蜜柚直播

Most of the time, I support the Big 12 Conference鈥檚 push for what Commissioner Brett Yormark calls 鈥渙pen air鈥� 鈥� TV windows that have less clutter.

This Friday night is not one of those times.

蜜柚直播鈥檚 penultimate home contest vs. Houston will, at some point, be the only football game going. The costs outweigh the benefits in this instance.

Let鈥檚 start with the fact that there鈥檚 a UA men鈥檚 basketball game tipping off a little over an hour earlier at Wisconsin. Smart move by the athletic department to broadcast the first half on the video board at 蜜柚直播 Stadium. But I can鈥檛 imagine that鈥檒l put more butts in the seats for the football game. At most, it鈥檒l inspire some to arrive earlier.

If the UA had any real say-so in the matter, it鈥檇 never be like this. But the schools don鈥檛 make these decisions; the TV networks do. They鈥檙e the ones who pay the bills. So, for the most part, you鈥檙e compelled to honor their demands, er, requests.

The 8:15 p.m. kickoff time is suboptimal. The game will end at 11:15 p.m. at the earliest. That鈥檚 a deterrent for 蜜柚直播鈥檚 oldest and youngest fans, plus anyone who鈥檚 considering driving down from Phoenix and doesn鈥檛 want to stay overnight.

Additionally, six 蜜柚直播-area high schools are hosting playoff games that kick off at 7 p.m., including 蜜柚直播 High right down the street. The overlapping schedules only splinter the audience. A colleague suggested moving the high school games to Saturday afternoon. It鈥檚 way too late for that.

UA coach Brent Brennan said he鈥檚 鈥渆xcited to see what a Friday night in 蜜柚直播 Stadium looks like. ... Friday-night games always have great energy.鈥�

I don鈥檛 share his optimism about that. More likely than not, the Wildcats will have to create their own energy in a matchup between two teams struggling to earn bowl eligibility.

I鈥檓 not trying to discourage anyone from attending, by the way. 蜜柚直播 plays only six or seven home games a year. Those opportunities should be cherished.

But I wouldn鈥檛 blame you if you had someplace better to be.

Take that for data!

Nothing better demonstrates the difference in meeting expectations between the 2023 and 鈥�24 Wildcats than their record (ATS).

The 鈥�23 team, coming off a 5-7 season, went 11-2 ATS.

The 鈥�24 team, coming off a 10-3 campaign, is 1-8.

The 鈥�23 team won the two games it didn鈥檛 cover 鈥� at Stanford and Colorado. It won five straight games as an underdog before the oddsmakers finally adjusted.

The 鈥�24 team has been favored five times and has lost three of those games (Texas Tech, Colorado, West Virginia). It didn鈥檛 cover as a multiple-touchdown favorite against New Mexico or NAU. In retrospect, the lines against BYU (UA plus-3), CU (minus-2.5) and UCF (plus-6) were wildly inaccurate.

If for some reason you decided to bet 蜜柚直播 to win every game last year 鈥� and to lose every game this year 鈥� congratulations on doubling your retirement savings.

(Rincon) Market report

Going up: Colorado鈥檚 chances

Credit where it鈥檚 due: Deion Sanders has positioned Colorado to make a run for the expanded College Football Playoff. The Buffaloes have sole possession of second place in the Big 12 entering Saturday鈥檚 game vs. struggling Utah. If they win out 鈥� a Nov. 23 visit to resurgent Kansas is the biggest obstacle 鈥� they鈥檒l be in the conference championship game. First-place BYU is CU鈥檚 most likely opponent. If their stars are healthy, I鈥檓 taking the Buffs in that matchup. Which would put CU in the CFP two years after Sanders took over the worst program in the then-Power Five.

Going down: Postgame complaints

UA alum Mark Harlan has done a great job as Utah鈥檚 athletics director. was not his finest moment. After a controversial (but correct) defensive holding call gave the Cougars a chance to rally (which they did), Harlan hijacked the postgame news conference (which he wasn鈥檛 supposed to be a part of) and ripped the officiating and the Big 12. Harlan was fined $40,000 and released a pseudo-apology. The whole incident was the equivalent of drafting an angry email and not waiting 10 minutes to cool off before hitting send.

A question from my X

鈥淚MO, a coach doesn鈥檛 need to be good at everything to succeed, but they do need at least one 鈥榯owering strength.鈥� With (Dick) Tomey it was special teams, RichRod (Rich Rodriguez) it was the read-option offense, (Jedd) Fisch it was the QB position. What is Coach Brennan鈥檚 towering strength?鈥� 鈥�

Brennan is a culture- and program-builder.

The way he handled his first days as 蜜柚直播鈥檚 coach 鈥� 鈥� was a prime example of the former. The way he turned around under-resourced San Jose State 鈥� 8-29 in Years 1-3; 26-19 in Years 4-7 鈥� illustrates the latter.

I haven鈥檛 heard many, if any, accounts of dissension or finger-pointing in the locker room. The buy-in from the players seems to be complete and sincere.

The problem is, the on-field product hasn鈥檛 reflected that. And the team鈥檚 poor performance on Brennan鈥檚 watch 鈥� under an athletic director who didn鈥檛 hire him 鈥� has put him in a precarious position less than a year into his tenure.

Threads

Houston will don a standard road uniform Friday featuring white helmets with a black, interlocking UH logo; white jerseys with red lettering; and black pants. The Cougars are saving for next week against Baylor 鈥� their Oilers-esque 鈥淗ouston Blue鈥� uniforms. The NFL at one point threatened legal action against teams co-opting the Oilers鈥� Columbia blue color scheme. It should have remained the city of Houston鈥檚 intellectual property when the Oilers left for Tennessee 鈥� and ought to be the primary look for the Texans, whose regular home and away unis are arguably the most boring in the NFL despite a redesign for 2024.

What he said ...

鈥淚nteresting.鈥� 鈥� UA offensive line coach Josh Oglesby on what it鈥檚 been like patching together a banged-up unit

What he meant ...

鈥淭his has been a nightmare. We鈥檝e lost three of our top six linemen. Our depth was shaky to begin with. I鈥檝e had to play guys who just weren鈥檛 ready. I know it鈥檚 my job to coach them up. I鈥檝e tried everything imaginable to make this work. Just when I think we鈥檙e starting to figure it out, we take a step backward. Our performance against UCF was unacceptable. We won鈥檛 beat Houston if we play like that again.鈥�

The other side

Joseph Duarte, via :

Two words won鈥檛 be mentioned much, if at all, in the University of Houston locker room this week.

Bowl eligibility.

There鈥檚 still work to be done, but the Cougars can take a big step in what seemed like an improbable goal against struggling 蜜柚直播 on Friday in 蜜柚直播.

Coming off consecutive wins over Utah and then-No. 17 Kansas State, the top two teams in the Big 12鈥檚 preseason football poll, the Cougars (4-5) need two wins in their final three games to become bowl-eligible in Coach Willie Fritz鈥檚 first season.

The road won鈥檛 be easy. After 蜜柚直播, the Cougars host Baylor 鈥� itself in need of one win for bowl eligibility 鈥� and end the regular season at No. 9 BYU, which is in contention for the Big 12 title and a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff.

鈥淚 just try and focus on each game,鈥� Fritz said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e 100% focused on 蜜柚直播. I think that鈥檚 the way to do it. Everybody can say these what-ifs and all these other kinds of stuff. We鈥檙e not at that point in our program to do stuff like that, and I probably never will anyway.鈥�

Pick to click (aka #fadelev)

The last time we saw Kansas State, the Big 12鈥檚 other Wildcats lost to Houston. Before that, they needed a late field goal to edge Kansas. So why is KSU an eight-point favorite over 蜜柚直播 State, which has the exact same record (7-2, 4-2) and has won two in a row and four of its past five? Because Vegas knows KSU is the better team. ASU probably should have lost to UCF, which had a 406-260 yardage advantage. The Sun Devils needed a late touchdown to hold off Utah, which was playing a quarterback who had a season-ending injury. Both of those games were in Tempe. Give me KSU in Manhattan. (season record: 5-3-1)

One last thing

It鈥檚 mathematically possible that the SEC regular season could end with .

I鈥檓 rooting hard for this to happen. I want tiebreaker turmoil. The more coaching staffs, athletic departments and fan bases that are ticked off, the better.

In their power-grabbing greediness, the power conferences set themselves up for this. They super-sized their leagues and eliminated divisions. Yet two of them, the SEC and ACC, are still playing only eight conference games.

Even in the leagues that play nine, teams can have radically different schedules. , UCLA鈥檚 strength of schedule ranks ninth in the country. Indiana鈥檚 ranks 100th.

They both play in the Big Ten. They鈥檝e had one common opponent (Nebraska).

If your team gets bumped because of a random draw 鈥� the tiebreaker of last resort 鈥� just remember: Decisions have consequences.