Virus found

- In attendance for the Most Definitely's first game back as a Mav. Many thoughts....

- The AAC was as packed as I've seen it for a weekday game. There was a buzz in the arena normally reserved for playoff games or regular season games against Phoenix or San Antonio. Very good scene.

- And Kidd didn't disappoint. Had 3 assists immediately in the 1st quarter, running the break to perfection, distributing the ball, anticipating teammate's moves, and doing things at the point guard position like no one we've seen since he was here in the mid-90s.

- It's amazing how he gets the ball to where the player is going to be after they come off of a pick. Most PG's wait for the player to get through the pick and then pass. Kidd has the ball there waiting for them immediately. The split second that he's faster than most PG's is what makes him Jason Kidd.

- Dirk has looked ridiculously comfortable in the past 4 games. He's so much more efficient in his shot selection. He's driving the lane. Playing with passion and aggression. Another game with Kidd, another game shooting over 50%.

- Dampier also has picked up his game. He's more active in the offense due to Kidd, which has improved his aggression on both ends. He feels more involved in the team's success and his play is showing it. 16 boards and 7 blocks last night. Was an animal on defense.

- Stack looks like he's back to normal. Ran the floor very well, and even had a dunk.

- The whole team is gaining a cohesiveness that is hard to explain. Everyone is making the extra pass, taking good open shots, and generally having a good time it seems.

- Which brings me to the Virus of this thing. Josh Howard is something else. Easier if I number the things wrong with him.

1) He looks like he doesn't even want to be out there. He lackadasically hangs around the 3 point line when he's off the ball, and should he get the ball, it either immediately goes up or he takes a few dribbles, realizes he can't drive/dribble, and jacks up a shot. Either way, the shot is going up. We started making note of it every time he got the ball, how many times he passed it. Had to have been at an 80-85% clip of no passing. Also, only 3 rebounds????

2) His body language tells the entire tale with him. I would watch him when the play was away from him, or when a shot went up, and his lack of energy/passion was just alarming.

3) He's the only one out there who's being selfish with his game. He's not playing within the team's new philosophy.

4) Conspiracy theory - He's pissed off at management. Devin Harris was his boy, rumored to be his only friend on the team. It makes sense, since Harris is a prick, always whining on the court, and not very personable (as I've witnessed on multiple interviews). Well, you can also see that Howard has those personality traits as well.

- So when management and the entire team basically gives Harris up without any remorse or any 2nd thoughts, he feels he's had the entire franchise turn their back on him. There was no crying in the locker room, there were players openly lobbying for Kidd, and no one made a case to keep Harris.

- Howard is now in Fack You mode when he plays. His passion is gone. He floats. He gives just enough effort not get benched. He shoots "screw you" shots and is not interested in passing the ball. He's got an attitude that is absolute poison right now.

- He's the only one in this whole thing that looks like he just hates suiting up.

- Prediction - He'll request a trade, or be traded by next year's deadline. I'd say this summer if I had to guess. He's the only one who hasn't bought into Jason Kidd, and I guarantee you a rift/division in the locker room is coming. Mark it down.

- All in all, it's hard not to get wrapped up in the hype, and the results are showing it, albeit against some of the weaker teams. I'm saving my final verdict until they get through these next 2 weeks, but for right now, I'm a believer in Jason Kidd. My initial thoughts have been erased and I'm ready to rock and roll with this thing. I want to see this team with another month's worth of seasoning, because they look like they could be dangerous when everyone gets on the same page.


- Marc Stein.....



This Kidd Is A Hit In Dallas Return

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

DALLAS -- The first assist on a nostalgic Monday night at American Airlines Center was actually recorded Sunday night on a Dallas-bound plane from Minneapolis.

It was on that team flight home that Dirk Nowitzki huddled with his coach to make sure that Jason Kidd would be introduced last among Mavericks starters for Kidd's first game as a Mav in more than 11 years.

Kidd then followed up his grand re-entrance with just enough fancy passing of his own in a comfortable 102-94 victory over Chicago to make it pretty clear why Nowitzki was so gracious.

Actually …

Giddy is a far better description for Nowitzki these days. Kidd was sufficiently moved by the warm reception to his Mavs rebirth to announce afterward: "I'm happy to be home." But it's really Nowitzki who hasn't stopped smiling since he got hooked back up with an elite point guard after three-plus years without one, struggling to restrain himself when someone asked the gleeful German to summarize his first week alongside Kidd.

Said Nowitzki: "I love it, bro. It's going to be great. He makes work fun."

The implication, of course, is that much of the fun had dribbled out of the Mavs' world after they followed up an NBA Finals collapse against Miami with a first-round loss to Golden State, whether or not they were prepared to admit it publicly.

Now?

Just seeing what the drawn-out trade to get Kidd has already done for Nowitzki's demeanor and workload would seem to justify the cost on its own.

Nowitzki is averaging 29 points in four games with Kidd, shooting 60.9 percent from the floor and playing with a sneer and swagger with regularity again. Best of all for him, Nowitzki is no longer expected to be the Mavs' best scorer and passer. "I get paid," Nowitzki happily reminds, "to put the ball in the basket."

Yet he's hardly the sole beneficiary from Kidd's arrival.

You can't make too much out of a win over the discombobulated, sloppy Bulls … or Kidd's near triple-double of 11 points, eight assists and nine rebounds against those vulnera-Bulls … or the 32 assists Kidd racked up in victories over the doormats from Memphis and Minnesota in the two previous games. You can be sure, furthermore, that San Antonio will put a lot more pressure on Kidd on Thursday night when he injects his own history with the Spurs -- playing against them in the 2003 NBA Finals and then nearly signing with them that summer -- into a rivalry that was plenty spicy without him.

But you can also see traces of a significant Kidd Effect with the Mavs, even this early in the process.

• Kidd's passing touch puts the ball in places where even Erick Dampier can catch it easy, which has awakened Dallas' long-dormant center. Knowing he's going to get steady minutes now that DeSagana Diop is in Jersey and likewise knowing that Kidd is going to keep him involved, Dampier hit the Bulls with six points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks before fouling out, matching his season-high rebound total of 11 by halftime.

• Kidd's arrival brings some long-awaited positional order to coach Avery Johnson's rotation. Jason Terry is now strictly a shooting guard for the first time in his Mavs career and is suddenly getting into the open floor and running more than ever before as a Mav, prompting Johnson to unexpectedly announce before Monday's opening tip that Terry will almost certainly start for the rest of the season. Jerry Stackhouse, meanwhile, is no longer a co-sixth man with Terry and apparently welcomes that clarity, judging by Stackhouse's 23 points in 23 minutes against Chicago.

• The Mavs wound up getting too pass-happy after zooming to a 17-point lead over the Bulls with their crisp ball-sharing, eventually racking up 21 turnovers. The same offense that had grown slow and stale, however, is now regularly generating layups and assorted other easy baskets thanks to Kidd's long outlets, underhand pitches and natural instinct to run the ball whenever possible.

"We're still in the lab with this team." Johnson said. "We weren't a very good passing team before and now we're trying to become a better passing team. And because of that, you're going to have some mistakes. But the way we're trying to move the ball, I like it."

As for Kidd's biggest fan …

Nowitzki was quietly hoping for this trade to happen once word reached him early in the season that Dallas was Kidd's preferred destination if the 34-year-old could find an escape route from New Jersey. Kidd quickly endeared himself further by telling Nowitzki that he wants to "go to the gym whenever you go," referring to Nowitzki's habit of getting in extra shooting sessions at night after practices at home and on the road between games.

Kidd and Nowitzki had their first round of extra shooting in Minneapolis early Saturday evening before Sunday's win over the Wolves, reminiscent of the schedule Nowitzki and Steve Nash used to keep.

Which prompted one local reporter to ask Mr. Mav if he's worried that Nash might get jealous of Nowitzki's new favorite point guard.

"I don't care," Nowitzki said with a laugh.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"I was happy to be back home. This is where it all started for me. I didn't get [a title-contending] opportunity with that franchise. This [franchise] is a little different."

-- Dallas guard Jason Kidd, comparing the current Mark Cuban regime to the Ross Perot Jr.-led group that traded Kidd to Phoenix less than three years into his NBA career. In his first home game as a Mav after an absence of more than 11 years, Kidd just missed his 100th career triple-double (with 11 points, eight assists and nine rebounds) in a 102-94 victory over Chicago.




- Cowlishaw.....



Kidd has energized Dallas Mavericks, fans

09:16 AM CST on Tuesday, February 26, 2008

In the first quarter, the Chicago Bulls looked like they have all year, and the Dallas Mavericks looked like they haven't.

The 15-point lead Dallas built in the first 12 minutes was needed because life with Jason Kidd, though it is going to be wildly entertaining and eventually more successful, will not be without a few bumps along the way.

American Airlines Center is truly where amazing happens. Some of the stuff is amazingly good. Some not so much.

The Mavericks have to be happy they have built a three-game win streak following their opening loss with Kidd on board in New Orleans.

Hey, I understand that the 102-94 victims Monday were just the 22-34 Bulls. Before that, it was the 11-43 Minnesota Timberwolves and the 14-42 Memphis Grizzlies. This mini-streak has come at the expense of three of the bottom-10 teams in the NBA.

So while I am not canceling any vacation plans for early June, I'm not making any, either. I don't know how far the Mavericks are going this spring with Kidd. In the overstuffed West, it may not be far.

But it will be farther than they would have gone as previously constructed, and at least there is excitement in the building once again.

I have been to American Airlines Center when the Mavs have hosted some of the weaker Eastern Conference teams, and beyond all the contrived pieces of the show, the energy is low.

Not the case Monday against the Bulls.

Kidd, introduced last at the request of Dirk Nowitzki, who has inherited that spot for years, received the loudest cheer. Then he went out and showed just how much of a difference his presence has meant.

His stats in the first quarter, in which Dallas built a 29-14 lead, were not otherworldly – three points, three rebounds, three assists, two steals. But the team seemed to play at a quicker pace.

"Infectious," Jason Terry called it. "Everyone is infected with this passing disease."

Sometimes they did great things. Sometimes they tried to make plays that they couldn't. Kidd himself frequently broke down the defense only to discover he had nowhere to go with the ball. His final line of 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists also included six turnovers.

"I don't think we're going to win many games with 21 turnovers," coach Avery Johnson said. "We're still in the lab with this team."

Johnson is caught in the dilemma of understanding that it's going to take time and knowing also that in the ultracompetitive West, the Mavericks have no time to endure growing pains.

"We're still a relatively new team," Johnson said. "At some point, we're trying to become a good team. We'll give them a short time and see where we are. We don't have 60 games."

He believes that day will come and that the critics of the trade will become supporters.

"At the end of the day, I think everyone's going to be unified," Johnson said.

He just hopes they're unified loving the deal and not hating it. Life is about to get much tougher.

The Mavericks' next five games include road tests against the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz and a home game against the Houston Rockers, winners of 12 straight.

Right now, the Mavericks aren't playing better than they were before the trade. But in each game you see glimpses of what might be.

Dallas won with big shots from the 3-point line Monday. The Mavericks were 9-for-14, and Dirk Nowitzki, who had a game-high 29 points, hit all three of his 3s. The distribution of the ball by Kidd and Terry, who had six assists, had a lot to do with the team's accuracy.

"We weren't a very good passing team before," Johnson said. "Now we're trying to become a good passing team. Give us 10 games, and see where we are."

Give the Mavericks any more time than that to grow together and learn, and they might just be out of time.




- Stack, JET benefitting a lot from Kidd as well.....



Dallas Mavericks' Terry, Stackhouse better with Kidd

New point guard puts Mavs veterans back in their comfort zones

03:38 AM CST on Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Four games and nearly one week into Jason Kidd Redux, let's take an inventory of what we know.

One: He has given this lethargic team the shot of adrenaline it needed.

Two: Dirk Nowitzki is finding it easier to score. It's not just the 29 points he had in the win over Chicago. The forward has shot more than 50 percent from the field in four consecutive games. He hadn't done that in more than two straight before Kidd's arrival.

Three: The trade has put Jason Terry back in the starting lineup and entrenched Jerry Stackhouse as the sixth man.

Both are good things.

I know, I know. I was one of the first to advocate that the Mavericks would be better off this season with Terry coming off the bench. And that made sense when Devin Harris was the point guard.

Not now. Terry must start next to Kidd for this team to reach its potential.

"As we move forward, the Jet looks like he's going to be on the runway," coach Avery Johnson said. "Right now, we think we've gotten that one behind us.

"We like Jason Terry at the two [shooting guard]. We think he's one of the best shooters in the league. And his speed. Kidd needs somebody to run with him. Someone to run and shoot."

Let's underline the word shoot.

Terry's speed is important. But the one thing Kidd doesn't do well is shoot. This team needs someone who can knock it down next to him.

Terry is the only shooting guard the Mavericks have who can shoot. And no, this isn't a cheap shot. Terry is the only one over 39 percent for the season.

"It's a situation where it's working, and we're going to go with what works right now," Terry said. "I mean, we don't have much room for error at this point of the season. We've got to solidify our rotation and our lineups.

"This is one that's working, so let's go with it."

The Mavericks carried a 10-point lead into the fourth quarter of Monday's game. The team was plus-14 at that stage when Kidd and Terry were on the court. That included an 8-0 run in the final moments of the third when Terry came back into the game. Terry had a steal and two assists in the burst. Kidd had a steal and an assist.

Kidd's size and feel for team defense allow Terry to jump into the passing lane more. Kidd's court vision and command of the game allow the offense to run more smoothly.

"Before, myself – and this is not a knock on Devin – we had indecision at times," said Terry, who finished with 11 points, six assists and four steals. "We had to look over at Avery and see what we were going to run. By then, the shot clock was down.

"That kills you. That indecision in and of itself kills you."

The Kidd-Terry backcourt also addresses another area of indecision that has plagued this team.

The 6a and 6b concept that Johnson touted with Terry and Stackhouse sounded good but never took off. Neither found the comfort zone they had in past seasons.

Terry's field goal percentage of .468 entering the Chicago game was the lowest of his Mavericks career. Stackhouse's average of 9.7 points entering the game was a career low. His field goal percentage of .385 was his lowest in nine years.

"You know, Stackhouse has been moaning all year about that, anyway," Johnson said, only half-joking, before the game. "This is getting him comfortable.

"Now we'll eliminate any excuses, right?"

Excuses? None were needed against the Bulls. Stackhouse was a true sixth man and responded with 23 points to tie his season high.

Now, Johnson must figure out what to do behind Stackhouse. Devean George and Eddie Jones each average less than four points and shoot less than 37 percent.

"The concern right now is to look at that next rotation, which is not good right now," Johnson said.

It's not.

But at least the starting backcourt and sixth man are settled.





- Stars rumored to be targeting Brad Richards from Tampa Bay, and might have to part with goalie Mike Smith....



Dallas Stars goalie Mike Smith learns to deal with trade rumors

12:34 AM CST on Tuesday, February 26, 2008
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News
mheika@dallasnews.com

Mike Smith said he received a phone call from his brother Sunday.

"You're going to Tampa Bay," Smith said, imitating the deep, booming voice he heard on the phone.

Smith wasn't traded – at least he wasn't Sunday – but it opened his eyes to a new world. At the NHL trade deadline, anything can happen.

Smith, 26, has never been involved in trade talk. But he is front and center this season as the Stars attempt to upgrade their offense and grab a veteran who can score. To get such a commodity, Dallas might have to give up its young backup goalie, who has the potential to be a No. 1 netminder in the NHL.

So Smith must deal with that possibility as today's 2 p.m. trade deadline looms.

The call from his brother came after Canadian hockey Web sites reported that Smith could be part of a deal that would send him to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for center Brad Richards. That potential deal still could happen, something that Smith said has been on his mind.

"I've been hearing a lot about it from my friends, text messages and voice mail," Smith said. "You try to get your mind off of it and do anything you can to think about anything else. But there's nothing I can do about it. It's part of the job."

Veteran defenseman Philippe Boucher joked that he would take an extra suit to St. Louis, where the Stars play tonight, despite the fact it's just a one-game road trip.

"You never know," he said.

That is the downside of being a professional athlete. Yes, there is fame and money and a pretty good exercise center at work. But there is also the fact that you could change addresses at a moment's notice.

And NHL trade deadlines have seen plenty of movement. Last season, 44 players changed teams in 25 trades. The year before, it was 40 players. The two previous to that, 32 and 46.

There is talk that this season will be different – the salary cap, the increase in no-trade clauses in players' contracts and the fact that many teams are still in the hunt for the playoffs have combined to limit the amount of trade talk. Toronto tried to get Mats Sundin to waive his no-trade clause, but he told the Maple Leafs on Sunday that he wasn't moving. Other veterans have done the same thing.

Still, Colorado signed free agent Peter Forsberg on Monday, and several teams would like to move superstars, so deals can be done. Atlanta wants to trade Marian Hossa, because he could be lost this summer as an unrestricted free agent. Buffalo might do the same with defenseman Brian Campbell. Tampa Bay is shopping Richards in hopes of creating cap space that will allow the Lightning to improve its goaltending and defense.

The Stars are in on talks to acquire Richards, 27, according to co-GM Les Jackson. They like the 27-year-old center and believe they can absorb his high contract – $7.8 million for the next three seasons. To get Richards, the Stars would have to give up Smith and possibly a defenseman or a prospect – or both.

Jackson and fellow co-GM Brett Hull, who took over when Doug Armstrong was fired in November, have worked hard to prepare for their first trade deadline day. And Jackson said he believes the preparation will pay off.

"We've done a lot to make sure we have all the information we can have," Jackson said. "You don't know what's going to be available. You don't know when the phone is going to ring. So the thing you can do is be ready. I think we're ready."

TARGETED?
The Stars are looking at trying to acquire Tampa Bay center Brad Richards before today's 2 p.m. NHL trade deadline. Here are a few pros and cons about Richards:


PROS
•Only 26, and under contract for the next three seasons

•Won Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP when he led the Lightning to the 2004 Stanley Cup.

•489 points in 552 regular season games and 47 points in 45 playoff games.


CONS
•Those three years under contract are at $7.8 million. Richards would become the highest paid player on the Stars.

•Struggling this season with 51 points and is a league-worst minus-25

•Is a natural center and could force some shuffling in the Stars' lineup when the team has won 11 of its last 13 games.





- Big 12 Spring Football preview.



Baylor Bears
Spring practice starts: March 3
Spring game: April 5

What to watch
• New coach Art Briles is one of college football's best offensive minds. His arrival should immediately juice Baylor's production -- even with the current talent in place.

• It will be interesting to see if transfer QB Kirby Freeman, who comes to Baylor from Miami, is permanently scarred by all those boos he heard the last two years at the Orange Bowl.

• The Bears have built some depth in the trenches, but the biggest question this spring will be finding a running threat to replace Brandon Whitaker. Jay Finley and Jacoby Jones are the major challengers.

Colorado Buffaloes
Spring practice starts: March 17
Spring game: April 19

What to watch
• No rants will be necessary from coach Dan Hawkins about the difficulties of playing in the Big 12. Confidence is soaring in Boulder after a strong finish and his best returning class.

• Keep an eye out for a couple of fierce positional battles as the Buffaloes try to replace LB Jordon Dizon and CB Terrence Wheatley. Undersized Gardner McKay and Jimmy Smith will battle at cornerback, while Marcus Burton and Bryan Stengel will be pitted to replace Dizon.

• Hawkins will consider several options at running back, but the real competition begins this summer when freshman TB Darrell Scott arrives.


Iowa State Cyclones
Spring practice starts: March 25
Spring game: April 19

What to watch
• After early struggles, the Cyclones responded to coach Gene Chizik as the season progressed. His development this spring will build on that steady late growth.

• Austen Arnaud has the inside track to replace Bret Meyer at QB. Redshirt freshman Taylor Bennett and Phillip Bates will also get some work this spring, but it would be a shock if Arnaud doesn't claim the job.

• Chizik made his bones as an aggressive defensive coordinator, but he will be challenged finding replacements for starting defensive tackles Athyba Rubin and Bryce Braaksma and linebackers Alvin Bowen and Jon Banks.


Kansas Jayhawks
Spring practice starts: March 12
Spring game: April 12

What to watch
• What a difference a year makes. Confidence is soaring in Lawrence after the Jayhawks' Orange Bowl victory, particularly with QB Todd Reesing coming back for his second season as a starter.

• The early departures of corner Aqib Talib and offensive tackle Anthony Collins are Kansas' biggest spring projects. But the biggest loss was defensive coordinator Bill Young, who left for Miami.

• The Jayhawks also have to find a new punter and kicker.


Kansas State Wildcats
Spring practice starts: March 29
Spring game: April 19

What to watch
• The Wildcats could be one of the surprise teams in the conference in 2008. Eight starters are back on offense and an infusion of 20 junior college players will boost production and competition from the first day of spring practice.

• The biggest concern for coach Ron Prince will be reviving some confidence in his defense. The Wildcats were blistered for averages of 559 yards and 55.7 points per game over their final three games last season, so restoring confidence will be a big chore.

• All-American WR Jordy Nelson will be missed, but the Wildcats have some arriving talent in junior college standouts Attrail Snipes, Aubrey Quarles and Brandon Banks.


Missouri Tigers
Spring practice starts: March 11
Spring game: April 19

What to watch
• It's not a stretch to consider the Tigers as the early favorites to win the Big 12 in 2008. Mizzou two potential Heisman Trophy candidates on the same team in Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin.

• For all of the returning talent, coach Gary Pinkel's biggest spring concern will be to replace the leadership provided by NT Lorenzo Williams and OL Adam Spieker. It might mean the difference between merely being a good team and becoming something special.

• Since Tony Temple decided not to attempt to gain a sixth season of eligibility, the most anticipated positional battle of the spring will be at tailback. Earl Goldsmith, Derrick Washington and Jimmy Jackson will compete to replace Temple.


Nebraska Cornhuskers
Spring practice starts: March 26
Spring game: April 19

What to watch
• Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson is back, but he will be challenged to develop wide receivers after the departures of Maurice Purify, Terrence Nunn and Frantz Hardy and H-back Sean Hill. Nate Swift, Todd Peterson and Niles Paul will be vying for playing time at the position.

• Can the Cornhuskers get those Blackshirts out of mothballs? We'll see as Bo Pelini will impart his fiery brand of leadership to a group that ranked last in the Big 12 in sacks last season.

• Pelini and his new staff will try to light a fire under NT Ndamukong Suh, who badly underachieved last season after a breakout freshman campaign in 2006.


Oklahoma Sooners
Spring practice starts: March 5
Spring game: April 12

What to watch
• The Sooners again are loaded offensively with the return of QB Sam Bradford, the entire starting offensive line and several key receivers. But the player who could be poised for the most dramatic breakthrough is RB DeMarco Murray, who is attempting to rebound from a dislocated kneecap suffered late in the season.

• Oft-injured LB Ryan Reynolds will be in the crosshairs this spring as he attempts to replace Big 12 defensive player of the year Curtis Lofton -- both athletically and as a leader.

• The Sooners' swagger has been tempered after back-to-back Fiesta Bowl losses. Their championship hopes will start as they try to replace key contributors like CB Reggie Smith, WR Malcolm Kelly and Lofton.


Oklahoma State Cowboys
Spring practice starts: March 3
Spring game: April 12

What to watch
• With the most substantial influx of junior college players in the Big 12 South, coach Mike Gundy is looking for immediate help. Juco All-American Beau Johnson will get most of the attention as he tries to replace TB Dantrell Savage.

• Look for Gundy to become more involved offensively after the departure of former coordinator Larry Fedora, who left to become Southern Mississippi's head coach.

• The Cowboys should be able to score with anybody in the country, but their spring work will be focused on retooling a defense in the trenches and in the secondary.


Texas Longhorns
Spring practice starts: Feb. 22
Spring jamboree: March 29

What to watch
• After pushing his team through demanding practices before the Holiday Bowl, look for Mack Brown's "get tough" mantra to carry over to the spring. It should mesh perfectly with new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp's high-energy coaching style.

• It's still unknown if Vondrell McGee can emerge as a suitable replacement for Jamaal Charles at tailback. His development will be the Longhorns' major spring story line on offense.

• Brown's staff had its biggest offseason upheaval with the arrival of Muschamp and Major Applewhite and the demotion of former co-defensive coordinator Duane Akina to secondary coach. How the team responds to the new coaches will help determine its championship hopes.


Texas A&M Aggies
Spring practice starts: March 24
Spring game: April 19

What to watch
• New A&M coach Mike Sherman will have plenty of offensive weapons with the return of QB Stephen McGee and rushing threats Mike Goodson and Jorvorskie Lane. But the biggest challenge will be to rebuild an offensive line that loses four starters.

• With a new coaching staff arriving, don't be surprised if heralded QB Jerrod Johnson pushes McGee for playing time and maybe even the starting job.

• The Wrecking Crew defense has been gone since R.C. Slocum left. New coordinator Joe Kines must rebuild a defensive front that returns only starting defensive end Cyril Obiozor and needs to find replacements for starting linebackers Misi Tupe and Mark Dodge.


Texas Tech Red Raiders
Spring practice starts: March 26
Spring game: April 19

What to watch
• Expectations are soaring with 18 returning starters, including standouts like QB Graham Harrell and Biletnikoff winner Michael Crabtree. It will mean more national attention for the program, but also a new standard that's never been there before.

• Rylan Reed's nasty ankle injury in the Gator Bowl will provide an opening for Chris Olson and Jake Johnson to challenge for playing time at LT

• The Red Raiders' title hopes hinge on continued defensive improvement. The defense showed flashes after defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill took over, but it needs to take another step this spring.