College Football: 2009 Grades Are in for the Big 12 Football Coaches

It's time for the professor to grade all the Big 12 football coaches for 2009. The professor grades on the curve and starts off letting every coach know that for those blessed with abundance, much is expected. 

So, the professor starts off by basing the 2009 grading curve on the 2008 Big 12 football revenue rank. This ranking data comes from the Equity in Athletics Data Analysis Cutting Tool provided by the U.S. Department of Education. 

2008 Football Revenue Rank for Big 12 Schools

1. Texas: $87 mill 

2. Nebraska: $55 mill 

3. Oklahoma: $47 mill 

4. Texas A&M: $38 mill 

5. Colorado: $28 mill 

6. Oklahoma State: $26 mill 

7. Missouri: $24 mill

8. Texas Tech: $24 mill 

9. Kansas State: $21 mill 

10. Iowa State: $21 mill 

11. Kansas: $17 mill 

12. Baylor: $12 mill 

Money makes a big difference in being able to compete. So the professor expects the Big 12 rank to be close to your football revenue rank. If you are ranked No. 1 in revenue, you are expected to rank No. 1 on the field.

Your conference performance rank is your year-end Sagarin school rank compared to other Big 12 schools. This is somewhat arbitrary, but the professor doesn't have time to hear whining about strength of schedule and injuries.

Sagarin 2009 Big 12 Rank & Difference from Revenue Rank

1. Texas: same

2  Oklahoma: +1

3. Nebraska: -1

4. Texas Tech: +4

5. Oklahoma State: -1

6. Missouri:  +1

7. Texas A&M: +3

8. Kansas: +3

9. Kansas State: same

10. Iowa State: same

11. Baylor: +1

12. Colorado: -7

If your year-end Sagarin ranking is within one of your revenue rank, you start with a C. If you are 2 or more ranks higher, you start with a B.  If you are two or more lower, you start with a D.  

One letter grade is added for making it to the conference championship.  One letter grade is added for winning the conference championship. 

One letter grade is added for winning a bowl game. One letter is added for making it to a BCS game (the Big 12 needs the money).

So here are the 2009 Big 12 football coaches' grades:

Mack Brown, Texas : A/A+ (C start, B for making B12 championship, A for winning conference championship, will boost to A+ for winning national championship game)

Bo Pelini, Nebraska: A (C start, B for making conference championship, A for winning Holiday Bowl)

Bob Stoops, OU : B (C start, B for winning Sun Bowl)

Paul Rhoads, Iowa State : B (C start, won Insight Bowl)

Mike Gundy, OSU : C (C start, lost Cotton Bowl)

Gary Pinkel, Mizzou : C (C start, lost Texas Bowl)

Bill Snyder, KSU : C (C start, no bowl)

Art Briles, Baylor : C (C start, no bowl)

Mike Sherman, Texas A&M : D (D start, lost Independence Bowl)

Dan Hawkins, Colorado : D (D start, no bowl game)

Mike Leach, Texas Tech : Incomplete (B start, A with bowl win)

Mark Mangino, Kansas : Incomplete (B start, no bowl game)

The professor is disappointed that coach Leach and coach Mangino were unable to complete the semester.  Both had teams that finished the year ranked higher than expected.