Texas Longhorns

NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. broke down his top-five prospects at each position among juniors and seniors entering the 2013 draft.

You'll need ESPN Insider to see both (here are the juniors) (and here are the seniors), but here's a taste of what you can find among the seniors.

Quarterbacks

• No. 3: Landry Jones, Oklahoma
• No. 5: Geno Smith, West Virginia

Fullbacks

• No. 1: Braden Wilson, Kansas State

Receivers

• No. 2: Terrance Williams, Baylor
• No. 4: Tavon Austin, West Virginia

Offensive tackles

• No. 5: Tanner Hawkinson, Kansas

Centers

• No. 5: Ben Habern, Oklahoma

Inside linebackers

• No. 3: Arthur Brown, Kansas State

Cornerbacks

• No. 5: Demontre Hurst, Oklahoma

Punters

• No. 2: Quinn Sharp, Oklahoma State

David Ubben says Oklahoma at West Virginia, Kansas State at Oklahoma, Texas at West Virginia and Texas vs. Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl are four games to watch in the Big 12.

Ivan Maisel and Beano Cook talk about two commissioner changes in college football and answer fan reaction to the impending playoff system.

With the spring in the Big 12 over, it's time to hand out some awards.

Best newcomer: Brandon Moore, DT, Texas. Moore and offensive lineman Donald Hawkins were the first two juco transfers at Texas since 2002. This spring, Moore showed why, and Hawkins should start on the offensive line. Moore, a 330-pound force in the middle of the defense was reportedly "unstoppable" this spring. Conditioning may be an issue, but that could get better over the summer. If he's busting up offensive lines, Texas' defense is going to be terrifying. Honorable mention: Blake Jackson, WR/TE, Oklahoma State, Dayne Crist, QB, Kansas

Biggest shocker: Wes Lunt, QB, Oklahoma State. OSU OC Todd Monken said himself he'd be "shocked" if Lunt came in and won the QB job. Well, consider him shocked. Junior Clint Chelf didn't distance himself from his competition, and Lunt learned enough to surpass dual-threat J.W. Walsh and win the job. Chelf and Walsh don't sound like they're itching to transfer, which is a welcome sign for OSU's coaches, but Lunt could begin a storied career in Stillwater this fall, even if there are growing pains in the immediate future.

Best quote: Todd Monken, OC, Oklahoma State. Monken got the Sooners fired up with his take on how quickly things can change for a quarterback when it comes to confidence. "It didn’t take long when ol’ (Oklahoma receiver Ryan) Broyles went down and (OU) started running the dozer to think, 'Do we have our guy?' That didn’t take long," Monken said. "Landry Jones went from like, 'I’m the man,' to all of a sudden, 'I haven’t thrown a touchdown pass, I'm fumbling it over my head at Oklahoma State. I gotta go back and see my quarterback guru." Monken later apologized, and even though he made an example of a rival player, it wasn't explicit criticism. Out of line? Maybe. Definitely not what Mike Gundy wanted to hear. Above all, though, it was fact. Even Oklahoma fans who watched the Sooners in 2011 would admit that. It's the truth. Nice move to apologize, and Oklahoma can call it disrespect if it wants. I'll call it what it is: the truth.

Second-best quote: Glenn Gronkowski, FB, Kansas State. On the light-hearted side of things, the youngest of the Gronkowski boys explained his family slogan, "Get Gronk'd" on his bracelet ("It basically just means beasting as much as possible. It's about beasting and going as hard as possible at all times and in everything you do.") and what it was like growing up with his older brothers, notably New England Patriots' TE Rob Gronkowski. "We'd just break stuff, man. We were into WWE when we were little. One time, we got an old table and pulled it out into the living room. We got Rob and choke-slammed him through it. That thing broke right in half." Mrs. Gronkowski, you are a saint.

Biggest black eye: TCU drug scandal. TCU had a squeaky-clean image before this spring, but there's no doubt the newcomers picked a bad time to have it end. Not the best first impression. Four players were arrested in a campus drug sting, including former All-American linebacker Tanner Brock, who would have been the team's top defender. There's some debate about how widespread the problem was, but the impact, scope and attention of the scandal were a bigger problem for the schools than players at Baylor and Iowa State being under investigation for sexual assault. Isn't that a problem in itself?

Best spring-game performance: Collin Klein, QB, Kansas State. Klein was going up against second-teamers, sure. Other K-State quarterbacks have put up crazy numbers in this game, but Klein bested them all with an eye-popping stat line. He completed 47-of-56 passes for 480 yards and six touchdowns, though he threw an interception on the final drive with the game tied at 42. Most impressive? He called all the plays, as K-State QBs traditionally do in the spring game. Honorable mention: Charlie Moore, WR, Oklahoma State

Best viral video: Charlie Weis, Kansas. Weis allowed media access to one open practice, and at the end, ripped into his team for not being enthusiastic enough while celebrating what was supposed to be a game-winning field goal to beat TCU and go 3-0, he told them. "I can tell you guys aren’t used to winning. ... Winning a football game is not supposed to be an uncommon occurrence. I know that’s a novel concept around here," Weis yelled. "When you win a football game, there’s supposed to be a celebration that looks like a celebration. And that was a pile of crap." Was it legitimate? Was it a media stunt? I don't care. It was compelling.

Another spring has come and gone in the Big 12. In this league, it's a long one. Texas Tech kicked things off on February 17, just two weeks after signing day.

Kansas and Kansas State didn't wrap it up until spring games on April 28.

Through it all, we learned a lot. Here's a taste.

Texas is inching much closer to contention: The offense? Well, it's still a work in progress, though David Ash showed some solid progression during the spring. But the defense? It's leading the way for the Longhorns' road back from the 5-7 implosion in 2010. Quandre Diggs and Carrington Byndom might just be the two best cornerbacks in the Big 12, and Alex Okafor and Jackson Jeffcoat are probably the two best defensive ends. Great coverage and a great pass-rush? Sounds like a good start to slowing down Big 12 offenses. Add in junior college man-child Brandon Moore, and solid linebacker play with Jordan Hicks, Demarco Cobbs and Steve Edmond, and the Longhorns have a unit that can help them get back into title contention.

Only one team doesn't know who its quarterback will be: Baylor hardly had a competition to replace RG3. Kansas replaced Jordan Webb with transfer Dayne Crist. Oklahoma State pulled the trigger on a youngster. Texas hasn't officially named him, but Ash has all but sewn up the job in Austin. That leaves Iowa State, which has sophomore Jared Barnett and senior Steele Jantz competing for the job for a second consecutive fall. Anything could happen there.

Mike Gundy has guts: Oklahoma State said goodbye to a mature, big-armed passer in Brandon Weeden, who won 23 games in two seasons. However, the reigning Big 12 champion again will have a big arm at quarterback. Gundy made the league's gutsiest move this spring, handing the reins to 18-year-old Wes Lunt from Illinois. He's one of just six players in the Big 12 from Illinois, and he's a decade younger than Weeden. Robert Griffin III was the league's last true freshman to start a majority of games, but Lunt might be the first to win the job in the spring.

There's a new sherriff in town: The Big 12 knew Chuck Neinas was a quick fix at the commissioner spot, but the league made a quick move in pegging Stanford AD Bob Bowlsby as the new commissioner to replace Dan Beebe, who was fired in September. The Big 12 is likely to cash in on a nice TV deal shortly after Bowlsby takes over, but he'll have to help reconnect a league that must work through some possibly divisive issues like expansion in the near future. He'll also need to manage the relationship between Texas, who he referred to as an "800-pound gorilla," and the rest of its Big 12 brethren. The relationship sounds good now, but over time, issues could arise.

Charlie Weis is making sure KU looks nothing like its 2011 team: Kansas has undergone the biggest change of any team in the Big 12 this offseason. New coach Weis saw a lot of problems at KU, and went about fixing them quickly. He welcomed six Division I transfers, including three from Notre Dame, which included his new quarterback, Crist. He also saw gaping holes along the defensive line and tried to fill them with junior college players and high schoolers who will be challenging for playing time in the fall. Kansas will look a lot different, but will it be better?

David Ubben says Baylor QB Nick Florence, OSU WR Josh Stewart and Texas RB Joe Bergeron are three players to watch in the Big 12 this year

HornsNation's Carter Strickland stopped by SportsNation for the weekly discussion of Texas sports.

Here is some of the best from Tuesday's chat:

Grecian (Houston, TX)

Any updates on the recent arrests? Likely implications?

Carter Strickland

There is just going to be some extra running and finger-wagging at those guys by the coaching staff. This was not a serious offense and Brown will use it as a teaching tool for the team.

Chase (S.D. )

Texas has 14 commits at this point. Say we add Rhodes, and Collins in the near future to put the number to 16. How many more scholarships will we take in this class and whom do you see getting us to that number? Are Harris or Bell legit options? Can you see any other offers being handed out with such limited numbers available?

Carter Strickland

I think Texas goes to 20 or 21 with this class but could massage the numbers and go up if they needed to by using grayshirts. It's always a very risky numbers game at the end for all these coaching staffs and Texas is going to have some flexibility.Bell I think is a UGA guy. Harris is going to have a hard time not going to Florida.Miles is a guy to watch for an offer in the late stages of the game.

Stephen (Seattle, WA)

What do you expect from the TCU and WVU football games this upcoming year? big win, loss, close game??

Carter Strickland

Both are at DKR so I think Texas has a big edge there.I think they are both wins. If they were road games I would say Texas splits them.

Stephen (Seattle, WA)

If David Ash is the "manageable" qb that we expect this yr..any chance we have 3 1000yr rushers?

Carter Strickland

Nope. Maybe one 1,000 rusher and two other guys who have 750 yards running and catching. That's still pretty good.

To see the rest of the chat, read our chat wrap.

Hit us up on The Tower with more questions and discussion.

Texas

2011 overall record: 8-4

2011 conference record: 4-5 (6th)

Returning starters:

Offense: 9; defense: 8; kicker/punter: 0
Top returners

RB: Malcolm Brown, C Dominic Espinosa, WR Jaxon Shipley, QB David Ash, LB Jordan Hicks, S Kenny Vaccaro, DE Alex Okafor, CB Carrington Byndom

Key losses

LB Emmanuel Acho, LB Keenan Robinson, K/P Justin Tucker

2011 statistical leaders (*returners)

Rushing: Malcolm Brown* (742 yards)

Passing: David Ash* (1,068 yards)

Receiving: Mike Davis* (609 yards)

Tackles: Emmanuel Acho (131)

Sacks: Jackson Jeffcoat (8)

Interceptions: Quandre Diggs* (4)

Spring answers

Quarterbacks maturing: While Texas refuses to name an outright starter before the season, it is clear that both Case McCoy and David Ash have taken strides toward becoming more complete quarterbacks. Ash, who was plagued by indecision and interceptions, matured throughout the spring and has started to become the leader Texas needs him to be. McCoy is still having problems with picks, but has increased the velocity on his throws and, as a result, can make more down the field throws.

Replacements fit: Texas did not have to replace much on the defensive side of the ball -- only three players. But two of those three were the leading tacklers from 2011, linebackers Emmanuel Acho and Keenan Robinson. Still, it appears as if the Longhorns have upgraded at the linebacker with Steve Edmond and Demarco Cobbs. Edmond is bigger and faster than Robinson. Cobbs is faster and more agile than Acho. What neither has is experience and that will be tested early in the 2012 season.

Bergeron pushes Brown: Backup running back Joe Bergeron made his case for more carries in the spring. Despite playing in 11 of 13 games, the sophomore only received consistent snaps in two games as a freshman. During those two games, Bergeron rushed for 327 yards. An injury hampered him the rest of the season, but he was healthy over the spring and showed the coaching staff that he is ready to challenge Malcolm Brown for the starting spot at running back.

Fall questions

Who is going wild? Texas deployed the wild formation to great success under first year co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin in 2011. But headed into 2012, the Longhorns have yet to figure out who will be running that formation. There are several candidates, many of which are freshmen. Johnathan Gray, the most heralded recruit of the 2012 class, should get the first shot. The running back has great speed and instincts but has to prove he can read the linebackers and make the right decisions. Texas also will try two other freshmen, Daje Johnson and Jalen Overstreet. Overstreet was a high school quarterback so he could bring the option of throwing out of the wild as well.

Rotating quarterbacks: Texas could not make up its mind until the last game of the season last year when it came to quarterbacks. In that game Ash took every snap. Whether or not he continues to take the significant snaps for Texas is the largest question surrounding this team. If Ash is at all shaky under center, the Longhorns have no qualms about going with McCoy. But if both finally prove inadequate, Texas might have to make a decision on freshman Connor Brewer. Texas would prefer to redshirt Brewer, but the Longhorns have suffered through two years of poor quarterback play and a third may not be tolerated by fans.

Wide receiver: Mike Davis, Jaxon Shipley and Marquise Goodwin are all back at wide receiver, but beyond those three players, Teas is severely lacking experienced depth. D.J. Monroe has been converted from running back to wide receiver to take advantage of his speed and shiftiness on bubble screens. But Monroe has had problems catching the ball consistently. DeSean Hales showed up in the spring. But the senior has shown up in the spring before and disappeared in the fall. He had two catches in 2011.

That means freshmen Cayleb Jones, Daje Johnson, Kendall Sanders and Marcus Johnson are all going to get a shot. Additionally, Texas will be working with a redshirt freshman M.J. McFarland at tight end.

After a weekend where Texas dropped two of three to Missouri, the Longhorns fell into a three-way tie for second place in the Big 12.

The losses didn't affect the Longhorns placement much in the College World Series bracket, according to ESPN.com's Jeremy Mills.

Mills has Texas slated to play in a Houston Regional with Rice, TCU and Stony Brook. Mills has fellow Big 12 teams Baylor and Texas A&M hosting regionals.

Take a look at the rest of the bracket here.

ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf takes a look Kentucky's run to the title. Freshmen led the way and as Medcalf writes, it changed things for programs and recruits alike.

Kentucky's freshman-led push to the national championship increased the pressure that recruits next season and beyond will encounter as soon as they sign. For next season's top freshmen, reaching Atlanta, site of the Final Four in 2013, won't impress. National championships are the expectations now.

Before Kentucky won the program's eighth national title, freshmen had proved that they were elite and capable of winning it all.

The Fab Five should have done it twice. Carmelo Anthony starred in Syracuse's national title game victory over a veteran Kansas squad in 2003.

But the NBA's age limit changed the bar. Coaches grabbed talented prep kids who had no plans to stay beyond one season. Here, and then, gone. No time to jell. No time to fix the kinks. Only in-season development plans, because they knew these stars weren't coming back.

Some of those young teams came close. Others missed the mark.

(Read full post)