ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

The catchphrase from Mike Gundy's rant will finally be ending -- at least he hopes. The Oklahoma State coach turns 41 today.

Gundy became a national sensation last season when he blistered an Oklahoma City columnist for an article he didn't agree with concerning former Cowboy QB Bobby Reid. A major part of his ballistic rage came when he dared her to come after him because, "I'm a man! I'm 40."

It's been immortalized with over a million views on YouTube and turned into the backdrop for a popular advertising campaign in Oklahoma.

"That thing has gotten so worn out," Gundy told the Tulsa World.

Maybe so. But as the Oklahoma State coach turns another year older, hopefully he's a little bit wiser with the passage of another birthday.

"I don't look forward to birthdays anymore. To be honest, I'd rather be 40 than 41," Gundy told the World. "It'll be a normal birthday for me -- two-a-day football practice. Kristen [Gundy's wife] will bring a big cake up here for the team."

Here's our present for the Oklahoma State coach this morning. How about a set of fresh Big 12 links? I hear they go well with your first Red Bull of the morning.

• Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express-News reports that Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman appears ready to name his starting quarterback by the end of the week, with indications that incumbent Stephen McGee is set to retain the job.
• Daily Oklahoman columnist Berry Tramel reports that lyrics from Lil' Wayne and Birdman's song "Over Here Hustlin'" were removed from bobstoops.com after school officials were notified. The decision came only 10 days after prized recruit Josh Jarboe was dismissed from the OU team for mocking his earlier gun conviction in a YouTube rap video.
• Want an idea how things have changed since Bo Pelini took over at Nebraska? Tom Shatel of the Omaha World-Herald reports that Bill Callahan's "misting tent" has been put into mothballs. The new Nebraska coach instead has the Cornhuskers sweating along the sidelines. "It's a waste of time. You don't need it," Pelini said about Callahan's cooling contraption.
• Iowa State sophomore tackle Haywood Hicks didn't want to come to college, preferring to stay at home in California and help his family keep their house out of foreclosure. But his father insisted he keep playing football.
• The Kansas City Star reports that no Big 12 rivalries made the hottest school rivalries listed in the 2009 Kaplan/Newsweek "How to Get into College" guide. The book mentioned the battle of the Old Ivies (Harvard vs. Yale), the Bay Area Giants (California vs. Stanford), the Catholic Powers (Boston College vs. Notre Dame), the Consortium Jewels (Pomona College vs. Amherst) and the Cinematic Enclaves (the Tisch School of Arts at NYU against Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts) among others. Amazingly, no "Border War" or "Red River Shootout."
• Woody Paige uses the clichés "Great Scott" and "Scott free" to describe Colorado freshman running back Darrell Scott's rushing performance at his first scrimmage -- all in the first four paragraphs in his column in the Denver Post.
• Heralded Oklahoma RB recruit Jermie Calhoun has showed early flashes of promise, but he's no Adrian Peterson, according to the Tulsa World's John Hoover.
• Kansas had its third running back leave the program in the last three weeks after sophomore Donte Bean announced his intentions of transferring.
• Kansas' palatial new digs at the Anderson Family Football Complex have one drawback. The Kansas City Star's J. Brady McCullough reports that fans can watch from public property -- something that the notorious reclusive Mark Mangino isn't happy about.
• Austin American-Statesman columnist Cedric Golden is reminded of the old-school Batman episodes when watching Texas' defensive backs participate in early practices.
• Kansas City Star Big 12 columnist Blair Kerkhoff says that  Kansas State QB Josh Freeman has a bigger upside than Michael Bishop -- with bravado to match. Freeman explained why he thought he was the best quarterback in the Big 12. "If I said I was fifth- or sixth-best, what would that say about my confidence?" Freeman said.
• Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald's Big 12 column catches up with Texas Tech coach Mike Leach and also delves into the bankruptcy of Tulsa energy company SemGroup LP and how it could affect Kansas' athletic department.
• Kansas State coach Ron Prince didn't exactly pick up a vote of confidence from Wichita Eagle readers. An online poll taken by the newspaper had readers solidly against the contract extension he received last week. 
• Houston Chronicle Big 12 reporter Joseph Duarte had a good story on Texas Tech's defensive improvement last season and an even better quote from Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill, who talked about his defense's simplicity. "A clear mind means fast legs, and a cloudy mind means slow legs," McNeill said. "We will eliminate things quicker than we will add things." 
• Missouri NG Jaron Baston, the Tigers' lone new starter from last season's defense, said earning a starting position was more of a mental than physical process. "Me, I needed a couple of years to get my body right, but mostly to get my mind right," the 300-pound Baston told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Now I'm exactly where I want to be."
• Nebraska coach Bo Pelini wasn't as grouchy when he met with the media Monday afternoon. That's a pretty good indication his team is showing some progress.