Cowboys Rebuilding

Mike Gundy, the Oklahoma State Cowboys coach, is now facing the obstacle of completely rebuilding the team. This will be Gundy’s sixth season with the team and it is the first time in a while without a seasoned quart back, outstanding receiver, seven stellar defensive starters and the Cowboys’ All-American offensive tackle. In order to help out the transition, Gundy hired on Dana Holgorsen as the offensive coordinator. During spring training, the Cowboys players showed great potential leaving Mike Gundy feeling a bit of relief.

Silver lining for the Baylor Bears

Robert Griffin, the Baylor Bears quarterback, is expected to come back 100 percent this season on a sophomore standing. Since he tore his ACL last season, keeping out for most of the season, Griffin was granted a redshirt by the Big 12 conference. This is great news for the Baylor Bears who haven’t made it to a bowl game since the 1994 season. If Griffin can stay healthy, the Baylor Bears will have a great chance at ending their bowl dry spell. With Coach Art Briles by their side as a third year coach and a brilliant recruiter, let’s hope the Bears can pick it up a notch this next season.

Missouri Tigers Spring Game

The Missouri Tigers did a phenomenal job in their 2010 Football Spring Game. The annual Black- Missouri Gold Spring Game was held on this past Saturday at the Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field.

There was a crowd of about 15,000 fans in attendance to get one last look at the promising easoned, and a few new, talent on the Missouri Tigers team. The Tigers lineup was impressive and everyone is really pumped to see what the 2010 season will produce.

The Tigers players will now finish up the rest of the spring semester and then will have an "optional" summer conditioning practice in Columbia. The vast the majority chooses to participate since, if they didn't, they wouldn't get to play much in the fall. The practices start in August and entail a two-a-day workout. The end of the conditioning ends with their game against their rival Illinois on September 4th. The Missouri Tigers football home opener for the 2010 regular season is September 11th against McNeese State.

Chris Harper transfer to Kansas State

Chris Harper, a transfer player for Kansas State, is a stand out player but this is the first football season since high school he hasn’t gone into a season as quarterback. The Kansas State coaches have locked Harper in at starting wide receiver and intend to keep him there. The Kansas State coaches are also pumped for the season to be underway to see what Chris Harper is really capable of. So far, Harper has fit in smoothly with the team and he is optimistic for the coming Kansas State football season. Harper started off with the Oregon Ducks but, after not finding his right niche, transferred to Kansas State to try his chances again at quarterback. Harper gave up those hopes after being told by the Kansas coaches he had a chance at the NFL if he switched to wide receiver, which he did immediately with a smile on his face. I’m looking forward to seeing what this kid can really produce!

Baylor Bears and the linebacker lineup

Joe Pawelek, a four-time all-Big 12 linebacker for the Baylor Bears, has been a show stopper the past four years. Now with Pawelek graduated, the Bears will need a player to step up to the line and take his place on the field. Living up to the skill level Pawelek had brought to the field would be intimidating to any player, but the Bears have a few up their sleeve. The Baylor Bears’ coaches are hopeful to keep up Pawelek’s momentum and the status of having the more talented line backing unit in the conference. Veterans, like Antonio Johnson and Chris Francis, are ready to show their school that they can still bring a solid performance to a Baylor Bears football game.

Big-12 2011 recruiting underway

Big-12 recruiters are counting down the days for the 2011 Signing Day. As of now, Texas is ahead of the pack with 19 verbal commitments. Granted prospective players won't be able to actually sign on with the school of their choice until February of next year, so the commitments aren't binding, but it is still at the forefront of every recruiter's mind. 14 of the 19 Texas recruits have made the top 150 recruits list in the country (ESPNU 150). Two of them are also Under Armour All-Americans. Oklahoma is sitting at second place in verbal commitments with only seven total, but six are on the ESPNU 150 and six are Texas-natives.

The man behind the Big 12

On September 5, 2007, Dan Beebe became the third commissioner of the Big 12 Conference. Beebe has been working his way up since February 2003, when he began serving as a senior associate commissioner and chief operating officer. Since he was finally given the title, the 12 teams have really come through for him with four national championships and four teams in the Bowl Championship Series.

Dan Beebe is also on the NCAA D-I Men's Basketball Committee, serves on the Exec Committee of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, along with a few others. Beebe thrives on being involved within the community, and has done the Big 12 Conference well with his abundance of experience. Dan Beebe is committed to his teams by constantly bringing in more revenue, as well as continually improving sportsmanship policies and procedures.

Dan Beebe is originally from Walla Walla, Washington and is currently married with three children.