Memphis Raleigh-Egypt wide receiver Duke Calhoun committed to coach Tommy West & the Tigers this morning. National Signing Day is Wednesday.

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While bragging on the Memphis Tigers being the best in Conference USA, UAB second, then third & back up for grabs, I failed to give the proper credit to UTEP. Doc Sadler's team matches the Tigers in conference play, 5-0. They are 12-5 overall, with a win at New Mexico State. The Miners had a handful of shots at making some noise against the likes Georgetown, Texas Tech & Syracuse, but failed to pull off an upset in each of those.

Still, 5-0 is nothing to discount. They will be an interesting team to follow in Febrauray as they travel to Houston this Wednesday, host UAB on Feb. 8, & come to Memphis Feb. 22.

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Some say the Big East will get nine, maybe 10 into the NCAA tournament come March. I just don't see it right now. Seven is a more likely number, & that's pretty good, if you ask me.

Louisville has fallen apart as of late, with a lowpoint coming Saturday when the Cards lost to Rutgers. The 'Ville still has road contests at Villanova (tonight), Cinci, Syracuse, West Virginia & UConn, along with USF, Notre Dame , Marquette & DePaul at home.

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The Memphis Grizzlies have two shots at home for solving whatever rut they are in, then it is on-the-road for a six-game, 10-day roadtrip. This comes at a bad time for the team as they have lost seven of their last nine & Saturday night's loss to the Hornets showed no signs of breaking the slump anytime soon.

The Grizz (25-18) host Houston tonight, then Dallas on Wednesday.

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Dallas Cowboys fans & the Dallas media are consumed with this week's Pro Football Hall of Fame selections. This Saturday 39 voters will meet & decide who gets in & who gets left out.

Yes, I find it quite amazing that only five Cowboys are in the hall. That number will at least move to six this weekend, maybe seven. Troy Aikman is a lock. So that leaves Micheal Irvin & Rayfield Wright.

If Irvin is not tabbed, I don't believe it will feed the grand conspiracy some feel there is against Dallas. Just when you thought it was okay to like the guy again & publicly support him, the reemergence of his legal woes may sour some attitudes & affect the vote.

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Fresh off his team's national championship, Texas coach Mack Brown is set to receive a raise of $300,000 for 2006, pushing his salary to almost $2.6 million annually.

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The Tennessee Titans say there will be no ticket price increase for the 2006 season. A good PR move, for sure. It will be interesting to see fan's reaction to season ticket sales later this year. The Titans have had no problems selling out games since moving to Nashville. Even last summer coming of a 5-11 season, the demand was there & season tickets were gone in no time.

Things are a little different now. The Titans went 4-12, so that means back-to-back losing seasons. Will the fans embrace the team? I don't believe there is much to worry about just yet. But fans deserve to see improvement on the field & let's hope the Titans are making that committment.

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Mike Camunas of the University of South Florida's The Oracle writes, "...for the life of me, I can’t understand why Memphis running back DeAngelo Williams is so popular all of a sudden."

Also, "Most in Tennessee will brag about his numbers and the school record he set in 2004 with 263 rushing yards in a game against USF. Yeah, those great numbers he had — against Conference USA teams. Woo hoo. The next closest rusher was Marshall’s Ahmad Bradshaw with only 997 yards and nine rushing touchdowns. A dog with three legs wearing a lampshade collar can rush for 100 yards against teams such as Houston, UCF and UTEP."

For the hundredth time I'll ask the question: if ANY back can grab 100-yards rushing against the likes of Houston, UCF or UTEP, then why didn't it happen every game this year?

It's funny, USF is one-year removed from CUSA & they must have totally forgotten they were once part of the league. After all, Bulls running back Andre Hall was much more deserving of the hype, according to the author of this column, comparing his one season in the Big East to that of LSU's Joseph Addai & the SEC. Puhleaze!

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Music quote of the day:

"They call me the breeze, I keep blowin' down the road.
Well now, they call me the breeze, I keep blowin' down the road.
I ain't got me nobody, I don't carry me no load."

Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Call Me the Breeze"