Jake Trotter, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Big 12 morning links

There were some fireworks out of Nebraska on Wednesday, and they didn't even involve @FauxPelini.

  • West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck, who also serves on the College Football Playoff selection committee, is leaving his post with the Mountaineers and joining the NCAA. Luck will move into a position that will basically make him the No. 2 in command behind NCAA president Mark Emmert. The move makes sense for the NCAA. Luck's background as an athletic director and father of a former star college player will help the NCAA repair some of the disconnect with its member schools. The move also makes sense for Luck, who will be in Indianapolis, the same city where his son Andrew quarterbacks the Colts. This leaves West Virginia in search of an athletic director, and the Big 12 looking for a replacement to represent the conference on the playoff committee. More on that on the blog later this morning.

  • The bond between TCU and football coach Gary Patterson is as peachy as ever, writes Gil LeBreton of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Patterson, who was virtually everyone's national coach of the year this season, agreed to an extension this week with TCU through the end of the decade. LeBreton poses the question whether Patterson would ever leave TCU? There's no doubt Patterson would and will have options. But as LeBreton notes, Patterson and TCU have forged a special bond that will be hard to break. And with QB Trevone Boykin and nine other offensive starters back, TCU is going to be in the playoff picture again in 2015. The reasons are many for Patterson to stay.

  • The Lawrence Journal-World's Tom Keegan thinks new Kansas coach David Beaty should target Sonny Cumbie as his offensive coordinator. I couldn't agree more. Cumbie would be a tremendous hire for Beaty. Thanks in part to Cumbie's tutelage, Trevone Boykin went from part-time receiver to Heisman contending quarterback. The question is, would Cumbie take the job? Doug Meacham is the primary play-caller at TCU. But as an assistant on a team that is going to be loaded again next year, Cumbie can afford to be patient. One thing is certain: the Jayhawks will have to fork over the dough to get Cumbie to think about leaving Fort Worth.

  • There were several interesting tidbits to come out of Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops' pre-bowl news conference Wednesday. Trevor Knight will definitely be the starter at quarterback, and it's still up in the air whether wideout Dorial Green-Beckham will be with the team in 2015 or declare for the NFL draft. Stoops added that he expects linebacker Frank Shannon to rejoin the team in 2015, but he wasn't as committal on whether running back Joe Mixon will be. Shannon and Mixon were both suspended for the 2014 season for alleged misconduct against women.

  • Wide receiver Tyler Lockett has become the first four-time All-American in Kansas State history. Lockett was a Football Writers and Coaches first-teamer and an AP and Walter Camp second-teamer, making him a consensus All-American. Lockett was also a first-team ESPN All-American. Not sure there's anything more we can write about Lockett here. He'll go down as one of the finest and most respected players in Big 12 history. Too bad we all only get more one opportunity to watch him in a K-State uniform.

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