Tramel: TCU football doesn’t back down financially after losing Garrett Riley to Clemson

The NBA’s Western Conference standings are a trip through incredulity.

Fifth-place Dallas and 13^th-place Portland are separated by 2½ games.

All nine of the teams bunched in the middle of the West – the Mavericks, Clippers, Jazz, Suns, Timberwolves, Warriors, Thunder, Lakers, Trail Blazers – have either 23, 24 or 25 losses. The Thunder is in the 11^th slot. OKC could be tied for sixth by Wednesday night.

The Tuesday ScissorTales takes a look at Texas Christian’s hiring of offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, checks in on Oral Roberts basketball and offers a list that should lift the spirits of Cincinnati Bengals fans.

But we start with the NBA’s wild and wooly Western Conference.

It’s all grand fun as teams try to finish at least sixth and miss the play-in tournament, or finish at least 10^th and make the play-in tournament.

And you can blame it all on mediocrity. The West isn’t loaded like it once was.

More:Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's late basket, Lu Dort's defense lift Thunder past Nuggets

Thirteen years ago, the Thunder finished 50-32 – and settled for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

Go 50-32 this season, and you’re likely to be third in the West.

The West upheaval is due in part to some upstarts.

The Kings, Thunder and Jazz all are winning much more than anyone projected. Sacramento’s preseason over/under victory total was 34½; the Kings are on pace to win 48. Utah and OKC both were given an over/under of 23½; the Jazz is on pace for 41 wins, the Thunder 40.

But the real culprits are the name brands who have been massive disappointments.

The 22-25 Lakers are 6½ games below projection (44½). The 24-25 Timberwolves are 9½ below (49½). The 25-24 Clippers are 10½ wins below projection (52½). The 24-24 Suns are 11½ below (52½). The 23-24 Warriors are 12½ below (52½)!

Denver and Memphis seem likely to finish in the top two slots of the West, and Sacramento and New Orleans have a little distance from the middle of the pack, though both are inexperienced at playoff pushes, so who knows how they will hold up?

But then you’ve got the sardine can of nine teams who seem glued together.

Through injury and load management and old age and plain old overratedness, the upstart teams have made up enough ground to clasp onto the teams that figured to contend.

Thus a big bundle of mediocrity. At times in the last week or so, only five West teams even sported a winning record.

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Only three West teams project to finish with more than 45 wins.

A year ago, the seventh-place Timberwolves finished 46-36.

In 2018-19, the eighth-place Clippers finished 48-34.

In 2017-18, the Nuggets went 46-36 and missed the playoffs, finishing ninth.

Even when the West wasn’t so deep, it didn’t have this kind of parity. In 2015-16, Dallas, Memphis, Houston and Utah finished 6-9, all within records of 42-40 to 40-42. But below them was 10^th-place Sacramento and Denver, each at 33-49.

Will the parity of 2022-23 last? In the words of Russell Westbrook, not sure.

The trade deadline will foster all kinds of deals. Will they help any of the playoff pushers? Probably some.

Will franchises keep sitting their stars on a regular basis (we’re looking at you, Clippers)? Probably not, if it means the difference between getting on the top side of the play-in tournament or staying off the bottom side of the same.

The Clippers fooled around last season, went to the play-in tournament and lost twice. That put Los Angeles in the lottery, and since the Thunder had the Clips’ first-round pick, the result was Santa Clara Williams, at No. 12. Hail to the Clippers.

Surely the Clippers won’t mess around again. Paul George and Kawhi Leonard have played in the same game just 18 times this season. The Clippers are 11-7 in those games. They are 14-17 when either or both sit.

Maybe Anthony Davis returns and lifts the Lakers. Maybe the Suns get a jolt from trading Jae Crowder. Maybe Minnesota figures it all out if and when Karl-Anthony Towns returns from a calf strain. Maybe the Warriors remember they’re the Warriors.

But for now, the Western Conference is experiencing unprecedented parity/mediocrity. And the Thunder, ahead of its rebuilding schedule, is the beneficiary.

More:What was Thunder guard Lu Dort's take on facing Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin? 'Big for Montreal'

TCU football doesn’t back down financially after losing Garrett Riley to Clemson

TCU lost offensive coordinator Garrett Riley to Clemson, and Horned Frog coach Sonny Dykes filled the gap by hiring away Kendal Briles from Arkansas.

That’s a good development not only for TCU, but for the Big 12.

Forget, for a moment, Briles’ coaching acumen, which is quite distinguished, or even the scandal associated with hiring anyone from Art Briles’ Baylor staffs, much less his own son.

Focus on the economics. Briles made $1.2 million in 2022 at Arkansas and was in line for at least a moderate raise, maybe more since he apparently turned down the Mississippi State coordinator job a few weeks ago.

Instead, Briles is in Fort Worth, with the Frogs coming off their historic season in which they advanced to the national championship game.

It’s easy to see why a coach would consider TCU a better job than Arkansas. Over the course of the last two decades, the Horned Frogs have built a program that’s more successful than the Razorbacks.

For old Southwest Conference history buffs, that’s kooky to even think about, but it’s true.

However, the economics still favor Arkansas. The money was on the Razorbacks side even before the recent television contracts for the Southeastern Conference and Big 12 came through, and there’s even more disparity now, especially with OU and Texas leaving the Big 12 to head to the SEC.

One of the prevailing results of the financial gulf between leagues figured to be coaching salaries. Could a school from the Big 12 or Atlantic Coast or Pac-12 keep its coaches from being pilfered by the cash-flush schools of the SEC and Big Ten?

No, most people thought.

More:Oklahoma State football hires Bryan Nardo as defensive coordinator

But here it comes in an opposite direction. TCU swipes a coach from the SEC.

I don’t have numbers on Briles’ salary in Fort Worth, but safe to say it’s a nice bump from the Ozarks. Briles’ agent is the famed Jimmy Sexton, known for getting his clients big raises either by leaving employers or threatening to.

Coordinator salaries are rising to crazy levels. According to USA Today’s database, the two highest-paid offensive coordinators in college football last season were Georgia’s Todd Monken ($2 million) and OU’s Jeff Lebby ($1.8 million).

Lebby, as you know, is Kendal Briles’ brother-in-law. Lebby is married to Art Briles’ daughter.

Art Briles’ amazing success at Baylor ended in scandal, over allegations of a sexual-assault coverup. Briles’ efforts to return to college football have failed. The scandal stained every Baylor coach; the hirings of both Kendal Briles and Lebby at a variety of schools have been protested, though at least in Lebby’s case at OU, the ripple was small. 

Now both are moving up the coordinator tree. Briles from Florida Atlantic to Houston to Florida State to Arkansas to TCU. Lebby from Central Florida to Ole Miss to OU.

TCU had to be discouraged when it lost Riley. Clemson’s ACC television contract is not outlandish, but the Tigers are a blueblood with deep pockets.

But the Horned Frogs didn’t pout. Instead, they spent big. They have not allowed themselves to be relegated to second-class economic status.

That’s an interesting and welcome development for Big 12 football.

More:Former OSU star Rashaun Woods made a big mark on Oklahoma football. So why would he leave?

Max Abmas leading Oral Roberts basketball again 

Max Abmas is back. So is Paul Mills. So are the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles.

In 2021, ORU was one of the great college basketball Cinderella stories of recent decades. The Eagles stormed all the way to the Sweet 16 and almost went beyond.

Two years later, the star of that team (Abmas) remains at ORU, the coach (Mills) is still around, and the Golden Eagles are running roughshod over the Summit League.

Oral Roberts is 17-4 overall and 8-0 in the Summit. ORU is No. 52 in the NCAA Evaluation Tool, the NET rankings that the NCAA basketball committee uses to group teams.

The Golden Eagles are one of those low-major teams that probably needs to win their conference tournament to be assured of an NCAA bid. But the Golden Eagles appear to be a team quite capable of doing so.

ORU is led by Abmas, the 6-foot-1 senior Rockwall, Texas, who is in his fourth Golden Eagle season and has scored 2,259 career points. That’s fourth among active Division I players, trailing only Detroit Mercy’s Antoine Davis (3,274), Marshall’s Taevion Kinsey (2,380) and Liberty’s Darius McGhee (2,308).

Abmas is averaging 22.1 points a game this season and is shooting 38.2 percent from 3-point range. Abmas’ co-star on that 2021 NCAA Tournament team, Kevin Obanor, transferred to Texas Tech that summer and is in his second season with the Red Raiders. But Abmas has stayed in Tulsa, quite a noble commitment in this transfer portal age.

Abmas is surrounded by three teammates who also played key roles on that 2020-21 ORU team:

• Kareem Thompson, a 6-6 wing from Florence, Alabama, who averaged 8.7 points that year and is averaging 8.4 on this team.

• Carlos Jurgens, a 6-5 wing from Estonia who averaged 6.0 points two seasons ago and is 8.6 this season.

• DeShang Weaver, a 6-8 forward from Houston who averaged 6.0 points in 2020-21 and is averaging 7.5 now.

Meanwhile, Mills has stuck around, too. Cinderella coaches from March Madness often use their success to springboard to other jobs. But Mills, hired away from his job as a Baylor assistant coach, is in his sixth year at ORU, with a 93-83 record.

Mills’ 2020-21 Golden Eagles finished just fourth in the Summit League but won the conference tournament and took a 16-12 record into the NCAAs. They were handed a 15-seed but upset Ohio State 75-72 in overtime and Florida 81-78, before falling to Arkansas 72-70.

This ORU team has lost road games at Saint Mary’s, Houston, Utah State and New Mexico. Saint Mary’s leads the West Coast Conference, Houston is one of the nation’s best teams, Utah State is 16-4 and New Mexico is 18-2.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has ORU as a 12-seed in his current NCAA bracket. Of course, that’s presuming a Summit League championship.

ORU is 8-0 in the Summit, and South Dakota State (6-2) is the only other conference team within 3½ games of the Golden Eagles. ORU beat the Jackrabbits 79-40 earlier this season in Tulsa.

But the Summit League Tournament is in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, so nothing is assured for the Golden Eagles.

Still, Abmas and friends are talented and tested, and Mills looks like he’s again got the kind of team that can make some March magic.

More:Why Caleb Asberry is comfortable with Oklahoma State as he returns to home to face Texas

Mailbag: Baseball robotic umpires 

For the Friday ScissorTales, I wrote about the electronic strike zone in Triple-A baseball. And fans have opinions.

Eddie: “As a Cardinals fan, I sure wish they had a replay in the '85 World Series. But I don't really like the idea of robot umps. Sports is an entertainment business. What was more entertaining than watching Earl Weaver or Lou Pinella go nuts over a bad call?”

Tramel: You know, I never thought about it before, but Eddie is right. Football coaches cussing like sailors is not all that fun to watch. Basketball coaches riding referees for the entirety of a game gets old.

But an old-fashioned, face-to-face baseball argument is high theater. Some of it is as good as old Saturday Night Live skits.

Do we still see that in baseball? My impression is, not as much, but I’m no expert.

Replay review in all sports is now accepted but a hassle – too many delays. But an electronic strike zone doesn’t necessarily have to stop the action.

And heck, maybe Aaron Boone will find the technology box and take a baseball bat to it when he’s had enough.

More:Carlson: How OKC Spark signed former OU softball star Keilani Ricketts with a rare pitch

The List: NFL conference championship game rematches 

The Bengals and Chiefs play Sunday in the American Football Conference Championship Game. It’s a rematch of the 2021-22 AFC title game, won 27-24 by Cincinnati in overtime.

This is the seventh time in the Super Bowl era the same franchises have met in consecutive Super Bowl semifinals (counting three straight years as only one time). History suggests Cincinnati is in good shape, having won Round 1. In Super Bowl semifinal rematches, the franchise that won the year before is 6-0.

1966-67: Cowboys-Packers. The Packers won 34-27 in Dallas on New Year’s Day 1967. Then the Pack won the iconic Ice Bowl 21-17 in Green Bay on New Year’s Eve 1967. Quite a calendar year for the Packers.

1970-71: Cowboys-49ers. Dallas won 17-10 at San Francisco in the ‘70 NFC title game, then 14-3 the next year at Dallas.

1974-75-76: The Steeler dynasty was built on two victories over Oakland. Two years after the Immaculate Reception, Pittsburgh won 24-13 at Oakland in the 1974 AFC Championship Game, then 16-10 the next year at Oakland. The Raiders broke through in the ‘76 AFC title game, winning 24-7 at home against the Steelers.

1978-79: The Steel Curtain got the best of Bum Phillips’ Luv Ya Blue Oiler teams, winning 34-5 and 27-13, both in Pittsburgh.

1986-87 Broncos-Browns: Sorry, Cleveland fans. Hate to open old wounds. Denver won back-to-back games, 23-20 at Cleveland, then 38-33 at Denver. The former was courtesy of John Elway’s famous 98-yard drive in the final 5½ minutes to force overtime. The latter was courtesy of Earnest Byner’s late fumble at the Bronco 2-yard line.

1992-93-94: Epic title games were won by Dallas 30-20 at San Francisco, then 38-21 at Texas Stadium. But the 49ers broke through in the 1994 NFC Championship Game, winning 38-28 at Candlestick Park.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. 

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: TCU football doesn’t back down after losing Garrett Riley to Clemson