This morning's post caused a little bit of controversy and Mocking the Draft's Matt Miller responded to some of my and your questions regarding the Big 12 Conference rankings. I loves me some discussion, so here we go. I thought it would be a great way to kick off a weekend (do I know how to party, or what?) and ask you how you would rank them. Let's take the offensive unit rankings first and go from there. I'll start. Leave your rankings in the comments section:

• Backfield
1. Oklahoma
2. Missouri
3. Texas

Rational: OU is perhaps the most balanced scoring team in the Big 12, and there's a lot of talented running backs in their stable (Murray and Brown). Missouri has shown that they are an offensive force to be reckoned with. Daniel and Jimmy Jackson are talented (we should know). I'm not convinced that McCoy will return to his freshman success, but there are a lot of talented runners who were waiting behind Charles. Besides, who else are you going to put at this spot? There aren't a lot of options and I don't think that the Aggies will turn it around that quickly, especially behind a very young offensive line.

• Receivers
1. Texas Tech
2. Missouri
3. Kansas

Rational: I think Texas Tech deserves the top spot just because of Mr. Crabtree, but including Morris, T. Walker, Britton, etc., there's just a lot of talent. I was close to putting Missouri at the top spot because Maclin supremely gifted as well, plus Missouri has Coffman as a completely different threat. I was also pretty torn with this 3rd spot, but went with Kansas because they've got a pretty good QB and they return quite a bit of their receiving corp (Fields, Briscoe, and Meier).

• Offensive Line
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas Tech
3. Texas

Rational: OU returns a ton of talented players and they do it every year. For a team that passes as much as Tech Tech, they only gave up 18 sacks for the year and would imagine that Potts gave up a few of those in mop-up duty. Texas was awfully young last year on the O-line and that means they are a year better.

• Overall Offense
1. Oklahoma
2. Missouri
3. Texas Tech

Rational: First, although Kansas was outstanding offensively last year (1st in the conference in scoring), I need for them to do it one more year before I believe. It's not fair, but it's my rankings. Again, OU is balanced with 34 rushing TD's and 39 passing TD's, that's some pretty good football. Missouri was just a step behind Texas Tech last year, but I thought Missouri was more consistent. I struggled putting Texas Tech 3rd, but until those hiccup games stop, this is where they need to be.

Have at it.

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Texas Tech Football:

Up first, New Era Scouting's Matt Miller (also of Mocking the Draft) previews the Big 12 Conference. First, I understand the perception that Texas Tech is an up and coming program, perhaps this year's squad is expected to be one of the best in the school's history, but Miller seems to ignore that perception and lump the Red Raiders in the lower half of the conference. That's just odd that Miller would ignore the preseason hype, especially when it seems more warranted than in previous years because we are actually talking about the defense. Quite simply, we know the offense is going to be good, but with a defense that can actually stop a few folks (crossing fingers), and I think they will, is something this should be mentioned.

I'm also still not sure about the lack of offensive linemen who get mention on either the All-Conference team. I shake my head when Louis Vasquez isn't even mentioned on either team, and I think Rylan Reed, were it not for the injury, would be one of the best linemen in the conference. Shawn Byrnes is mentioned as the first team center, but the latest from the spring is that Stephen Hamby may take Byrnes' job.

I also wonder about Bradford as the first team quarterback, personally, I think that Chase Daniel is the conference's best quarterback. He wins and he puts up numbers, but I think that right now, Harrell is a better quarterback than Bradford. Bradford is no slouch, I just don't think he's the best quarterback in the conference.

Defensively, I get it. No players deserve to be on either team. The Red Raiders have got to prove it and I've got no problem with that.

Texas Tech makes ESPN's Mark Schlabach list of Three Things I Can't Wait to See This Fall:

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We're now in part 3 of a 4 part series on Tipping a program. We've already introduced Tipping A Program, and talked about The Law of Few and now we've moved onto the Stickiness Factor, perhaps the most difficult to define aspect of Tipping a Program.

Without a doubt, I am one of the least creative individuals that I know. Original ideas with me are few and far between so this is where I really need the help of the readers of DTN to figure out how this would work. First and foremost, I think it should be acknowledged that I've never sat in a living room listening to a recruiter talk about why his school is better than someone else's school nor have I ever sat in on the ad campaign for a football season or basketball season. My question is if there is a better way to get out your message?

And although I've never been in a living room with a recruiter, and I've never taken a marketing class, I think that a big part of this is to consider who is the audience. My way of thinking tells me that we've got two potential audiences here. The first being recruits and the second being the ticket buying public. Let's tackle the recruits first.

I would imagine that recruits hear the same message from each and every recruiter that comes through the door. That every letter that they receive is like any other letter that they receive. There's probably no distinguishing factor from one school to the next. They're all just words on a piece of paper and if anything, these letters are at the very least to let a potential player know that a particular school is interested in bringing that player to their school.

We learned in The Law of Few that there are certain factors that play a greater role in a player's decision of what school they will commit to and those they won't. Thus, if all of the messages are the same and there's been a study as to what's important to athlete's then I have to wonder if schools are changing their messages to make their message different from a rival school.

The bottom line, is Texas Tech's message memorable, or more appropriately, is it "sticky"?

Before we get too much further, I don't think this is about spending more money, or increasing any sort of advertising or recruiting budget. I don't think that's what Tipping a Program is about. Rather, this is more about making fundamental changes that hopefully and eventually turn the tide.

So I would imagine that the point here is not to do what every other school does, but to do it differently. If the difference in landing a recruit is presenting the message in a way that is entirely unique AND tailored to what what is important to these recruits then this is where you start. The problem with the current method is that if a school does the same thing, again and again, without improved results, then perhaps you have to take a look at the method. Or perhaps if the results don't come about as quickly as you want, then you might have to take a look at the method. It's tipping the program for a sustained period of time that's the key, not treading water or slowly making progress to an eventual goal.

Isn't this the epitome of marketing? Looking at data, determining how people make decisions (external influences), and creating a working model that might help you determine how to better reach that recruit with relatively less effort, yet still achieve a high level of success.

So now you're saying, that's really great, but who in the hell is Texas Tech or any other university going to employ to do all of this marketing research? Well. . . how about the university itself. The nice thing about a college is that within any university you're going to have everything you need to get this done. Almost any university has the resources at its fingertips to figure out what is important to a recruit, what sticks with a recruit, and what eventually what is that one thing that determines where a recruit goes to school. Research, statistics, and marketing are all there to be taken advantage of at any school. So I have to wonder how much self-study goes on with recruits once they are on campus? Have coaches ever considered utilizing the university to figure make this all happen? Does any school tap the minds of their own recruits to learn what they could have done better in the recruiting process?

As far as getting a class or department involved, you may ask what's in it for them? How about getting to use an ad campaign that the university utilizes on your resume as motivation. Or being a part of the production, writing, marketing, etc.? Those students involved get the credit for the work they've done and they get the satisfaction of doing something to create some interest in their school.

Next up is the ticket-buying public. I cannot recall any ticket-buying campaign from Texas Tech that is memorable or one that "stuck" with me over time. A perfect example of a sticky advertising campaign, at least in my opinion, is the NBA's "Where Amazing Happens" advertising campaign. The campaign itself is simple and effective. It's memorable. It's sticky. In fact, it's so sticky that someone put together a similar video related to Texas Tech that DTN posted some time ago.

I know it's a little unrealistic to ask that any university come up with something as sticky as the NBA, but let's take the current Texas Tech ticket buying campaign. Here we have the current 30 second commercial, "Big Plays, Big Games, Big Time". It's a fine commercial and I've got no problems with it, but here's my question. Is this memorable? Is this commercial any more memorable than a previous commercial for Texas Tech football?

As an aside, why didn't Texas Tech upload this video? Did you know that Texas Tech has it's own YouTube video channel? Why wouldn't a school promote itself, especially for something that's free, like YouTube, as much as possible. Why aren't there more highlights of every sport on Texas Tech's channel?

But back to the idea of making a particular message memorable or sticky, I tend to think that almost every football program's advertising campaign is fairly static and there's probably plenty of room for improvement. It's a picture or clip of the team or a player, looking tough or making a spectacular play with a catchy slogan. Is there a different way to get out the message and make it memorable or are we stuck with the same type of message year after year?

When I first wrote this, almost a month ago, I wondered if Texas Tech would utilize the most recent success of Wes Welker and Michael Crabtree, and sure enough, I received a letter from Wes Welker asking me to contribute to the Red Raider Club. Before that, I received a phone call from Michael Crabtree, I think asking me to buy season tickets. I think the school is on the right track here. This is a move in the right direction, capitalizing on the success of current and past athletes, something that hasn't necessarily happened at the same time before.

If anything, this should really highlight how special a time it is at Texas Tech. Perhaps unprecedented. And this is what will lead us to the Law of Context, the next segment.

Again, I don't think it's necessary to spend more money or increase your advertising budget. It's about spending the money uniquely. Spend the money so that the message is memorable among those who buy tickets an those who we want to come to Texas Tech.

A Series In Tipping A Program:

• Introduction
• The Law of Few
• Stickiness Factor
• Law of Context
• Conclusion

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Double-T Nation News:

In no particular order, DTN's Top Four:

1. Bonnie Richardson of Rochelle High School won the Texas 1A track title -- all by herself.
2. Kinda funny, Baron Davis and Adam Sandler promote Don't Mess With Zohan.
3. ESPN's Tim Griffin breaks down the Big 12 North.
4. The Dagger with an even-handed look at the O.J. Mayo situation (there's plenty to blame to go around - the NCAA, the NBA, and the colleges who take players with baggage).

Texas Tech Football:

ESPN's Tim Griffin breaks down every team of the Big 12 South, including your Red Raiders. I think Griffin hits on my two biggest concerns, finding a kicker and figuring out if this team knows how to handle success. Griffin also mentions the running back situation and thinks that Kobey Lewis might have an inside track for the job because of his blocking skills, but it's always been my understanding that it's Woods' blocking skills that have what might earn him the starting spot, while Batch may have the best combination of size and speed and Crawford has the best size, but not game-changing speed. In any event, I still think that all 4 see time this year in some form or fashion.

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Texas Tech Football:

LAJ's Don Williams talks with new Texas Tech commits Dion Chidozie and Aaron Fisher. There are a couple of interesting things here, let's first tackle Fisher. Fisher's receiving numbers are quite different from the numbers linked yesterday from the FWST (which BTW, is no longer a good link for whatever reason), so he's a little more productive than originally thought. That's the good news. The interesting thing about Fisher was his quote about the Texas Tech staff only taking one receiver:

Now I would guess that if the right receiver were to come along, Texas Tech would jump all over it, but I find it interesting that this would be 2 classes in a row where the staff decides that there's not much need to take 3 or 4 receivers. Granted, the 2008 class and the 2009 class are both classes without a large number of commitments. In that 2008 class, there were only 2 receivers that committed, Cornelius Douglas and Austin Zouzalik. I like both Douglas and Zouzalik (why wouldn't I), but considering that receivers are the life-blood of this program, I wouldn't mind seeing 3 receivers per class. I also realize that the 2007 class had a number of receivers (Hawk, Flannel, Lewis, Swindall, and Franks), but I'd like to see a more even distiribution.

Fisher talks about the strengths and the spread offense:

Chidozie currently plays outside linebacker at Bishop Lynch, and also talks about what is expected of him:

If Chidozie is 190 rather than then 175, then the Red Raiders have an interesting commitment. I'm hoping Chidozie has a big frame to add a little more weight, otherwise he's not any bigger than some of the safety commits the Red Raiders have already received.

If I sound a little negative, I don't mean to. I like how this staff is going after athletes who project to get bigger and stronger with the key factor being speed amongst all of the new commits. I like the direction this thing is going.

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Texas Tech Football:

ESPN's Mark Schlabach updates his Top 25, and your Red Raiders check in at #11:

Here are a couple of pretty cool recruiting maps: 2008 Big 12 Recruiting (South) and 2009 Big 12 Recruiting (hat-tip to DTN reader Keith).

SI.com's Gene Menez thinks that Mr. Crabtree is the 5th best candidate to take the Heisman Trophy this year (hat-tip to DTN reader djollie111):

Personally, I don't think that Mr. Crabtree will duplicate his 2007 season, just because it was that unbelievable. If he does duplicate it, then he should be at the top of the list. His numbers are so much more ridiculous that his competitors and he's reliant on his quarterback to make sure he gets the ball rather than being able to create on his own, which he does when he does get the ball.

SI.com's Stewie Mandell also has his updated Top 25 with your Red Raiders checking in at #8 (hat-tip to DTN reader djollie111):

DallasCowboys.com's Nick Eatman is asking all of us to tap the breaks a bit with the Danny Amendola love (hat-tip Blogging The Boys):

As excited that I am that Amendola is with the Cowboys, I think ultimately he's going to be on the practice squad by the time camp concludes. I do think that it's better for everyone involved to remember that Amendola isn't Welker, and I think Amendola is handling as best he possibly can. There's 2 ways to look at this, the Cowboys are pretty well set at receiver and if he's going to beat anyone, he's going to have to beat Miles Austin or Sam Hurd. Eatman correctly points out that Amendola has to do more than just catch passes, he's got to show that he's versatile, that he can run down the field with wreckless abandon on punt and kickoff returns. There's only 53 spots and the more versatile Amendola is, then the greater the chance that Amendola gets a shot to catch a few passes from Romo.

There's also some updated video on Amendola at the DMN and Amendola on the Welker comparisons (hat-tip to DTN Reader Keith).

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The Bat-Signal went up (i.e. an email) from Bond J. Bond of Disco Tech! notifying me of an article by ESPN's Mark Schlabach on the genius that is Mike Leach. I called Mr. Bond, we had a tremendous conversation. Hawaii was great. But he's back hard at work and he wanted me to relay his thoughts about this article.

First and foremost, go read the whole article. It's great. And I mean that.

Second, Mr. Bond's thoughts, which I will probably relay incorrectly, but it's the thought that Schlabach probably interviewed the Captain over the course of a couple of days, watching practice and hanging out with Leach, only to realize that he didn't have one quote about how Leach felt about his football team, or the Red Raiders' chances this season, but rather, there was more talk of pirates, a mock-Van Gogh in the image of the Captain, and not working too much.

I've often danced around defending Captain Leach, in part because he hasn't quite done "it". He hasn't put together that complete season where he beats every team that fans expect Texas Tech to beat, but I'm done doing that.

I love the man. I'm not ashamed to say it, I think he's great for Texas Tech. I think he is great for Lubbock. I think he is great for Double-T Nation.

Here's the deal. I've tried to do it before, compiling recruiting ranks, numbers, statistics, blah, blah, blah and I still say that Leach has done more with less talent than any school in the country over the past 8 season with Texas Tech. And perhaps this will have to be my little summer project, detailing why I think Captain Leach has done more with less and why he's so great for Texas Tech, but for the time being, I'm going to be unabashedly in love and in favor of all things Leach.

I completely get that he can be critical of his team, players and officials and doesn't always take the blame for errors on the field. The man has his faults. I get that. There is no such thing as a perfect coach.

But he's my captain.

I think Leach is tremendously entertaining and I think he can coach the hell out of a bunch of kids that, for the most part, bigger schools didn't want. I'll take a guy who overachieves with less talent every time rather than a guy who underachieves with more talent.

So indulge me as I blockquote my favorite bit from the Schlabach's article:

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Texas Tech Football:

Captain Leach received yet another commitment, according to the Raiderpower tease, this time from Navarro College free safety Ryan Clark. Clark stands 6-1/195, and here's his Scout.com and Rivals.com profiles. According to the NJCAA website, Clark had a pretty productive year:

Seven interceptions? Really? That's the definition of a ballhawk. I like it a lot. Clark was also named First-Team All-SWJCFC.

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Texas Tech Football:

We're going to start out with Fox34's coverage and a look back on each unit with Chris Level, up this time is the linebackers and defensive ends. Level gives the linebackers a B or B+ because there's not a lot of experience, but there is athleticism. Level gives the defensive line an A as there appears to be more talent at the defensive end position than in recent memory and mentions that Ratliff probably won't hold onto his job due to the arrival of Sesay and Marshall.

DMN's blogger Tim MacMahon says that Danny Amendola was one of the three stars from the Dallas Cowboys rookie mini-camp:

Am I going to sound like a football idiot if I don't know what "speed breaks" are? I'm pretty sure Jenkins is saying that Amendola can stop on a dime, but I've just never heard of the term, "speed breaks".

The SAEN is also getting into the act covering Amendola with a feature comparing him, yet again, to Wes Welker. Receivers coach Lincoln Riley says this about Amendola:

Fox34 also has additional footage from Amendola's first meeting with the press, including his comparison to Welker.

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Danny Amendola is creating quite a stir at the Dallas Cowboys' mini-camp. Up first is an article that I missed on Thursday from DMN's Albert Breer, comparing Amendola to Welker:

While Captain Leach feels that Amendola is faster, Welker was/is quicker:

I've never thought that Amendola is faster than Welker, but I'll say it again, the ability to get open, in space, is incredibly valuable. That's all that the Texas Tech offense is, adjusting to the defender and finding the open space (I know it's more than that, but you get the idea). This really bodes well for future Red Raiders.

So Amendola participates in one practice and he's already a bad-ass. From the DMN Cowboys Blog Breer says that Amendola shined at this first practice:

We're not quite done, next, per Rob Phillips of DallasCowboys.com, Amendola caught the attention of Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, having this to say about Amendola:

Make sure and check out Fox34's coverage of Amendola as he stumbles a little through his first press conference. Funny stuff and some good footage from the Cowboys mini-camp.

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Congratulations to Dave Parks, former Red Raider, who was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame today. Parks was a former First Team All-American and the first pick of the 1964 NFL Draft. Parks played for Texas Tech from 1961 through 1963. In 1962 he led the team in receptions with 32 for 399 yards and 1 touchdown and in 1963, he also had 32 receptions for 499 yards and 4 touchdowns. Athletic Director Gerald Myers had this to say about Parks:

Just for reference purposes, the 1961 team went 4-6, the 1962 team struggled mightily, going 1-9, the lone win coming against Colorado, while the 1963 team improved by 4 games with an overall record of 5-5 and a huge win against Texas A&M, 10-0. The reason I mention that victory over the Aggies isn't to gloat yet again, but to draw attention to a particular play, "the catch":

And thanks to YouTube user oglepro, we get to see that catch (and what I believe to be Donny Anderson running roughshod over the Aggies), make sure and stay tuned until the end of the video:

I should also highlight Parks' professional career, which was highlighted by 3 Pro Bowls and being named to the first-team All-Pro team.

Congratulations, obviously an honor well overdue and well deserved.

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Texas Tech Football:

FoxSports Peter Schrager looks at the top 15 prospects for the 2009 Draft, and your favorite Mr. Crabtree is making an appearance:

I like the comparison to Houston Texan Andre Johnson, that seems appropriate, but I've always thought that Johnson has a little more speed. Or perhaps I'm underestimating Mr. Crabtree's speed a little.

Fox34 breaks down the cornerbacks, and gives the unit as a whole a B- or a C. Since the only practice time I watched was the spring game, that seems a little low, but Level knows this program, inside and out.

I'm a few days late, but I'm sure you're fine with that. DT's Alex Ybarra has a feature on the Charbonet brothers, senior Daniel and redshirt freshman Taylor. No blockquotes, just go read the whole thing.

A new commit, Woooo! As per the free story from Raiderpower, Jonathan Hollins, a 6-4/275 JUCO defensive tackle from the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California is now a Red Raider. For reference purposes, here's Hollins' Scout and Rivals (A pink suit? Really?) profile. Not being satisfied with just those profiles I decided to dig a little deeper on the internets. We have Hollins' defensive statisitics for 2007 at the College of the Canyons:

For reference purposes, Whitlock had 45 tackles last year (33 solo and 14 assists) to lead Texas Tech defensive linemen, while the 6 sacks from a defensive lineman would have led the team as Brandon Williams had 5.5 for the year.

ESPN's Mark Schlabach with all of the gritty details from the BCS meetings this week where it was decided that the system would remain the same until 2014. Of course, Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe had this to say about the conference as a whole:

Of course that's completely contradictory to what Texas Tech's Mike Leach and UT's Mack Brown had to say at the end of 2007. Here's Captain Leach:

Ummm . . . genius.

PB at BON asks some pretty interesting questions about the BCS.

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