**_12:28 p.m., Wednesday, July 25_** You know how people in Big 12 country always ask themselves ‘Is there anything Texas isn’t good at?’Well, here’s another one to beg that question: Media savvy.The Longhorns were the 12th and final school to take the mikes for Big 12 Media Day, which concluded about 30 minutes ago here at the St. Anthony hotel in downtown San Antonio, Texas.First, head coach Mack Brown answered questions from the main podium from reporters, and towards the end, a voice chimed in from the balcony above and to his left. It was sophomore quarterback Colt McCoy, a preseason Big 12 first team selection and Tuscola, Texas, native asking “Yeah, I’ve got a question. How do you feel about small town guys, are they good guys?”Brown’s response was as cool and calm as the rest of his answers, and in the same fashion he threw a jab in at McCoy at the end by muttering “Well, some of them are…ones that stay healthy.” (McCoy was hurt late last year, in case you weren’t paying attention)But it’s funny, because you just got a sense with coach Brown and all of Texas’ available players (Limas Sweed, McCoy, Frank Okam and Derek Lokey) with the ease they both took and responded to reporter queries, that they’re both comfortable and seasoned in this type of atmosphere. It makes you realize that type of aura is what makes them so good on the field – one of no pressure. Safe to say, they were enjoyable to be around.**Some other Wednesday nuggets**:-Kansas State’s session started the day, and it’s scary how much talking to Josh Freeman is just like talking to Ron Prince. Tough to explain, but their mannerisms are brutally similar.-Oklahoma State’s Adarius Bowman held court with a gaggle of reporters in the same fashion Kansas’ Aqib Talib did two days ago. Though Bowman didn’t take the bait when asked about going head-to-head potentially with Talib this season. Before that he was asked if he thought he could have a game like the Kansas game of last year (300 yards receiving) in 2007:_”Hey, I think I will. I think I’ll have a better game. That’s one of my goals this year, man. Which for people, they look at that as being impossible, but when I think about it, I had a game almost similar to that in high school. I had 308 yards off eight catches with six touchdowns. We lost, though, but it was a nice game. And then to get in college and have a game similar to that, you almost look at it like ‘Will that happen again?'”_-Colorado coach Dan Hawkins met with reporters for about 40 minutes once questions on the podium were finished. From there, Hawkins was probably asked about only a handful of questions. But he filled the 40 minutes by preaching his philosophy. From about 20 yards away, I heard him mention something compared to shoplifting and a couple of things he’d seen on T.V. Entertaining dude.That’s it from here in San Antonio. **Here’s a few conclusions drawn out from the three days here**:-Kansas is confident…yet, so is everybody here. If you’re not, you’ve got problems.-Missouri successfully defended its preseason selection atop the Big 12 North by agreeing that, well, they have to prove it over the next several weeks. They’re certainly not feeling as though they’ve earned it to this point.-Missouri still will win the Big 12 North.-Colorado will not.-It’s hard not to like anyone who was here in burnt orange.-It was hard to get a grasp on anything regarding K-State.-Go figure the only day it’s not deathly hot and humid is the day it rains. Heh…**_4:43 p.m., Tuesday, July 24_** Well, Missouri came under fire just as we expected today from the media, being forced to defend at length its preseason selection as the Big 12 North’s top dog.But, you know, even with the logic that the returning champ should always be favored, it’s hard not to still look to Missouri as the frontrunner. On Monday, four teams spoke, and they were four teams without a starting quarterback announced yet. Mizzou enters the season without not only the prolific Chase Daniel back at quarterback, but also _all_ of his weapons (Rucker, Coffman, Temple, Franklin etc…). True, no one will be very surprised when Arizona State transfer Sam Keller is announced as Nebraska’s starter a week before the Huskers open with Nevada, but still, he hasn’t _played_ at Nebraska before. Missouri is simply the known quantity.Again, the players were at least up front and honest, admitting that they may not yet be deserving of the preseason notoriety, so the last thing you can call them is cocky.**After Missouri, here were some of Tuesday’s other nuggets:**-Texas A&M’s Stephen McGee was the day’s most interviewed player, by far. Of course, we’re not that far from College Station, so he had a plethora of media interest. But I’ll tell you, you read the book on him from last year and how he beat Texas to close the regular season, and of course KU fans remember what he did in the fourth quarter at Memorial Stadium, and the guy fits the bill of ‘Texas gunslinger’ to perfection.-Greatest interviewees from Tuesday: Iowa State’s Todd Blythe and Alvin Bowen. Bowen readily admitted using a cliche and pointed out that he stole it from someone else, while Blythe gave the most relaxed interview, even throwing a couple jabs at his best bud, starting quarterback Bret Meyer.-Mike Leach. Well, do you really need to say more? The Texas Tech coach was expected to be nutty, and he was nothing short of it. He sauntered up to the podium with a nice mug of tea, and certainly delivered some gems…**On the offseason**: “You know, as far as I think when you can tell a lot about your team is in the offseason, and they don’t let you have too much contact with them. You’re not allowed to have a lot of meetings or coach them. Yet you’re still ridiculously in charge of their behavior.”**On filling wide receiver spots**: “I’m not half as alarmed at our demise of the wide receiver like other people are. It’s like Mark Twain said, The rumors of my death ahve been greatly exaggerated, as he appeared alive at that deal.”**On finding offensive linemen**: “Bt at any rate, that’s why they have football to begin with, it’s because of linemen. We’d be doing some other sport – everybody would be involved with basketball or soccer or something if it wasn’t for linemen. That’s the important part of this whole thing.”Tuesday’s going to be interesting. Not only do we get to pick K-State’s brain, particularly asking about how much they’re looking forward to taking on KU at Wagner Field, but the Texas Longhorn circus will more than likely overtake the hotel.Fill you in on that tomorrow. Good night and good luck.**_12:37 a.m., Tuesday, July 24_** I promised you all that Aqib Talib audio, so [here it is][1].There were some incredible highlights on there. Those include…**Talib on a realistic prediction for KU’s 2007 season**: “Realistic? Nine wins, playing in the Big 12 ‘ship. It’s laid out there for us, it’s ready for us.”**Talib on envisioning winning the Thorpe Award**: “I see myself keeping it in the Big 12, taking it from (Former Texas winner) Aaron Ross, keeping it in the Big 12. I think I can do that for him. I think he’d appreciate that.”**Talib on the _Playboy_ All-American team photo shoot**: “That was probably my funnest vacation. I was kinda starstruck. I’m out there with (Arkansas’ Darren) McFadden and (Louisville’s) Brian Brohm. You know, they’re from Arkansas and Louisiville, they’re probably used to it. I’m out there with (West Virginia’s Steve) Slaton and (Cal’s) DeSean Jackson and all them, and I’m here at Kansas. We ain’t used to that kind of stuff. I was kinda starstruck. I had a whole lot of fun, though. It was probably one of the more memorable weekends I’ll ever have in my life.”**Talib on who he wants to cover when KU plays Missouri**: “Which one of them cats scored a touchdown on me last year, man? I want the dude who scored a touchdown on me last year. I think it was the young one. (Jared) Perry, it was Perry. Set all of them (Rucker, Coffman, Franklin, etc.) aside, I want the young’n.”**Talib on blown games last year**: “We left exactly four wins on the field last year that we should have went home with. They all cut about the same. It was all about the same. We left Texas A&M on the field on a screen play they ran with about a minute left. We left Toledo on the field on the fumbled snap in overtime and we had to kick the field goal. We left Nebraska on the field on the fourth and 18, where if we stop them on fourth and 18 we can go and win the game. Baylor, we left that with an 18 point lead with, I dunno, I just remember we got an interception with nine minutes left up 18, and then I remember us being in the locker room.”I don’t care what our record said or showed last year, we were 6-6, but the team we had, with how young we was, that was a good year for me. We were that young, won six games, left four on the field and the same team coming back with a little more experience, that helps. It should be a real good season for KU this year.”And there’s plenty more. If you’re at work today with headphones or 25 minutes to kill, his interview is worth the listen.To me, the dude simply confirmed that he’s what Kansas football has needed for a long time – A star. He’s got the personality to be the face of the team, and he plays one of the Big 12’s most traditionally strong positions. Everything is alligned for this to be an extra nice year for Talib. And chances are, if he lives up to the hype, it’ll be his last in Lawrence.**Some other nuggets from Monday…**-Marcus Henry was voted by 29 teammates in this year’s Kansas media guide to be the team’s biggest surprise. But who does Henry say he could see being the team’s breakout performer? True freshman running back Carmon Boyd-Anderson.-Two players who were very friendly to jolly with were Oklahoma receiver Malcolm Kelly and Nebraska tight end J.B. Phillips. Just throwin’ that in there. Media always appreciates a good interviewee.-San Antonio is absolutely gorgeous. The Riverwalk, especially. The only downside is the heat. It’s hot. Everywhere. Always. Guaranteed. Seriously.-Still haven’t made it to Whataburger. Need to at some point.**What to watch for Tuesday**-Missouri is first up at 9 a.m. It’ll be interesting to get their players’ takes on playing against KU in Kansas City, Mo., as opposed to Lawrence. Remember, they lost in their last two trips to Memorial Stadium.-Nebraska coach Bill Callahan made some comments Monday which led many to believe he didn’t agree with the media picking Missouri to win the North. It’ll be interesting to hear Gary Pinkel defend the preseason honor. Plus, it’ll be nice to talk to a team which knows who its starting quarterback is going into 2007 – something none of Monday’s teams could claim.-Texas A&M (my ‘sexy’ pick in the South this year) is second up, followed by Iowa State and Texas Tech.Peace out.**_2:59 p.m., Monday, July 23_** Aqib Talib is officially so far the star of this year’s Big 12 Media Day. Of course, Kansas was just the second team to go today, but his act will be tough to top.The always-quotable ballyhooed defensive back in a 30-minute stretch proclaimed himself as a legitimate candidate for the Thorpe award (given each year to the nation’s top defensive back), said nine wins is realistic for Kansas and admitted that four games were left on the table last season.Also worth mentioning was that when Kansas takes on Missouri in Arrowhead Stadium, there’s no one Talib wants to cover more than junior Jared Perry. Yes, Perry, who caught 37 passes as a sophomore with three scores, has Talib foaming at the mouth for no reason other than that he scored a touchdown on him in last year’s season-ending thrashing in Columbia, Mo.I will post later this afternoon my entire 22-minute recording of Talib’s media session. Trust me, it’s truly worth the listen. One of the more entertaining interviews I’ve ever recorded.P.S. He threw some thanks to EA Sports for ‘showing him some love’ this year in NCAA 08, which was released last Tuesday. What a character…Oh and it’s also worth mentioning that the new Trajan font on KU’s helmet was not debuted in San Antonio. The helmet on the podium with Mark Mangino was last year’s helmet. Though the 2007 media guide, which was also handed out for the first time, featured the font on its cover.**_1:44 p.m., Monday, July 23_** Oklahoma just wrapped up its session, and KU coach Mark Mangino is getting set to take the podium. And so everyone knows, the Trajan font on the KU helmet is not making its debut here at Big 12 Media Day, though it is used on the new 2007 media guide, which was just handed out for the first time.One observation from the Oklahoma coach Stoops/players session: They’re never going to live down questions about the Boise State game. Junior receiver Malcolm Kelly handled it well when I asked him about it, saying at this point it can’t be looked at as anything more than a great college football game. Well played.**_7:22 p.m., Sunday, July 22_** So we’re here. About two months ago when we booked plane tickets down to San Antonio for Big 12 Media Day, I circled that as the day on the calendar when college football officially starts in my book.(Speaking of books, I started reading _Zodiac_ on the way down here, one of those ‘I want to read the book before I see the movie’ things. So far, through 30 pages, I know I’ll be having nightmares the entire time down here. Poor Ryan Wood might be waking up many a time while I scream like a banschee in my sleep from across the room. Anyway…)A few questions have already batted around my mind as far as stuff to ask over the three-day media session. Here’s a few:-I want to ask Oklahoma State’s Adarius Bowman how many yards he think he can go for against KU this season when the two meet in Stillwater, Okla., on Nov. 10.-I want to ask Texas A&M’s Stephen McGee if he can make me look like a genius by picking them second in the Big 12 South (preseason media poll had them third, with one first place vote…which I swear wasn’t mine, contrary to popular belief).-I want to ask Bob Stoops how many drills his team will run through this summer on defending against the Statue of Liberty play.-I want to ask Aqib Talib for his take on [NCAA 08 from EA Sports][2], and whether he felt like he got a fair shake this year.-I want to ask players if there’s anything they’d rather have happen in San Antonio than to see [Eva Longoria along the Riverwalk][3].How many of those questions I’ll actually have the guts to ask…well, that remains to be seen.Time to go find some good Tex-Mex for dinner. I’ve been told that if you don’t do that while here, you’re wasting your time. Talk to you tomorrow……..oh wait, gotta get the week started with a video clip, too. In the spirit of Big 12 Media Day, enjoy [this][4]. (Ryan Wood’s suggestion. I cannot take the credit for the discovery.)**_KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene can be reached at rgreene@ljworld.com, or by phone at (785) 832-6357._** [1]: http://www2.kusports.com/audioclips/3179/ [2]: http://www.easports.com/ncaa08/ [3]: http://imdb.com/find?s=all&q=eva+longoria [4]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSPcMXWJjUg&mode=related&search=