Bowlsby made it clear that the Big 12 isn’t looking to expand right now, but he also didn’t close the door on it. It seems that the Big 12 will wait and see how the conference fares this season and whether or not a Big 12 team makes it to the College Football Playoff.
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“We believe it’s the right step, and we hope it will become the national rule”, Bowlsby said.
Bowlsby said talks of implementing the rule began in spring meetings and the conference’s athletic directors took it back to their various campuses to discuss it with the coaches before it was eventually approved earlier this summer. In just three practices may contact exceed half of practice.
The NCAA restricts teams to three days of contact per week – including game days. “It’s just all about how we prepare each and every week-throughout the week in the film room”, Kindred said. “But I think you have to treat it all the same”. On the plus side, they’ll build around a core of veterans like McFarland who understand the aspiration of “holding teams to zero points every time we play”.
The Big 12 live contact policy applies to in-season practices and includes open dates.
Baylor, last season’s other co-champion, was picked second, followed by Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas.
College Football Playoff chairman Jeff Long said past year that the lack of a title game played into the decision to promote Ohio State over the Big 12 contenders. McFarland, who earned defensive MVP in TCU’s 42-3 win over Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, returns after leading the team with seven sacks in 2014. In light of that victory, TCU finished No. 3 in the final AP and Coaches’ poll. Not insulating themselves against raids from the Big Ten and PAC-12 helps provide stability for the Big 12.
A year ago, when they were coming off a 4-8 season in 2013, the Horned Frogs were picked to finish seventh. “If I stay [on an] even keel with how we need to do things, then my team will because it just kind of all reverberates down”. “Last year was about proving people wrong”, he likes to say.
Baylor coach Art Briles and his players will be featured on Day 2 of media days on Tuesday. “We know we would have put ourselves in position to win the conference if we’d have done a better job of taking care of the ball and getting turnovers on defense as well”.
“It’s humbling to be in this situation”, Boykin said.
“My main focus right now is Minnesota, and it’s not going to change”.
Each year, Patterson says, outsiders lay out reasons why TCU will struggle. He threw for 3,901 yards and 33 touchdowns to set school records in both categories and was named the league’s top offensive player.
“Meacham and Cumbie added a swag we didn’t have before”, Boykin said.
Current NCAA rules prevent conferences with less than 12 teams from having a playoff.
Old school Big 12: Count Bill Snyder as a yes when it comes to possible Big 12 expansion. “That impacts young guys”. Patterson said he aims to play one “stretch” game, one 50-50 game, and one winnable game pre-conference. “That was important to those programs”.
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On Monday, TCU’s head coach Gary Patterson and his players: James McFarland, Derek Kindred, Joey Hunt and Heisman Trophy favorite Trevone Boykin spoke at Big 12 Media Days about what to expect from this year’s Horned Frogs and what they have been doing to make sure to continues last year’s success.
