Spring schedule set

Kansas University’s football team will open two of its practices to the public this spring, not including the April 12 spring game at Memorial Stadium.

Two Friday workouts – March 14 and April 4 – will be open for fans wishing to get their football fix. The March 14 practice will be KU’s second of the spring.

Practice times are 3:30 p.m. each day, and the workouts will be conducted on the practice fields adjacent to Hoglund Ballpark.

The spring game will be held at Memorial Stadium, though no kickoff time has been announced yet.

Already started

As of now, only one Big 12 Conference school has started spring practices: Texas, which began Feb. 22 and finishes March 29.

The Big 12 South schools, with better weather, generally start a lot earlier than the shivering North schools.

Baylor and Oklahoma State will get under way Monday, with Oklahoma starting next week, too.

The latest to get going? Kansas State, which starts March 29 and has its spring game on April 19.

All schools are allowed 15 practices in the spring season.

Combine effect

Former KU cornerback Aqib Talib seems to be a near-lock to be a first-round NFL draft pick next month, with the NFL Combine now in the past.

Todd McShay of Scouts, Inc., predicts Talib going 16th overall to the Arizona Cardinals. He wasn’t impressed with Talib at the Combine, though, writing that he “showed surprisingly poor technique and frequently looked out of control on pedal-and-turn drills.”

ESPN.com’s Mel Kiper ranks Talib as the eighth-best prospect in the NFL Draft and the top cornerback. He’s recently projected Talib going seventh to the New England Patriots.