Wednesday Night Beer: The Big XII Moves On With Their Infighting

When I read the comments from Gary Pinkel, Bob Stoops, and Tommy Tuberville at this week's Big XII Media Days in Dallas, I have to wonder if Berry Tramel wishes he had never written last month that "as soon as Nebraska went out the door, everyone started getting along swimmingly." I have no doubt that it's inevitable that Texas A&M (and probably Oklahoma) departs for the SEC in the next few years. That being said, I think there is a core group of teams that will remain in the Big XII, as Texas isn't going anywhere now that the Pac-12 has started their own network and won't be interested in allowing Texas to keep the Longhorn Network. Neither will the Big Ten or SEC for that matter.  That means that schools like Baylor, Kansas State, and Iowa State will have a conference home going forward.


I thought Dan Beebe couldn't get any more ridiculous...then he walked to the podium in Dallas as the theme song to "The Natural" plays. Nick Bahe and Matt Schick of KOZN-1620 AM radio suggested some other songs might have been more appropriate, such as Beck's "Loser:
Personally, I think Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" probably fits the Big XII situation better...

Now the attention switches to the Big Ten media days in Chicago. Even though I'm barely only halfway through my opponent previews, I did submit an early ballot to the Big Ten Bloggers and CornNation as to a preseason prediction:

1. Wisconsin
2. Nebraska
3. Michigan State
4. Ohio State
5. Northwestern
6. Penn State
7. Illinois
8. Iowegia
9. Michigan
10. Purdue
11. Minnesota
12. Indiana

Friday morning in Chicago, Tom Osborne and Iowa athletic director Gary Barta will unveil the "trophy" for the new Iowa/Nebraska series. They'll probably call it a "rivalry", but frankly, I'm still trying to spit up the last black-and-gold forced rivalry.  Rivalries simply cannot be created or designated; they evolve over time, on the field. Could Iowa/Nebraska become a rivalry?  Very likely down the line...but it's not a rivalry, and frankly, doesn't really need a trophy either.

Well, maybe they could mock something up from this...

Speaking of Eric Crouch, the future of his comeback with the UFL's Omaha Nighthawks continues to be a bit of a question mark. Reports out of Hartford indicate that the Colonials could be eliminated to streamline the league down to a four-team venture. That might help cut the losses this season, but one would have to wonder what the impact of only playing three games in Omaha this season. I still think the Nighthawks are a viable franchise in Omaha, if they can find a way to keep the league going.  In the end, it'll come down to whether the NFL invests in the league as a development arm.  Without that, I don't know how the UFL survives.

Which would be too bad, because I think the Nighthawks are the best professional sports enterprise for Omaha since the days of the Kansas City/Omaha Kings of the NBA.