There are some really important games this weekend. I think it's hard to say which is the most important.

Number 3 TCU takes on number 5 Utah, which will without a doubt shuffle the Top 5 in the BCS. One team will drop and the other has the potential to climb.

Number 6 Alabama goes to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to play the number 10 LSU Tigers. Baton Rouge is a nasty place to have to go on the road and play. This game has National Title and SEC West Title implications on the line. If Bama wins, they are still in the hunt for both SEC West and the National title games. If they lose, they are out of both. If LSU wins out and the number 2 Auburn Tigers lose to both the Georgia Bulldogs and the number 6 Alabama Crimson Tide, then they could make the SEC championship game and have an outside shot at the BCS championship game.

Number 15 Arizona goes to number 13 Stanford in a game that should separate the contender from the pretender in the PAC 10. Is Arizona a legitimate threat to Oregon? Not if they don't beat Stanford. The Ducks have several PAC 10 games left. A loss to Arizona and a loss to Oregon State, would give Stanford the Conference Title if they are able to win out. If Stanford beats Arizona and Arizona beats Oregon, then the PAC 10 is going to join the ACC, Big East, and SEC East as a sloppy mess. If Stanford loses, then Arizona controls its destiny in the PAC 10.

Number 18 Arkansas goes to Columbia, SC to take on the number 19 South Carolina Gamescocks in a game with SEC East implications. Arkansas is pretty eliminated from the SEC West title. South Carolina, however, is in the thick of the messy SEC East. They are actually in the drivers seat for it, but a loss to Arkansas would end that.

Number 21 Baylor goes on the road to take on number 17 Oklahoma State. Baylor beat Texas, but are they for real or is Texas that bad? Well, we find out this weekend. The Big 12 South is still wide open and the 3 teams (Oklahoma is the 3rd) vying for the South Title have yet to play each other. This is the first game between their top 3. Whoever wins will be in the driver's seat and have to beat Oklahoma to go to the Title game. Also, a loss by Baylor hurts TCU in the BCS. So far Baylor has been there big win and the discussion about Utah is that they shouldn't be #5 in the polls. So TCU would love for Baylor to win the Big 12 South.

All I know is we have a great slate of games for the weekend. What do you think is the biggest and most important?

Brian Johnson

Notre Dame may get another shot at a team that dealt it a defeat last season.

Coach Muffet McGraw’s women’s basketball team will play in the 2011 Pre-season Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

Baylor, ranked No. 1 in a number of preseason polls, defeated Notre Dame, 76-65, in Waco, Texas, last season. The Bears feature 6-foot-8 All-American Brittney Griner. UCLA beat Notre Dame in South Bend, 86-83, in double overtime.

As the top seed, Baylor likely would host a possible game against Notre Dame. If Baylor is upset, and Notre Dame advances throughout, the Irish would likely host the final.

Notre Dame won the WNIT preseason crown in 2004, and finished third in 1996 and 2007.

The Irish will open pre-season WNIT play on Friday, Nov. 11, against Akron. Akron loses just one senior from last season. The Zips finished 14-16. The Zips posted a school-best record of 18-14 in 2009-10.

The second-round opponent for Notre Dame would be the winner of the Detroit-Indiana State game.

First-round Preseason WNIT games 2010-2011 team records in parentheses. All times Eastern.

Friday, Nov. 11, 2011

Game 1: Akron (14-16) at Notre Dame (31-8), 7 p.m.

Game 2: Detroit (13-18) at Indiana State (16-16), 8 p.m.

Game 3: Manhattan (24-10) at Hartford (17-16), 8 p.m.

Game 4: Long Island (19-11) at Drexel (19-13), 7 p.m.

Game 5: Howard (16-18) at Baylor (34-3), 7:30 p.m.

Game 6: UAB (20-15) at Chattanooga (17-14), 7 p.m.

Game 7: McNeese State (26-7) at UCLA (28-5), 5 p.m.

Game 8: Tennessee Tech (23-8) at ETSU (19-12), 7 p.m.

Second round

Second-round games will be played Nov. 13-14 and sites will be announced following the first-round results.

Pairings: Game 9: winner Game 1 vs. winner Game 2; Game 10: winner Game 3 vs. winner Game 4; Game 11: winner Game 5 vs. winner Game 6; Game 12: winner Game 7 vs. winner Game 8.

Semifinals will be Nov. 16-17.

Pairings: winner Game 9 vs. winner Game 10; winner Game 11 vs. winner Game 12.

Championship is Sunday, Nov. 20.

Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on the second weekend, Nov. 18-19. All games are hosted by participating schools.

Jeff Evans

Baylor University's Robert Griffin III (RG3) became a Heisman Trophy Award hopeful following the first game of the season, but since then his team has lost three games. Is he still a Heisman Contender?

Heisman Trophy

June 3, 2011

Kickoff for the 2011 Baylor-Texas Tech Texas Farm Bureau Insurance Shootout at Cowboys Stadium has been set for 2:30 p.m. CST on Saturday, Nov. 26 and will be televised nationally on FSN, the Big 12 Conference announced Friday as part of its early season telecast package release.

The Shootout vs. Tech, in which Baylor is the designated home team, is the Bears' third announced television contest of the season. Previously announced were the Sept. 2 opener vs. TCU (to be telecast on ESPN at 7 p.m. CDT) and Dec. 3 regular-season finale vs. Texas (on ABC at 2:30 or 7 p.m. CST), both at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco.

"We're pumped up about more opportunities to play on national TV and the exposure for our program," Baylor head coach Art Briles said. "Having three nationally televised games already set for Baylor Football certainly shows the respect for this program and the direction we're headed."

Baylor's remaining two non-conference games are both scheduled for 6 p.m. kickoffs, home contests vs. Stephen F. Austin Sept. 17 and vs. Rice Sept. 24 (Parents' Weekend).

Season tickets for Baylor's 2011 season are on sale now online at BaylorBears.com/tickets or by calling 254-710-1000 or at the Baylor Athletic Ticket Office at the Ferrell Center (8-5 p.m. Monday through Friday). Packages start at just $90 and include reserved seats to each of the Bears' school-record tying seven home games this fall at Floyd Casey Stadium.

Baylor opens the 2011 season with three straight home games for the first time since 2008 and only the second time in the Big 12's 16-year history. All-told, BU will play seven home games in 2011, including four of its first five at Floyd Casey Stadium, where it posted a 4-2 record a year ago.

Baylor returns 14 starters, including 2011 Heisman Award candidate Robert Griffin III, from last year's team which went 7-6 overall and played in the school's first bowl game in 16 years. The Bears' record-breaking 2010 season, which saw them spend multiple weeks in the polls en route to a school-record for Big 12 victories, was fueled by a powerful offense that set or tied 55 school records.

Jeff Evans

Baylor's Robert Griffin III (RG3) has shred every defense he has faced this year. Through seven games, his statistics are through the roof as he has led the Bears to four wins and two losses. If the Heisman Trophy Award was really given to the most dominant player in college football, then RG3 would almost assuredly be at least invited to New York for the ceremony. However, that is not what seems to control how people vote.

Heisman Trophy

Posted by Tom Fornelli

CBSSports.com's very own Dennis Dodd went through every head coach in the FBS this week and assigned a hot seat rating for each one, with 0 being the "coolest" seat and 5 meaning that the coach may end up in a hospital burn ward should he sit down. Looking through Dodd's ratings for each coach in the Big 12 this year, while I agree with most of his ratings, there were a couple I didn't feel were accurate.

Here's the list of Big 12 coaches and the Hot Seat Rating Dodd gave them from lowest to highest.

- Bob Stoops, Oklahoma: 0.0

- Bill Snyder, Kansas State: 0.5

- Paul Rhoads, Iowa State: 1.0

- Gary Pinkel, Missouri: 1.0

- Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State: 1.0

- Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech: 1.5

- Art Briles, Baylor: 2.0

- Mack Brown, Texas: 2.0

- Mike Sherman, Texas A&M: 2.0

- Turner Gill, Kansas: 3.5

Again, for the most part, I agree with Dennis' rankings, but there are a few of the coaches who I have some nitpicks about. So instead of just writing Dodd an email to let him know, why not publicize it?

Mack Brown - Dodd gives Brown a 2.0 ranking, which according to his system means "Safe--solid position." I do not agree. Honestly, if these were my rankings, I'd bump Brown up to a 4.0. Which Dodd describes as "Warm seat--feeling the pressure." Which is exactly where I think Brown sits at the moment. Coming off of a 5-7 season Brown had to let go of his offensive coordinator Greg Davis and brought in Bryan Harsin. He also saw Will Muschamp leave for Florida. Which means that he was already feeling pressure. You don't go firing your offensive coordinator, and essentially lay the blame at his feet in the process, if you aren't a bit worried about what might come your way.

In a sensible world, Mack Brown should be at 2.0. He should be safe. But this isn't a sensible world, this is Texas Longhorns football where a 5-7 season just isn't acceptable at anytime under anybody. Brown may have a national title to his name, but if Texas goes through another season like the one it went through in 2010, I don't care who Mack Brown is. He'll likely find himself out of a job.

Mike Sherman - Much like Mack Brown, Dodd sets Sherman at a 2.0, and much like Mack Brown, I feel this number is a bit too low. After all, last October when Texas A&M was 3-3 on the year and 0-3 in the Big 12, there were plenty of people who felt Sherman wouldn't be around College Station much longer. Sherman then made the move he had to make by benching Jerrod Johnson for Ryan Tannehill and Tannehill rewarded him by saving his job and helping lead the Aggies on a six-game win streak and berth in the Cotton Bowl.

Still, even with that 9-4 season, the Aggies are still only 19-19 in Sherman's three seasons with the school. The Aggies may not be the power that they once were these days, but I don't think a .500 record is ever going to sit well with a fan base that wants to rule the state of Texas year in and year out. Now, after such a positive finish to the season, expectations are raised at A&M. Should the Aggies and Sherman stumble out of the gate again this season -- and with a stretch of games against Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Missouri early, another 3-3 start isn't out of the question -- then Sherman's pants may be literally on fire before the year is done.

Art Briles - Dennis has Baylor's Art Briles at a 2.0, but I feel that's a bit too high. I'd put Briles at more of a 1.0 or a 1.5 because I just don't see a situation where he's going to be fired this year. In his first two seasons in Waco, Baylor had 4-8 campaigns under Briles, but there was improvement in the team that was evident in anyone who watched. Improvement that led to a 7-6 season in 2010 and Baylor's first trip to a bowl game since 1994.

At a school like Baylor, where football success isn't exactly a common theme, nor is it that big of a deal, I don't see any way in which Briles is going to be fired after leading the program to its first bowl game in 17 years. The only way I can envision Briles not coaching at Baylor in 2012 is if he gets a job somewhere else.

Bob Stoops - Dodd lists Bob Stoops as a 0.0, the safest coach in the Big 12. Dennis is right, Stoops is the safest coach in the conference, but I just don't feel that 0.0 is low enough. I'd put it at a -5.0 because the only way I see Bob Stoops getting fired is if he goes on some cross-country killing spree, and even then he might survive. 

Jeff Evans

Robert Griffin III (RG3) is hands down the best college football player in the nation. The fact the Baylor Bears are not a good football team should not keep him from winning the award. Its not the Bears offense that is terrible, it is the Bears defense. The offense led by Griffin has played good enough in every game this year.

A. K.

For some reason, it seems like everyone just assumes and accepts that Boise State is the best non-AQ school.

This has a lot to do with them beating TCU last year, but that was last year and not this one.

I'm not sure if Boise St is better than TCU. One thing I'm sure of is that TCU and Utah have the harder schedule because they play each other. Hence, one of them will have at least one win over a team ranked at the end of the season, one that might even be ranked in the top 10.

Boise State has literally beaten nobody worth talking about.

Oregon State is just terrible and already has 3 losses...2 to non conference and non AQ teams...that barely counts as beating one of the big boys. OR ST is a 3rd rate program in a BCS Conference..it can hardly be considered as one of the "big boys."

VA Tech lost to a FCS opponent...no more needs to be said about them.

TCU has also beaten OR ST. They also played Baylor, BYU, Air Force, and still have Utah. If they beat Utah, they might jump Boise St in the BCS because of how bad the Boise ST schedule is this year. I actually haven't watched all 3 of them play. I think I give the nod to Boise, but I'm not sold that it should be given to them without some thought.

Who do you think is the best Non-AQ football team this year?

Brian Johnson

The Florida Gators and the Texas Longhorns are nothing like expected.

The Florida Gators were the pre-season #3 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll and #4 in the AP. After 9 weeks of football, the Gators are not ranked. The Gators lost 3 in a row for the first time since 1988. Their current record is 5-3. All 3 losses were in SEC games against LSU, Alabama, and Mississippi State.

The Texas Longhorns started the season #5 in the AP and #4 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. Like the Gators, the Longhorns are no longer ranked. Texas is only .500 right now, 4-4. They were absolutely humiliated by the UCLA Bruins causing Coach Mack Brown to apologize to fans for their performance. That was their first of 4 losses. The others came against Oklahoma, Baylor, and Iowa State. Two of those are teams that Texas is not supposed to lose to ever.

Both the Gators and Longhorns have been let downs this year, but which is the bigger letdown?

Brian Johnson

By Randy Riggs

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

The Oct. 8 renewal of the Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma will kick off at 11 a.m. in the Cotton Bowl and will be telecast nationally on ABC, the network announced Wednesday.

Texas' date with the Sooners becomes the fifth national television appearance for the Longhorns football team in 2011. Others previously announced are the Sept. 10 game with Brigham Young (6 p.m., ESPN2), Sept. 17 at UCLA (2:30 p.m., ABC), Nov. 24 at Texas A&M (7 p.m., ESPN) and Dec. 3 at Baylor (either 2:30 p.m. or 7 p.m., ABC).

The Big 12 also has announced that Texas' Sept. 3 opener against visiting Rice will be televised at a time to be determined and will be carried by either ABC or one of ESPN's platforms which include ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.

The Longhorns formally report back to campus on Aug. 4 and their first practice is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Jeff Evans

School's out.

Mercifully.

Those are words of relief if you're the Big 12 Conference, which has appeared to slip some of late but should be able to recover very quickly.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that the Big 12 had a rotten year. After all, Texas A&M rocks. The Aggies cleaned up in the non-revenue sports and look as though they're a budding power overall if Ryan Tannehill and friends continue their football momentum.

And the league did have some high moments.

It signed a new contract hiking the money for its second-tier television rights about 350 percent. Oklahoma actually won a bowl game, swear to God, when it beat Connecticut (who knew UConn played football?) in the Fiesta Bowl. Gary Blair turned into a likable Geno Auriemma. And one of the schools — I forget which — started a new television network.

Last Dan Beebe looked, however, the Big 12 commish misplaced two big-name schools headed for points north and west and didn't celebrate a single national championship in a revenue sport. Other sports, yes. But the major sports — the ones the public cares about — no.

It's still an SEC world, and we're all just living in it.

The dastardly SEC had three of the final four teams in the College World Series. Over the past 10 months, it won five national championships. Only one came in one of those major sports.

Not to demean Alabama's title in gymnastics, Kentucky's rifle championship or Florida's kicking butt in women's tennis and men's indoor track, but football's kinda big in these parts. People get so ticked off when their favorite team loses, they go nuts and poison trees and stuff.

Of course, the SEC has been laying waste to the rest of college football for a while now. It owns five straight national titles, the latest coming when Auburn came out of nowhere with a couple of fairly high-profile junior college transfers to join Alabama, Florida and LSU in the title room.

Who's next? Vanderbilt?

"They're great," A&M athletic director Bill Byrne said of the SEC. "I look at them with great admiration for what they've done on the field. Not quite as much off it. I believe six of their schools are under investigation."

Only six?

We would never suggest the Big 12 cheat its way to the top. That would just be, uh, wrong. But the Big 12 hasn't won a football crown since Texas did it in 2005. No basketball title since Kansas in 2008. Baseball? Augie Garrido last accepted that trophy in 2005.

A big fat zero since.

Is that a downward trend for the Big 12 or a momentary blip?

I'm betting on the latter for a lot of reasons, not the least of which are terrific facilities, passionate fan bases, great coaches, warm weather, super athletes, pretty coeds and, yes, the Longhorn Network.

Besides, Texas can't be any worse in football this fall, and Oklahoma's likely the preseason No. 1 team. Texas A&M and Oklahoma State figure to be top 10 candidates. Even Baylor's going to bowl games nowadays.

Kansas is still Kansas in basketball, Baylor and Missouri are talented, Iowa State's my new dark horse, and Texas Tech newbie Billy Gillispie returns as maybe the best X's and O's coach in the league. Even Texas might do well with a few new players stopping by on their way to the NBA.

In baseball, Texas restored its reputation by at least reaching the College World Series — didn't that one-year drought seem like forever? — and had company, which brings us to the major point. Oklahoma made it the year before, A&M this season.

Texas A&M may be taking over the league.

OK, that's over the top.

That may not be received well in the 512, but the Aggies are poised to start leaving huge footprints in the conference. It's about time.

"I think we're going to be very competitive across the board," said Byrne, working in his eighth year in College Station. "We want to make Texas A&M relevant in everything we do."

Hullabaloo, Aggies.

A&M won national titles in women's basketball and men's and women's outdoor — and, I believe, interplanetary — track and field for the third straight year. The Aggies had 10 sports finish in the top 10 nationally. They won six straight football games, beat Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska in the same season and, get this, made it to a bowl game.

Yeah, A&M got egg on its face against LSU in the Cotton Bowl, but who doesn't against an SEC team?

Jeff Evans

Montee Ball from the Wisconsin Badgers has been a stud all season. He leads the nation in rushing with 1759 yards, and is one touchdown away from breaking Barry Sanders record of 39. Let me restate that...Ball has 38 touchdowns and is one away from breaking Barry Sanders record. That is amazing. Sanders' record is one that many thought would never be touched, and he is one away with 70 less carries than Sanders. 

Heisman Trophy

After an amazing four touchdown and 479 yards passing game versus the Oklahoma Sooners, Robert Griffin III (RG3) launched himself back into the Heisman Trophy Race. Though he is currently ranked third in ESPN's straw poll of Heisman voters, he still has a great chance of jumping to the top of the list. Heisman voters and the media aren't dead set on any particular candidate so far, thus making it a fluid Heisman Race going into the last weekend of the regular season.

Heisman Trophy

It wasn’t the display that showcased her Hall of Fame career that touched Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw during her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame last weekend in Knoxville, Tenn.

It was the number of people - family, friends and fans - who turned out to support her.

McGraw’s contingent included her teammates from her playing days at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, players from her Archbishop Carroll High School team from suburban Philadelphia, players from Lehigh, and a large contingent of players and fans wearing Notre Dame’s blue and gold colors.

“It’s been overwhelming in a way,” McGraw said of the backing from fans during the Irish run to the national championship game, and when McGraw went to Knoxville. “I wish I could do more for all these people who have supported me. They’re always traveling to see me, and doing all these things to support the team. I feel like I never get to return the support. You always wish you could do more.”

McGraw’s Irish are in the process of lining up what could be the nation’s toughest schedule for next season.

Notre Dame is slated to play in a tournament in the Bahamas during Thanksgiving week. The Irish will probably play Southern Cal and Duke, according to the Junkanoo Tournament website.

Notre Dame is scheduled to play in the pre-season WNIT, with a Baylor team expected to be ranked No. 1 next season in the opposite bracket. If the Irish and the Bears each win out in their brackets, Notre Dame would likely be taking a trip to Waco, Texas, to take on Baylor and 6-foot-8 star Brittney Griner.

The Irish will host Kentucky in the return match of a home-and-away series that started last season in Lexington. Notre Dame will travel to Purdue in the continuation of that series.

Also on tap for next season, according to Tennessee sources, is a game in South Bend against Tennessee, with a return match in Knoxville the following season. The Irish beat the Volunteers for the first time in 21 meetings in the Dayton Regional last season to reach the Final Four.

Then, there’s the Big East season. Notre Dame will play mighty Connecticut twice, and will be on the road for a number of Big East powers.

“We’re going to play six of the top Big East teams on the road,” McGraw said. “We’re going to be at Rutgers, Georgetown, St. John’s, Connecticut, Louisville and Syracuse. They’re all going to be ranked, and we’re going to be at every single one of them. It’s going to be difficult. Probably nobody else is going to have that kind of schedule. And we have Connecticut twice.

“We’re definitely challenging ourselves,” McGraw said. “We had a great year, and we have the bulk of our team back. We have high expectations, and the best way to see where you are is to challenge your team and challenge yourself with your schedule.”

Notre Dame’s schedule, which is expected to be released in October, would have included UCLA, which played in South Bend last season. The Bruins were a top 15 team last season. Pauley Pavilion, UCLA’s legendary home court, is undergoing renovations, and the Irish return trip to Los Angeles is going to be pushed back, and may possibly be linked to a Notre Dame football weekend when the Irish take on Southern Cal.

Big East Conference officials are considering where the league’s women’s basketball tournament should be held. Hartford’s XL Center, which is considered to be a neutral site by the conference although Connecticut plays a number of home games there, has hosted the Big East women’s basketball tournament since 2004. Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut and Louisville's new 22,000-seat KFC Yum Center, have been mentioned as alternate sites.

“We would really like to get out of Hartford,” McGraw said. “Connecticut would like to go somewhere else, too. We need to find the right venue, but we’re locked into Hartford for the next two years. We make the most money of any conference in the country in Hartford, and we get good support. Hartford’s been good to us. We need a place that will embrace us. A neutral site would be nice.”

Women’s basketball players will be shooting 3-pointers from 20 feet, 9 inches away from the basket, a move that will put the 3-point line even with the men’s line. The women’s line had been at 19-9.

“I went back and watched a couple of our games, and we were already shooting it from the men’s 3-point line,” Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins said. “In practice, you don’t even think about it. You just step back and shoot. An open shot is an open shot.”

An NCAA study of more than 100 games found that the women shot better from the men’s line (33 percent) last season than the women’s line (30 percent).

“We have the range,” Diggins said. “I don’t think it will be much of a difference. I don’t think it will be a huge difference, but it may spread the defense out. I think it’s a good thing for the game, as far as evening things out and for us to become more like the guys’ game. Our game is evolving. This says a lot about women’s basketball as far as how much it correlates to the guys’ game.”

Staff writer Curt Rallo:
crallo@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6152

Jeff Evans