SN’s Bender says it’s ‘maddeningly frustrating time for many’ in Big Ten
ON HALFTIME: Bill Bender of the Sporting News is in the heart of Big Ten country where many fans are pulling out their hair after announcement to cancel fall football season, he told Phil Elson, Matt Jenkins and Matt Travis on ESPN Arkansas Thursday afternoon.
Murphy says some media appears to have ‘condescension’ during pandemic
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette writer Tom Murphy said Thursday morning with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft (The Morning Rush) on ESPN Arkansas there appears to be some media people with a lot of condescending stories around sports happening or not.
RECRUITING THURSDAY: Davenport on new hoops commitment Mawein
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Richard Davenport on Eric Musselman picking up another commitment, this time from a junior college player, with Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft (The Morning Rush) on ESPN Arkansas.
Hogs, ’Huskers to Big 12 makes sense to Nebraska writer … and he’s right
In the Big Ten, Nebraska is about in the same boat Arkansas finds itself in the Southeastern Conference these days.
Neither carry a lot of weight and get about the same amount of respect from the league.
Sean Callahan of HuskersOnline.com thinks both of them should find a new home.
“How about Nebraska and Arkansas to the Big 12 together?” he told Derek Ruscin and Zach Arns (Ruscin & Zach) Wednesday afternoon on ESPN Arkansas.
There have been some in Arkansas ask the same question. None of them have much say in the matter, but it’s a question me and some other media people have often said.
Not to re-hash the history of how the Razorbacks ended up in the SEC, but they would have never gone there if they were included in the conversations about merging the old Southwest Conference and Big 8.
I’ve heard that from several people over the last 25 years.
Frank Broyles hustled the Hogs into the SEC because he thought they were going to be left out in the first real conference shuffle. There was a small one in the 1960’s when Georgia Tech and Tulane left the SEC because they wanted to be independent.
The Cornhuskers jumped ship on the Big 12 in 2011. It made about as much sense as the Hogs going to the SEC.
Nobody is saying much about Arkansas because they are still planning on starting the football season Sept. 26 against somebody. Nebraska isn’t just sitting idly by after the Big Ten cancelled the football season Tuesday.
The rumor mill has been hot and heavy about the Huskers just putting together a schedule and playing games. The Big Ten commissioner basically said if they played football they would be booted out of the league.
“No,” commissioner Kevin Warren told Yahoo Sports about Nebraska putting together a schedule on its own. “Not and be a member of the Big Ten Conference.”
The Huskers have gone quiet since a press release Tuesday that they were exploring all options.
“There’s something brewing and it’s curious to see where it goes,” Callahan said. “[Nebraska’s] voice is not respected in this conference. Nebraska is like the redneck cousin that walks into the country club. It really upset Nebraska when all this went down.”
Financial implications are enormous to the entire area will be enormous if the Huskers don’t play football. It’s as big there as anywhere in the SEC.
“This state stops for Nebraska football,” Callahan said. “There’s a huge demand for this product in this state. The damage is really unmeasured.”
Just like it would be in Northwest Arkansas if the Hogs don’t get to play games. A lot of businesses would be totally devastated.
And, like the Hogs in the SEC, the Huskers get almost no respect from the only conference in the country more arrogant than the SEC.
“Arkansas and Nebraska are pretty similar dynamics,” Callahan said. “They’ve had a lot of history and prestige, but haven’t been able to do it of late. Nebraska was picked to win the league their first year in 2011.”
That didn’t happen, either. They did make the championship game in 2012 and were blown out by Bret Bielema’s worst Wisconsin team.
And the rumors about the Huskers going to the Big 12 are apparently running rampant there, but it does appear Nebraska is exploring options.
“That’s the plan,” Callahan said. “They’ve talked to North Dakota State. I’m intrigued if there’s something brewing with the Big 12. Is there a piece to that or just talk? It’s a life-changing move.”
While it would be a logical move for the Hogs to make, don’t look for it. Don’t start the financial aspect because the difference in revenue is not so large when you count the savings in expenses for non-revenue sports travel.
Big 12 schools get their cut of the network television money, then are also free to cut their own side deals (like the Longhorn Network or what Oklahoma does).
“Bigger brands (in the Big 12) make right around the same as the Big Ten,” Callahan said. “Nebraska’s silence tells me maybe they have something brewing.”
Arkansas and Nebraska would be easily in the top half of revenue in the Big 12. Right now, the Hogs are 10th in the SEC while the Huskers are sixth in the Big Ten and behind Arkansas in the most recent financial stories.
The reality is the Huskers probably aren’t going anywhere and the Hogs aren’t, either.
Which doesn’t mean they shouldn’t … if they want to be taken seriously by their fellow conference members.
Nutt not sure what Pac 12, Big Ten seeing in date other leagues don’t
Former Arkansas coach Houston Nutt is curious about decisions on Tuesday by the Pac 12 and Big Ten to cancel their football seasons now.
“My question is why the Pac 12 and Big Ten say no,” Nutt said Wednesday to Tye Richardson and Tommy Craft (The Morning Rush) on ESPN Arkansas. “I’d like to hear what they have to say on both sides.”
Nutt played a couple of years for the Razorbacks, then got into coaching. After a couple of stops in the SEC with the Hogs and at Ole Miss, he is now living in the Dallas area and a studio analyst with the CBS Sports Network.
“The biggest thing, you know the experts are going to be there and give you all the information you need and you’re going to go from there,” Nutt said. “If the doctors and experts say you’ve got things under control and it’s safe, then yes.
“I’m just very curious what the SEC, Big 12 and ACC are looking for. I’m just real curious how it’s going to work out.”
At this point, dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, things are changing almost hourly at times. The decisions by the Pac 12 and Big Ten are the first to stop for Power 5 conferences.
Nutt hasn’t been on the field coaching since the 2011 season, but he’s got a pretty good idea what he would say to his team with all of this going on.
“Let’s control what we can control,” he said Wednesday. “This is different, so we don’t know. We’re going to listen to the experts, they’re going to have a blueprint for us and we’re going to follow that.”
You can’t take these times for granted. There’s been times players didn’t really want to work out. It’s the greatest game in the world and you can’t take it for granted … ever.”
Nutt also never had to deal with the players fighting to have a bigger voice in how things are going, but he does urge some caution.
“The voice from the players is definitely getting louder,” Nutt said. “I would just remind the players these are the greatest days of your life. I’d be careful.”
He saw the list of demands from the Pac 12 players, too.
“They may have gone a little bit far,” he said. “I remember when I got a $6.25 laundry money … I was excited. When you look at what they have now it’s a good time be a student athlete. I wouldn’t keep pushing too hard for too many things. I think you can go a little too far and ask for too much.”
It may sound a little old-school to some of the players, but Nutt feels there are better ways to discuss things.
“There’s nothing wrong with players coming to their coach or having a meeting,” he said. “For the majority across the country they want players to graduate, be safe and be the best they can be.”
King on wild last few days with who’s playing, who’s not … and why
ON HALFTIME: Bill King of Nashville Sports Radio on events of last few days in college football and how it’s an all-or-nothing type gamble.
Former Arkansas Head Coach Houston Nutt joins The Morning Rush
Former Arkansas Head Coach Houston Nutt joins The Morning Rush to share his thoughts on the Big Ten and Pac 12 postponing their college football season. Plus, he shares the “Bring That Wood” story, and his thoughts on why Darren McFadden should have won the 2007 Heisman Trophy! Check it out now!
