While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:

Returning to the scene of the crime

1. Back for more: Kansas returns to the scene of the crime. Love Christian Jones’ candor, especially when it came to one of the most disheartening football losses in school history. Texas' right tackle remains one of the most honest and personable players on the entire team. How did he react to the Longhorns’ stunning overtime loss to Kansas at DKR two years ago? “It broke me to my core," Jones said. "I remember feeling so sad and so low. I was dealing with all the slander and the DMs and all the craziness.” He still recalls some of the specific insults, but chose not to share them. Jones gave up a sack and an ensuing fumble leading to a Jayhawks score, but he and his team have rebounded in a big way in 2023. Wideout Xavier Worthy remembers the shocking defeat, too, and said, “It’s not a feeling we want again.” Just 7 yards shy, the junior receiver is approaching 2,000 career yards and wants to bump down 1999 star Kwame Cavil and get there to break into the school’s all-time top 10 yardage-gainers. “It’s huge,” he said of his desire. “It’d be a big accomplishment to think of all the greats who have come to this school.” … Freshman safety Derek Williams played the most snaps of his career against Baylor and stood out. “He’s a really good tackler in the open field,” nickel back Jahdae Barron said. Linebacker Jaylan Ford said Williams has “a lot of raw talent. You can see he’s going to be a great player for many years to come.” … Ford did acknowledge he was taken to task for running out of the end zone and getting brought down at the 5 after his interception. “Even by my teammates,” he said. “By who? Probably Quinn (Ewers) the most. He said, ‘Can you just take a knee?’ But then they went 95 yards. But yeah, I should have.” … When asked why he’s having more fun this year, Ewers said, “I feel like God has told me that this game doesn’t define me as a human being, which allows me to play more freely.” … Through four games, Texas remains as Steve Sarkisian said, “one of the least penalized teams in the country.” He’s right. The Longhorns are tied for 13th nationally with only 4.3 penalties a game for an average of 35 yards.

More: Two years after their first introduction, Texas set to face Kansas QB Jalon Daniels again

High hoops expectations

2. Eyes on Texas: I'm expecting big things from this year’s Texas men’s basketball team, which opened practice Monday. After losing both members of his recruiting class, Rodney Terry scrambled and put together a really good roster. No player comes with higher expectations than Oral Roberts transfer Max Abmas, a lightly recruited sharpshooter out of Dallas Jesuit who spent four years at ORU and picked Texas over Kansas State. He was signed by the Golden Eagles by former Longhorns assistant Russell Springmann, who was the main recruiter for Texas legend Kevin Durant years ago and who assumed the head coaching job at ORU in March. … Abmas, a 6-foot, 174-pound 3-point specialist who hit 43% of his bombs as a freshman and helped bounce No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 7 Florida in the NCAA Tournament to reach the Sweet 16, didn’t grow up as a Longhorns fan. “It was always LSU for me,” he said. “My dad is from Louisiana, but I got no interest from LSU. I’ve got a reputation as being a scorer if that’s what we need. But I came here to win. I want to win a national championship.” Teammate Brock Cunningham, who hosted Abmas on his recruiting visit, is thoroughly impressed with his new teammate. “He’s a small guy, but he’s feisty on defense. And he plays well within the game. He knows a good shot from a bad shot.” … Look for big improvement out of sophomore rim protector Dillon Mitchell, who wants to become more of an offensive player. He’s added a few pounds to get to 203 and is working to add longer shots to his game. He still feels the hurt from the loss to Miami in the Elite Eight and couldn’t bring himself to watch the Final Four won by UConn. “I didn’t watch,” Mitchell said. “I couldn’t do it. That was supposed to be us. We were right there. We can get it done. We know what needs to be done.”

Bye, bye Big 12: the cost of leaving

3. Big 12 divorce settlement: If you missed our USA Today Network story about how Texas and Oklahoma paid very little to depart ways with the Big 12, know that all sides pretty much won. Never mind that one Big 12 athletic director told me, “Texas didn’t pay anything to leave. Didn’t pay a dime.” Maybe so, but the Big 12 is in unbelievably good shape and commissioner Brett Yormark deserves immense credit for rescuing the Big 12 and giving it unprecedented stability. Yormark told me and USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz, “There’s been no better time to be a part of the Big 12. Our footprint will encompass 10 states, four time zones and 90 million people. The narrative around the Big 12 has changed. We’re the No. 3 conference in America. We’re thriving. We have tremendous momentum. And with Texas and Oklahoma going early, our TV deal gave us credibility, stability and clarity.” … For all who have said the Longhorns are the villains and have destroyed the Big 12, they stayed longer than Texas A&M, Colorado, Nebraska and Missouri and leave the Big 12 stronger than it found it.

How to fix college football

4. Season is too short: Can you believe the college football season is already a third done? That’s crazy. Something must be done. So I recommend a 20-game regular season. It’s either that or go to a Mike Leach-inspired 64-team playoff. What’s wrong with starting the season in early or mid-August and ending it in February? If that’s too excessive for the players — and it would be — double the number of scholarships to 170 per school. I know it’s a bit extreme, but give the public what it wants. … I’d also like to see college football adopt a 16-team College Football Playoff. As good friend Olin Buchanan reminded, why should any team get a bye in the 12-team model, which begins next season? He’s right. That’s too big of an advantage. Let’s go immediately to 16 teams and make everyone play round one. Unless you want to go to 32 teams. OK, I kid.

Another big performance from Jordan Shipley

5. Wowed the crowd again: Former Longhorns wide receiver great Jordan Shipley gave a very entertaining and stirring talk that included his heartfelt Christian testimony as part of the Toolbox series. “My faith anchors me,” he said. “I know enough to know I’m not in control. God is.” … But arguably the best wide receiver in school history (until Xavier Worthy?) said he was waiting to pronounce the current Texas team as great. “I’ve been fooled a few times before when I’ve bought in,” Shipley said two days before Texas’ win over Baylor. “I think we can wait a few weeks before we make predictions. The jury is out. We don’t know how good Alabama is. I think it’s the best Texas team in a long time. I don’t know if it’s a top-five team, but the talent is there.” … He also said he doesn’t like the transfer portal because “you need to stick it out” as he did after a torn hamstring and knee surgeries: “I love college football and don’t want to see it change.” … Shipley does linger on the lost national championship in 2009 to Alabama, but said if Colt McCoy hadn’t gotten hurt, “I think we would have torched them, personally.”

Texcetera: this and that

6. Texas tidbits: If embattled Michigan State wants to hire the right man as its new coach, I’d look no further than Paul Chryst. The former Wisconsin coach, who is now an offensive analyst at Texas, is a terrific coach, offers no baggage that I know of, knows the Big Ten and would be an instant success. He’d be at the top of my list. Right behind him? Kansas miracle worker Lance Leipold. … Former Longhorns tight end Andrew Beck returns a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown for the victorious Houston Texans on the heels of former Texas wide receiver/safety Brenden Schooler’s crazy blocked field goal for the Patriots with a running start from out wide in a move other NFL teams should copy. Interestingly enough, both were undrafted but are sticking in the league. We barely even remember Schooler’s dropped interception against Kansas two years ago, right? … Did you notice Texas volleyball has won 20 straight matches over Oklahoma, 14 of them sweeps? Impressive. … Notre Dame’s inability to have 11 men on the field for Ohio State’s game-winning 1-yard run and the play before was unacceptable and an epic coaching fail by Marcus Freeman. That’s a brain lapse that could haunt the young head coach. He compounded the problem by saying he didn’t want to risk a penalty of, what, half a yard. But great teams find ways to win, and Ohio State was up to the challenge. … Never seen Ryan Day so emotional as he called out Lou Holtz for insinuating the Buckeyes aren’t a physical team. Looked pretty hard-hitting to me. I do wonder why Day added, “It’s always going to be Ohio against the world.” Please. Save the paranoia. … I heard that the new clock rules have shaved only five plays off a game, which is basically nothing. … I think the Aggies may be poised to make a good run in the SEC West, even if starting quarterback Conner Weigman could miss some time with an ankle injury. Auburn has two great running backs in Jarquez Hunter and Brian Battie but otherwise looked dreadful with bad quarterbacks. Save maybe Ohio State, Washington and perhaps Texas, A&M probably has the deepest wide receiving corps in college football, a good group of running backs including a budding star in five-star Rueben Owens and a strong defense.

Texas can build that statue now

7. Swim god: Eddie Reese, take a bow. He’s retiring for good — or so he says — next summer after the completion of the U.S. Olympic Trials, but did tell me he’d be open to hanging around as the third assistant for his successor. That person might not be comfortable with Reese looking over his shoulder, but he’d be lucky to have such a sounding board because Reese is the Darrell Royal of the swimming world. Chris Del Conte rightfully put him on a par with John Wooden because of his 15 national championships and 13 runner-up finishes. “Eddie knows himself, and his ego was never going to be his enemy,” Del Conte said. “It’s all about the students and the goal in hand, never about him. It’s premature to discuss successors because I want Eddie to get all his flowers right now.” Build the statue now.

Where have you gone, John Riggins?

8. Scattershooting: While wondering whatever happened to former Kansas Jayhawks bruiser John Riggins.

Meanwhile, in front of the big screen ...

9. At the box office: Took in “Equalizer 3” on Friday. I love the series. I consider it John Wick with an actual plot and acting and all. Denzel Washington is Mr. Cool. Gave it 8 strong ducks.

Eyes on the prize

Crazy prediction: If Kansas City wins another Super Bowl, Travis Kelce will retire to become Mr. Swift.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Among Bohls' 9 Things, Jones 'broken' by loss, Worthy on the rise