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  • The key questions surrounding Oklahoma and Texas setting departure date from Big 12 to SEC

    The key questions surrounding Oklahoma and Texas setting departure date from Big 12 to SEC

    The Big 12 announced Thursday that the league had reached an agreement with Oklahoma and Texas for those schools to depart for the Southeastern Conference one year before the expiration of the their grant of rights expired with the league.

    Here’s a breakdown of the highlights of the announcement and what it means:

    When will Oklahoma and Texas enter the SEC?

    The official date of the two schools joining their new league is July 1, 2024, a year earlier than the league’s grant of rights contract with the schools and television deal called for.

    How much will it cost Oklahoma and Texas?

    The schools will forgo a combined $100 million in distributable revenue that will go largely to the eight Big 12 schools remaining from before the Sooners and Longhorns departed. Big 12 members that join this summer – Brigham Young, Central Florida, Cincinnati, and Houston – won’t be a part of that revenue influx. The Big 12 announcement said Oklahoma and Texas would be able to partially offset that amount with future revenues.

    Texas defensive lineman Byron Murphy II (90) brings down Oklahoma quarterback Davis Beville (11) during their 2022 game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas,

    Does this affect the recently released 2023 Big 12 football schedule?

    No. That schedule remains the same. Oklahoma will play three of the four new teams in the league, hosting Central Florida and traveling to Cincinnati and Brigham Young. The Sooners do not play longtime conference rivals Baylor, Kansas State and Texas Tech in their final season. Texas travels to Houston and hosts BYU in its two games against the new arrivals. The Longhorns won’t face either West Virginia or Oklahoma State.

    GOOD FOR ALL: Why Oklahoma, Texas leaving Big 12 early makes sense

    PORTAL SUCCESSS: Florida State, LSU lead list of top transfer classes

    HEAD OF CLASS: Ranking 10 best recruiting…

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  • Deion Sanders keeps recruiting for Colorado, even while presenting at NFL Honors

    Deion Sanders keeps recruiting for Colorado, even while presenting at NFL Honors

    Recruiting season never seems to end for new Colorado football coach Deion Sanders.

    Even after he announced a top 25 class of newcomers last week on national signing day, “Coach Prime” once again took advantage of his celebrity and national platform to make a pitch for the Buffaloes in Boulder.

    This time, he was on stage presenting an award at the NFL Honors ceremony Thursday in Phoenix, near the site of the Super Bowl Sunday in Glendale, Arizona. The event was televised nationally by NBC.

    “I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to recruit,” Sanders said, generating  laughter from the crowd of NFL luminaries.

    Sanders then said Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told him he could he borrow “The Star” for his recruiting efforts – a reference to Cowboys’ team headquarters in Frisco, Texas. Sanders also said Jimmy Johnson, the Pro Football Hall of Fame coach, was going to help him out with prospects, too.

    “I need all your cousins … your nephews, send ‘em right to Colorado,” Sanders said. “We good? We don’t have no NIL money, either, by the way.”

    Sanders, also a Pro Football Hall of Famer, publicly has downplayed “NIL money” in his recruiting messages – meaning income players now can earn from their names, images and likenesses (NIL).

    He’s a celebrity NIL man himself as a pitchman for Avocados From Mexico, Aflac insurance and Oikos yogurt.

    But he said it last week: ”If you’re here for NIL, or to be rich, we’re not the school for you.”

    He instead has used his celebrity and personality to draw recruits, dramatically amplifying Colorado’s national brand by appearing on several national television shows since his hiring was announced at CU in early December.

    He also has used his social media platforms to continue his recruiting pitch to recruits in several states, including in Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.

    ‘We’re not here for the NIL. We’re here for the NFL’: Deion Sanders makes bold statement with huge first…

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  • Texas, Oklahoma leaving Big 12 early, joining SEC in 2024 season after reaching exit agreement

    Texas, Oklahoma leaving Big 12 early, joining SEC in 2024 season after reaching exit agreement

    Texas and Oklahoma have reached an early exit agreement with the Big 12 that will see the powers depart for the SEC following the 2023-24 athletic season. The Big 12 and both programs announced Thursday night that the Longhorns and Sooners will pay early withdrawal fees of a combined $100 million to join the SEC in 2024, a full season earlier than originally planned.

    The Big 12’s two most prominent programs made waves in July 2021 when they accepted invitations to join the SEC, setting off the latest round of conference realignment. At the time, Texas and Oklahoma planned to move to the SEC beginning July 1, 2025, once the Big 12’s active grant of rights agreement expired, opening the door for UT and OU to depart the conference free and clear. 

    However, once the Big 12 backfilled its membership by adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF — all joining the league for the 2023 season — momentum began to shift toward the Longhorns and Sooners leaving for the SEC earlier than scheduled. Texas and Oklahoma not only preferred to avoid playing the new Big 12 members, they wanted to join the SEC for Year 1 of its new TV deal with ESPN. The Big 12 eyed the substantial exit fee to supplement the new six-year media rights deal it negotiated with Fox and ESPN in October 2022.

    The eight legacy Big 12 teams agreed to share a portion of their media rights distributions from the Big 12’s existing deals with Fox and ESPN to make possible the four-team expansion. Each program decided to forgo $16 million total ($8 million annually in 2023-24 and 2024-25) in future monies, sources previously told CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd.

    The negotiated $100 million early exit fee the Big 12 will receive from Texas and Oklahoma for not being part of the league’s media…

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  • 2023 Super Bowl: Rihanna halftime show predictions, including first and last songs, setlist, special guests

    2023 Super Bowl: Rihanna halftime show predictions, including first and last songs, setlist, special guests

    With Super Bowl LVII fast approaching, predictions are flooding in for the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. From the winner to MVP to the score to prop bets and everything in between, fans and experts are making their guesses for everything that will take place during the game. 

    With predictions coming in about all aspects of the big event, it only makes sense that we should predict what the halftime show will be like. Superstar artist Rihanna will be performing in a highly anticipated halftime show. Not much has been spoiled about the performance so far, so her setlist and whether she will have any special guests join her on stage remain to be seen.

    More on Super Bowl LVII

    Ahead of the big performance, we took all the data, the statistics and history of the halftime performances to give you all a prediction of what we think will happen on Sunday. If correct, we will accept all praise. If wrong? We just can forget these predictions ever happened.

    Which song will Rihanna sing first?

    Rihanna has 14 No. 1 hits, plus 31 songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, with a total of 360 weeks in the top 10. So she has a lot of songs, and popular ones, to choose from.

    Some favorites for her to start with are “Diamonds,” “Don’t Stop the Music” and “We Found Love.” The opening of “Diamonds” allows for a gradual build into the setlist and the visual options with a song about diamonds are endless. A glittering stadium, fans being given bracelets that light up or light effects on the stage would make for a powerful start. It is one of her most popular songs, charting for three consecutive weeks in the Top 100, peaking at No. 1. Considering whoever wins the Super Bowl will get lots of diamonds on their championship ring, it would be a very fitting start to the performance. 

    If Rihanna wants to build the show and gradually get to the more…

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  • LSU offers versatile 2024 Texas athlete

    LSU offers versatile 2024 Texas athlete

    Terry Bussey is a 5-foot-11, 180-pound athlete, a four-star athlete from the class of 2024. Bussey is from Timpson, Texas, where he plays for Timpson High School. The Timpson Bears finished the 2022 season 14-1 with a loss to Refugio in the Texas UIL 2A state semifinals.

    Bussey currently has no Crystal Ball projections but Texas A&M is a 50% favorite to land him per On3.

    Film Analysis: Bussey is an enigma. He can play just about anywhere on the football field. Quarterback, running back, wide receiver, cornerback, or safety. It does not matter. He can play well no matter where you need him.

    FILM

    Ratings

    247

    4

    84

    9

    12

    Rivals

    4

    240

    25

    31

    ESPN

    4

    149

    15

    26

    On3 Recruiting

    4

    23

    2

    5

    247 Composite

    4

    90

    8

    17

     

    Vitals

    Hometown

    Timpson, Texas

    Projected Position

    ATH

    Height

    5-11

    Weight

    180

    Class

    2024

     

    Recruitment

    Offer List

    Recruiting Projection

    Twitter

    [listicle id=64727]

    Story originally appeared on LSU Tigers Wire

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  • Will the quarterback sneak turn Chiefs v Eagles into the rugby Super Bowl?

    Will the quarterback sneak turn Chiefs v Eagles into the rugby Super Bowl?

    Photograph: Joe Camporeale/USA Today Sports

    The Eagles have turned the quarterback sneak into the least sneaky play in the playbook. There was no mystery about what Philadelphia were planning when Jalen Hurts lined up with nine teammates between the hashes on the San Francisco one-yard line in the NFC Championship game, half of the group in four-point stances.

    Nor did the call change after the 49ers stopped Hurts for no gain. One play later, from an identical formation, Philly’s quarterback took the snap and plunged forward to his left, forcing his way into the end zone with some help from tight end Dallas Goedert and running back Boston Scott behind him, shoving him over the line.

    It is a strategy they have used all season, to punishing effect. Eagles center Jason Kelce channels Anchorman with his line that “92% of the time, it works every time,” but the real numbers aren’t far off. During the regular season, the Eagles converted 29 of their 33 quarterback sneaks into first downs or touchdowns.

    No team has ever used the play so prolifically. When the NFL’s Football Operations team dug into the data three years ago, they found that Tom Brady led the league with 157 sneaks since 2001 – 85 more than second-placed Drew Brees. To frame that statistic in a different way: even the league’s “Master of the QB sneak” averaged fewer than 10 a season.

    “I like the way they’re doing it,” said Brady when he was asked about the Eagles’ approach in December. “They’re kind of making it like a rugby scrum a little bit, putting a lot of bodies in there, which is kind of a new take on it.”

    Related: Super Bowl LVII: the fruitless quest to find a flaw in Patrick Mahomes’s game

    More than a scrum, the closer parallel in rugby union may be a maul, when a ball-carrier is held by an opponent but has not yet gone to ground. Teammates bind together around them, overlapping arms and grabbing each other’s shirts to create an overwhelming mass of bodies that keeps…

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  • Super Bowl 57 Props Guide: Odds, picks for more than 400 Chiefs vs. Eagles props from SportsLine

    Super Bowl 57 Props Guide: Odds, picks for more than 400 Chiefs vs. Eagles props from SportsLine

    The Super Bowl matchup is set, with the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs set to battle in Glendale, Arizona on Sunday, February 12. Not only is it going to be the biggest sporting event in the world in all of 2023, it’s also going to be the biggest sports betting event on your calendars this year.

    Sportsbooks offer hundreds of ways to take a stance on the game, from the player props we see on every NFL game like over/under passing yards and anytime touchdown scorer, to more interesting over/unders like 2.5 players to throw a pass and 1.5 yards for shortest touchdown, to even more specific props like whether there will be a score in a specific window at the beginning or end of a game, will the game be tied after 0-0, and so on.

    You can also get action on the coin toss and Super Bowl MVP, and some books will even post lines for the length of the national anthem, what happens during the halftime show and the color of the Gatorade splashed on the winning coach, among other props that will be determined when the game clock isn’t running. If multitasking is your thing, you can also play cross-sport props that essentially create a choice between something related to the Super Bowl and something else going on in sports that day (i.e., will Ja Morant or the Eagles score more points).

    We’re covering all those angles and more in our Super Bowl props guide. Here, you’ll be able to find lines on all game-related props provided by Caesars Sportsbook and relevant content from SportsLine, sharing model and expert picks along the way. We’ll also cover some of the more exotic props on the anthem and halftime that you may not find at your sportsbook but can add a bit of fun to your party.

    Be sure to check back regularly as we continue to update this post with prop lines as they become available as well as new SportsLine props content up until kickoff. All odds are subject to change.

    Chiefs vs….

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  • Mike Norvell contract: Florida State extends third-year coach, making him among highest paid in ACC

    Mike Norvell contract: Florida State extends third-year coach, making him among highest paid in ACC

    Florida State has rewarded Mike Norvell with a contract extension that makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in the ACC. The new deal, which comes on the heels of a 10-win campaign in 2022, keeps Norvell in Tallahassee through the 2029 season and pays him an average of $8.05 million per season. 

    Norvell’s new contract nearly doubles his previous $4.5 million annual salary, and trails only Clemson coach Dabo Swinney among ACC coaches. The average value ranks top 10 nationally. 

    “Coach Norvell has re-established a culture that the entire Seminole Family can appreciate,” said FSU athletic director Michael Alford in a statement. “We are proud of the way Coach Norvell, his staff and his team represent Florida State University on and off the field.

    “Under Coach Norvell’s leadership we have experienced the highest grade-point average in program history multiple times, an unprecedented impact in our community and drastic improvement on the football field through him establishing a foundation of unwavering standards in all areas. I’m happy that we are going to continue climbing with Coach Norvell for years to come.”

    The Seminoles reached double-digit wins for the first time since 2016 during a breakout 10-3 campaign in 2022. Florida State finished No. 11 in the final AP Top 25 and clinched a Cheez-It Bowl victory over Oklahoma with a thrilling 35-32 come-from-behind performance. 

    Norvell brings stability to FSU

    Florida State was a program adrift in the closing moments of the Jimbo Fisher era. From Fisher’s last season through 2021, the Seminoles put together a lackluster 26-33 record after finishing above .500 every year since Bobby Bowden’s first season in 1976. Norvell went just 8-13 in his first two seasons, which were plagued by poor…

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