Early Lone Star Showdown standings and thoughts

[FWHORN]

Bill is usually the one leading the charge in posting on this but not seeing his analysis yet and with this weekend having 3 full points on the line here are some early thoughts on this weekend.

Texas had to get the full volleyball point and did. The Ladies have been dominant all year and another Final Four is now expected with a real shot at the NC. Cant wait to see a Texas-Penn state match up. The Horns now lead the LSS 1-0.

Unfortunately it will take upsets this weekend for Texas to not find itself down 3-1 come Monday. last year the soccer team drew with aggy splitting the point and we split the cross-country points. Aggy has a better soccer team and this year the match up is in B/CS so it is hard to see even a split point here.

The cross-country points are even harder to see a shot at. Last year the women pulled an upset but both teams will be big underdogs this year. Say what you will about $Bill and how he has destroyed football at aggy, he knows his non-revenue sports and he has made aggy a national power in them.

expect to wake up Monday down 3-1. Even one upset would be huge.

Texas' road to ten points seems to be
1 point volleyball check
1 point football
1 point mens swimming
1 point womens swimming
1 point mens tennis
1 point womens tennis
1 point men's basketball
1 point baseball

2 points via upsets (soccer, golfX2, TrackX6, womens Basketball 2 1/2 points available and womens softball 2 1/2 points)

Good luck this weekend to our soccer and cross-country teams.

 

[Bill in Sinton]

Thank you FW. Good analysis. We will know in about a week where we stand since some points are available. I think we will get the Women's Cross Country point but I am not sure about the Men's point. Also we seem to be spliting in men's basketball. Hopefully our women's basketball team will get at least a split. This losing to the Lady Aggies Women's Basketball team 5 straight times is starting to get old. It would be great if we could win the soccer game in CS. We will see.

 

[Bill in Sinton]

Unfortunately though not a big surprise the Aggies won the soccer game and the standings are now at 1 point each.

 

[overseasbbfan1]

I agree with your analysis, Bill. Cross-country could go either way but I wouldn't be surpised to see the Horns and Ags tied 2-2 in the Showdown come Sunday.

 

[Bill in Sinton]

I agree oversea. I am fairly confident our women's cross country team can get the point because they are a good young team but it would really help if our men's cross country team could win it and get us to a 3 - 1 lead.

 

[overseasbbfan1]

You got your wish, Bill...both Horn squads finished ahead of the Ags so the score is now 3-1.

 

[scharnell]

I like beating the ags whenever possible, but there are really only three points that matter to most fans.

Football, Basketball, and Baseball...I think these sports should be more heavily weighted. If Texas wanted to pump millions into their non-revenue sports and allow the football team to falter, while operating in the red, I do not think winning the LLS would matter much...

 

[l00p]

Thing is that if the football team faltered too much many of those millions would not be available for other sports. They would not go broke by any means there just would not be as much, not near as much.

aggy is a fluke. Even their non-revenue sports will go by the wayside. They don't have the talent pool, the resources or ability to keep even this going.

They are a womans school now but even that won't last.

 

[FWHORN]

Wow, lets hear it for the Cross Country teams, 5th place overall for men, 8th for women but ahead of our aggy cousins. I really expected us to lose both, was hopeful about one but am ecstatic to have picked up both.

The Longhorn path to reclaiming the trophy just became very defined. The Horns will be favored in 6 1/2 of the remaining points, with the mens basketball in Austin being a favorite for the 1/2 and likely favored in B/CS but that will be tough one as the Horns havent won there in several years. That 1/2 point could be the step to 10 if the women cant come through in basketball or softball.

 

[Bill in Sinton]

Great job by our cross country teams. I didn't expect high finishes but I had hopes that at least our women would get the point. They not only did but the men did also and these points may be important later. I just wish the Texas web site would show a photo of the teams holding up the Lone Star Showdown trophy because after all they do work hard for us and did get us two valuable points. Way to go Horns! Well Done!

 

[Pancho Negro]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[l00p]

I guess not. Then again, I don't really care about the "showdown". I did not care when we were winning it every year instead of losing it by half points or ties, however it has gone.

But please, spell it out and enlighten as you are correct. I don't know how our program works with their funds and allotment of it. I also don't know how it compares to that of aggy. I do have people who work at Belmont that will verify if your info on UT is correct. I don't have that info for aggy.

So do tell. Seriously, I am interested in learning. Don't leave anything out as all info is testable and it is comprehensive.

 

[Bill in Sinton]

I don't know how funds are allocated but this is going to be another close one and may end up in a tie at the year end. Of course A&M retains the trophy again in case of a tie but I know no one really wants that. But right now I have it ending up even.
I expect to take the Women's Swimming and Diving point and of course we really must take the Football point and this will give us a 5 - 1 lead going into the new year to the spring sports.
This is where the Aggies will close the gap. I expect them to get the two golf points and all 4 track and field points as well as the softball points. If they sweep us again in Women's Basketball and get the split in Men's basketball this gives them 9 1/2 points to tie and retain the cup.

We should get the Men's tennis point and the women's tennis point (and that may be tough since the match is at CS where our men lost it last year and let A&M get the tie). We should get the Mens Swimming and Diving point. Then with 1/2 for the Men's Basketball and the point in baseball (which is no guarantee) we are tied at 9 1/2 again.

To get over the point needed to win we need to get the points I expect us to get. What can get us over if we can get at least one of the indoor track and field points like we did last year. Also if our Women's Basketball team can at least get a split this year it would help because their losing to A&M and getting swept is starting to get old. It would also help if our men's basketball team who is better will stop spliting with the Aggies and bring us the full point. Of course a pleasant surprise if if our softball team can at least get a split like last year.

It will be close.

GO HORNS

 

[overseasbbfan1]

Women's swimming and diving defeats the Ags so Horns now up 4-1 in the showdown. Great job swimmers and keep it up Horns!

 

[Bill in Sinton]

 

[ImissWallyPryor]

I thought the LSS points in swimming were awarded to the team that finishes higher at the Big XII Conference Meet in February.

 

[overseasbbfan1]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Bill in Sinton]

I think swimming and diving has always been head to head but I could be wrong. Either way it is now head to head in these sports now.

The teams getting the points in Big 12 Championships are (and these are for both men and women's teams) cross country, indoor track and field, outdoor track and field, and golf. The teams that finish higher in the standings gets the points.

 

[LonghornsWin]

So whatt is the current score?

 

[Bill in Sinton]

It is now 4 - 1 in our favor. After the football game no points will be available until this coming January.

 

[Bill in Sinton]

With the football win we are now ahead of the Aggies with a 5 - 1 score. No more points available until January.

 

[Bill in Sinton]

In a couple of weeks the competition resumes. Just as a point of interest I have listed the top sports in the lone star competition by the basis of fan interest and media coverage. It doesn't mean that any are not important but is a list of great sports. The following are my opinion and I welcome other opinions and thought.s. Some sports have both men and women's competition and I have included them together and one may argue between the two if they are inclined to do so which I am not.

1. Football - way ahead of the rest for obvious reasons.
2. Men and Women's Basketball
3. Baseball
4. Volleyball
5. Softball
6. Soccer
7. Men and Women's Outdoor Track and Field
8. Men and Women's Indoor Track and Field
9. Men and Women's Tennis
10. Men and Women's Swimming and Diving
11. Men and Women's Golf
12. Men and Women's Cross Country

In my list some can be reversed especially in 9 - 12 and maybe 4-6. But the top 6 I have listed is based mainly on media coverages. All of these sports NCs are shown live on television. Numbers 7 - 10 are shown but I think they are all on a tape delayed basis and sometimes shown a week after they have happened. I don't even know if golf is shown at all other than results announced and the same with Cross Country.

But they are all good sports but I have just listed them in order of my judgement. I have had the pleasure of seeing our Women's Cross Country won and win in Corpus Christi plus they have got 2 points for us in the competition the last 2 years.

 

[Bill in Sinton]

I know we have concentrated our attention on the football team but this month in January there are still two 1/2 points available for Men and Women's Basketball.
The first one is tomorrow (Sat. 1-09-10) at 5 P.M. in Austin. This would be a great half point to get since it is in Austin.

On January 16, 2010 at 5 P.M. the Men play the Aggies at 5 P.M. in Austin and it is scheduled on ESPNU but be sure to watch for changes. We need to get this one too.

This is a critical month. We need our men to start sweeping the Aggies and for our Ladies to stop getting swept. That one point advantage the Aggies have got has really hurt us the past two years.

Everyone in Austin that can please attend these games and cheer for our Horns!

Go Horns!

 

[Bill in Sinton]

Tonight is the night that our basketball men's team play the Aggies. We should get this oen since it is in Austin but you never know.
What was surprisng to me was the coaches had us predicted at no.5 in softball ahead of the Aggies who are No. 6 and this in spite of our losing Barnhill. The Aggies must have had some stars graduate because they have always been favored as one of the top teams. It would be great if we could at least get a split in this sport as far as the competition is concerned.

GO HORNS!

 

[Bill in Sinton]

Fortunately our men's basketball team was able to beat the Aggies even though barely to get the 1/2 point. If we had lost it it would have really hurt us in this competition.

As of now we are ahead 5 1/2 to 1 1/2 but unfortunately we are in the spring sports where the Aggies really work at. We still have a great chance to win it but ufortunately I think the Aggies are going to sweep us for 6 points in the Track and Field and Golf points. I would love to be wrong. I also expect them to get the 1/2 point left in Women's basketball.

For us to win it we need 4 1/2 more points since by the system the Aggies win the tie. Our basketball team really needs to play much better at College Station for the 1/2 point not only for the 1/2 point but it will be getting close to playoffs and we will need momentum.

We need to sweep in Tennis which will be difficult especially since our Lades have to play in CS. The Aggies play above their heads there or else we play below our expectations but last year there the Men's Tennis team lost there to an Aggie team that didn't belong on the same court as ours (as evidenced by successes in the playoffs) and that point really killed us last year. We also need to get Baseball and of course Women's Swimming and Diving which I expect.

Softball is one I don't know about since we lost Barnhill but we are ranked ahead so the Aggies must have lost some players due to graduation. It would be great to get at least a split here or even a sweep.

Updates later.

GO HORNS!