What might’ve been

Here’s a fun game: How much incentive money would KU coach Mark Mangino have earned under his old contract?

Mangino, of course, signed a new deal in August 2006 that eliminated many of the performance bonuses, but boosted his base pay from $600,000 to $1.5 million per year. This season, Mangino already has made $125,000 in bonus money and could get $50,000 more if he’s named national coach of the year by the Associated Press.

But under the old deal? This wildly successful 2007 season would’ve earned Mangino at least $340,000 in incentive money – $210,000 of it just for winning 11 games.

On top of the $340,000, Mangino could’ve earned $1,000 for each player who graduated and $10,000 for keeping the team’s expenses under budget with the old deal.

Most of those incentives aren’t around any more, and Mangino still benefits more the new way: His current deal with minimal incentives still pays more than his old deal with gobs of them would have.

The tribute

Like many athletic departments around the country, KU made sure to honor Virginia Tech last spring after a campus shooting in Blacksburg, Va., left 33 people dead.

Led by women’s basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson (a former Virginia Tech coach), all of the student-athletes at KU wore Virginia Tech T-shirts during the springtime as a way to honor the victims.

Now, of course, Virginia Tech is the opponent. The Jayhawks and Hokies meet on Jan. 3 in the Orange Bowl.

Still, the respect is there.

“They persevered through that,” KU safety Darrell Stuckey said, “and came back to another bowl game and still was the same school and still had the same excellence.”

He loves

Word has gotten to KU’s football players that the Orange Bowl halftime show will feature legendary rock band ZZ Top.

KU quarterback Todd Reesing, for one, is a fan.

“You’ve got to love some of the classics,” he said.

Reesing talked to reporters on Friday with a days-old beard, though he said he wasn’t a ZZ Top tribute of any sort.

Besides, that halftime show is for the fans. The players will be in the locker room making adjustments.

More honors

The Sporting News named Mangino the national coach of the year, one of several players to be honored by the magazine.

Junior cornerback Aqib Talib was named first-team All-America, while cornerback Chris Harris and receiver Dezmon Briscoe were named honorable mention Freshman All-America.

Mangino still could win at least four other national coach-of-the-year honors.

Recruiting weekend

Kansas will play host to a number of recruits as another big weekend for official visits gets going.

Among those Rivals.com is reporting to be in Lawrence today are a couple of KU commitments – Dodge City quarterback Kale Pick and offensive lineman Trevor Marrongelli out of Round Rock, Texas.