Tillery’s Trends: New QBs, the NCAA, and More!
Everyone loves a good trend, and while I may not speak for everyone in the wide world of college sports, I do have the opportunity on Heartland College Sports to discuss some interesting trends revolving around the Big 12 Conference and what’s coming up in the near future.
With this being the fourth iteration of Tillery’s Trends, I plan to discuss players, coaches, teams, betting lines, top stories, and anything else that stands out about the world of college sports.
On the menu for today, we take a look at the future quarterbacks of the Big 12 Conference, the NCAA and its continuous flaws, and the incredible parity in Big 12 basketball. Enjoy!
YOUNG GUNS
Big 12 fans had an awesome showing in Week 7 watching stellar performances from multiple young quarterbacks. Kansas State’s Avery Johnson earned some major praise following his five touchdown putting against Texas Tech joining TCU freshman Josh Hoover on the Big 12 Weekly Awards list.
Johnson took home the title of Newcomer of the Week for his insane five-touchdown day and was joined on the list by another true freshman, Josh Hoover, who took home the title of Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week. Hoover went 37-58 for 439 yards and four touchdowns in TCU’s 44-11 blowout win over BYU, and oh, did I mention it was his first career start?
While the performance may not have earned any love in terms of weekly awards, Iowa State’s Rocco Becht continues to develop on a weekly basis and led his squad to a 30-10 win over Cincinnati. Becht went 15-25 for 241 yards and two passing touchdowns while adding another score in the ground game.
The trio of young quarterbacks was stellar in Week 7 with the group combining for a monstrous stat line of 60-92 for 757 yards passing and six scores through the air. The trio also added 24 carries for 128 yards and six scores on the ground.
The future of the Big 12 quarterback is upon us.
WHY NCAA?
Why is it that literally nobody outside of the NCAA has any idea how things work in regard to official investigations and the waiver approval process?
While this is in no way intended to throw shade at the University of Kansas or say that the IARP ruling wasn’t fit, the logic behind the rulings makes absolutely no sense. I agree with Mike Boynton in saying that there shouldn’t have been more punishment towards Kansas or even an equal punishment to that of Oklahoma State, but the reasoning being that the NCAA didn’t want to punish current students for the actions of previous ones is complete and utter garbage considering the similarity of what happened at Oklahoma State.
Mike Boynton discussed the rulings at Big 12 Basketball Media Days on Wednesday saying, “I’m a big accountability person. I wish somebody would just pick up a call and say ‘Listen, we screwed up. It shouldn’t have happened, we recognize that, and it probably won’t happen again.’ You’re going to be a footnote in the history books, but we apologize.”
The other portion of the confusion regarding the NCAA is earning a waiver for second-time transfers. Here is the plan and simple truth: kids will continue to transfer if they feel it’s the best situation for them. How does the NCAA continue to mention that it has strict guidelines for transferring yet absolutely no one, NCAA officials included, knows what those guidelines are?
When coaches like Wes Miller, Josh Eilert, and more have to sit on stage and say word for word that they believe their athletes should be cleared to play as they followed the NCAA’s transfer guidelines perfectly, but are greeted with a waiver denial from the NCAA is baffling to me.
The NCAA has to make it a yes or no deal at the end of the day in order to protect students like RaeQuan Battle, Aziz Bandaogo, and Jamille Reynolds from losing to the system.
BASKETBALL PARITY
The word parity revolves around the Big 12 Conference on the football side of things each and every season to express the fact that truly any team is capable of winning. That fact rings true on the basketball court as well.
The thought occurred to me as I watched the 14 head coaches line up for a group photo, and as I went down the line of coaches, I realized there are at least nine teams with a legitimate shot to end up in the Big 12 championship game at the end of the season if things go their way.
The Big 12 Conference sent more teams than anyone else in the country to the 2023 NCAA Tournament, and with the likes of Cincinnati, Houston, BYU, and UCF joining the league, that option will only continue to grow.
Kansas and Houston are the teams that come to mind immediately as both programs should be considered as favorites for a Big 12 title in 2023-24 and even have legitimate shots at a national chip.
The parity shows up when you think about the next wave of teams, the Kansas States and Baylors of the world. There is a real chance that teams anywhere 3-9 could win a title if they earn a few big wins and some lucky bounces including Texas, Baylor, TCU, Kansas State, Iowa State, Texas Tech, and even West Virginia.
The Big 12 is the best basketball conference in America, and absolutely no one is challenging that.
