Around the Big Ten

[WM Wolverine]

Agree on ND, I think the are a top 15 team though they play a relatively tough schedule that doesn't have a lot of cupcakes. Lots of 'mediocre' [top 15-45] teams on that schedule that should play ND tough...

Anyway, back to the 'west' division. I find it hard to find a favorite among M, MSU and Neb. NW is not far behind. Nebraska would be my favorite if they didn't play all the big dogs in the 'east'; Wisky, PSU & OSU... I see a 3-loss B10 season for them... Don't have MSU's schedule in front of me, but they probably are a 3-loss B10 team too, ditto with NW, tough to say how they'll finish without knowing their schedule... Iowa will play most everyone tough, forces you to have to execute to win, his bend-don't-break defense and strong o-line is much like Lloyd Ball; a game any team 'could' lose to if they lose the turnover battle... M, being the homer I like how the schedule is setup. Not a cakewalk but M is in a good spot to go 5-3 in B10 play or better and have a chance to win the 'west' if they beat their in-division rivals.

[Hannibal]

I like MSU as the clear favorite above both Neb and UM. They are probably the best team of the bunch and they get OSU with the Tat 5 (now the Tat 4) still suspended.

[WM Wolverine]

Good point about MSU getting a weakened Ohio, that could easily give them the nudge over Neb/M. I think Ohio's floor is pretty low, they could easily go 7-5 this season and be the #6 or #7 team in the B10. They have quite a bit of turnover on defense (but talented young guys usually able to step-in), have a really tough schedule and have those 5-game suspensions; albeit mostly against cupcakes. Coaching change shouldn't affect them too much as I believe they've retained their entire coaching staff...

I haven't even mentioned their QB situation; this is a perfect storm for a transition in power to go M's way.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Coaching change shouldn't affect them too much as I believe they've retained their entire coaching staff...

Here's what fickell is going to have to deal with. A bunch of buzzards circling overhead waiting for him to be gone. Staff conflict not controlled with the kind of strong leadership tressel likely provided. Staff checked out by mid-season after testing the waters and finding other programs interested in their services once fickell s replaced in December and they lose their jobs. Players not focused or engaged.

This is a big deal and it is going to affect osu's performance. IMO, the blow-out loss suffered by M at the hands of Mississippi State had a good deal to do with key coaches having already secured jobs or high levels of interest elsewhere while expecting RR to get fired. The players and the coaches let go of this game somewhere mid 3rd quarter. It was sad to watch. osu fans are going to experience something similar.

Sheds no tears.

[Hannibal]

I expect OSU to still be pretty good this year. IMHO what hurts them more than the coaching change is their poor QB recruiting between Pryor and Miller. They lost some pretty substantial talent too. OSU has been playing with fire for when it comes to QB recruiting and they have been lucky that it never came back to bite them with a significant injury.

[entropy]

An Illinois football player arrested in what police are investigating as a possible hate crime has a previous felony conviction for cocaine possession.

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[entropy]

The body of a Purdue football player who had been missing since Sunday night has been recovered from a lake, law enforcement officials said, according to Indiana media reports.

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[lineygoblue]

There are so many reasons why something like that should not happen. What a tragedy.

[entropy]

Not sure where this is from, but it was posted on another board. Jo Pa's comments on paying players....


Earlier today, we wrote about the Big Ten's stance on increasing scholarship money to cover the so-called cost of attendance. We quoted Penn State assistant coach Jay Paterno, who had some interesting thoughts on the matter. So interesting that I thought I'd share some more of them now.

Paterno noted that this is hardly a new topic. He said he wrote an article for the Penn State school newspaper in 1990 about whether college athletes deserved more money. But after reviewing his notes from back then, he said players in many ways have it better now.

"Back then, a $3,000 Pell Grant was capped for student-athletes at about $1,800, roughly," he said. "Since that time, the NCAA lets you get the full amount of the Pell Grant, which is now up to about $5,500.

"Some people talk about a stipend of $300 per game, which for 13 games is $3,900. If you qualify for a Pell Grant, you're already getting $5,500. The NCAA has the needy student fund, so you can get $500 for clothes. We're allowed to fly kids home for family emergencies, which we couldn't have done 15-to-20 years ago."

Paterno scoffed at the idea that an additional $3,000 per student to cover cost of education would do much to cut down on NCAA rules violations.

"The truth of the matter is, it's not going to cut down cheating," he said. "A kid trying to get paid isn't asking for 300 bucks a game. The [Albert] Means kid from Memphis that Alabama got in trouble for, that was over $200,000. That's a little more than a stipend. So I don't think it's going to solve any of the major issues people think it's going to solve."

Paterno says he sees no way that college can give extra money to only football and men's basketball players. Even though the Big Ten is making millions of dollars in TV revenue per school, covering cost of education for every scholarship athlete on campus starts to become awfully expensive.

"When you look at most athletic departments, they are not self-sufficient as it is," he said. "So when you add a two- to three- to four-million dollars to that, that's going to come out of the school's general fund. And I don't think politically right now there's an appetite to take that on."

Paterno said athletes are already getting great value from their scholarships, and that many players might not have gotten accepted to their current schools if not for athletics. He thinks colleges need to do a better job of underscoring what the scholarship provides.

"We have to do a better job of selling to young men we recruit what a scholarship entails and the benefits it's going to give you the rest of your life," he said. "We tend to oversell playing in the NFL and being on TV and all that kind of stuff, while we tend to undersell the educational part. If they can graduate college with zero student loans, they're far ahead of the curve."

[Hannibal]

If college is going to toss in the towl on amateur athletics, they should just let boosters and agents pay players instead of giving them stipends. Not only does it keep the pay off the budget, but it also eliminates the need for enforcement and it avoids Title IX issues as well.

[WM Wolverine]

Scholarships don't come close to covering all a students expenses while in school, that is what the B10, Pac 12, SEC and others are considering; not 'paying' players. This 'stip-end' (estimated at $2k-$4k per year) would allow student athletes to have a typical students life that have the time to work part-time jobs.

[Hannibal]

The typical expenses that you are talking about are not education related. In order for me to pay my rent and buy clothes, my company pays me. That's what makes me a professional.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Scholarships don't come close to covering all a students expenses while in school, that is what the B10, Pac 12, SEC and others are considering; not 'paying' players. This 'stip-end' (estimated at $2k-$4k per year) would allow student athletes to have a typical students life that have the time to work part-time jobs.

Admittedly, I'm about 12 years out on this but I had a full scholarship for my medical training from the National Health Service Corps. In return, I agreed to provide 3.5 years service in an under-served population - that's how I ended up providing medical care to inmates in the GA Prison System for four years after I graduated. My starting pay was $52K while the regional average for a PA was over $65K (1999)

The Scholarship did not pay all my school expenses. I did get a monthly stipend but that wasn't enough either. The program I was in at Emory in Atlanta was so demanding of my time that there was no way I could work while I was in school and get passing grades. Well, I got student loans for the rest and worked two jobs after graduation until those were paid off. I have no sympathy whatsoever for CFB players who whine about not having enough money while they are in school. They can get what they need through loans and pay them off by working hard after they get them.

JoPa is spot on saying that giving a player a couple of hundred bucks isn't going to do anything for players with an entitled attitude, like pryor. CFB is way better off not having guys like this. The failure of coaches like jim tressel who put winning above everything else to recognize this is a big part of the ethical/cheating problem in CFB. osu is now going to pay for jt's tendency to bring athletes with high skill levels and diminished ethical standards into their program ...... and providing piss-poor leadership while they are there that fosters more cheating and short cuts.

Solutions to the problems in CFB don't come from rocket science nor does the problem of athletes taking part in pay for play schemes provide some sort of gigantic social problem that needs solving.

Don't turn amateurs athletes into professionals by paying them. Bring the right kids into your football programs who stand a chance of getting a college degree, set high standards and hire a coaching staff who will lead by example and hold players accountable.

[hodgkal]

Can you see most of today's CFB players taking a path after sports like Jeff took after serving in the military? I say his example should be emulated by many of today's young people, athletes or not. Whatever happened to the culture of hard work, sacrifice, and delayed gratification that occupied our forefathers? Nothing comes easy in this life. You have to earn it.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Indiana returns to the "Classic Indiana" look

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/29379/indiana-unis-return-to-traditional-look