Around the Big Ten

[Jeff Buchanan]

I don't have any ill will toward Webber but he will never be revered in Ann Arbor. He's a stain on the Michigan basketball program.....

.... just like tressel will ultimately be remembered as a stain on Woody's program.

[WM Wolverine]

CW needs to apologize and make amends for what he did in AA, if he does that he has an opportunity to get into the good graces of a lot more M basketball fans and those in the AD. Is it after '11 he's allowed to return to campus?

What killed M basketball for nearly a decade more than Ed Martin, CW, Bullock, Traylor, etc. was the prolonged investigation after the initial reports of the scandal. It took several years for the NCAA to finally put the hammer on the M basketball program (deservingly) but M started to feel the affects immediately after the initial reports about Ed Martin loaning his 'lottery' money to Detroit area athletes...

If the NCAA could've put the sanctions, probation, etc in place in a reasonable time after everything was known, the devastating affects to the basketball program imo wouldn't have been so crippling.

[Jeff Buchanan]

EFZ ..... sort of what I hope happens to osu.

I heard a segment (replay) on Rivals Radio yesterday that before the start of spring practice at osu, tressle made a statment that he was embarrassed he cheated (paraphrased and I've not actually seen anything on this).

Why is he still there? Why is he allowed to coach the team at all during the spring? This is an affront to truth, justice and the American way!

[Dr. Strangelove]

America is a country that knows how to forgive.

Unlike the vengeful Buchanan, who has compared Tressel keeping quiet about players selling their legal possessions to the acts of Adolf Hitler himself.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Actually, in the thirties there were millions of Germans and Europeans who idolized Hitler. They thought he was a true hero. He had cast himself as a sort of savior of the German people and of Germany itself. Germans did all kinds of rationalizing of Hitler's behavior after he invaded Poland (just like osu fans rationalize tressel's) until Hitler's horrible deeds were unmasked.

There are some similarities between the kind of bullshit he successfully dished out for about a decade and what tressel has done (minus the ovens of Dachau, of course) over his decade as the trustee of Woody's osu. But, yes, I think its a fair comparison. They were both very good liars and cheaters and they were responsible for the decimation of the entities they were entrusted with.

There are plenty of Jews still that will never forgive Hitler and his monstrous acts. While tressel isn't a monster on the scale of Adolph Hitler, his crimes are nonetheless odious and I'll never forgive them as long as this provides me, as a fan, with any amount of leverage in needling a smucknut.

[Pasadena Blue]

Given the amount of support Tressel is getting from Gee, Smith, and our resident Buckfan supporters, it looks pretty clear that it is going to take a Show Cause decision from the NCAA infractions committee for the 'Vest to get the boot. I still don't see the NCAA doing that to O-state.

[lineygoblue]

They have an unbeatable combination.

Friends in high places, and winning.

They can write the rules, make them up as they go along, or ignore them completely with impunity.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Few sports journalists (take their opinions for what they are worth) don't think tressel can survive this.

However, the tactic osu administrators are implementing (business as usual - carry on) is interesting and highlights the problem the NCAA has with enforcement.

Like USC did, osu will force the NCAA's hand in this. Its a gamble but, it might pay off. osu has already made the NCAA look bad over getting hoodwinked into letting the tat5 play in the 2011 sugar bowl even though they were, by every applicable rule, ineligible to do so. The NCAA may chose not to act further against osu (accepting the self imposed penalties as sufficient) because they want everything surrounding this tale and the fiasco the NCAA created for itself over it to fade into obscurity.

Already, the din of clamoring for action by the NCAA against tressel is dieing down. Even sensible rule enforcing entities know that to act when the heat is on and unreasonable decisions may be made in the heat of the moment is imprudent. So, they wait and things almost always calm down because they are forgotten about as a new set of big stories takes the lace of the old set.

Its going to take a concerted effort by the sports press to keep the heat on osu and the NCAA and osu is betting that isn't going to happen. In the sports world and when it comes to NCAA enforcement, osu's bet is probably a good one.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Once again Mr. Buchanan compares Tressel to Hitler and points out the difference in their crimes are merely one of scale.

And no doubt what Tressel and Pryor did was far far worse than this:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110411/us_nm/us_basketball_fix

Yup, Tressel has single-handedly brought the NCAA to its knees.

[Jeff Buchanan]

The problem with this kind of response from osu fans is that it reflects an effort to trivialize tressel's behavior.

As far as I know, the NCAA dose not look kindly on coaches who lie, conceal and work to gain a competitive advantage by doing these things. They tend to characterize programs whose administrators are unable to control this kind of behavior as having lost institutional control.

IMO, the collective behavior of osu's head coach and that of the osu administration is a classic example of the kind that the NCAA and its member institutions have implemented rules to prevent.

So, it seems to me that the NCAA is bound to act in manner that is consistent with its actions in similar cases in the past ..... show cause, loss of scholarships and bans on post season play would certainly seem appropriate to me.

[Pasadena Blue]

is there any evidence thus far of an effect on O-state recruiting as a result of Tatoogate?

[lineygoblue]

There is no apparent change in their recruiting, Pasadena. I would imagine that any of the kids committed there now will stay the course until they see if major sanctions are going to take hold. If they face major sanctions, you might see some de-commits and a little consternation in C-bus.

But, as most of us have stated in here before. I seriously doubt that OhNo will face major sanctions. They have too many friends within the NCAA to let them be harshly punished. I doubt that anything additional to what they have "self imposed" will occur.

[entropy]

a nebraska perspective on the BigTen meet and greet....


Nebraska, Big Ten meet-and-greet continues

Posted by: Brian Christopherson on April 12, 2011 at 3:58PM CST
Husker coach Bo Pelini and linebacker Sean Fisher represented Nebraska on the Big Ten Spring Football teleconference Tuesday morning.

Another one of those get-to-know-you chats, if you will.
Nothing major came out of it. The majority of questions were from media outside the state about how Nebraska plans to adjust to life in a new conference.

Pelini said Nebraska is "honored" to be coming into the Big Ten.

"Obviously, I think that the Big Ten, the coaching is excellent. The teams are very fundamentally sound," Pelini said. "Probably some styles of the offenses we see are a little bit different ... but at the end of the day it really comes down to executing your game plans and taking care of yourself if you want to be a good football team. You don't alter a whole heckuva lot comparatively to who you're playing. You have to play good football and our kids understand that."

Pelini said he hasn't talked much about the move to the Big Ten with his players, "but I think our players look forward to this challenge."

The Husker coach said one of the cool things is that older guys on the team will get a chance to play in some of the Big Ten stadiums after having made the rounds and played in the Big 12 stadiums.

"That's a fun thing for a kid, to experience all those different venues and so many different traditions that represent college football," Pelini said.

Some other tidbits:

*** About possibly scheduling any games with Big 12 teams in future non-conference schedules: "I'm sure we'll visit some of those things as we move forward. A lot of the non-conference schedules are in set in stone or are pretty well filled up for the next couple years. But I'm sure that will happen as we move forward. There's been some talks with some administrations with some Big 12 teams. You know, you look four or five or six or seven years down the road. I don't know if anything is set in stone yet, but I know some conversations have happened."
*** About playing his alma mater Ohio State: "Obviously having played there and understanding the tradition and what that all entails, it's going to be a heckuva challenge. Our team looks forward to that challenge. Ohio State obviously included, but there's a tremendous amount of tradition in that conference and a lot of great football has been played there over a long period of time. We're just happy to bring our tradition and our history and coming in and getting a chance to play in some great venues against some really good football teams."

*** About preparing your team for 11 new teams in 2011: "It's a bit of a challenge. It really just requires a little bit more work in the offseason. We've always gone ahead and looked at our new opponents on the schedule. We just have a few more to look at this year. Ultimately, we're just trying to develop an idea of who they are, what their philosophies are, what they like to do, and then obviously you get into a week where you're getting ready to play that football team, then you dive into specifics."

Pelini said that in May, after recruiting dies down, the staff will really go "full-throttle" into studying their opponents.

Michigan

Everyone knows that with junior quarterback Denard Robinson pulling the strings, the Wolverines' offense is capable of blowing up any opponent. The only problem with that last season was that's what had to happen if Michigan wanted to win, as its defense was last in the Big Ten, allowing averages of 450.8 yards and 35.2 points.

Enter first-year coach Brady Hoke.

"Coach Hoke is more of a defensive emphasis kind of coach," senior linebacker Ryan Van Bergen said Tuesday. "He seems to put more pressure on us in practice situations."

Van Bergen noted that the Wolverines have been "slightly more aggressive" with their four-man front this spring, put more players closer to the line of scrimmage and been more inclined to bring pressure on third-and-long situations.

That said, he guessed that only football die-hards will be able to detect the subtle differences from last year, and offered this bottom-line statement: "We need to be prepared to the level we haven't been prepared yet."

As for Robinson, he'll be running more of a pro-style offense in 2011. But don't think that means Michigan will look to him less than Rich Rodriguez did last season, when the quarterback totaled 4,272 yards to surpass the previous conference record of 4,189 set by Purdue quarterback Drew Brees in 2000. In the process, Robinson became the first quarterback in NCAA history to rush and pass for more than 1,500 yards in a season.

Iowa

Linebacker Tyler Nielsen, from Humboldt, Iowa, in the north-central part of the state, already has gotten a strong sense from his friends about what kind of rivals the Hawkeyes and Nebraska will become. The teams meet for the first time as Big Ten members on Nov. 25 in Lincoln.

"They've already nicknamed it 'Farmageddon,'" said Nielsen, who Tuesday was named to the Lott Award watch list (college football's top defensive player). "I think it might be kind of neat to see a trophy with a saying such as Farmageddon."

Sophomore offensive lineman Dan Heiar remained hospitalized following a one-car accident over the weekend. Heiar joined the Hawkeyes in January after playing at Iowa Western Community College. He was not listed on the pre-spring depth chart.

Michigan State

Former walk-on defensive end Todd Anderson began spring drills atop the depth chart at fullback, while one-time fullback TyQuan Hammock is now contending for the middle linebacker spot vacated by All-American Greg Jones. Hammock has reportedly lost nearly 30 pounds in the offseason to get to 227.

The Spartans have welcomed Arthur Ray Jr. into the fold four years after the offensive line recruit was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his right leg. Ray had to put off enrolling until the spring of 2008, then needed more surgery, but vowed he'd eventually play. He'll be a senior who has a redshirt available and could apply for a waiver for a sixth year.

Suspended tight end Dion Sims has returned to practice and is listed No. 2. In December, Sims was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading guilty to a felony charge related to a laptop theft operation. Sims played as a freshman in 2009 but was suspended after being charged last September.

Minnesota

The Gophers will have a new quarterback next season, but junior MarQueis Gray hardly qualifies as a rookie.

Coming out of his Indianapolis high school, Gray was rated as high as the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the nation even though he missed most of his senior season with a broken arm. At Minnesota, he has spent more time playing wide receiver, and last year he finished second on the team with 42 receptions.

But first-year coach Jerry Kill, noting that his team is working to go from "infant steps" to baby steps, already has figured that Gray can be special behind center.

"He doesn't make the same mistake twice," Kill said. "He's a tremendous athlete. … Very pleased with his progress and pleasantly surprised."

Northwestern

The Wildcats' offense has had a much different feel this spring, as all-league quarterback Dan Persa is sitting and on the mend after rupturing an Achilles tendon while throwing a game-winning touchdown pass against Iowa last Nov. 13. Persa, who last season shattered a Big Ten record by completing 73.5 percent of his passes, expects to be ready come fall.

He started jogging in early March and has been focused on agility drills.

"These past couple weeks I feel like I've turned the corner in my rehab," Persa said. "It's still sore, but it's not as sore as it was. … Hopefully, by the middle of May, end of May I'll be pretty much full-go."

More from the Legends Division

*Counting Nebraska's Bo Pelini, the Big Ten will have four coaches breaking into the league in the same season for the first time since 1973. Three of the newcomers — Pelini, Michigan's Brady and Minnesota's Kill — are in the Legends Division. The other is Indiana's Kevin Wilson, most recently offensive coordinator at Oklahoma.

*Michigan returns the most starters (22) of any Big Ten team, while Iowa (11) has the fewest. Nebraska and Michigan State (14) have the third-fewest.

*Nine of the 13 players who earned first-team all-league recognition last season hail from the Legends Division. Those players are:

Michigan offensive lineman David Molk and quarterback Robinson; Michigan State running back Edwin Baker and kicker Dan Conroy; Northwestern wide receiver Jeremy Ebert and quarterback Persa; Iowa defensive back Shaun Prater; and Nebraska defensive tackle Jared Crick and linebacker Lavonte David.

The Leaders Division representatives are Ohio State offensive lineman Mike Adams and Mike Brewster and running back Dan Herron, and Wisconsin defensive back Antonio Fenelus.

[entropy]

a nebraska perspective on the BigTen meet and greet....


Nebraska, Big Ten meet-and-greet continues

Posted by: Brian Christopherson on April 12, 2011 at 3:58PM CST
Husker coach Bo Pelini and linebacker Sean Fisher represented Nebraska on the Big Ten Spring Football teleconference Tuesday morning.

Another one of those get-to-know-you chats, if you will.
Nothing major came out of it. The majority of questions were from media outside the state about how Nebraska plans to adjust to life in a new conference.

Pelini said Nebraska is "honored" to be coming into the Big Ten.

"Obviously, I think that the Big Ten, the coaching is excellent. The teams are very fundamentally sound," Pelini said. "Probably some styles of the offenses we see are a little bit different ... but at the end of the day it really comes down to executing your game plans and taking care of yourself if you want to be a good football team. You don't alter a whole heckuva lot comparatively to who you're playing. You have to play good football and our kids understand that."

Pelini said he hasn't talked much about the move to the Big Ten with his players, "but I think our players look forward to this challenge."

The Husker coach said one of the cool things is that older guys on the team will get a chance to play in some of the Big Ten stadiums after having made the rounds and played in the Big 12 stadiums.

"That's a fun thing for a kid, to experience all those different venues and so many different traditions that represent college football," Pelini said.

Some other tidbits:

*** About possibly scheduling any games with Big 12 teams in future non-conference schedules: "I'm sure we'll visit some of those things as we move forward. A lot of the non-conference schedules are in set in stone or are pretty well filled up for the next couple years. But I'm sure that will happen as we move forward. There's been some talks with some administrations with some Big 12 teams. You know, you look four or five or six or seven years down the road. I don't know if anything is set in stone yet, but I know some conversations have happened."
*** About playing his alma mater Ohio State: "Obviously having played there and understanding the tradition and what that all entails, it's going to be a heckuva challenge. Our team looks forward to that challenge. Ohio State obviously included, but there's a tremendous amount of tradition in that conference and a lot of great football has been played there over a long period of time. We're just happy to bring our tradition and our history and coming in and getting a chance to play in some great venues against some really good football teams."

*** About preparing your team for 11 new teams in 2011: "It's a bit of a challenge. It really just requires a little bit more work in the offseason. We've always gone ahead and looked at our new opponents on the schedule. We just have a few more to look at this year. Ultimately, we're just trying to develop an idea of who they are, what their philosophies are, what they like to do, and then obviously you get into a week where you're getting ready to play that football team, then you dive into specifics."

Pelini said that in May, after recruiting dies down, the staff will really go "full-throttle" into studying their opponents.

Michigan

Everyone knows that with junior quarterback Denard Robinson pulling the strings, the Wolverines' offense is capable of blowing up any opponent. The only problem with that last season was that's what had to happen if Michigan wanted to win, as its defense was last in the Big Ten, allowing averages of 450.8 yards and 35.2 points.

Enter first-year coach Brady Hoke.

"Coach Hoke is more of a defensive emphasis kind of coach," senior linebacker Ryan Van Bergen said Tuesday. "He seems to put more pressure on us in practice situations."

Van Bergen noted that the Wolverines have been "slightly more aggressive" with their four-man front this spring, put more players closer to the line of scrimmage and been more inclined to bring pressure on third-and-long situations.

That said, he guessed that only football die-hards will be able to detect the subtle differences from last year, and offered this bottom-line statement: "We need to be prepared to the level we haven't been prepared yet."

As for Robinson, he'll be running more of a pro-style offense in 2011. But don't think that means Michigan will look to him less than Rich Rodriguez did last season, when the quarterback totaled 4,272 yards to surpass the previous conference record of 4,189 set by Purdue quarterback Drew Brees in 2000. In the process, Robinson became the first quarterback in NCAA history to rush and pass for more than 1,500 yards in a season.

Iowa

Linebacker Tyler Nielsen, from Humboldt, Iowa, in the north-central part of the state, already has gotten a strong sense from his friends about what kind of rivals the Hawkeyes and Nebraska will become. The teams meet for the first time as Big Ten members on Nov. 25 in Lincoln.

"They've already nicknamed it 'Farmageddon,'" said Nielsen, who Tuesday was named to the Lott Award watch list (college football's top defensive player). "I think it might be kind of neat to see a trophy with a saying such as Farmageddon."

Sophomore offensive lineman Dan Heiar remained hospitalized following a one-car accident over the weekend. Heiar joined the Hawkeyes in January after playing at Iowa Western Community College. He was not listed on the pre-spring depth chart.

Michigan State

Former walk-on defensive end Todd Anderson began spring drills atop the depth chart at fullback, while one-time fullback TyQuan Hammock is now contending for the middle linebacker spot vacated by All-American Greg Jones. Hammock has reportedly lost nearly 30 pounds in the offseason to get to 227.

The Spartans have welcomed Arthur Ray Jr. into the fold four years after the offensive line recruit was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his right leg. Ray had to put off enrolling until the spring of 2008, then needed more surgery, but vowed he'd eventually play. He'll be a senior who has a redshirt available and could apply for a waiver for a sixth year.

Suspended tight end Dion Sims has returned to practice and is listed No. 2. In December, Sims was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading guilty to a felony charge related to a laptop theft operation. Sims played as a freshman in 2009 but was suspended after being charged last September.

Minnesota

The Gophers will have a new quarterback next season, but junior MarQueis Gray hardly qualifies as a rookie.

Coming out of his Indianapolis high school, Gray was rated as high as the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the nation even though he missed most of his senior season with a broken arm. At Minnesota, he has spent more time playing wide receiver, and last year he finished second on the team with 42 receptions.

But first-year coach Jerry Kill, noting that his team is working to go from "infant steps" to baby steps, already has figured that Gray can be special behind center.

"He doesn't make the same mistake twice," Kill said. "He's a tremendous athlete. ? Very pleased with his progress and pleasantly surprised."

Northwestern

The Wildcats' offense has had a much different feel this spring, as all-league quarterback Dan Persa is sitting and on the mend after rupturing an Achilles tendon while throwing a game-winning touchdown pass against Iowa last Nov. 13. Persa, who last season shattered a Big Ten record by completing 73.5 percent of his passes, expects to be ready come fall.

He started jogging in early March and has been focused on agility drills.

"These past couple weeks I feel like I've turned the corner in my rehab," Persa said. "It's still sore, but it's not as sore as it was. ? Hopefully, by the middle of May, end of May I'll be pretty much full-go."

More from the Legends Division

*Counting Nebraska's Bo Pelini, the Big Ten will have four coaches breaking into the league in the same season for the first time since 1973. Three of the newcomers ? Pelini, Michigan's Brady and Minnesota's Kill ? are in the Legends Division. The other is Indiana's Kevin Wilson, most recently offensive coordinator at Oklahoma.

*Michigan returns the most starters (22) of any Big Ten team, while Iowa (11) has the fewest. Nebraska and Michigan State (14) have the third-fewest.

*Nine of the 13 players who earned first-team all-league recognition last season hail from the Legends Division. Those players are:

Michigan offensive lineman David Molk and quarterback Robinson; Michigan State running back Edwin Baker and kicker Dan Conroy; Northwestern wide receiver Jeremy Ebert and quarterback Persa; Iowa defensive back Shaun Prater; and Nebraska defensive tackle Jared Crick and linebacker Lavonte David.

The Leaders Division representatives are Ohio State offensive lineman Mike Adams and Mike Brewster and running back Dan Herron, and Wisconsin defensive back Antonio Fenelus.

[entropy]

Iowa says offensive lineman Dan Heiar has been hospitalized after being involved in a single-car accident over the weekend.

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