Big 12 Teams in Elite Eight

Two of the nation's top-level basketball programs will face off in the Elite 8 round of the NCAA tournament this weekend. Both teams just happen to be from the Big 12!

Second-seed Kansas and third-seed Baylor entered as technical underdogs in their match ups, but both teams have put up a fight to get where they are!

Baylor and Texas A&M Battle of Hostility

Robert Griffin III. AKA Robert Griffin !!!

He is a major reason why No. 20 Baylor heads into Saturday's showdown against No. @! Texas A&M as Texas' top-ranked team.

The Bears are sitting at 4-1 while Texas A&M is at 3-2.

The last time Baylor headed into a game as the state's highest-ranked college football team, it was 1991 and we were in the cyber boom.

Both teams are definitely preparing for a hostile environment. While A&M's move from conference to conference remained in limbo, a maroon billboard with white lettering surfaced in Waco, "Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's conference deal." College Station merchants began selling a T-shirt with the slogan: "It sucks to BU." The BU appeared in Baylor school colors.

Wow I can't wait to watch the game and see what happens!

Baylor Bears Josh Gordon Suspended Indefinitely

Baylor Bears Wide Receiver Josh Gordon was suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules. This is huge for the Baylor Bears. They are expected to have a really good season this year because they return star quarterback and plenty of other starters from a competitive Baylor team last year. Gordon caught 7 touchdowns last year.

Gordon is also a huge NFL prospect. He's 6 foot 4 and weighs 215 pounds. He has the ideal size and weight for an NFL wide receiver. ESPN's Mel Kiper has him rated as the 3rd best junior Wide Receiver in college football.

Gordon was arrested last October when he was found outside a Taco Bell passed out. Marijuana was found in his car, but he did not miss any games for the incident last season. You can imagine that this previous incident had something to do with him being suspended indefinitely.

Big 12 Player of the Week

Cyrus Gray - Running back for Texas A&M. Ran for 137 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 42-30 victory over Baylor. It was his 4th consecutive 100 yard game. He scored 3 of his 4 touchdowns in the 2nd half. They erased a 30-21 deficit at halftime and defeated Baylor 42-30.

Big 12 Player of the Week

Fresh off a 1 game suspension, Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon caught 13 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown in a 55-28 win over the Baylor Bears. He also scored on a 69 yard end-around run for a touchdown. He is on his way for a Heisman Trophy candidacy, although it is nearly impossible for a wide receiver to win the award these days.

Big 12 Week 8 Recap

IOWA STATE 28, Texas 21 - The Cyclones shock the Longhorns in Austin.

Texas Tech 27, Colorado 24 - A late field goal wins it for the Red Raiders

Nebraska 51, Oklahoma State 41 - Taylor Martinez throws 5 touchdown passes

Baylor 47, Kansas State 42 - Baylor moves into the Top 25 for the first time since 1993

Texas A&M 45, Kansas 10 - Jerrod Johnson broke the Aggies record for total offense

MISSOURI 36, Oklahoma 27 - Missouri takes down OU, the Sooners become the 3rd #1 team this season to fall.

Week Three Scores

Here are the Week Three Scores and Results:

TCU 45, Baylor 10

Colorado 31, Hawaii 13

Kansas State 27, Iowa State 20

Southern Miss 31, Southern Miss 16

Missouri 27, San Diego State 24

Nebraska 56, Washington 21

Oklahoma 27, Air Force 24

Oklahoma State 65, Tulsa 28

Texas 24, Texas Tech 14

Texas A&M 27, Florida International 20

Week Three Match-Ups

Oklahoma vs. Air Force

Baylor vs. TCU - Game of the Week

Colorado vs. Hawaii

Iowa State vs. Kansas State

Kansas vs. Southern Miss

Missouri vs. San Diego State

Nebraska vs. Washington

Oklahoma State vs. Tulsa

Texas vs. Texas Tech - Upset of the Week

Texas A&M vs. Florida International

For Oklahoma Sooners football tickets check out Sooners Tickets!

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.

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.

Robert Griffin is ready to roll

Baylor has kicked off their spring practices, and Robert Griffin is finally playing right alongside his teammates. Griffin had been away for six months due to a torn ACL, but didn’t look weakened one bit. Griffin was still going full-speed with the rest of the Baylor football players, even with the huge brace on his right knee. Griffin is well aware that it will be some time before he is able to go full force for Baylor on the field, but is ready to do whatever it takes to get him there. Griffin has been waiting and watching long enough, and is ready to play. Let’s hope he gets out there soon, because Baylor needs him!

Baylor Bears

The Big 12 football season is over, but I am not quite ready to quit blogging about it! So, I have decided to do a little research about each team each week just for you.

This week is all about the Baylor Bears.

Baylor is actually the only private school to participate in the Big 12 Conference. Before the Big 12, Baylor played for the Southwest Conference from its beginning until 1996 when it was ended. Joy and Lady (the two black bear mascots) have been around since the beginning, as well. The Baylor Bears have been playing at the Floyd Casey Stadium since it was built in 1950 and fills every single one of its 50,000+ seats almost every game with their screaming fans.

Although the Baylor Bears have the worst record in the Big 12 south, they keep their spirits high. In November of 2007, the Baylor Bears dismissed their head coach, Guy Moriss, and hired Art Briles to brighten up the team's spirits. The team has had its fair share of ups and downs, but they are hopeful Coach Briles will lead them to the win this next season.

Random facst:
-Baylor Bears won their first Big 12 road game in school history at Iowa State
-Baylor has 5 conference championships.

Check back next week for the scoop on the Colorado Buffaloes!

The Texas Longhorns could clench a spot in the Big 12 Conference Championship this weekend

The Texas Longhorns take on the Baylor Bears this weekend, and if all of the stars align correctly, they could insure a spot in the 2009 Big 12 Conference Championship Game. For The UT Longhorns to go all the way, they need to beat the Baylor Bears on Saturday AND the Oklahoma State Cowboys need to lose to the Texas Tech Red Raiders, not too out of the question.

Analysts are saying that the hopes of the Texas Longhorns are tied up in Colt McCoy who is also a strong contender for the Heisman Trophy this year. Other players to watch will be Cody Johnson, James Kirkendoll and Nick Florence.

The in-state rivals kick off on Saturday at Floyd Casey Stadium at noon.

Baylor Bears are out one Star QB, but team reamins positive

The Baylor Bears Star Quarterback Robert Griffen tore his ACL last Saturday in the first quarter of the game against Northwestern State. Some critics had called Griffen, "fastest quarterback in the country" and several had noted Griffen as "the team" for the Bears.

Bears head coach, Art Briles wants to dispell this rumor. Briles said that while the loss of Griffen is sad and we all hope for a speedy recovery, the rest of the roster is strong and will pick up the slack. We’ll grow from it, and in a few months, it will be fine. It’s unfortunate that it happened, but we’ll deal with it in a positive way.”

The Baylor Bears have a game against Kent State this saturday in Waco... hopefuly the hometown crowd is enough to make up for one very injured QB!

Bad News for the Baylor Bears?

Critics are saying that the Baylor Bears have been over-hyped. Although changes were made and there was a shake up in the preseason to the Baylor Bears roster, many say that Baylor Bears fans are optimistic if the bears do better than 5-7 record. Last year the Bears posted a 4-8 record from the regular season and made it 15 straight seasons without a Bowl Game appearance.

In the early preseason, some Big 12 analysts began to spread rumors and hype that this would be the season that the Bears come back… now many are saying it is like watching the Bad News Bears, the team is just not as competitive as its larger Big 12 counterparts and waiting for a miracle is pretty pointless.

Honestly, I can’t say one way or the other. For me Iowa State should always be at the top and we are always under-rated, so who am I to hate on another Big 12 underdog… but at the same time, if you have the bark of a big dog and the bite of a little guy maybe it is time to re-evaluate. After next week’s game against Connecticut fans and critics alike should have a better idea of what type of team we will see this season.