The Oklahoma Sooners have found their quarterback for the 2013 class.  Cody Thomas, the ninth ranked pro-style quarterback in the country by Rivals, confirmed his commitment to the Sooners on Thursday.

Thomas' verbal gives the Sooners their seventh recruit in the '13 class and third skilled position player on offense that also includes running backs Greg Bryant and Keith Ford.

Thomas held offers from some of the top schools in the country including Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Florida State and Notre Dame.

Now all the Sooners have to do is hold onto him.  Thomas, like former OU commit Archie Bradley, is a top baseball prospect and could be drafted high in the 2013 MLB draft.  Bradley had committed to playing both football and baseball in Norman before ultimately signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks after being selected seventh overall in the 2011 baseball draft.

Nebraska faced a similar situation when their QB commit in the 2011 class, Bubba Starling, decided to take the money and forgo playing football and signed with the Kansas City Royals' organization after being selected fifth overall.

Signing day is still a long ways away and the 2013 MLB draft is even further off so it'll be awhile before anyone ultimately knows happens with Thomas, not to mention he hasn't even started his senior year of high school yet.  A lot can change between now and then.

But as of today, he's committed to the Sooners.  The 6'5" quarterback threw for over 3,000 yards as a junior at Heritage High School in Colleyville, Texas.

"We're pumped for this opportunity," Pete Thomas (Cody's father) said. "I told Josh (Heupel) when we started this thing that Cody has been a Sooner fan since he was little."

"He is a great athlete," Colleyville Heritage coach Mike Fuller said. "He has the perfect demeanor for a quarterback. He doesn't get too up or too down about anything."

You can check out some of Thomas's highlights from his junior season in the video below.

Welcome to the Big 12.

TCU has never in its history sold out all of the school's season tickets.  That changed this week when the Horned Frogs announced they have sold more than 30,000 season tickets for the 2012 season.  Not only that, there's now a waiting list of 1,000 names who may be able to purchase tickets at a later date.

TCU's home field, Amon G. Carter Stadium, is currently undergoing renovations that will be completed prior to the season and the school isn't sure exactly how many seats will be available although the capacity is expected to be around 45,000.

"To say we are sold out on May 16 is just a tribute to the Horned Frog nation. They came on strong," Del Conte said. "Everything that's happened in the last three years is a culmination of something that started in 1998. What [TCU coach] Gary Patterson has built here is unbelievable."

The previous record number of season tickets sold happened last year when TCU sold 22,500.  There's little doubt fans are pumped to see what their team can do in the Big 12 after having won at least 11 games every year since 2008 (47 total wins over that span).

TCU's home conference schedule will feature Iowa State, Texas Tech, Kansas State, and Oklahoma which will obviously be an upgrade to the team's the hosted in recent season's at part of the Mountain West.  In 2013, the schedule will flip and the Horned Frogs will have five home conference games that will include Baylor, Oklahoma State, and Texas.

There's not a school in the country that will likely feel the affects of conference expansion the way TCU will.  Outside of Utah joining the Pac-12, conference realignment has been relegated to BCS conference schools leaving for other BCS leagues.

TCU has been part of the Mountain West Conference since 2005 and has largely been left out of the BCS arms race since the Southwest Conference disbanded prior to the 1996 season. Not only will they see a windfall in revenue coming in from the Big 12's television contracts, but as they're finding out, a rise in interest level affects everything from ticket sales to merchandise sales.

More money also brings with it higher expectations and it remains to be seen how the increased competition will affect TCU's level on the success on the field.  Maybe it takes a season or two for TCU's increased recruiting efforts to take hold, but here's guessing they won't take a backseat to anyone for long, if at all.

Outside of a few comments from Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds, all has been quiet from the Big 12 side of things regarding the conference possibly expanding.

The question is surely going to come up, however, as administrators make their rounds in public.  Such was the case for Iowa State's athletic director during ISU' spring tailgate tour.

So, what it's going to be?  Is the Big 12 going back to 12 teams or not?

“Right now, we are very committed to a 10-member league for a lot of reasons,” Pollard said. “Our heads aren’t buried in the sand. If we need to expand, we’ll expand. But we’re not looking to expand. It’s fascinating to hear all this chatter. It’s clearly driven on their end. It’s a nice position to be in when somebody is trying to dance with you. But we’re fine being just who we are.”

What are we left to do but break out the tea leaves to try and figure out what it may or may not mean.

"If we need to expand, we'll expand."

Well, the Big 12 might never "need" to expand.  It has 10 teams.  Maybe not ideal is some aspects, but it works.

From a football standpoint with the additions of West Virginia and TCU, the Big 12 is as deep as any conference in the country.  And with the nine game conference schedule, whoever wins the Big 12 figures to at least be in running for a shot at playing for the national title in most seasons, and maybe even more so when a four-team playoff becomes reality.

Who knows what is truly going on behind-the-scenes, but one has to figure that if Florida State is sincere in their desire to join the Big 12, the conference might suddenly find the "need to expand" - as Pollard puts it - happening sooner than most expected.

The Big 12 can afford to slow play adding teams such as Louisville and BYU because their options will likely be limited.  Florida State is a different story entirely.  Even with the lack of recent success, they're still a very big fish in the college football world and they also happen to be in one of the most fertile recruiting territories in the country.

They'll be wanted.  And the Big 12 can't afford to pass up such a big name if truly has its eyes set on expanding in the future.  They might not want to do it now, but Florida State isn't going to be available forever if they decide the ACC is no longer a good fit.

"It’s clearly driven on their end. It’s a nice position to be in when somebody is trying to dance with you."

That's how these things work.  Conferences don't want to be accused of dismantling other leagues (hey, we weren't even looking to expand - wink, wink) and Florida State leaving the ACC (and maybe bringing a friend along for the ride) would certainly be a huge blow to the conference.  The Big 12 will wait.  If Florida State wants in, the Big 12 will listen and off we go.

Where's all this going?  As I mentioned yesterday, nobody knows just yet.  But people are talking and that means anything is possible.

What a circus.

If there's one thing we've learned from conference realignment over the past two years it's that no one really knows anything. There are simply too many moving parts all happening at the same time.

He said. She said. But wait, they said. Whatever.

Until it's done, nobody knows. The Big 12 was dead. Twice. Until it wasn't.

Now bring on Florida State. They don't even know what's happening within their own school. How the heck is anyone else supposed to know what's going to happen?

This from is a quote from Friday from Florida State athletic director, Randy Spetman.

"We're in the ACC. We're committed to the ACC," Spetman said. "That's where our president and the board of trustees has committed to, so we're great partners in the ACC."

Hey Randy, maybe you should check with the board of trustees first.

On Saturday, Florida State Board of Trustee chairman Andy Haggard said, heck yeah, we might be interested.

"How do you not look into that option," asked Haggard. "On behalf of the Board of Trustees I can say that unanimously we would be in favor of seeing what the Big 12 might have to offer. We have to do what is in Florida State's best interest."

He even threw a unanimously in there. Nice.

What does Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher think about the whole thing?

"There have been no official talks, but I think you always have to look out there to see what's best for Florida State," Fisher told the Orlando Sentinel. "If that [jumping to the Big 12] is what's best for Florida State, then that's what we need to do."

No official talks? Should we believe there have been unofficial talks?

So, what exactly is best for Florida State? If it's not already obvious, not even the brass in Tallahassee have the answer to that. And if one person says they have the answer, then there's surely another who thinks the answer is something else entirely.

Florida State president Eric Barron seems to be trying to make sense of the whole thing himself. He issues a statement on Saturday night saying the Noles are committed to the ACC. Of course they are. What else he is supposed to say?

Florida State respects the views of the Chair of its Board of Trustees that, of course, any university would examine options that would impact university academics, athletics or finances. At the same time, Florida State is not seeking an alternative to the ACC nor are we considering alternatives. Our current commitments remain strong.

I seem to remember Texas A&M's and Missouri's strong commitment to the Big 12 last summer, as well. Until they were in the SEC.

Barron also sent out an email on Monday to help try and clear the air weighing the pros and cons FSU faces. It largely felt like the pros favored the ACC except for the most important con, that being more money. He ended the email by writing:

We can't afford to have conference affiliation be governed by emotion ? it has to be based on a careful assessment of athletics, finances and academics. I assure you that every aspect of conference affiliation will be looked at by this institution, but it must be a reasoned decision.

So what's happening from the Big 12 side of things? All has been quiet on the front with the exception of Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds stating the Big 12 has had no discussions with Florida State.

Texas AD DeLoss Dodds says there "have been no conversations" between Big 12 and Florida State.

— kbohls (@kbohls) May 14, 2012

No, the conference likely hasn't had any conversations. But rest assured Florida State isn't putting itself in the national spotlight with all this conjecture just for the hell of it.

The difference for the Big 12 this time around as opposed to the last two summers, it's now in a position of power, at least in comparison to the spot they found themselves in prior to losing four teams. Instead of being poached, they are the ones that can do the poaching if they so choose.

What is the Big 12 going to do? I've always held the belief they'll eventually get back to 12 teams when the time is right and teams number 11 and 12 make sense. But like anyone else - inside sources or not - it's just a guess.

As for Florida State, well, as they are finding out, they're are no easy answers.

So here we sit, hearing rumor after rumor but really knowing nothing more than we did before the gossip started circulating. If anyone tries to tell you they know what's going to happen, they're looking into the crystal ball just like the rest of us.

It's not done until it's done.

And if this starts happening in the conference office, you can probably assume it's done. Until then, no one knows a thing.

Mizzou going up:twitpic.com/9juzyo

— Chuck Dunlap(@SEC_Chuck) May 11, 2012

(Mizzou's flag going up in the SEC conferenc office.  I think they're in).

After the initial uproar over the Longhorn Network and the perceived advantages Texas would be getting as a result of their $15 million per year deal with ESPN, things have been relatively quiet of late on the Longhorn Network front.

Texas and ESPN continue to struggle with the distrubution of the network, however, and have yet to land a major cable or satellite producer.

Granted these things often take time, but one quick way to help speed along the process is by showing more of what people really want to see - Texas football.

How about three games on the Longhorn's own network in 2012? By the sounds of it, that's exactly what Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds has in mind.

DeLoss Dodds says there could be as many as three Texas football games broadcast on the Longhorn Network this fall.

— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) May 11, 2012

LHN isn't going to get carriers without leverage. A third football game is the best leverage ESPN has. Softball ain't gonna do it.

— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) May 11, 2012

Dodds said he realizes there will be mass outrage if LHN doesn't have carriers in time for those 3 games. "But the pain is worth the gain."

— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) May 11, 2012

There's little doubt that putting more football games on a channel few can view will cause some angst amongst the fan base who could then in turn put some pressure on cable and satellite providers to carry the network.

Is that enough though?

That's three games or roughly nine hours of programming spanning three Saturdays against likely the three weakest opponents on Texas' 2012 schedule. The other 362 days of the year, Texas will be in the same boat, showing the same programming that has yet to entice any outlet of substance to carry the network.

And that's not even considering the potential hurdles Texas might have to overcome to show three games. I won't proclaim to be an expert on all the details pertaining to the Big 12's television contracts, but I've followed it close enough to at least be dangerous.

It's no secret the Big 12 allows its member institutions to do what they wish with their third-tier media rights (hence why the Longhorn Network even exists). It's my understanding that as part of the Big 12's TV contracts, each school is allowed the rights to one football game per season to be broadcast however each school chooses, on whatever third-tier distribution medium they have chosen to use. After that, any additional games would need the approval of the rest of the league.

Texas did televise two games last year after getting the necessary approvals from the Big 12 and cutting a deal with Kansas that also allowed the Jayhawks to show the game over-the-air in Kansas City and throughout the state.

Would the rest of the league agree to allow three games on the LHN? Maybe, although I'm guessing Texas would be forced to give up something in return that in some way benefits the other nine members.

Plus Fox, the second-tier rights holder, would have to choose not select two of those three games as part of its television package to show on its regional networks. Would they do this? Again maybe, but they're not going to give up one of the biggest draws in the Big 12 for free.

So the bottom line if this goes down and Texas and ESPN are able to get three games on the LHN, you're either going to have a bunch of angry Texas fans or Texas and the World Wide Leader are going to get what they want, somebody of substance carrying their network.

But as Dodds said, "the pain is worth the gain," at least in the eyes of Texas.

Longevity and college football coaching aren't usually two words or phrases you typically find in the same sentence.  Coaches are now fired faster than ever while others always have their eyes on the next job.

Sometimes, however, there is a coach that is just a perfect fit.

On the surface, it's fairly obvious Paul Rhoads is the perfect fit him Ames.  He's from Ankeny, Iowa just a few miles down the road from Ames, not to mention he spent five seasons on former ISU head coach Dan McCarney's staff from 1995-1999.  He knows Iowa State football and the challenges he faces in order to put winning football teams on the field.

That's not to say Rhoads necessarily sees himself finishing his career at Iowa State.  When asked this week if he would retire at Iowa State (he just signed a 10-year extension in December).  "Is it probably going to happen? I would just doubt it. That’s a long time to complete.”

He also told a Des Moines radio station it's "highly unlikely" he'll retire at Iowa State.

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean he's looking to leave Iowa State.

“Iowa State has got to want me all that time, to begin with. That hasn’t always been the case with coaches at any place. But the bottom-line answer is: If 20 years from now I’m retiring as the head football coach at Iowa State, I’m going to be a very, very lucky man.”

If you're an Iowa State fan, do Rhoads comments worry you?

It shouldn't.  It just sounds to me Rhoads understands the reality of the coaching profession.

Rhoads has worked wonders during his three years in Ames that include two bowl appearances and wins over Nebraska in Lincoln, Texas in Austin, and the second ranked team in the country last season, Oklahoma State.

That came on the heels of Iowa State finishing a combined 5-19 the two seasons prior to his arrival under Gene Chizik.  (Talking about fit, yeah, Chizik wasn't it).

But things can change in a hurry.

Iowa State looked to have a lifer in McCarney who took ISU to three straight bowl games in 2000, 2001, and 2002 after bringing Iowa State football back from the dead.  He then suffered through a 2-10 season in 2003 before going to two more bowl games in '04 and '05.

The Cyclones once again fell off, however, finishing 4-8 (1-7 in the Big 12) in 2006 and McCarney was shown the door.  "It became apparent to us over the past several weeks that the momentum had been lost. And there wasn't much that he or I could do to get that momentum back," Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard said at the time.

Rhoads has built that same kind of momentum that McCarney achieved heading into year number four on the field.  Off the field, Iowa State has a dazzling new scoreboard and sound system and are in the process of building a new football facility. Both are big signs of progress, that is, so long as the wins keep coming.

And if they do, more and more teams will continue to try and lure the Cyclones' head man away from Ames whose name has already surfaced for several opening coaching positions this past offseason.

“If I retire at Iowa State, I will be a very, very happy man,” Rhoads said.

Of course, if he doesn't it means one of two things.  Iowa State is losing and the fans likely won't be so fond of him anyways.  Or Iowa State is winning and he decided to take on a new challenge at a different place.  In that case, the Cyclones will surely be in better shape as a program than the one he inherited which is about all you can ask for.

For now though, Rhoads is at Iowa State and that's all Cyclone fans should concern themselves with.  Could that change?  Sure.  Will it?  Nobody knows, not even Rhoads himself.

It's no secret that college football news can be a little slow this time of the year. I'll try and fill the gap with some off the cuff ideas to help fill the void over the next month or two. Today, season ticket promotional videos.

Not all the Big 12 schools have released their videos yet (or won't), but the five that had are worth a watch. My personal favorite? That would be Baylor, although all five of them do the trick. If only you could be at more than one place at a time.

Baylor Bears

Baylor football has come back from the dead under Art Briles and there is now plenty to sell when it comes to football in Waco including a new stadium which could be ready for play as early as the 2014 season.

How's this for stirring up some emotion? What's that number again?

Kansas Jayhawks

Kansas doesn't have the same recent success to build on that Baylor does, but there's plenty to look forward to in Lawrence with the intrigue surrounding Charlie Weis and his return to college head coaching.

Kansas State Wildcats

Kansas State has been building their season ticket promotions around Bill Snyder's 16 Goals of Success and apparently it's worked as KSU has sold out its season tickets for 2012. Last year's 10 win seaoson probably didn't hurt, either.

West Virginia Mountaineers

How about Big 12 newcomer West Virgina? There's plenty to be excited about these days in Morgantown. The video pretty much speaks for itself. Well done, Mountaineers.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Texas Tech put together a cool concept with some words from long time season tickets holders.

That's it for the videos, but here's a quick look at what's happening with the other five schools in the Big 12:

TCU hoping the move to the Big 12 will result in 30,000 season tickets. They set a record last year with 22,000.

I'm guessing Oklahoma doesn't need a promotional video because their tickets are sold out, as usual. I'm not sure if Texas' season tickets are sold out because they're still taking orders, but if not, I'm guessing they will be soon.

TCU and Oklahoma State haven't released any season tickets promos that I could find but I'm guessing some will be coming. Both schools have done great videos in the past.

The Big 12 has its new commissioner in place and if it hadn't already, all the attention in the league will now turn to whether the Big 12 will expand or remain as a ten team league.

There's of course been the longstanding rumors that if the conference does indeed elect to get back to 12 teams, Louisville, Cincinnati, and BYU will receive strong consideration.  Notre Dame's name has also been brought up and most recently Florida State and Clemson.

Texas Tech coach, Tommy Tuberville, has made no secret that he wishes the Big 12 would get back to 12 teams and even went so far as to say he thought it might happen last April.  Of course, a lot has changed since then.

Missouri and Texas A&M are gone.  So is former commissioner, Dan Beebe.  When he made those comments in April of 2011, West Virginia and TCU likely weren't even on the Big 12's radar screen.  Now both schools are less than two months from becoming official members of the conference.

While Tuberville's desire to get back to 12 teams hasn't changed, his optimism for it actually happening apparently went by the wayside.  "I wish we had two more teams but we don't.  I think we're going to stay at 10 for a while," Tuberville told Jack Arute on the SiriusXM College Football Playbook radio show.

"West Virginia and TCU I think are obviously good additions to our league.  I just still can't imagine Missouri and A&M wanting to leave our league.  I guess they were looking for something else.  But they're gone," Tuberville added.

Tuberville's lack of optimism stems from the fact there is but a small pool of potential candidates from which to choose that could drive TV revenue.   He wasn't asked specifically about Florida State and Clemson (or any teams outside of Notre Dame) who would obviously bring additional TV sets, but those two schools at this point in the conversation seem like long shots, at best.

Notre Dame of course would fit that bill, as well, but the likelihood of the Irish joining a league in football are slim and none or as Tuberville said, "not in his lifetime."  Of course with the upcoming changes in the BCS, who knows how that will affect Notre Dame and what they'll do going forward.

And that's not to say Tuberville isn't happy with the Big 12's newest members.

"Gary Patterson's team has been very good the last few years.  He's built that program.  They're getting better."

"Dana Holgorsen at West Virginia, what can you say about them?  He inherited a great football team with an excellent quarterback and he's brought it to another level.  When you can score that many points in an Orange Bowl - a BCS game - and beat a team like Clemson, then you're doing something right."

"So we've upgraded the league."

What exactly is going to happen on the expansion front won't be known until more details about the league's new extended TV deal are made public, although it's hard to believe there won't be stipulations in the new contract allowing for more TV revenue should the Big 12 expand.  Said another way, schools in the conference aren't going to agree to adding two teams without getting the same revenue as they'll be getting as part of the new deal.

And certainly the Big 12 isn't shortsighted enough to sign a new 13 year deal that essentially locked them into 10 teams, are they?

It's tough to make a guess on which way this will go.  One of the main reasons to get back to 12 had been to further strengthen the league making it less likely somebody would once again leave.  But if the rumors are true that the schools agreed to grant their media rights for 13 seasons (it is six, currently), nobody is going anywhere.

The question then becomes how much more money can the league make or as Tuberville said, what type of TV money are they (new members) going to bring to the league.

Spring football is officially in the rear view mirror and college football fans are left wondering what they'll do with themselves over the three months until fall camp commences. Um, how about look at watch lists?

Love them or hate them, it's that time of the year.  Welcome to the offseason.

The Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation beat everyone to the punch today by announcing the watch list for the Lott IMPACT trophy given annually to the defensive player of the year that best exemplifies Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity (IMPACT, see what they did there?).

Voting for the award will take place throughout the season with a Lott IMPACT player of the week being named followed by the naming of the official winner set to be announced on December 9th.

Seven players from the Big 12 made the initial list which was tied for third most of any conference behind the Big Ten with nine nominees and the Pac-12 with eight.  The ACC also had seven followed by the SEC with five.

The 2011 Lott trophy was awarded to Boston College's Luke Kuechly who was selected ninth overall in last week's NFL draft by the Carolina Panthers.

Big 12 Players on Lott Watch List:

• Jackson Jeffcoat, DE - Texas
• Alex Okafor, DE - Texas
• DeMontre Hurst - DB - Oklahoma
• Brodrick Brow, CB - Oklahoma State
• Arthur Brown, LB - Kansas State
• A.J. Klein, LB - Iowa State
• Jake Knott, LB - Iowa State

This will be the first of many more watch lists to come over the next month or so.  While it's nice to get recognized prior to the season, all these lists will change as players play their way on and off the lists during the season.

And if you happen to have forgotten exactly how good Ronnie Lott was as a football player, it's never a bad time for a little refresher.  Check out the video below.

Nebraska picked up it's sixth commitment in the class of 2013 when College Station, Texas defensive end, Christian Lacouture gave his pledge to the Husker coaching staff during an unofficial visit to Lincoln on Saturday.

Lacouture is the second defensive end in the class along with A. J. Natter and the first recruit from the state of Texas.  Lacouture is rated a three-star prospect by both Rivals and 247Sports while Scout gives him a rating of four-stars.

“I’d been looking at it for a while, and when I came up here [Saturday], I had a good intention I was going to commit,” Lacouture said. “With everything going on -- the tradition and how everything is shaping up -- it was a good time for me to commit to Nebraska.

Lacouture originally to Texas A&M during his sophomore season at Odessa Permian but decided to open up his recruiting again following the overhaul of the Aggies coaching staff when Mike Sherman was relieved of his duties and Kevin Sumlin was hired as the new head coach.

Lacouture moved to College Station prior to his junior season where he played at A&M Consolidated.

"With all of the coaching transitions I didn't feel it was right to take visits while still committed," he told Scout.com.

He remained interested in Texas A&M although he had narrowed his final choices recently to LSU, Michigan, and Nebraska.  Considering the schools in pursuit of his services, it looks like a big win for the Huskers and one that should help build momentum as Nebraska continues to put together what should be their biggest class of recruits in several seasons.

“I love the coaches [at Nebraska]. We all have great relationships,” Lacouture said. “I felt it was right, and I didn’t want to waste any more time, so I pulled the trigger.”

Lacouture plans to graduate from high school in December meaning he'll be able to enroll at Nebraska and participate in spring football in 2013.

For a look at Locouture, you can check out his highlight video below from his junior season.