Heartland College Sports’ Top 10 Most-Read Stories From 2023
Happy New Year! As we look back on the year that was in the Big 12 Conference and across college sports, I like to see what were our most-read stories from the last 12 months. So after reviewing our Google analytics, here were our Top 10 articles from the 2023.
1. The Big 12 Conference’s Future Changed Forever on Thursday: “March 23rd, 2023. Mark that date on your calendar, Big 12 fans. This may be a date that we will, or should, forever remember as a day that helped change the Big 12’s future.”
2. Oregon, Washington ‘Vetted and Cleared’ to Join Big Ten: “Does it feel like the calm before another conference realignment storm? Well, that just might be the case. A new report from Brett McMurphy says that the Big Ten Conference may be closer than expected to adding two more Pac-12 teams.”
3. Massive Fight Breaks Out at Kansas State Fraternity Basketball Event: “While Greek life on campus can be a great way for students to make friends and interact with people of all different backgrounds, one Big 12 school tried to change that narrative with a massive fight breaking out over the weekend.”
4. Big 12 Warned to Not Get in the Way of Adjusting CFB Playoff: “While conference realignment has both benefitted and hurt certain aspects of college football this offseason, one major change on everyone’s mind is the impact of expansion on the College Football Playoff.”
5. OU Softball’s Alex Storako Responds to Former Coach’s Tweet: “When you win a lot, people are going to hate you. It’s a tale as old as sports. Babe Ruth, a member of the 1927 Yankees, famously said, “the loudest boos come from the cheapest seats.” The Great Bambino wasn’t around to see the rise of social media, but he prophetically summarized the sports world on Twitter with that statement.”
6. Texas Official Says ‘It Will be a Long While’ Before Any Team Goes to Lubbock: “The Texas Longhorns and Texas Tech Red Raiders met on Black Friday for what will be the final time on the football field as Big 12 foes. But any idea that a future non-conference match up could be on the horizon seems slim to none. And not just in football, but in any sport for that matter.”
7. Kyle Whittingham Suggest Utah’s Big 12 Future May be Temporary: “Utah is set to join the Big 12 in 2024 and while many are looking forward to a great future for a 16-team Big 12, one team’s head coach may not be of that mindset.”
8. Contestant Cheated Out of Win in Dr. Pepper Halftime Toss: “An absolute travesty occurred during the halftime break of the 2023 Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game with one contestant in the Dr. Pepper toss being cheated out of $100,000 of tuition money.”
9. NIL Collective Offers Deal to Entire Oklahoma Football Roster: “The Oklahoma-focused NIL collective known as Crimson and Cream launched back in September and went on a fundraising campaign that generated $1.6 million in annual donations through their website.”
10. Mike White Seems To Imply Oklahoma Is Cheating in Softball: “As if the Red River Showdown needed to be amped up any more, Texas head coach Mike White stoked the fire beforehand. He took an implied shot at the back-to-back and six-time national champion Oklahoma Sooners and how they continue to stay on top of the college softball world.”
And just like that, 2023 is in the books and it’s onto 2024. The beauty of it what we do is that there’s no way to predict what will come this year. What will our top stories be this year? Your guess is as good as ours!
If there’s one thing we’d love to ask of you, consider joining our Heartland College Sports forums, where we are steadily building a great environment of Big 12 fans who we get to know beyond just social media, which can be troll central. They are free to sign up.
And with that, it’s onto 2024!
