MONDAY MUSINGS: Just counting the days

1 – One week from today, I will wake up at the Omni in Dallas. That means that the Big 12 media days are almost here, which also signals (in my mind) the unofficial start to the college football season.

Thank the Lord.

My Atlanta Braves are the worst team in baseball (puke) and NBA free agency only interests me for so long (although the last two weeks have been pretty epic).

I need college football to get here, quickly.

I am especially looking forward to Dallas this year though for a couple of reasons.

2 – The first: I am hopeful that Iowa State and new head coach Matt Campbell will finally release a depth chart. The Campbell camp has been very secretive up until now as to who is playing where. My guess is that we will get our first look at new positions, etc. before fall camp next Monday morning. 

My fingers are crossed.

3 – On the league wide front, next Tuesday should be interesting as well.

First of all, I do not think that the Big 12 is going to expand. But I do think that something is going to go down on the 19th. The Big 12’s Board of Directors has scheduled a meeting on the same day that all of the league’s media will be convened in Dallas.

Should we expect a restructured television contract (that would be my guess)? 

It just seems fishy to me that they would meet on the exact same day, in the same building, that the Big 12’s media days are concluding. 

For one reason or another, the league wants that meeting to generate press.

Stay tuned.

4 – In one final football note, former Cyclone/now NFL linebacker A.J. Klein will join me on this week’s “Off The Record” podcast. A.J. is a hell of a guy who is having a hell of a career. That should be fun.

5 – In case you missed it, Iowa State ended up offering a 2017 point guard out of Chicago over the weekend. Elijah Joiner is a 6-foot-3 prospect who at this point is a hidden gem, however I don’t expect that to be the case for very long. He already has offers from Xavier and DePaul and with Iowa State recently calling his name, expect more big fish to enter this pond.

Iowa State assistant coach Daniyal Robinson knows his way around Chicago well and has headed up Joiner’s recruitment. Steve Prohm watched Joiner play over the weekend (for the first time) and apparently liked what he saw.