I kinda thought Griffin liked us last year, but in this chat he said the best teams in the Big 12 last year were “Texas, followed by Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Nebraska”. I guess he watched the bowl games and forgot the rest. Okay, the BU and OU games weren’t anything to brag about either but does that put us behind two teams we beat? If I was Mack Brown, I’d print up some 63-20 signs ……. and maybe some 39-33’s just because those are so much fun.

who make claim that Griffin has a love-fest for UT. I am not sure about that, but I am sure he has a hate-fest for Tech. Any chance he can get, he downs Tech, just as do all ESPN sports people. He tends to be uplifting for just about any team but Tech, even Colorado. While Tech has disappointed in the past, I think they have been moving in an upward direction since Leach has been there. He has really matured as a head coach and is beginning to assemble great players on both sides of the ball. He thinks we are, at best, a 7 or 8-win team this year, listing the losses of Harrell, Crabtree and Williams as reasons. What he does not see is the uptick in new talent across the board, and the added experience of the remaining players. Make no mistake, this year’s Texas Tech Red Raiders will surprise everyone but themselves. They have upped their expectations and with the overall improvement, they will easily overcome those ‘losses’. It will be really nice to see all of the ESPN pundits eating crow come February, 2010, when Tech is in, and wins, a BCS bowl.

and I thought I’d add my two cents. Griffin is the only mainstream writer that emails me on a regular basis and he’s been nothing but nice to me in my dealings with him. I won’t try to speak for him, but I don’t think he has any ill-will towards Texas Tech. In fact, when Crabtree was breaking out during his freshman season, Griffin was working for the San Antonio Express News and the Saturday morning sports page was a huge picture and article about Crabtree. I know this not because I bought a copy, but because Griffin mailed it to me and thought it would be a pretty cool thing to have in 20 years.

I was a little confused about his rankings, but I think Griffin is actually projecting in 2009. I believe his 2008 power rankings had Texas Tech 3rd, but I could be wrong.

Although I envy his job, I’d imagine that it’s tough covering all 12 Big 12 teams and put them on equal footing.

Tim clarify earlier today that he was referring to 2009 and not 2008.