I’ve owned Heartland College Sports for over 10 years. And I’ve written thousands and thousands of stories for the website. However, I’ve never had a dedicated Monday column for you. It only seems appropriate to start now and play off of Monday, Mundo and Musings. So here we go with the fourth-ever, Mundo’s Monday Big 12 Musings: Edition 4.
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Critiquing the New Big 12 Promo on TNT
So first off, the new Big 12 Conference promo running on TNT is cool. Here it is.
But a few critiques, if I may.
- I would not have predicted that two of the first three brands shown here would have been Houston football (right after the Arizona State football shot, which makes sense), followed by UCF basketball. When I think of the Big 12, those two brands don’t exactly stand out. Arizona State football followed by Houston basketball, count me in! It’s minor, but those little things matter. Or at least they should matter.
- Deion Sanders as the only Big 12 football coach shown? OK, I get it. Ratings suggest this is warranted. But how about Deion embracing another coach? Chris Klieman? Joey McGuire? Kyle Whittingham? All three teams they faced last season.
- The only Big 12 basketball coach in the promo is K-State’s Jerome Tang, who has missed the last two NCAA Tournaments. This league has Hall of Fame coaches. Can we get Bill Self? Scott Drew? Kelvin Sampson? Is that too much to ask? It shouldn’t be!
Canady is Worth Every Penny
The 2025 Women’s College World Series (WCWS) semifinals feature a high-stakes showdown between Texas Tech and Oklahoma on Monday, June 2, at 6:00 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN, with streaming available via the ESPN app and ESPN+.
The Red Raiders are led by ace pitcher NiJaree Canady, who has been dominant throughout the tournament.
In their opening game, Canady pitched a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts against Ole Miss, followed by a four-hit, seven-strikeout performance in a 3-1 victory over UCLA.
There was shock when the Red Raiders paid Canady $1 million to join the program from Stanford last offseason. This was nearly 10 times as much as what some expected.
At the time of the news, John Sellers, co-founder of the Matador Club, told The Athletic. “She deserves it. She’s a complete game-changer for any program, but especially a place like [Texas] Tech.”
I’d say Sellers was right. College softball is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country and now Texas Tech is on the verge of being at the pinnacle of the sport. Canady was worth it.
Kenny Dillingham is Too Likable
The Arizona State football coach is fresh off a Big 12 Championship in 2024, and while he believes this program can be the next Clemson or Oregon, he’s not naïve enough to think this program is close to achieving that level of success.
“You have Clemson this last cycle, from 2010 to 2020,” Dillingham said. “They just showed up. People think they’ve been around forever. You have Oregon from 2000 to 2010. There hasn’t been a team in this era, in the 2020s. The lifestyle you have in Arizona, if we can create some staff consistency, and then we’re in a league where we can continually compete to win.”
He then clarified the statement, saying, “Of course, I should believe we can build something, so should every coach of a program.” Dillingham added on X, “We are a LONG way away from this, and the context was about why I want to be at ASU for the long haul. One season proves nothing. It’s a marathon, not a race.”
Two things can be true at the same time. He can and should strive to make Arizona State the next Clemson or Oregon. But they also aren’t close to achieving it. Both of those are true, and Dillingham making it a goal, while admitting it’s a way off, continues to make him one of the easiest guys to root for in the Big 12 Conference.
