I popped in briefly on Monday afternoon, and like I said, enjoyed the time away. But I'm also ready to get back into it, and Big 12 media days are less than a week away. But let's catch up on a few happenings across the conference.

• Adam Rittenberg linked the story here last week, but Nebraska has removed the "Beat Texas" and all Longhorn references from its "Red Out Around the World" video we wrote about at length last week. Here's the new video. On its website, Nebraska explained the purpose of the website, which admittedly was somewhat misconstrued by just about everyone. That's not to say Nebraska couldn't have made the video more subtle, or provided an earlier explanation, but the video and website aren't exactly the slap in the face to Texas it may have seemed initially.

From the school's release:

The original logo and marketing message were created and approved in February. The message - Wear Red, Be Loud, Beat Texas - was chosen to succinctly communicate the goals of the day. "We want our fans to wear red, no gray, white or black shirts that day, and we want them to be loud but respectful, whether they're at the stadium, a watch party or at home with their families and friends," Michael Stephens said, adding that he thought "Beat Texas" was a natural ending "since winning is a goal every time we take the field." What seemed to be an innovative logo has been perceived by some to be a little too direct, so Osborne made the decision to remove the Beat Texas part of the message.

"We normally do not call out any opponent, and we regret that this promotion has been perceived in this manner," Osborne said. "We have great respect for the University of Texas and want our fans to continue to treat all of our opponents in a respectful manner."

I still think Nebraska would have added the "Beat X" for the campaign regardless of who was coming to Lincoln for Memorial Stadium's marquee game, whether that team was Missouri, Oklahoma or Texas A&M. But since it's Texas, and considering what transpired this summer, Nebraska had to have some idea how the video would be perceived. At the very least, some non-Nebraskan eyes should have taken a look, and if they did, well, they should have found some more. My immediate reaction from seeing the video was shock that a program like Nebraska would direct so much attention toward one game in the middle of the season. But, judging from Texas coach Mack Brown's comments to the San Antonio Express-News over the weekend, it sounds like it's a no-harm, no-foul type of situation. “It's not a big deal,” Brown said. “I'm pretty sure they were going to be excited for that game anyway.” Oh, Nebraska will be. So will Brown and his Longhorns. And we will be, too.

• Baylor added defensive tackle Phil Taylor to its lineup at the Big 12 media days, eliminating its status as the only team from the conference bringing a three-man crew. Texas, however, still plans on bringing five to Irving, Texas, on Wednesday when it takes the stage as the last team to answer questions.
• Combining the first two bullet points, the conference has made it known that a) the schedule for Media Days was drawn up in the spring and b) Nebraska went first and Texas went last before the 2009 season. So, the placement is coincidental.
• Joe Walljasper at the Columbia Tribune got his hands on some e-mails between the Big 12 and Missouri brass thanks to an open records request. Nothing too shocking in them, but Beebe expressed some displeasure at his "on or off the plane analogy" being taken as throwing down the gauntlet to schools unsure of their futures in the Big 12. But we've heard that before. We hadn't heard him voice his displeasure (however respectfully) at Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton, who made some less-than-convincing comments about Missouri's future in the Big 12 at June's spring meetings. Deaton has since taken the position of chairman of the board of directors in the Big 12, so those concerns are behind them. What's not behind Beebe or Deaton? Each's love of the exclamation point. A sample quote from a Beebe e-mail: "I admire you greatly Brady, but the quote at the end of this article, which is being written about throughout the country, is what is damaging us so badly. We have to have an unequivocal commitment in a few days!!”
• Bought and played "NCAA Football 11" a bit over the past week. I'm not crazy about the elimination of the sprint button in favor of Locomotion, but I think I can get used to it, even if it feels a little too much like skating and players don't have to stick their cleat in the ground to change direction. I'm glad they've made running the ball a realistic possibility on the higher difficulty levels, but is anyone else finding it borderline impossible to tackle runners in the open field while playing against another human? Once you get into the second level of the defense with a ball carrier, guys are scoring with a little too much frequency. Of course, that might just be because it's early on and we still need time to get used to the new feel.
• I will say, playing as a running back on "Road to Glory" was impossible on a high difficulty level without the new running game. I've enjoyed playing that, even if it's a little too easy. The one big, obvious plus of Locomotion is you're going to have much more skilled running without having to hold the sprint button.
• Is anyone else whiffing a lot with safeties who come across the field to swat away deep balls? It's probably happened to me five times in 10 games.
• Finally, a good amount of you sent me the link of the artist's rendering of the new Jones AT&T Stadium expansion from Texas Tech's website that used a photoshopped image from Nebraska's Memorial Stadium. It's funny, I guess, but I'm not sure I see the big deal. The obviously photoshopped hat in the foreground of the photo did make me laugh. Whiting out the big, red "N" in favor of the Double-T logo probably wasn't the best idea, but it's not like the school's trying to make money off this or pass it off as something that actually happened. Although, I do appreciate the irony of using another school's fans in a photo explaining how your program is ready to move to the next level. They needed a crowd shot, and though it probably makes more sense to use one from their own stadium, I don't think the rendering is a huge problem. A poster on the Texas A&M fansite TexAgs.com was the first source I found who caught it. Apologies if someone else discovered the photo editing job before last Thursday.