Around the Big Ten

[Dr. Strangelove]

Per Bruce Feldman, some names being looked at in the Purdue search: Sonny Dykes, Willie Taggart, Butch Jones, Mark Hudspeth. Any of those sound like nice improvements over Hope

[iam416]

Taggart?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0VNHe5fq30&feature=fvwrel"]What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports?.mp4 - YouTube[/ame]

[Da Geezer]

This BCS is really crap. I hate the SEC, but why should the Big East get a huge payday for what certainly won't be a team ranked above 15, and the SEC has to take a smaller payout (with a max of 2 teams qualified for BCS bowls)

Re-alignment/ expansion can't come soon enough for me.

[Mike]

So you'd like to see the SEC get 5 BCS bids at $20 mil a pop?

[entropy]

mike... no. I want less SEC.

[Da Geezer]

Mike: Big difference between 2 and 5.

But if the ACC and Big East can't turn out top 15 teams, then I'd live with it. The real problem is that there is such a difference between the $ 20 million and the $ 2 million for some of the better non-BCS bowls. If bowls like the Cotton, Citrus and Outback were "subsidized" with some of the BCS riches, I think it would be better for all concerned.

Who's kidding whom. With OSU and PSU on probation, the BIG is lucky to have a spot. But in a normal year, OSU could be playing for a national championship, rather than a .500 team. representing the Legends(??).

I think Fla, UGA and Alabama deserve BCS births with LSU and TA&M not far behind.

[entropy]

All conference..

http://btn.com/2012/11/26/your-2012-all-big-ten-conference-football-team/

[whodean]

I think Fla, UGA and Alabama deserve BCS births with LSU and TA&M not far behind.

Seems wrong that the loser of the SEC championship game (Georgia) will get left out of the BCS.

[Wild Hoss]

Number crunching...BIG has some pretty lofty defensive rankings, especially in regards to pass defense. Seemed odd given a dearth of quality QBs and receivers, so a little digging reveals what we all probably know already; great pass defense numbers resulting from poor passing.

The total passing numbers from the 16 games BIG teams played against other BCS teams in 2012:

287-554-3,035 15 TDs 22 INTs. QB Rating of a miserable 97.8

AVE: 18-35-189 .9 TD 1.3 INT

[Da Geezer]

Hoss:

Good Defensive numbers are also a function of slow offensive play. Michigan's offense is one of the slowest (fewest plays) in the nation. Hence fewer defensive plays and a better total defensive profile than if we played in the Big 12 for instance.

To really rank a defense, one has to calculate how it does over a set number of plays, say 100. I think you would find Michigan's much farther down the rankings nationally. I remember a Wisconsin game 3 years ago where Wisconsin was so dominant in the running game that they did not throw a pass against us in the second half.

That said, Michigan's defense played great in the second half on Saturday.

[Da Geezer]

The MAC champion and the Big East Champion should have a play-off for a BCS bid. Giving the Big East a BCS bid is crazy. Isn't there some rule that they have to be inthe top twenty at least?

Whodean: It is crazy that one of those two teams doesn't get a big payday. They earned it. We are moving toward a BIG,SEC and PAC and the sooner the better.

[Mike]

The individual schools don't see the whole BCS payday. It's divided among the member institutions. Furthermore, the payout for a conference's 2nd BCS team is reduced from the 18-20 mil to about 4-5 mil.

[Wild Hoss]

Hoss:

Good Defensive numbers are also a function of slow offensive play. Michigan's offense is one of the slowest (fewest plays) in the nation. Hence fewer defensive plays and a better total defensive profile than if we played in the Big 12 for instance.

To really rank a defense, one has to calculate how it does over a set number of plays, say 100. I think you would find Michigan's much farther down the rankings nationally. I remember a Wisconsin game 3 years ago where Wisconsin was so dominant in the running game that they did not throw a pass against us in the second half.

That said, Michigan's defense played great in the second half on Saturday.

Always multiple factors at play, but in this instance I think its safe to say that the BIG is pretty lousy at throwing the ball. That as much as anything probably needs to change for the league to improve.

[Hannibal]

That's a good point. The Big Ten is in the down part of the QB cycle, big time.

[entropy]

I believe that several QB's got better as the season went along.. i think Wisky and PSU have better QB play today than in September.