The Players’ Favorite Coach and Player

The Big 12 anonymous basketball player survey rolls on today, with players giving us their favorite coaches and players in the league. 

Plus, the headlines bring us more Big 12 disrespect from ESPN and an important look into the future of the College Football Playoff. Don’t expect automatic byes for conference champions to stick around much longer.

What You Need to Know

• ESPN is giving Arizona State some MAJOR bulletin board material heading into the College Football Playoff. It’s honestly impressive that they crammed this much disrespect into one screenshot. 

• SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey confirmed to Yahoo! Sports’ Ross Dellenger that changes can be made to the College Football Playoff as soon as next year. Dellenger reports that many in college athletics think we will eventually see multiple automatic bids per conference, and conference championship weekend could turn into a series of play-in games to earn some of those bids. 

• Josh Pate has a good synopsis of what the eventual format will likely look like. It’s unclear if this would mean anything happens to the Big 12 Championship game. That probably depends on how many automatic bids the league gets. 

• The Big 12 Championship game drew an audience of 6.9 million last Saturday, making it the second most-watched conference title game on ESPN/ABC. It’s an impressive number, considering the game wasn’t close for most of the second half. 

• Utah landed (likely) its starting quarterback for next season. New Mexico transfer Devon Dampier is headed to Salt Lake City. He was sixth nationally in total offense at over 327 yards per game. Check out his highlight reel here.

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Big 12 Anonymous Basketball Player Survey: Coach You’d Most Like to Play For

It’s time for the Big 12 basketball anonymous player survey! 

I talked to around 20 players at Big 12 Media Day in Kansas City and got their choices for Big 12 champion, favorite opposing coach in the league, school with the meanest fans, and much more. 

Not every player wanted to answer every question, and I respect that, so not every category will have 20 responses.

And the coach that Big 12 players most want to play for is…KU’s Bill Self–but it’s close! 

Bill Self – 5
Scott Drew – 4
Kelvin Sampson – 2
Jerome Tang – 2
Jamie Dixon – 1

Here’s what they said:

“I’ll go with Bill Self at Kanas. Just because of the tradition. The legacy he has and the success he has…that’s what I’ll go with.”

“Sampson. He’s a really good coach who knows how to develop guys, and he’s an African American coach.”

“I’d probably play under Coach Drew. He knows what he’s doing really well, and he’s been good with guards in his past.”

“Probably Jerome Tang because I just love his personality and coaching style. He recruited me out of high school and in the portal the first time.”

“Coach Drew or Bill Self. I love winning, so I wanna play for winners.”

“No comment.”

“I’m going with (my coach) forever. I don’t think I can say anything else right now. He’s one of one.”

Favorite Big 12 Player to Watch

I also asked Big 12 players which player on another Big 12 team is their favorite to watch. The answers here were all over the board, and the only player to receive multiple votes was…Houston’s L.J. Cryer!

“L.J. Cryer is a pretty fun dude to watch.”

“This year, probably Caleb Love. They’re new to the Big 12, but he’s fun to watch.”

“Who was player of the year this year, Dickinson? Was it (Hunter) Dickinson? That’s not my favorite.”

“I’d say Hunter (Dickinson) because I kind of grew up around him. We went to school together.”

“I like DaJuan Harris’ game. Good facilitator and doesn’t get sped up.”

“He hasn’t played yet, but I’ve been seeing a lot about V.J. Edgecombe.”

“Javon Small at West Virginia”

“Kid from Oklahoma State. Jamyron Keller. He played in Killeen, Texas. Knowing somebody from that city that made it to the Big 12 too makes you feel good. We made a way for ourselves.”

 “I’d probably say Langston Love. I like watching guys that I know personally. I feel like he’s a good shooter and he’s able to drive. He’s a big physical guard.”

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