Around the Big Ten

[lineygoblue]

I haven't heard what the early line for that game is, but I think I may put a buck or two on Jawja ...

[Jamie H]

I heard it was Georgia -2. I also heard we we favored by 1.5. Dunno if either is true.

[Mike]

We started even now Michigan by 2.

[Jamie H]

I can't believe that line won't continue to move more to us. With us finishing strong and Tech getting crushed, a lot of money will come in on us, right or wrong.

[Pasadena Blue]

well as always I'll be rooting for the B1G to go 10-0.

Projections.
Definite wins: Ohio, Purdue,
Probably wins: M, Sparty (I think they'll play mad enough and Richt's job already safe), PSU
Toss-up: Neb
Probable losses: Wisky, Illinois, Northwestern, Iowa
Definite losses: Minnesota, Indiana ... oops, they're not playing.

So I say we end up 5-5. Not bad, when you get 10 teams in and face some asymmetrical match-ups.

[entropy]

Bowl cross games by conference and Sagarin rank : B1G
B1G schools
Wisconsin 11-2 vs Oregon 11-2 : balanced : #9 vs #6
Michigan State 10-3 vs Georgia 10-3 : balanced : #20 vs #18
Michigan 10-2 vs Virginia Tech 11-2 : balanced : #17 vs #25
Nebraska 9-3 vs South Carolina 10-2 : balanced : #21 vs #14
Penn State 9-3 vs Houston : balanced ? : #26 vs #22
Iowa 7-5 vs Oklahoma 9-3 : imbalanced : #43 vs #4
Purdue 6-6 vs Western Michigan 7-5 : balanced ? : #72 vs #75
Northwestern 6-6 vs TAMU 6-6 : imbalanced : #65 vs #13
Ohio State 6-6 vs Florida 6-6 : balanced : #42 vs #34
Like OU playing Uconn last bowl game, are they stacking the deck yet again for an OU win? Hawkeyes need to demolish OU for good measure! If Sagarin was correct about the B12 all season then TAMU should demolish NU. Time for the Wildcats to take down the Aggies to show Sagarin that he under rated the B1G this season.

[lineygoblue]

My early predictions, .. which I reserve the right to change as the game days approach:

Rose: Wisconsin (11-2) v Oregon (11-2) - I can't see Wisconsin winning this, but if they can keep the Ducks offense off the field, then maybe they have a shot. I don't see that happening, tho ... Ducks by 9

Sugar: Michigan (10-2) v Virginia Tech (11-2) - If we can play this game as well as we played the last two, we should win. We've got to contain the run, and get to their young QB. I say Michigan wins a close one by less than a TD.

Capital One: Nebraska (9-3) v South Carolina (10-2) - On paper, you'd want to go with S. Carolina, but I got to believe that the Huskers want to use this game to get a good start on next season. I'd take the Huskers by 4.

Outback: Michigan St (10-3) v Georgia (10-3) - Same feeling as everyone else. If Sparty shows up feeling sorry for themselves, then they're going to get rolled. If they play like they did against us, they can beat Jawja. I predict they play like hound dogs. Jawja by 8.

Insight: Iowa (7-5) v Oklahoma (9-3) - The Hawkeyes are in trouble here. Okie is a tad miffed over how their season ended. Okie by 10.

Gator: Ohio St (6-6) v Florida (6-6) - I think B Miller has a big game. OlieO knows all the GaTurds weaknesses due to a briefing by Pope Meyer. OlieO by 10.

Meineke: Northwestern (6-6) v Texas A@M (6-6) (played in Houston) This one is easy. If A&M is ahead at halftime, they lose. That's their pattern all year long. I'll say NW by 3 at the end.

Ticket City: Penn St (9-3) v Houston (12-1) (played in Dallas) - I think Houston wins this one with their passing game. I don't have confidence that the Nits can hold the Cougars' offense down long enough to out score them. Houston by 8.

Little Caesars: Purdue (6-6) v Western Michigan (7-5) Purdue has actually improved as the season went on, and Western kind of regressed at the end. Purdue by 6.

Kraft: Illinois (6-6) v UCLA (6-7) (played in San Francisco) -I have to wonder how either team is going to get motivated for this one. Both have lost their coaches due to them being fired. I'll go with UCLA only because its on the west coast and B1G teams suck on the west coast . UCLA by 10

[Mike]

I hope the Big Ten goes 8-2 in their bowl games. That would be awesome.

[Jamie H]

I have a hard time believing the Big Ten will do well. I see Northwestern and Iowa as guarnateed losses. I suspect Wisconsin and MSU will lose. The other 6 games seem like toss-ups. So I guess I suspect the Big Ten will be around 4-6 with an upside of about 6-4 and a downsize of around 2-8

[WM Wolverine]

I don't see a lot of games favoring the B10, partially because everyone moved up a slot because M got the 2nd BCS bid... The high number of marginal bowl teams that are 6-6, 7-5 will hurt the B10's w/l record too...

B10 generally plays 'up'; e.g. B10 #4 vs Big XII #5/#6, etc. except for their matchups with the SEC (3 of them?) which is the best football conference, admittedly by a good margin...

B10 bowl record is always going to look subpar, they get bowl tie-ins/ invitations based upon their ability to travel well and fill bowl stadiums.

[WM Wolverine]

I'd be pleasantly surprised with 4-6; I care little about how B10 #8, #9 & #10 perform.

[iam416]

I understand the "B10 gets bad draws" mantra, but, TBH, with it's current tie-ins, I'm not so sure. The B10's first 3 non-BCS tie-ins are against the SEC who also almost ALWAYS has a 2nd team in the BCS (Plus, the SEC has that Cotton tie-in). The B12 tie-ins are usually not to the B10's advantage, but those fairly far down the list (5 thru 7).

This year, I think the B10 got a very good draw with the added BCS game. M picked up an eminently winnable game. Frankly, I think VT is an easier opponent than either of the SEC games. VT is weak.

If you bumped everyone down, I don't think the B10 would fare any better.

M-SC
UNL-UGA
MSU-Florida
OSU-Oklahoma
Iowa-aTm
NW-Houston
PSU-WMU
Illinois/Purdue-UCLA

I look at that slate, and I think the B10 gains a much better chance to beat Florida, but they lose a pretty good chance to beat Houston. And Iowa would, IMO, lose to aTm. I really don't see much difference.

Fact of the matter is, the B10 sucked this year. Totally sucked. And it will likely show up in the bowls.

[Jeff Buchanan]

..... osu in particular sucked. Don't generalize.

[entropy]

Park Ridge, Ill.—The Big Ten Conference on Wednesday recognized a total of 788 fall sports student-athletes who have been named to the Academic All-Conference team. The list of honored student-athletes features 68 field hockey players, 215 football players, 76 men’s and 134 women’s cross country runners, 58 men’s and 160 women’s soccer players and 77 volleyball players.

To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

At least 14 of these student-athletes have maintained unblemished GPAs. Two field hockey student-athletes boast cumulative 4.0 GPAs in Northwestern’s Megan Jamieson (Gr., Sports Administration) and Ohio State’s Nora Murer (So., Business-Marketing), as do four football players in Michigan State’s Mike Sadler (Jr., Applied Engineering Sciences), Nebraska’s Sean Fisher (Sr., Business Administration/Pre-Medicine), Northwestern’s Jacob Schmidt (Gr., Higher Education Administration) and Penn State’s John Urschel (Jr., Mathematics), three women’s cross country runners in Iowa’s Kelsey Hart (Jr., Integrative Physiology), Nebraska’s Katie White (Sr., Nutrition Science) and Penn State’s Kalyn Fisher (So., Education), three women’s soccer players in Indiana’s Rebecca Dreher (So., Biology), Nebraska’s Amy Swearer (So., Criminology & Criminal Justice) and Purdue’s Mollie Kuramoto (So., Interdisciplinary Film & Video) and a pair of volleyball players in Michigan State’s Jenilee Rathje (Gr., Kinesiology) and Penn State’s Margaret Harding (So., Agricultural Sciences)

The conference office also awards Academic All-Big Ten distinction in the winter and spring seasons and will present the Distinguished Scholar Award at the end of the academic year. Student-athletes eligible for the Distinguished Scholar Award must be letterwinners in at least their second year in residence at their institution. Qualifying student-athletes must have earned a GPA of 3.7 or higher for the current academic year, excluding summer school. The Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award was established by conference Faculty Representatives as an addition to the conference’s Academic All-Big Ten program.


Nebraska had 27 football players honored:

Justin Blatchford Jr. Nutrition, Exercise & Health Science Ponca, Neb.
Rex Burkhead Jr. History Plano, Texas
Austin Cassidy Gr. Psychology/currently In MBA Graduate Program Lincoln, Neb.
Will Compton Sr. Business Administration BonneTerre, Mo.
Corey Cooper So. Undeclared Maywood, Ill.
Ben Cotton Sr. Business Administration Ames, Iowa
Jake Cotton So. Undeclared Lincoln, Neb.
Jon Damkroger Sr. Business Administration Firth, Neb.
Jim Ebke Sr. Mathematics Education Lincoln, Neb.
Tyler Evans So. Biological Sciences Waverly, Neb.
*Sean Fisher Sr. Business Administration/Pre-Medicine Omaha, Neb.
Harvey Jackson So. Construction Management Fresno, Texas
Marcel Jones Sr. Construction Management Phoenix, Ariz.
Tyler Legate Sr. Elementary Education Neligh, Neb.
Luke Lingenfelter Sr. Biological Systems Engineering Plainview, Neb.
Jake Long Jr. Biological Sciences Elkhorn, Neb.
Spencer Long Jr. Biological Sciences Elkhorn, Neb.
Jay Martin Sr. Business Administration/Finance Waverly, Neb.
Josh Mitchell So. Criminology & Criminal Justice Corona, Calif.
Brent Qvale Jr. Nutrition, Exercise & Health Science Williston, N.D.
Wil Richards Jr. Business Administration Lee's Summit, Mo.
Trevor Roach So. Finance/Management Elkhorn, Neb.
Andrew Rodriguez So. Sociology Aurora, Neb.
Baker Steinkuhler Sr. Business Administration Lincoln, Neb.
Kevin Thomsen Sr. Nutrition, Exercise & Health Science Elkhorn, Neb.
Lance Thorell Sr. Agribusiness Loomis, Neb.
CJ Zimmerer Jr. Criminology & Criminal Justice Omaha, Neb.

*One of four Big Ten football players with 4.0 cumulative GPAs

[entropy]

Other schools:

Northwestern: (31):

Football (31)
Colin Armstrong, Gr. • Economics (Undergrad) • Wheaton, Ill.
Brian Arnfelt, Sr. • Communication Studies • Lake Elmo, Minn.
Hayden Baker, So. • Undeclared • Trout Valley, Ill.
Brendan Barber, Sr. • Political Science • Erie, Pa.
Doug Bartels, Gr. • Liberal Studies • Caledonia, Ill.
Jeff Budzien, Jr. • Economics • Hartland, Wis.
Ibraheim Campbell, So. • Undeclared • Philadelphia, Pa.
Bo Cisek, Sr. • Communication Studies • Chicago, Ill.
Kain Colter, So. • Undeclared • Denver, Colo.
Drake Dunsmore, Sr. • Communication Studies • Lenexa, Kan.
Collin Ellis, So. • Undeclared • St. Gabriel, La.
Pat Hickey, Jr. • Economics • Chicago, Ill.
Paul Jorgensen, So. • DeWitt, Mich.
Jordan Mabin, Gr. • Sports Administration • Northfield Center, Ohio
Bryce McNaul, Gr. • Economics (Undergrad) • Eden Prarie, Minn.
Al Netter, Sr. • Economics • Rohnert Park, Calif.
Dan Persa, Sr. • Communication Studies • Bethlehem, Pa.
Brian Peters, Gr. • Sports Administration • Pickerington, Ohio
John Plasencia, Jr. • Economics • Tampa, Fla.
Tim Riley, Jr. • Economics • Oswego, Ill.
Jacob Schmidt, Gr. • Higher Education Administration • Rhinelander, Wis.
Adonis Smith, So. • Undecided • Oakland, Calif.
Mike Trumpy, Jr. • Economics • Wheaton, Ill.
Timmy Vernon, Jr. • History • Fort Washington, Pa.
Brandon Vitabile, So. • Undeclared • Edison, N.J.
Patrick Ward, Jr. • Mechanical Engineering • Home Glen, Ill.
Kevin Watt, Gr. • Liberal Studies • Glen Ellyn, Ill.
Tim Weak, Sr. • Communication Studies • Omaha, Neb.
Ricky Weina, Gr. • Economics • Union Grove, Wis.
Brandon Williams, Jr. • Mechanical Engineering • Nappanee, Ind.
Quentin Williams, Sr. • Political Science • Pittsburgh, Pa.

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Michigan (11):

Clay graduate Jordan Kovacs was one of 11 Michigan football players to be named Academic All-Big Ten on Wednesday. To be eligible for the honor, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

*************

Big Ten released all-academic teams today.

Here are the Hawkeye footballers on the list (13)

Steve Bigach, Iowa Sr. Human Physiology & Mathematics Cleveland, Ohio

Eric Guthrie, Iowa Sr. Psychology Nevada, Iowa

Casey Kreiter, Iowa So. Science Education/Secondary Education DeWitt, Iowa

James Morris, Iowa So. Open Major Solon, Iowa

Nick Nielsen, Iowa Sr. Management Humboldt, Iowa

Tyler Nielsen, Iowa Sr. Marketing Humboldt, Iowa

Woody Orne, Iowa Sr. Interdepartmental Studies Fairfield, Iowa

Terrance Pryor, Iowa Sr. Anthropology South Holland, Ill.

Steven Staggs, Iowa Sr. Health & Sports Studies Oskaloosa, Iowa

Kyle Steinbrecher, Iowa Sr. Economics Davenport, Iowa

Jack Swanson, Iowa Sr. Computer Science Naples, Fla.

Brett Van Sloten, Iowa Jr. Interdepartmental Studies Decorah, Iowa

James Vandenberg, Iowa Sr. Health & Human Physiology Keokuk, Iowa

****************

WISCONSIN ACADEMIC ALL-BIG TEN HONOREES
FOOTBALL (16)

Bradie Ewing, Sr. Sociology Richland Center, Wis.
Antonio Fenelus, Sr. Family, Consumer And Community Education Boca Raton, Fla.
Kyle French, So. Undeclared Menomonee Falls, Wis.
Ryan Groy, Jr. Life Sciences Communication Middleton, Wis.
Aaron Henry, Sr. Consumer Affairs Immokalee, Fla.
Peniel Jean, So. Consumer Affairs West Palm Beach, Fla.
Shelton Johnson, Sr. Zoology Carrollton, Texas
Jordan Kohout, Jr. Sociology Waupun, Wis.
Peter Konz, Sr. Communication Arts Neenah, Wis.
Andrew Lukasko, Sr. Kinesiology Edgar, Wis.
Brad Nortman, Sr. Business: Accounting Brookfield, Wis.
Conor O'Neill, Jr. Business: Finance, Investment & Banking Delray Beach, Fla.
Chukwuma Offor, Sr. Business: Finance, Investment & Banking Madison, Wis.
Marcus Trotter, So. Undeclared Racine Wis.
Michael Trotter, So. Undeclared Racine, Wis.
Kevin Zeitler, Sr. Kinesiology Waukesha, Wis.

*****************

Purdue Football (20)

Ishmael Aristide
Dan Barry
Adam Brockman
Chris Carlino
Cody Davis
Spencer Dawson
Albert Evans
Landon Feichter
Trevor Foy
Gerald Gooden
Joe Holland
Josh Johnson
Kurt Lichtenberg
Robert Maci
Robert Marve
Brad Niemeier
Jesse Schmitt
James Shepherd
Justin Sinz
Crosby Wright

**************

Ohio State: 10

COLUMBUS — Ten members of the Ohio State football team were named Academic All-Big Ten, the conference announced on Wednesday.

In order to qualify for all-conference honors, the student-athlete must be a letterwinner in at least his second year at the institution and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher.

The Buckeyes who were honored by the conference for their scholastic achievements were Ben Buchanan, Dominic Clarke, Zach Domicone, Nate Ebner, Derek Erwin, Adam Homan, Chris Maxwell, Tyler Moeller, Chris Roark and Andrew Sweat.

*******************

Michigan State (12):

The Michigan State players receiving honors were: LB Max Bullough, RB Larry Caper, QB Kirk Cousins, OL Joel Foreman, LB Jeremy Gainer, C Travis Jackson, OL Nate Klatt, QB Andrew Maxwell, WR Keith Nichol, C Ethan Ruhland, P Mike Sadler, WR Brad Sonntag