New Commercial Confirms Kevin Durant "Man-Crush"

Just in case I was worried that my man-crush on Durant was fading, the NBA has put him in a really cool new commercial. Thank you.

A Season of Firsts

The Lady Longhorns came into the 2007 soccer season much like they have every year, a top ranked team filled with talent and expectations. Typically the hype has fallen short of performance and the Longhorns have fallen short in the conference tournament, the NCAA tournament, and against Texas A&M.

This season has been different as Texas defeated #2 UCLA in a neutral site game early in the season and have continued with a season of firsts. Texas added their second consecutive Big XII Tournament title with a victory over #2 Texas A&M. Heading into the tournament Texas got a tough draw, ending up in College Station with a second round rematch with the Aggies looming.

Texas accomplished another first on Thursday, defeating BYU in the first round. Texas to that point had never won a match in College Station, against the Aggies or anyone else. The win put the Longhorns in the second round, with a match up against the Aggies, whom they had never beaten in College Station.

In a game that faced adverse weather conditions, throughout, Texas A&M controlled the first half after a 50 minute weather delay, and took a 1-0 lead into the half. The second half is when the magic happened as Texas overcame the weather, the opponent, and the atmosphere, and did something they've never done before. Three straight second half goals put them on top 3-1, and they held on for the 3-2 victory, defeating the Aggies for the first time ever in College Station, and their fourth win in the last five matches against the Aggies.

Freshman Erika Campanelli picked the best time for her first career collegiate goal tying the game at one. And then seniors Caitlyn Kennedy and Kelsey Carpenter scored the second and third goals, respectively. Then the Longhorns played defense and held on, as Dianna Pfenniger had 7 saves, as Texas A&M had 23 shots.

The win is huge for this Texas program and one can only hope that the Longhorns can build on this victory and take on the only other hurdle standing in this program's way; they have never made it out of the third round. The Longhorns will try and fix that this Friday as they head to Tallahassee, Florida to take on the #3 seed in the region, the #6 nationally ranked Florida State Seminoles. The winner will meet the winner between the #5 seed in the region Connecticut and the #1 seed in the region and #9 nationally Stanford.

Baylor Bears 'Sic Guy Morriss

The Baylor Bears have officially shown Guy Morriss the exit. It's not like anyone did not see the writing on the wall. In his five years as coach, Baylor has posted an 18-40 record and a 7-33 Big 12 record. This season the Bears are winless in conference play.

GUY MORRIS FIRED

But, is Baylor even a job worth taking? What do fans expect from the Bears? Honestly, Morriss has at least made playing Baylor a harder win than they used to be. They may have a had a down year, but is bringing in a new coach really going to make Baylor a powerhouse or a attractive spot for recruits? The Bears aren't even competing with the Texas' and A&M's of the world. They usually fight for prospects with TCU, SMU and the like.

But I don't see that changing fast. The best thing Baylor can do is change it's schedule, not its coach. The best thing they can do is schedule four cupcakes in preseason play and if they can pull out just 2 conference wins, they can be bowl eligible. Baylor need not have delusions of grandeur of sustained success. But then again, who thought Kansas would be #2 in the nation after going 11-29 in conference play from 2002-2006?

Lloyd Carr to Retire, Per ESPN

ESPN is apparently confirming a rumor that has been discussed for the past several weeks. Michigan's head coach, Lloyd Carr will be retiring after the football season. Carr has coached the Wolverines for the past 13 years and was the last hold over from Bo Schembechler era at Michigan.

CARR OUT AT MICHIGAN

Carr brought a National Championship to the program in 1997, and Michigan has been an incredibly solid and consistent team during his 13 years. But, for all that Michigan did accomplish, fans always were left wanting more and felt like they never lived up to the expectations and talent levels. It couldn't help that Jim Tressel has made 2 National Championship games, brought a title home and Ohio State has started to consistently out perform Michigan.

This does have some indirect effect on Texas, because it will likely affect the names in the A&M hiring and LSU's Les Miles may be the favorite for the job.

Mormons Will Not Break Us, Bring on the Aggies

Texas opened up their quest for the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship on Thursday afternoon in College Station, Texas. Facing the #22 BYU Cougars, Texas had their first challenge in what was a horrible tournament draw.

Early on Texas looked like a focused and driven team, as freshman forward Alisha Ortiz scored two goals in the first 20 minutes of the match. The first goal was scored in the 10th minute as Ortiz dribbled through the box, around the keeper and passed the ball into an empty net to give the Horns a 1-0 lead. The score didn't stay like that for long as Ortiz picked up a loose ball outside the box and drilled a strike to the back upper side of the goal to give the Longhorns all they needed for a 2-0 victory. The outburst by Ortiz was a surprise as she only had one goal on the season coming in.

After the early lead, Texas was content to take the pressure off, sit back, and play defense. And defense they played, as BYU had 17 second half shots, forcing keeper Dianna Pfenniger to make 7 saves. However, Texas was able to keep the Cougars off the board and will advance to the second round for only the third time in school history.

There they will face #2 in the nation, Texas A&M who advanced with a 4-1 victory over Stephen F. Austin. Texas has split two meetings with the Aggies, losing 2-0 during conference play in College Station and defeating the Aggies 2-1 in a neutral site victory for the Big XII Tournament Title just 6 days ago.

The Longhorns have won 3 of their last 4 meetings with the Aggies, but have never beaten A&M in College Station.

Week 12 Spotlight

The Cleaning Crew took back control in Week 11, and the Staples need to make something happen quick if they hope to erase the 59 point deficit by the end of the year."

Quarterbacks
- Brian Brohm is third in the nation in passing yards per game, and is about the only bright spot for Louisville this season. They are going to score, and he's going to get his yards. They put up 31 points last week against a good West Virginia defense, so they will do their thing against anyone. For as good as the Louisville offense is, their defense is that much worse. That is why dual threat quarterback Matt Grothe of South Florida should have a huge day throwing the ball and running the ball against Louisville.

Runningbacks
- West Virginia has a big game this weekend at Cincinnati. They need a win to stay in the Big East Title race. When it comes to big games, the Mountaineers give the ball to Steve Slaton and let him carry them to victory. Look for him to have a big day. Another runner that will have a big day is big Anthony Dixon of Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have been a huge surprise in the SEC this season and Dixon has run for over 1,000 yards this season. Going against an Arkansas defense that doesn't really play any, the Bulldogs should be able to pound the football all game.

Wide Receivers
- When you have a team that has a system that produces insane numbers like Texas Tech's passing attack, the players involved will benefit. However, when you get talent in those systems the results are eye popping. Michael Crabtree has been having one of those years and he is good for over 100 yds, and a few touchdowns per game. Another big target that has had a big year is Aaron Kelly at Clemson. He has emerged as the go to target for quarterback Cullen Harper, and look for Kelly to have a big day against Boston College.

Offense/Defense
- West Virginia's offense is going to give Cincinnati problems this weekend. A team that can normally stop the run well, the Bearkats haven't seen anything like Steve Slaton and Pat White. Coming off a poor performance last week against Louisville, look for West Virginia to bounce back in a big way. Penn State travels to Michigan State this weekend, with the Nittany Lions looking to lock up a new years day bowl. It should be cold, with a chance of rain and snow, which will make it a low scoring Big Ten affair. Also, I'll be at the game, so I need something to cheer for.

Picks

Maryland (5-5)
Florida State (6-4)

#7 Ohio State (10-1)
#21 Michigan (8-3)

#23 Kentucky(7-3)
#9 Georgia (8-2)

Mississippi State (6-4)
Arkansas (6-4)

Duke (1-9)
Notre Dame (1-9)

Penn State (8-3)
Michigan State (6-5)

#17 Boston College (8-2)
#15 Clemson (8-2)

#6 West Virginia (8-1)
#22 Cincinnati (8-2)

Louisville (5-5)
South Florida (7-3)

#4 Oklahoma (9-1)
Texas Tech (7-4)

Week 12 Spotlight

Well, folks. It is close to the end of fantasy season and the Stomach Staples are still training the Cleaning Crew by a pretty sizable margin.
QB- Graham Harrell- You can't fault his numbers, he can just never put up enough points to win. Tech can pretty much score on everyone and Harrell is always going to get his yards and TDs. OU wont let him go for 700 yards, but you can count on at least 350 passing yards for Harrell.

QB- Sam Bradford- OU is playing Tech. Did you see Tech's defense last week (and this entire season)? They can't cover receivers or tackle. That is usually helpful for an offense. Bradford will have a big day.

RB- DeMarco Murray- This follows the same argument as all my Oklahoma player picks. They are playing Texas Tech. Last week, Jamaal Charles had 165 yards rushing in the first half against Tech. Murray is going to see a lot of open field.

RB- Darren McFadden- He is nothing short of the best RB in the nation. McFadden has racked up some unreal number this year including almost 500 yards rushing the last 2 weeks. There has been no team that can really stop him this year, so what are the chances Mississippi State is going to do it?

WR- Henry Douglas- Lousiville may be one of the biggest disappointing teams this year. But that mainly rests on their defense. The offense has still been high powered and Douglas has been the main recipient of Brian Brohm's passing.

WR- Mario Manningham- No matter if Mallet or Henne is at QB, Mario is going to be the go-to guy. He has really stepped up his play this year while Michigan have been forced to rotate quarterbacks either from injury of lack of production.

O- Oklahoma- The Sooners are playing Texas Tech. Do I really need to elaborate?

D- Florida State- The Florida State defense has really been the only part of this team that has performed decently this year. Maryland has been hit and miss on offense this year. Sometimes they look terrible, sometimes they hang 45 on BC. Let's hope the 'Noles bring it.