well below in both marks.
So admittance is tough, especially for transfers or JUCOs.
They also lack the strong tutoring(read peer slave) programs that keep other athletes eligible.

SMU is a bit smaller in undergrads with only 6k students.
In fact it's 4k grad students is a crazy ratio.
SMU is a serious school with a subset of very affluent party students mixed with a lot of professional grad students aiming for 6 figure salaries.

TCU is more of a party and football school. 8k undergrads, 1.5k grad. Basic Big 12 school.

SMU would do well to copy TCU in efforts on the football field because that does draw in a lot of money which can be used for academic purposes like additional research.

Rice is well ahead of both academically and I am fine with them being bad at football because they really should be competing in the Ivy League.

 

[Doc50]

Yea, the average SAT score for SMU is over 1900 and the avg ACT is 28. TCU is well below in both marks.
So admittance is tough, especially for transfers or JUCOs.
They also lack the strong tutoring(read peer slave) programs that keep other athletes eligible.

SMU is a bit smaller in undergrads with only 6k students.
In fact it's 4k grad students is a crazy ratio.
SMU is a serious school with a subset of very affluent party students mixed with a lot of professional grad students aiming for 6 figure salaries.

TCU is more of a party and football school. 8k undergrads, 1.5k grad. Basic Big 12 school.

SMU would do well to copy TCU in efforts on the football field because that does draw in a lot of money which can be used for academic purposes like additional research.

Rice is well ahead of both academically and I am fine with them being bad at football because they really should be competing in the Ivy League.

I agree with your comparison.
Each school parallels somewhat the personality of its city.
My son is a bit more West-Texas laid back, and he's leaning toward TCU.
That would save me $10-15K per year, as SMU is now over $60K.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Stupid Texas Longhorns...they decided to finally decided to play good.

Grrrrr.

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Oh...I kind of want to see TCU win out and Baylor lose one more game.

I like that TCU actually scheduled a good out of conference team from a Power Five Conference instead of trying to weasel it's way out of it to make it easier on itself like Baylor.

Go TCU go.

Now with that said...watch Baylor go the rest of the season undefeated and jump TCU.

 

[DFWJC]

Yea, the average SAT score for SMU is over 1900 and the avg ACT is 28. TCU is well below in both marks.
So admittance is tough, especially for transfers or JUCOs.
They also lack the strong tutoring(read peer slave) programs that keep other athletes eligible.

SMU is a bit smaller in undergrads with only 6k students.
In fact it's 4k grad students is a crazy ratio.
SMU is a serious school with a subset of very affluent party students mixed with a lot of professional grad students aiming for 6 figure salaries.

TCU is more of a party and football school. 8k undergrads, 1.5k grad. Basic Big 12 school.

SMU would do well to copy TCU in efforts on the football field because that does draw in a lot of money which can be used for academic purposes like additional research.

Rice is well ahead of both academically and I am fine with them being bad at football because they really should be competing in the Ivy League.

This.

Overall academics (though each has their strengths..some more than others)
Rice>>SMU>>TCU

With just basic rankings US News...etc, ...

Rice is the highest rated school in Texas.

19) Rice
57) Texas
58) SMU
68) Texas AM
71) Baylor
76) TCU
149) UT-Dallas
156) Texas Tech


etc

TCU has moved up a lot. The exposure helps.

Also, the types of general ratings don't tell the whole story, as the giant schools can get watered down, plus it doesn't count grad programs.

Still, for perspective...LSU is rated 129.

 

[jterrell]

I agree with your comparison.
Each school parallels somewhat the personality of its city.
My son is a bit more West-Texas laid back, and he's leaning toward TCU.
That would save me $10-15K per year, as SMU is now over $60K.

I'd send my kid to UT or TAMU before I'd pay those prices.

I got into SMU and they wanted to do an aid package plus partial schooly but it was over 30k a year after room and board back in 1991.


My youngest wants to go to UT or Columbia and play volleyball....((UT is probably not possible for vball but she's very good)) So Columbia scares me price wise(no schollies for sports there) but we do have family that attended Columbia and live in NYC so room and board mitigated some.
My oldest wants to go to Tech and play women's basketball. I could pay for that if she wanted to walk on or only qualified for a partial bball scholly.
Both are nerdy kids but youngest is over the top nerdy so hopefully she gets academic scholly offers.

 

[Doc50]

I'd send my kid to UT or TAMU before I'd pay those prices.

I got into SMU and they wanted to do an aid package plus partial schooly but it was over 30k a year after room and board back in 1991.


My youngest wants to go to UT or Columbia and play volleyball....((UT is probably not possible for vball but she's very good)) So Columbia scares me price wise(no schollies for sports there) but we do have family that attended Columbia and live in NYC so room and board mitigated some.
My oldest wants to go to Tech and play women's basketball. I could pay for that if she wanted to walk on or only qualified for a partial bball scholly.
Both are nerdy kids but youngest is over the top nerdy so hopefully she gets academic scholly offers.

They'll need to be nerdy to get into UT or A&M; grades and ACT/SAT need to be better than SMU.
The difference in the Ponies and Frogs is that they actually look at almost all applicants, and they grade highly for leadership and extra-curricular activities. They create a modified GPA, that penalizes easy classes and rewards AP & dual credit. The statement from each was essentially the same; we'll take a 3.5 who's a leader and very involved over a 4.0 who's only a student.
I find that refreshing, and it will probably translate into better likelihood of success.
UT looked at only the top 7% of class standing last year, and still lost over 20% of the freshman class. So, that evaluation system has not proven to produce the best candidates.

 

[Doc50]

This.

Overall academics (though each has their strengths..some more than others)
Rice>>SMU>>TCU

With just basic rankings US News...etc, ...

Rice is the highest rated school in Texas.

19) Rice
57) Texas
58) SMU
68) Texas AM
71) Baylor
76) TCU
149) UT-Dallas
156) Texas Tech


etc

TCU has moved up a lot. The exposure helps.

Also, the types of general ratings don't tell the whole story, as the giant schools can get watered down, plus it doesn't count grad programs.

Still, for perspective...LSU is rated 129.

I've heard the saying, "If you can't get your grades up, then get your guns up!"

 

[jterrell]

They'll need to be nerdy to get into UT or A&M; grades and ACT/SAT need to be better than SMU.
The difference in the Ponies and Frogs is that they actually look at almost all applicants, and they grade highly for leadership and extra-curricular activities. They create a modified GPA, that penalizes easy classes and rewards AP & dual credit. The statement from each was essentially the same; we'll take a 3.5 who's a leader and very involved over a 4.0 who's only a student.
I find that refreshing, and it will probably translate into better likelihood of success.
UT looked at only the top 7% of class standing last year, and still lost over 20% of the freshman class. So, that evaluation system has not proven to produce the best candidates.

My kids are both A students and lifetime honor roll members with good test scores.
If they didn't get into UT to TAMU I'd probably disown them, lol.

I got into both TAMU and UT(school of engineering). And SMU and Rice. But finance was the issue for me with the higher ranked schools.
I went to Tech because they were the ones to stick with me for football after I got Rubella and was bed-ridden with an IV drip for 3 weeks.

If I had to do it all over again I'd probably go to UT for chemical engineering and just play club soccer.

 

[jterrell]

I've heard the saying, "If you can't get your grades up, then get your guns up!"

It is usually a fallback school for sure but the education there is definitely on par with TCU for most majors.

They are much, much cheaper and thus draw many more students. They have almost 30K undergrads.
Education (at the undergrad) is often a waste of money so it would be a major consideration for me.

Tech was a great school in many ways but the weather was the largest nightmare for me.
As a Dallas kid I wasn't prepared for a month of Minnesota style winter or dust storms.

 

[Doc50]

It is usually a fallback school for sure but the education there is definitely on par with TCU for most majors.

They are much, much cheaper and thus draw many more students. They have almost 30K undergrads.
Education (at the undergrad) is often a waste of money so it would be a major consideration for me.

Tech was a great school in many ways but the weather was the largest nightmare for me.
As a Dallas kid I wasn't prepared for a month of Minnesota style winter or dust storms.

Really good info, JT.

I have 3 other kids to finance also, so I'm hoping to steer them in the right direction, and get the best bang for the buck. Even my girls love the Big 12, though, so I'll be happy to attend a lot of games.

Hoping we get both TCU and Baylor in the big show this year.
Not at all disappointed that OU is out.

 

[Rogah]

TCU IS IN, BABY!!!*

* As of 11/11, subject to change in future rankings with or without a loss

 

[jterrell]

Really good info, JT.

I have 3 other kids to finance also, so I'm hoping to steer them in the right direction, and get the best bang for the buck. Even my girls love the Big 12, though, so I'll be happy to attend a lot of games.

Hoping we get both TCU and Baylor in the big show this year.
Not at all disappointed that OU is out.

A financial guy would tell you have them all do 2 years of community college for pennies then send them to a big name school with cachet for the BA. And get into the highest rated grad program possible.

But I am a realest and undergrad college is about life experience and making stupid mistakes and learning and living even more than scholastic education.

Any Big 12 school will provide that in abundance!

Where your money most matters will be grad school. Hopefully you get some help from the kids for that because 4 through grad school would break a CEO, lol.
I am hoping they help me and I just have to two.

I love the Big 12 so believe me I get the appeal. Austin is the best "visit" with weather and tons of activities. So if one of them get in UT I'd say you guys could have some fun football weekends there.
Tech and Lubbock are also a lot of fun unless you end up there like today when it is sub 20s. But those first few home games are so much fun it is hard to even describe.

 

[Doc50]

A financial guy would tell you have them all do 2 years of community college for pennies then send them to a big name school with cachet for the BA. And get into the highest rated grad program possible.

But I am a realest and undergrad college is about life experience and making stupid mistakes and learning and living even more than scholastic education.

Any Big 12 school will provide that in abundance!

Where your money most matters will be grad school. Hopefully you get some help from the kids for that because 4 through grad school would break a CEO, lol.
I am hoping they help me and I just have to two.

I love the Big 12 so believe me I get the appeal. Austin is the best "visit" with weather and tons of activities. So if one of them get in UT I'd say you guys could have some fun football weekends there.
Tech and Lubbock are also a lot of fun unless you end up there like today when it is sub 20s. But those first few home games are so much fun it is hard to even describe.

It wasn't long ago (earlier this year) that pundits still thought the Big 12 strength was way below the SEC and PAC 12 in football.

While it's true that the SEC leaders knock each other off from week to week, it's great to see the Big 12 getting more competitive.

The old Southwest Conference dissolved, and more recently, there was talk that the Big 12 wasn't strong enough to last.

TV contracts helped a lot, but so have alumni donors, now that size of stadiums and quality of coaches and national recognition have entered the picture.
I'm sure that applications have gone up, so the tuitions have, too. I will be doing my part to contribute.

It's been an exciting year -- now we need a 6 or maybe 8 team playoff in the near future to really settle this thing, because there will be some folks who have a legitimate gripe about being left out.