Any other frequent travelers following this mess? SW continues to use “weather distractions” as an excuse for canceling 70-80% of their flights over the past two days and telling people they cant get them anywhere for 4-5 days. The videos and info on Twitter are insane.

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It's a girl!

I heard some gurgling in the sink after flushing the toilet. I went outside to check and it looks like the vents are frozen. I can see ice sticking up out of a couple of them. I was wondering if anyone has any solutions to this that don't require me to climb up on an icy roof, or should it be ok to leave it for a couple of days when we're supposed to get 50 weather on Thursday. Thanks!

That's the kind of kid who deserves a full ride and bennies from any school he would care to attend. Ever.

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Looking at the Big 12 prior to the conference season has many sub-plots that need to be mentioned. As usual we see some of the pre-season candidates for highest honors just about where they are supposed to be. We also see a couple that appear to have imploded. Finally, there are posers that will likely be exposed in a hurry. I’m going to dig into each team based on the pre-season picks…here we go with teams 1-5.

#1 Iowa State
Preseason coaches pick to win the conference. Ranked as high as the top five before being “exposed” with weak second half falters. Has played a pretty reasonable pre-conference schedule with some definite quality on the list. Against the Top 25 they are 1-2 with both loses being complete second half collapses that could have gone the other way with consistent play.

ISU has added a new weapon in the middle with the 6’6” Soares. As long as she can stay out of foul trouble or avoid being gassed she completely changes this team. With her the Cyclones are a Top 10 squad that can play with and beat almost anyone. Without her they fall back to a team that would be Top 25…likely upper teens or low 20’s. She makes that much difference. We also know how deadly this team can be IF they are hitting the three ball. We just haven’t seen that consistently this year. The volume is high but the season percentage is about 33% and they average a respectable nearly 10 per game. But that is on nearly 30 attempts per game. Finally…don’t put them on the line. They are deadly hitting 80% (which is negatively affected by a couple of bad performances).

What to expect?
ISU will be in the hunt for the title, but if they get into a game where fouls are called against them or they aren’t hitting from deep they likely could pick up some losses that keep them out of the top seat.

#2 Texas
This was a team that started the season in the Top Five and there were high expectations. They faltered immediately out of the gates to a 3-4 record (albeit against some tough opponents). The big story of their 8-4 record is injuries. They lost Aaliyah Moore for the season to a torn ACL. They also have seen Ron Harmon get off to a slow start after a pre-season injury. Once Harmon returned Texas started playing like everyone expected them to (although as with many schedules, the opponents have been pushovers). Texas is still a very physical team and will try to force opponents out of their game if the officials let things go. Harmon is a speed bug that you always have to watch out for.

What to expect?
We will know something right out of the gates as Texas plays KSU at home on Saturday. Should be a good test to see where they are at. Losing Moore hurts, but the Horns have a little bit of depth to rely on. Expect them to be in the hunt, but to take some unexpected losses along the way.

#3 Oklahoma
We all know what OU aspires to be - a team that makes the three and runs the court. They were ranked #15 to start the season and have some nice pieces to their puzzle. Four players returning that averaged double figures last year so you’d expect them to score some points. What I also don’t expect to change is their propensity to not play good defense. While they were the top scoring offense in the Big 12, they were the worst defense. They had a very weird game early on where #25 Utah absolutely blew the Sooners out of the water 124-78. So far the Sooners are averaging almost 88 points per game while giving up 73. They mirror the Cyclones in the number of three point attempts and success rate. Where they shine is rebounding and their assist rate (20 per game). They move well and if you don’t play defense they will knock you out. The Sooners have been tested as they played good Ole Miss and Florida squads (both wins).

What to expect?
I expect OU to be the team that surprises everyone this year. They have a fantastic coach who now has her identity all over the program. They have lots of offensive firepower and speed. I could see OU sneaking some road wins out that could be the difference in winning the conference. Keep your eyes peeled here. They start off at WVU so I’m not sure what that will tell us. We know WVU always plays defense, but they aren’t what they used to be.

#4 Baylor
Anyone surprised about Baylor being picked to finish fourth? All you have to know is Kim Mulkey is gone and that has impacted Baylor far more than anyone might expect. It wasn’t just a passing of the baton. While Baylor did well last year with Mulkey’s players things are changing with key players graduating and the replacements not being of the same caliber. You don’t lose NaLyssa Smith and Queen Ego and expect things to be the same. Baylor is off to a 9-3 start which should say something immediately. With the exception of a close win (neutral court) versus Villanova, the Bears haven’t been able to get the wins against the other ranked foes they normally would handle with relative ease (#19 Maryland @home, #22 Michigan @neutral, and #20 Arizona @sort of neutral). Baylor, for the time being, is still Baylor. They have some talented players returning and are averaging 74 ppg while only giving up 55 (take note of that last number!). Also keep in mind they have played four top 25 teams that impact those numbers. Average shooting team and they really struggle at the line (63%). They share the ball with each other and their opponents (14 turnovers per game). They have six players who average (rounding up) double figures and their depth goes ten deep for quality minutes. Keep your eyes on seniors Bickle and Owens.

What to expect?
I don’t really know on this one. Baylor appears to have taken a step back, but they are still very dangerous. Like Texas, if the officials let things go, they will beat you physically. Mulkey always had a way of keeping the officials in line. Not sure about the new coach. In reality, I expect Baylor to lose some head scratchers and beat some of the best. That means they end up with about 6 conference losses relegating them to the upper middle third of the conference. Baylor starts things at home with TCU and then gets a real test traveling to OU. That should tell us something right away.

#5 Kansas
KU was surprising last year. They not only escaped the bottom of the Big 12 (their customary position since Washington left), they were a contender for an upper half finish all season long. They made their presence known in the dance as well. They return their key pieces with Kersgieter and Franklin (seniors) leading the way. The border thieves are off to a 10-1 start with some VERY impressive wins against Texas A&M and absolutely dominating Arizona in Tucson. What has impressed me the most is their defense. Last year they were an offensive team that could score (they were efficient) and this year they are scoring even more while holding opponents to fewer points. They have been going 8 deep for significant minutes and they have seen post Taiyanna Jackson emerge as a dominant player in the middle after a so so season last year.

What to expect?
We won’t learn much in the first week as KU gets OSU and Texas Tech for starters. They follow up with Baylor, Texas and OU (the last two away) so we will learn a lot from those games. Pretender or contender? So far KU has been the best looking team in the conference. Quality wins and no real warts (their only loss a triple overtime loss to Nebraska on the road). Last year teams that played defense bothered them. We will see if that has changed. I expect them to be in the hunt late into the conference season.

I've taken a look at each of the teams in the conference and have put together a bit of a preview for you all. Will be interesting to see how things pan out in the end...if there is one thing for certain about the conference this year...things will be different as Baylor is no longer the dominant team expected to run away with things. So...here are the teams picked by the coaches to finish in the bottom half of the conference.

#6 Kansas State
KSU has been known as the home of post Ayoka Lee. She is one of the most dominating forces underneath you’ll likely see. But this year she is out after getting a knew rebuilt. And what has KSU done? They are 11-2 with a home win against Iowa and two losses against a good Arkansas team and a very average South Dakota State team. They are led by Gabby Gregory (21 ppg) with Sundell and the Glenn’s also providing offense. You might remember Gregory as she played at OU last year. She’s obviously added some firepower to this team. It has also made KSU a very different team as they no longer try to feed the post. Unlike our Sisters, KSU is very consistent across all four quarters of play averaging 19, 20, 20, and 18 points per quarter. Like our sisters they are deadly at the free throw line (80%), but a reflection of their size shows up as they barely (+2) outbound their opponents. They chuck up threes at an even higher rate than the Sisters and only connect on 30%. They take care of the ball and are aggressive on defense managing ten steals per game.

What to expect?
Teams will have to adjust to this “new” KSU team. They obviously have skills and anyone will have to play perimeter defense and rebound solidly to beat them. They don’t have a good matchup inside for big posts so that is a weakness they have. KSU is one of those teams that will finish mid-pack just because of bad matchups. There are other teams that can out score them, have bigger good posts, and play stout defense. I expect KSU to have a winning record in the conference, but just barely.

#7 Texas Tech
Tech is the poser of the conference at 11-1. We’ve seen this time and time again as they schedule a bunch of patsies and build an impressive record only to falter badly in conference play. Tech is 11-1 with their only loss to (gasp) 3-7 Jackson State. Tech is def a paper tiger so far. Three players lead the way for the Raiders in Maupin, McKinney and Scott averaging 12 ppg each. They don’t put up a lot of three’s, but are connecting at a 40% rate. Decent at the line (78%) and rebound margin(+6). But based on the competition it is hard to take anything away from their stats.

What to expect?
As in the past I fully expect Tech to struggle mightily against conference competition. They will likely finish in a fight for the bottom of the conference as its hard to see who else might be worse than they are. They pulled off 11 non-con wins and that might be enough to see them squeak into the NIT postseason if they have some luck along the way. Getting another six wins is going to be very tough.

#8 West Virginia
Off to a 9-2 start, WVU has fed on some amazingly weak teams and have lost to the good ones….except they somehow beat a Georgia team that appears to have regressed a great deal from last year. They are led by Smith and Quinerly who are the only two double figure scorers on this team. They get out rebounded, shoot free throws very averagely, and only average 67 points per game. What you can expect from WVU is defense. They are holding their opponents (I’m not sure what their schedule says about this) to 50 ppg and they have averaged 12 steals per game.

What to expect?
Not much here. If a team has an off night shooting, WVU will sneak up and get a win. But I believe those wins will be hard to come by in conference play. Fourteen wins is about the ceiling for this team. They start off with OU at home and ISU on the road so we’ll know something after week one. I suspect it will be just how limited this team is.

#9 Oklahoma State
Here’s another team that has a lofty record (10-2) that tells you absolutely nothing. The biggest plus on their schedule was a nice win over Florida State at a neutral site. The rest of the games were against overmatched teams (Harvard, North Texas, Oral Roberts to name a few) or they turned out like you would expect. The other plus for OSU is their loss to Purdue was close, but then you have a loss to Kent State. Very puzzling to say the least. OSU does have (essentially) five ladies averaging double figures in points (10-13 ppg each) which means there are multiple threats. Collins leads the way on rebounds with nearly 10 per game. They are actually one of the better three point shooting teams (with a large number of attempts) in the conference at 37%. Average at the line and barely outrebound their opponents.

What to expect?
Another team that will get a surprise win here or there against the middle or bottom of the pack teams. Like WVU and Tech they have a low ceiling for conference wins. We’ll see their best performances when they face the bottom three. They tend to play tough at home and with some luck might pull out a surprise there…but not many.

#10 TCU
So…here we are at the bottom of the conference. Outside of WVU, any of the other three at the end of the list could finish in last. Their head-to-head matchups will determine this. TCU has the worst record (6-5) of any conference team in non-conference play. It’s not because they have played a rough schedule. The biggest challenge was North Carolina (and we know what they are like). TCU is led by Tomi Taiwo who is their only double digit scorer at almost 15 ppg. Big drop off from there with several scoring 4-8 ppg. TCU is getting outrebounded and is a subpar free throw shooting team. They are only averaging 62ppg and giving up 57 against this schedule. Leading rebounder is Bella Cravens at 6 per game. They are very height challenged. They have one tall player in Morris (6’7”) but she only sees the court about 8 min per game.

What to expect?
TCU will likely finish right where they are predicted to finish. They should be the one team that all others will count as wins. Will be hard pressed to reach double digit victories this season. Just not a lot here to work with.

Looks like the CRTC is bringing in a new wrestler from Russia. He goes by Han and is 20 years old. He’s won a couple of European Championship golds at the cadet level at 80 kg.

Sounds like a good guy to bring in the room. Wonder if there is a chance he suits up for folk. Maybe replace Marcus?

This is from PFF’s top 10 edge rushers of the 2023 NFL draft list, which Will is #9.

I’ve seen this multiple places now. Most experts feel like he was grossly misused, especially last year.

This gave me a headache.

Just happened across the ISU v Bama 2001 Indy Bowl playing on ESPNU right now at Christmas midnight.

I was at that game. Funny to think of Bama in a lower bowl. Fun time and Bama fans were so gracious partying that day.

Damn, Ennis was a beast. I just watched Seneca fumble a snap after we drove the field in the early fourth. Yelk woofs the FG, his second miss. But we are up 13-7.

Wow, so sweet to watch Seneca, Ennis, Lane Danielson, Mike Banks, etc.

I guess I will torture myself and finish this.

But last kick will be good.

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Purdy has the spotlight at the moment, and rightfully so. Meanwhile our boy Lazard just keeps grinding. He's probably at his ceiling and is never go to be a featured WR1, but he lays out to make big catches and does the little things so well. Perfect example above, blocking three and counting them up after. Tough as they come at his position.

Need to move some estate items (1100 miles) and one of the items is a 15 + YO refrigerator. U haul trailers not tall enough to stand it up. I've had several people tell me you can move on its side if you keep pressure off compressor and wait to plug it in. Can't find much on internet to confirm that.
Anyone have any first hand experience they would care to share?

From,
isufan2 in not so sunny Florida right now. 32 last night.
And Happy New Year.

I saw someone on the bird app make something like this for West Virginia bowl games, so, here is every Iowa State endzone as seen in bowl games from 2000 to present.

Note: I am working on a graphic to incorporate the bowls from the 1970s, I have the '72 Liberty and '78 Hall of Fame Bowls done, but am looking for footage of the '71 Sun and '77 Peach to finish this project.

Early Merry Christmas to all CFers. Even to all the ones I have dumbed through the year.

As my Toyota exceeds 200k miles, I am thinking of trading her in for something else in the next few months. I am wanting a luxury vehicle and looking at something between 2009-2015 as it won't break the bank. I am thinking of getting either a Lexus, Acura, or Infiniit. I love the styles of German luxury vehicles, but everything I read about them is they are less reliable than their Japanese counterparts and much more expensive to repair. I want my cars to go over 200k without investing a lot in them.

TLDR, should I go with a Lexus, Acura, or Infiniti? Leaning Lexus at the moment, even though they're a little more pricey than the other two.

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Holiday Decorations!

Our living room is blue and orange, and things need to match in my house. Ergo, we hand make about 90% of our ornaments (we do a new one as a family each year, to varying degrees of success), and match the wrapping paper and homemade bags.

I absolutely love my mother in law, but she sent the red gifts that don’t match. Sigh.

I know it can be done, but I am about ready to smash the computer. I know it is posted somewhere but I cannot find it, because of course the search function won't search for 3 letter words...

Assembling this ******* Barbie Dreamhouse?

Tonight’s 43 point effort against the Heat, coupled with the pending NBA All-Star invite, seals the deal for me. The GOAT.

New episode from Ben and I! I mention my friends in the forums several times cause you guys are funny. Enjoy! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

How do we get The game on 12/24, so we can watch Purdy?

This good:
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Hello. I have a lot of music backed up on Google Drive. I have yet to find an easy method of listening to those files using a Chromebook. Anyone have any suggestions on how to listen to these files directly from Drive? Is their an "app" or something that will act like a traditional media player on a computer for this purpose?