For two years the Big 12 has been the conference that others have come to raid when addressing the conference alignment game. First it was the Big 10 and Pac 10, then the SEC came along to snag a piece of the "crumbling" Big 12. Now, finally, the tables seem to have turned. Big, bad Texas seems ready to cooperate and work toward the greater good and all seems to be playing out nicely for a conference that had twice been on the brink of dissolving.

As a Kansas fan this is GREAT news. Our loyalty or perhaps lack of options, has been rewarded. While others found new homes or frantically lobbied for validation, we stuck by our previous alliances because it made the most sense to Kansas.

I've sat with Nebraska fans less than a year ago who claimed that Texas had ruined the Big 12 and Kansas was going down with the ship to the Mountain West. I've listened to Colorado fans talk about how they are too 'West coast' to take trips to Lawrence and they will recruit California and compete in the Pac 12. And of course this past year we heard the SEC chants from Mizzou fans while they celebrated their greatest achievement in Big 12 history, leaving.

With Friday's announcement the picture surrounding the four power conferences and who will comprise that group are becoming more clear. The aforementioned SEC has chosen to align itself with none other than the Big 12. With the Pac 12 and Big 10 already aligned in the Rose Bowl, things are starting to look very murky for the ACC and even worse for an already failing Big East.

The college football playoff is creeping ever closer. The leagues that will make up that playoff are starting to take shape. It would appear that the stage is set for further realignment and perhaps the power conference end game that we've been hearing about for three years. Fortunately for the first time in three years, it's good to be the Big 12 when it comes to the now infamous word...conference realignment.

Hope brought about by a new coach, good weather, a glance at changes to the program and perhaps the excitement surrounding a pair of quarterbacks added during the offseason. These are all great reasons why the Kansas spring game was well attended this year. As an optimistic football supporter I'd like to think the 15,000 reported fans spending a Saturday afternoon in Lawrence during the month of April shows that the fanbase wants to see and support a successful program.

Spring game attendances for BCS schools were compiled and releases by Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal and Kansas recorded an attendance in the top half of those holding a spring scrimmage. Charlie Weis and the Jayhawk program's 15,000 fans was actually enough to pull into a tie with recently departed Texas A&M. Kansas ranked ahead of several notable programs and fanbases although the attendance still trailed in state rival Kansas State. That's to be expected given what the Wildcats have coming back and the optimism in Manhattan.

Weis has made no secret that he is targeting the success at Kansas State as model for what can and should be done with the flagship University in the State of Kansas, so this is just another carrot to dangle out in front. All in all, it looks pretty good for Kansas and Weis in year one, but next spring Weis will be selling results and hope instead of just hope and that can be a little more difficult.

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Yesterday there was an article in the LJWorld that discussed an upcoming project that would place a "major" recreation center in Northwest Lawrence. Sounds interesting, but what does that mean to the University of Kansas? At this point it seems a little unclear but some of the quotes and hints dropped in the article would seem to indicate that this project could pave the way for Sheahon Zenger's desire to remove the track and renovate Memorial Stadium to better serve a football only purpose.

None of the plans is set in stone, but the private developers - which include Thomas Fritzel, Steve Schwada, Duane Schwada and members of the Gene Fritzel Construction Company - are intent on creating a destination-style venue.

(Mayor Bob) Schumm also confirmed that the current plans for the building check in at 300,000 square feet of indoor space, in addition to a 15,000-seat outdoor track and field stadium that would accommodate the Kansas Relays and other events.

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We couldn't all be there and if you weren't in Kansas City you really could only listen so here's the best breakdown we've had on the site over the last couple of days.

This was posted by Rivet as a comment in another thread but I thought it'd be worth kicking around a little more in depth today. So let's dive in a little deeper and thanks again to Rivet for sharing his thoughts and providing a from a trip up to Lawrence for the Kansas spring football game! - Owen

First off, I was amazed at how different Lawrence/Campus is since my last visit in the Spring of 2007. The Oread is more beautiful than I expected. It’s really well-done and I didn’t miss the Crossing at all (Yellow Sub a little). Had some Pyramid Pizza and I was disappointed….it sucks now compared to what it used to be. But several pitchers of Boulevard Pale Ale at Jeffersons sitting outside on Mass. St. made for a great day (saw Coach Miller walk by with the family).

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

First off, I was extremely impressed with the turnout. Way more people than I expected. I know they ran out of posters really early after the gates opened, so maybe KUAC didn’t expect as many people either. Wish they would have given out t-shirts, but I guess times are tough. The poster was boring anyway. I gave mine to a little kid who showed up too late to get one at the start.

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Kansas coach Charlie Weis discussed the spring football game as well as the spring season as a whole following Saturday's event. Offensive and defensive MVP's Tony Pierson and Michael Reynolds were also available to the media.

Kansas head coach Charlie Weis

On senior quarterback Dayne Crist:

"Well, he could make every throw. He didn't look too rusty to me. He completed 11 of 19, but we had three dropped balls and a couple that in a game would have been called pass interference. They go down as incompletions now, but I thought he slung it around pretty good. He knows the offense, he knows how to run the operation, he can get us out of trouble when it's a bad call. I was generally pleased."

On the defense:

"You saw the problem that we've had all spring: we're really thin at the defensive line. Even though we're rolling those guys through there, there's only so much we can do. We need to get an influx of people. Some of those guys will be playing and some will be moving way down the depth chart. We need that influx. Obviously, the Blue (Team) defense executed a much crisper performance than the White (Team) defense, but that should've been expected."

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Charlie Weis threw it out there. He's not happy with this group. The kicking game looks to be in trouble unless something changes but then again, shouldn't we be used to it?

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Safety is a position where you can actually see a present and a future. It's similar to the offensive line in that way, but it's a little bit different from the standpoint that there are probably more questions than answers. If a few players live up to the potential they have shown in the past it could be a good year for this group and it will also allow more time for some of the younger players to develop into the future leaders at the position.

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Depth and competition. It seems to be what every coach that shows up in Lawrence wants to do with this program. Bring a talent infusion that creates competition and depth and provides the team with options and the best chance to improve and win. Well, unfortunately this isn't the position that presents the best example of any of those things.

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