IRVING, TEXAS — It must have pained Baylor coach Art Briles last fall knowing the best defensive lineman on his roster, Phil Taylor, was playing on his scout team, having to sit out the 2008 season under transfer rules after leaving Penn State.
Taylor, 6-feet-4, 355 pounds, was voted preseason Big 12 defensive newcomer of the year by the media.
“In my estimation, there’s not five guys in America like him,” Briles said. “We expect big things out of him because he can deliver. He’s got a demeanor that coincides with what you’re looking for on the defensive side of the ball.”
Permanent site? Future sites for the Big 12 football championship have not yet been determined by the conference beyond the 2009 and 2010 title games in the new Cowboys Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys. Making it a permanent site for the league’s football title game is something that “will be under serious consideration,” Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said Tuesday following a media tour of the $1 billion facility.
“The last time when certain cities were awarded championships, the (Big 12’s) board of directors said they were not ready to lock them in yet,” Beebe said. “But they haven’t seen this.”
TV talk. In light of the Southeastern Conference’s 15-year, $3 billion television contract announced July 23, the Big 12’s Beebe said Tuesday during a briefing in conjunction with the league’s football media days that the Big 12 is “fully exploring what the media landscape is to position ourselves to better take advantage of it.”
The Big 12 has some catching up to do. The SEC’s deal with CBS and ESPN followed an existing $2.8 billion, 25-year deal between the Big Ten and the Big Ten Network, which is partnered with Fox. The Big Ten also has a contract with ABC and ESPN. By comparison, the Big 12 annually receives about $80 million annually combined from contracts with ABC/ESPN and Fox Sports.
“Obviously, there is great competition and infiltration of Big Ten and SEC programming in our part of the country,” Beebe said. “We can’t deny that. We have to find out ways we can address it.”
Tom Kensler, The Denver Post
