Studio Hive

[SBN] Longhorn Brand Electricity? Seriously?

Who wants to supply their home or business with electricity branded by the University of Texas? You do you do! No, for rills, this is a real thing that is happening:

The electricity will be supplied by Champion Energy Services and is being touted as 100 percent renewable energy to alumni and fans in deregulated regions of Texas. Every new account will generate funds for the University of Texas and consumers will receive Longhorns merchandise, memorabilia, access to events, ticket discounts and other benefits as incentives.

Look for other fine institutions of higher learning to jump on this branding-stretch bandwagon, with Fresno State-branded dirt, South Carolina-branded asphalt, Florida State-branded food stamps, and Tennessee-branded meth to be made available to the general public as early as next year. Oh, and don't forget your Georgia Tech pest control, because who would you trust more to spray your yard for bees than another bee?

(From SB Nation.)

[SBN] Big East commish says it with flowers, uncomfortable imagery

The Big East owes its barely-beating heart to, of all things, the survival of the Big 12. Dan Beebe's television money and back-room machinations saved more than just his own conference from extinction: In the post-apocalyptic landscape following massive realignment, weaker conferences would be sold off for spare parts, likelier than not. So forgive Big East commish John Marinatto for getting a bit fluttery in his rush to express his thanks.

(Read the rest at SB Nation.)

[SBN] Circle the wagons, SEC: Here comes Jerry!

Why is Arkansas polishing its SEC pledge pin with such public fervor? With the Big Ten, Pac-10, and Big 12 all sitting pretty with even numbers, one assumes schools from major conferences are immune to any further shakeups. But in this case, the school's oath of fealty probably has something to do with Jerry Jones wanting to bring his particular brand of yeehaw crazy to college sports.

(Read the rest at SB Nation.)

[SBN] Chaos killed the dinosaurs: Big 12 expansion gets catty with buyout cash

It's hard to fathom how the Big 12 expansion/contraction fooferaw could possibly get bitchier, but here we are. Witness before our very eyes the development of a clearly delineated conference caste system:

Via Rivals, the gnarly details, which set the five erstwhile would-be Pac-10 additions above the left-behinds, and the two powerhouse schools above that (along with, for some reason, Texas A&M).

(Read the rest at SB Nation.)

[SBN] Colorado AD concedes Pac-10 expansion rumors may not be completely made-up

The report of a possible six-team expansion in the works for the Pac-10 was met with at least a modicum of skepticism this afternoon, which makes sense after months of Big 10 will-they-won't-they back and forth expansion gossip. But this version of events appears to come wrapped around at least a grain of truth, as Colorado AD Mike Bohn confirms ... not that Colorado and five other Big 12 schools are getting invitations, exactly, but that there's at least some there there.

(Read the rest at SB Nation.)

[SBN] Why big sports programs aren't necessarily bigger targets for the NCAA

Those of you either resting easy or grumbling in frustration at the thought that the NCAA will never punish so fatted a calf as USC, take note: The common misconception that smaller schools are punished more stringently than the big-name outfits is (you guessed yet?) a misconception.

[L]ogic states that the NCAA would not hurt programs that generate a lot of revenue. The problem is in football, the NCAA has no TV contract, no advertising revenue, no ticket sales, no direct revenue at all. The NCAA has only an indirect and tangential financial interest in FBS football.

But if history is any suggestion, neither will the hammer swing more forcefully Trojans-ward just because they'd be a high-profile get. Any perception of USC being targeted for their status is also erroneous, statistically speaking: It just so happens that major programs are really, really good at being bad.

(Read the rest at SB Nation.)

[SBN] Memphis hoops recruits kept apprised of the state of Josh Pastner's wife's cervix

Memphis head coach Josh Pastner welcomed a baby girl into the world with his wife last Thursday. This is noteworthy for two reasons: First of all, it turns out the baby-faced skipper is old enough to procreate, if not shave. Second, he used his time in the delivery room as a recruiting wedge.

(Read the rest at SB Nation.)

[Dr. Saturday] Add 'blackmail' to Kansas AD's rapidly expanding list of tribulations

In the power rankings for juicy hotbeds of athletics gossip, Lawrence, Kansas bestrides the field like a sullen Colossus. To review, since the start of the 2009 football season, we've already seen:

• A series of on-campus dustups between the football and basketball teams;

• The departure of a successful football coach following a flurry of accusations of player mistreatment;

 • A public outcry over athletic director Lew Perkins' "hideous" salary; and

• A sprawling, multi-sport, multimillion-dollar ticket-scalping scandal perpetrated by a department employee and a booster.

Now, just to make things interesting, we have William Dent, former director of sports medicine for the university, admitting to blackmailing Perkins over a seven-month period from last September to April with evidence of alleged quid-pro-quo.

The noir narrative apparently begins with Perkins accepting exercise equipment from a company in exchange for an upgrade to that company's basketball tickets, a charge the university denies. Dent responds by – brace yourselves for something truly dreadful – taking the equipment for himself and attempts to extort money for storage costs.

(Read the rest at Yahoo!/Rivals.)

[SBN] Mountain West Conference making coy flutter-eyes at Boise State

The Mountain West is getting the mid-majors into the conference-expansion game, extending its grasp into Idaho for the WAC's only argument for national relevance, the Boise State Broncos. In a refreshing departure from the Big Ten's willy-nilly, "we maybe want one team and we maybe want four BECAUSE WE SAID SO YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF US [makes 'call me' hand signs at Notre Dame]" approach, the need for BSU in the MWC is both tangible and sensical.

(Read the rest at SB Nation.)

[SBN] CBS tried to leave March Madness in a basket on ESPN's doorstep last year

CBS would have to be counted crazy even among outhouse rats to consider giving up its golden-ticket stake in March Madness, right? Not exactly. According to the New York Times, at some point last fall CBS was considering paying ESPN to take the tournament broadcast rights off its hands in an effort to stem the network's cashflow hemorrhage.

(Read the rest at SB Nation.)