What’s going on in the Big 12 and beyond? I expand and explain every Sunday in Postscripts at Heartland College Sports, your home for independent Big 12 coverage.
This week, I’m back from Big 12 basketball media days and I caught up with one of the Big 12’s newest announcers.
John Fanta’s New World
Last week I wrote about the Big 12’s new world when it came to television. Five networks will carry men’s games — ESPN, Fox, CBS, Turner and NBC/Peacock.
While I was in Kansas City for Big 12 media days just about every ESPN personality that will call Big 12 games this year was there, a volume that was a bit unusual. CBS had Seth Davis, Clark Kellogg and Jon Rothstein there. But those announcers have experience with the league. John Fanta doesn’t. But he cannot wait.
“[The Big 12] is a huge reason why I joined NBC Sports, was because of the amount of different properties that we’re picking up,” he said.
Fanta’s rise has been swift. He graduated from Seton Hall in 2017 and quickly became Fox’s lead voice for Big EAST basketball. His move to NBC comes as its top college basketball voice, Noah Eagle, is moving into a role that allows him to work more NBA games. Fanta will continue to call Big EAST games but will dip into the Big Ten and the Big 12, as well.
He was at media days to interview coaches and players for use later this season. He was enthusiastic about the opportunity to call Big 12 games. He admitted he’s covered a game at Hilton Coliseum, the home of the Iowa State Cyclones, and called a game or two at West Virginia. He’s not unfamiliar with the league. He admitted he’s a “college basketball junkie” and the Big EAST’s schedule allowed him to watch plenty of Big Monday Big 12 games, along with weekend games.
He’s looking forward to new venues and new opportunities.
“I’ve wanted to get into the Big 12 and this opens up a doorway for it,” Fanta said. “I think this conference is as good as any league in America. So, to have the opportunity to call games, I can’t wait.”
NBC/Peacock is getting 18 games as part of a sub-license deal with ESPN. Fanta isn’t sure which games he will call. Peacock’s first game is set for Nov. 21 when Wisconsin visits BYU. But, if given the choice, he knows which Big 12 game he’d like to call.
“Well, on January 10, we have Houston at Baylor,” he said. “To me, that is Big 12 basketball. Those are two programs that play incredibly hard, have two terrific coaches in coach [Kelvin] Sampson and coach [Scott] Drew, that would be a game that I’m eyeing.”
That would put him in Foster Pavilion for one of the best early games on the schedule. It would give Fanta an opportunity to imprint his enthusiastic voice on Big 12 basketball.
Big 12 Media Days Praise
I’ve been to both Big 12 football media days and basketball media days several times. This event felt different. The league’s presentation wasn’t abnormal. In fact, it mimicked what we saw at Big 12 football media days. But it was the level of media that was there that made it different.
That likely had to do with the five rightsholders for this season. I noted the ESPN, CBS and NBC personalities that were there. It’s not of the norm for those in my profession to praise a media day like Fanta or Davis did. The Big 12 even invited influencers to the media days, which provided a non-traditional approach.
Presentation matters to commissioner Brett Yormark. It always has. A media day isn’t designed to impress us. It’s designed to give us access to coaches and players, and we had plenty. But if you can combine the two, it can make a difference.
I can tell you this is the first year I can remember this much national media at Big 12 basketball media days. It was different. It may end up doing the league good in the long term. Yormark then got bold during an interview with TNT during the Kansas-Kansas State game.
The Big 12 Football Race
Well, here we go again. The last games of October were on Saturday and it’s time to check in on the Big 12 race. Remember:
No losses: Great shape
One loss: Good shape
Two losses: No margin for error
Three or more losses: You’re done.
So, after Saturday’s games, here’s where we stand, at least in my opinion:
In Great Shape: BYU (5-0), Cincinnati (5-0). The two teams remain on a collision course with one another on Nov. 22. There is a scenario in which both could go to Arlington, no matter the result of this meeting.
In Good Shape: Houston (4-1), Texas Tech (4-1). Texas Tech has the tiebreaker over Houston. The Red Raiders got a huge break with Arizona State losing, removing the one team that has a tiebreaker over them for now. Houston needs to win out and for Tech to lose another game. It’s possible. The Red Raiders still must face BYU. Houston’s schedule looks manageable. It’s possible the Cougars could run the table.
No Margin for Error: Utah (3-2), Arizona State (3-2), Kansas State (3-2), TCU (3-2). The tiebreakers don’t really matter for this crew. Each needs help from the four teams above. But each must keep winning to have a chance.
Done: Oklahoma State (0-5), West Virginia (0-5), Colorado (1-4), UCF (1-3), Arizona (1-3), Kansas (2-3), Baylor (2-3), Iowa State (2-3). Realistically, these schools are out of the hunt. In fact, mathematically, OSU and WVU are done. The best each can finish is 4-5 and worst BYU and Cincinnati can finish is 5-4.
