Access change makes Rose Bowl like others

Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com's story on changes towards the Rose Bowl and the BCS. Enjoy…

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Here in Big Ten country, we've grown up believing that the Rose Bowl is different from all other bowls. It's special. It's in a class of its own. There's no shortage of reasons why: longevity, history, tradition, pageantry. Heisman Trophy winners and Hall of Fame coaches. Unforgettable plays and finishes. Or, you can simply watch the sun set over the San Gabriel Mountains during the second half of a Rose Bowl game. That's all the evidence I need. The Rose Bowl also has stood out from the other bowls because of its ties to both the Big Ten and the Pac-10. The relationships with the bowl tick off fans from other parts of the country as well as some media members, but they're treasured by the two leagues. As the 2010 football season dawns, it's important to remind everyone that access to the Rose Bowl is changing during the next BCS cycle (2010-2013 seasons). Beginning this fall, the first time the Rose Bowl loses the Big Ten champ or Pac-10 champ to the BCS title game, it must take a team from a non-automatic qualifying conference if that team earns a BCS berth. This can only happen once during the BCS cycle, but it's likely. Ready for TCU-Iowa in the Granddaddy? What about Boise State-Oregon State? "The commissioners felt like if the other bowls are in position every year to have non-AQ team, the Rose Bowl should be in a similar position," BCS executive director Bill Hancock said. "The Big Ten, Rose Bowl and Pac-10 agreed, 'We need to share.'" Sharing the Rose Bowl? Somewhere, Bo and Woody might be shaking their heads. But that's the way it goes these days. Scott McKibben hadn't taken his post as executive director of the Tournament of Roses committee when the access change took place, but he backs the new policy. "If we believe in the bowl system and the BCS and where that all is headed for our future, we really felt like we needed to participate in that also," McKibben told me this week. "It allows an opportunity for a team that might not in a typical year [be selected] to come to the Rose Bowl. Our feeling is, 'Hey, if it's good for college football and good for the bowl system, we certainly want to support it.'" Was there any resistance, specifically from the Big Ten? Hancock never saw any in a public forum. McKibben said commissioners Jim Delany (Big Ten) or Larry Scott (Pac-10) haven't brought up the access change during McKibben's nine months on the job. We might only find out how the leagues really feel the first time a non-BCS team heads to Pasadena. This much seems clear: the days of the Big Ten nudging a 9-3 Illinois team ranked 13th in the final BCS standings toward Pasadena might be over. At least for this BCS cycle. "College football is an ongoing evaluation process, as we learned," McKibben said. "Do I feel this is probably something that will go on into the future? I would say yes. But do we know for sure? No. We'll know more after we finish the [current] cycle and we sit in a room and talk about it."

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USC's attempt to please NCAA could be trouble for Lane Kiffin - Andy Staples - SI.com

I could not resist, especially after so many appropriate Godfather references...


USC's attempt to please NCAA could be trouble for Lane Kiffin - Andy Staples - SI.com

Tony Gerdeman of The-Ozone.net: Weeks One Through Four

I always enjoy reading Tony Gerdeman's columns on the-ozone.net, especially during football season. Gerdeman has written up an analysis of upcoming games this season. Enjoy.

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2010 Football Season Viewing Primer - Weeks One through Four
By Tony Gerdeman

It's the middle of summer and we're all busy. Those honey-do lists keep on coming, but that doesn't mean there isn't football to look forward to, and if you don't know what the future holds, it makes it nearly impossible to procrastinate properly. So what we've decided to do is give you a weekly primer for the entire college football season so that you can properly assess and set your honey-do deadlines.

For example, if you're not all that into the matchups in week six, just tell your wife, “Honey, I'll have the garage cleaned and the bonus room finished and painted by October 9th.” Then when October 9th finally gets here, you can go ahead and do your chores on that Saturday because you've determined that you can afford to miss that day's football.

This primer also works for RSVPs and weddings. Got a wedding invitation? Scroll down and see who's playing and whether or not your spouse is going to be flying solo while you're staying home with a case of the 12-hour football flu.

There are other uses for this primer as well. Possibly even jury duty depending on the judge. The possibilities are only as limited as your imagination. Enjoy!

Week One – September 4

National Game of the Week -Boise State vs Virginia Tech (Landover, MD) (Monday September 6).

One way or another, a team that is annually talked about as a championship possibility will see their hopes come crashing down just like they deserve to be.

Underrated Game of the Week - TCU vs Oregon State (Arlington, TX)

With a Beaver win, we could spend the entire year not having to hear about non-BCS schools' and their chances of playing in the BCS Championship Game. Of course, we'll instead have to hear about how unfair it is that one loss effectively eliminates them.

Overrated Game of the Week - North Carolina vs LSU (Atlanta, GA)

This game will be 7-3 at the half, and it won't matter who has the seven because a defensive score in the second half will ultimately win the game for somebody. Probably LSU.

Big Ten Game of the Week - Connecticut at Michigan

For me, there aren't many more intriguing games in the non-conference schedule than this one. If Michigan loses, it's over.

Other Games of Note

Southern Mississippi at South Carolina (Thursday); Washington at BYU; Pitt at Utah (Thursday); Marshall at Ohio State (Thursday).

It will be interesting to see the Big Ten Network's ratings following the Ohio State game. I'm expecting their best numbers ever. Better break out that checkbook, Rotel!

Week Two – September 11

National Game of the Week - Penn State at Alabama

These two teams have a bit of a history, and it has nothing to do with Joe Paterno and Bear Bryant being the same age.

Underrated Game of the Week - Florida State at Oklahoma

It's only July and I'm already buying into the Seminole hype. “Buy high, sell low”, I always say.

Overrated Game of the Week - Georgia at South Carolina

An SEC East game that doesn't feature Florida or a yapping Lane Kiffin? Yawn.

Big Ten Game of the Week- Miami at Ohio State

The only reason this wasn't the National Game of the Week is because Miami just doesn't have enough history behind it. Though Kirk Herbstreit will tell you the one way to negate history is with swagger. But it takes an awful lot of swagger to counter history. Though swagger and speed trump history. Unless, of course, history also has speed or swagger. It's like the Rock, Paper, Scissors of ESPN analysis. History beats Swagger, Swagger beats Speed, Speed beats History.

Other Games of Note

Oregon at Tennessee; Michigan at Notre Dame.

There are few rivalries I enjoy more than Michigan vs Notre Dame. It's a three-and-a-half hour misery party every year. Somebody on that field is always unhappy. It's like having a schadenfreude IV drip. Along with a schadenfreude patch and some schadenfreude gum.

Week Three – September 18

National Game of the Week - Iowa at Arizona

This game will sneak up on Iowa fans like a cat stalking imaginary prey. Then somebody will sneeze and the cat will go tearing off upstairs. I don't know who's who in this analogy. I think Ricky Stanzi might be the sneeze though.

Underrated Game of the Week - Clemson at Auburn

I understand if you don't care about this game, but I want to see Tajh Boyd at quarterback for Clemson against a defense that hates playing defense.

Overrated Game of the Week - USC at Minnesota

I admire Tim Brewster for his unmitigated gall in scheduling this game, but couldn't he have just taken a holier-than-thou shot at Michigan like Mark Dantonio always does instead?

Big Ten Game of the Week - Notre Dame at Michigan State

I can't remember the last time this game wasn't entertaining. I'll guess 1982.

Other Games of Note

Florida at Tennessee; Baylor at TCU; Nebraska at Washington; Georgia Tech at North Carolina; BYU at Florida State; Ohio at Ohio State.

Well, if Derek Dooley wants to make a splash at Tennessee, then beating Florida would be a 30-meter belly smacker with subsequent broken ribs and liquified sternum.

Week Four – September 25

National Game of the Week - Alabama at Arkansas

I've already called this game as a loss for Alabama, so I'm sort of hitched to this puppy now.

Underrated Game of the Week - Stanford at Notre Dame

You know Jim Harbaugh is gonna pop off at some point.

Overrated Game of the Week - West Virginia at LSU

To me, LSU is West Virginia with a new porch and trampoline in the side yard that ISN'T homemade.

Big Ten Game of the Week - Temple at Penn State

Yeah, it's a pretty bad week in the conference, though this could be Al Golden's audition for Joe Paterno's job in 2017.

Other Games of Note

South Carolina at Auburn; Oklahoma at Cincinnati; Miami at Pitt (Thursday); Oregon State at Boise State; Eastern Michigan at Ohio State.

Just think, if all goes well, the Oregon State – Boise State game won't even matter.

ESPN's Adam Rittenberg: Meet John Simon, Ohio State's sandman

A training session at Ohio State's weight room is like a day at the beach for John Simon. Well, sort of. When Simon, a budding star on Ohio State's defensive line, enters the 8,000-square foot weight room at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, his first stop is typically the sand pit. Simon will sprint through the sand, sometimes with a heavy tire harnessed to his waist. He'll work on drills tailored to defensive linemen, trying to get that all important burst when the ball is snapped. The sand pit in Columbus will never be confused for Manhattan Beach, but Simon doesn't mind. "That's about the closest I could get," he said, "coming from Youngstown [Ohio]." Simon got a lot closer this winter as he and his Ohio State teammates made their way to California for the Rose Bowl. If Simon keeps it up in the weight room and on the field, he and the Buckeyes likely will be making a few more trips to the coast. The 6-foot-2, 270-pound Simon appeared in 12 games as a true freshman in 2009, showing flashes with four tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a pass knockdown. He's competing for a starting spot at left end or left tackle in 2010, and he's already earning respect from veteran defenders like linebacker Brian Rolle. "If somebody's going to try to outwork him, they'll going to have to work really hard," Rolle said in April. "And he's going to outwork that effort. He's going to be a guy who will be a star here the next couple of years." Simon's reputation stems largely from his work in the weight room. He came to Ohio State with solid credentials, including a max bench-press of 450 and a max squat of 700 as a high schooler, and has impressed coaches and teammates with his approach to workouts and training. Ohio State strength coordinator Jeff Uhlenhake calls Simon the "best total package workout guy" he's coached. Although Simon is only a true sophomore, few in Columbus will be surprised to see him appear on colleague Bruce Feldman's list of Freaks, or workout warriors. "I enjoy being in the weight room," Simon said. "I'm in there every day. Our whole team's like that." Simon typically works out in the morning with his teammates and then returns in the afternoon to lift or run in the sand pit. Despite his lofty high school bench and squat totals, Simon hasn't tried to max out yet in college, citing the need to stay healthy for the Big Ten grind. Instead, he works on his explosion by doing chain bench or band squats and improves his stamina by pulling sleds. "I like a lot of endurance things because the games in college are very long," Simon said. "The sand pit, I really enjoy, just to get that extra quickness where the sand slows you down a little bit and builds up your legs." Simon heads to the sand pit at least three times per week during the offseason. He hopes it pays off this fall as Ohio State aims for a national title. "Just running in the sand, it slows you down so much," he said. "And then when you get on regular grass or turf and you're in your spikes, you feel that much faster. I see a big difference." Is it too early to give Simon a nickname? He might need to start a full season for the Buckeyes to one, but here's an early suggestion. The Sandman.

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Stewart Mandel of SI: Big Ten divisional proposal

Stewart Mandel of SI.com’s Big Ten proposal is below. It makes a lot of sense – while I would prefer to have Penn State within the same division as Ohio State, I would rather ensure Ohio State and Michigan are in the same division, so as to avoid any possibility of a rematch for The Big Ten championship game. This would ensure THE GAME would remain the last game of the regular season.

Enjoy…

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With the Big Ten and Pac-10 going to 12 teams as soon as 2011 and, in all likelihood, adding a conference championship game, I've spent more time lately than I care to admit trying to figure out how the respective leagues will split themselves into divisions. It's a somewhat tedious exercise, yet undeniably fun. And this budding hobby isn't limited to fans and media. I spoke to one coach last week who said he and his athletic director had spent that morning sketching out various scenarios on a board.

Anyway, I'm fairly certain I've got it all figured out. Jim Delany and Larry Scott: Feel free to take my ideas.

The Big Ten

At the press conference announcing Nebraska's addition, Delany clearly spelled out the priorities by which the Big Ten will decide its divisions. Most important will be ensuring competitive fairness. Second will be preserving rivalries (a particularly daunting task in the league of Paul Bunyan's Axe and the Little Brown Jug). Third will be geography.

One thing I've noticed during the realignment craze is that many fans have too short a memory when it comes to the first consideration. College programs go through up and down cycles. You can't get caught up in Michigan's past two dismal seasons or Iowa's recent Orange Bowl win. You have to consider a team's performance over a longer time period when defining its "typical" competitive level.

With the Big Ten, we have a convenient starting point of 1993, the year Penn State joined the conference. That gives us 17 seasons worth of data and encompasses high and low points for nearly every program. It gets a little trickier when incorporating Nebraska, which not only played in a different conference, but which was still a member of the much-weaker Big 8 in '93. In the Huskers' case, I used only their records since 1996, when they joined the Big 12.

Here are the standings from that time span (conference records only):

Recent Conference Records of Big Ten Teams and Nebraska

TEAM RECORD TEAM RECORD 1. Ohio State 106-29-1 (.779) 7. Purdue 63-70-3 (.463) 2. Michigan 94-42 (.691) 8. Michigan State 63-72-1 (.463) 3. Nebraska 75-37 (.669) 9. Northwestern 59-77 (.434) 4. Penn State 86-50 (.632) 10. Illinois 45-90-1 (.331) 5. Wisconsin 79-54-3 (.581) 11. Minnesota 44-92 (.324) 6. Iowa 71-64-1 (.522) 12. Indiana 33-103 (.243)

This list shows that the teams fall into four general tiers: The "elite" (Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, Penn State), the "contenders" (Wisconsin and Iowa), the "middlings" (Purdue, Michigan State and Northwestern) and the "also-rans" (Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana). To achieve true competitive fairness, both divisions would contain roughly equal numbers from all groups. But that might not be possible due to the second consideration: rivalries.

The Big Ten takes its annual rivalry games very seriously -- there are no fewer than 12 traveling trophies (do you know who plays for the Governor's Victory Bell?) -- but as Delany himself said, "Not all rivalries are equal." In other words, the most important of them will be protected, but some will unavoidably be disrupted (certainly one of Minnesota's four).

Which games fall into which category?

• Must be preserved at all costs: Ohio State-Michigan, Michigan-Michigan State, Indiana-Purdue (Old Oaken Bucket), Iowa-Minnesota (Floyd of Rosedale) and Wisconsin-Minnesota (Paul Bunyan's Ax).

• We're sure as heck going to try: Michigan-Minnesota (Little Brown Jug), Illinois-Northwestern (Land of Lincoln), Wisconsin-Iowa (Heartland Trophy) and Ohio State-Penn State.

• They'll barely notice it's gone: Penn State-Michigan State (Land Grant Trophy), Indiana-Michigan State (Old Brass Spittoon), Illinois-Ohio State (Illibuck), Purdue-Illinois (Purdue Cannon) and Penn State-Minnesota (Governor's Victory Bell).

As we get set to form our divisions, we do so with the following understandings:

1. Ohio State and Michigan MUST be in the same division. There's no way either the conference or the schools wants to touch the tradition of these teams' season-ending showdown, and you certainly don't want the possibility of them meeting again a week later in a title game.

2. Penn State is going to be a geographic outlier. There are only three schools within a reasonable drive of Happy Valley (Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State), and it's nearly impossible to achieve the first two goals without separating the Nittany Lions from that group. That doesn't mean they can't still play them regularly.

3. Nebraska has several logical new rivals, most notably Iowa and any or all of Ohio State/Michigan/Penn State, while Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema is lobbying hard for an annual season-ending game with the Huskers. These are considerations as well.

So here's what I did. Treating the teams' above standings as "seeds," I tinkered around with a bunch of different combinations with the goal of achieving a combined seeding that's equal in both divisions, while also maintaining the most important rivalries. I now present the result:

The 12-Team Big Ten

"EAST" DIVISION "WEST" DIVISION Ohio State (1) Nebraska (3) Michigan (2) Penn State (4) Purdue (7) Wisconsin (5) Michigan State (8) Iowa (6) Northwestern (9) Illinois (10) Indiana (12) Minnesota (11)

In addition to its divisional slate, each team would have an annual crossover game, just as in the SEC. They would be Ohio State-Penn State, Michigan-Nebraska, Purdue-Iowa, Michigan State-Wisconsin, Northwestern-Illinois and Indiana-Minnesota.

If you add up the seeds listed in parentheses next to each team, you'll find that in both divisions they come to 39 -- perfect balance. All six crossover games involve teams within one tier of each other. And of the 14 rivalry games mentioned earlier, 10 will still be played annually, including all but one in the top two groupings. (The exception: Michigan-Minnesota. We'll miss the Little Brown Jug, but it had already fallen off the Big Ten's annual schedule, including this season.)

All that's left is picking the championship site.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/stewart_mandel/06/22/expansion-divisions/index.html#ixzz0riGQR0NQ

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Cris Carter: Duron Carter "will be back"

Great article from The Columbus Dispatch regarding Duron Carter. Cris Carter sounds like a concerned father who only wants the best for his son, and is taking steps to make sure Duron gets on the right path academically. Enjoy the article below.

Link to article

Big Ten: Leave your vuvuzela at home

Hallelujah!  None of those $#*#*#*$ vuvuzelas in Ohio Stadium (or in The Big Ten).  Below is Adam Rittenberg of ESPN's article…

 

The dream is dead. A group of Ohio State students, inspired by the World Cup in South Africa, started a campaign to get as many vuvuzelas to The Shoe on Nov. 13 for the Buckeyes' clash with Penn State. They launched a Facebook page that, as of earlier today, had 1,760 people confirming they'd show up along the banks of the Olentangy, vuvuzelas in hand. Another 621 folks are "maybe attending." (If you don't know what a vuvuzela is by now, turn on ESPN's World Cup coverage and get the wax out of your ears. That's a vuvuzela.) Ohio State student Dustin Stinson, who started the page, implores his fellow Buckeyes, writing, "Everyone bring a vuvuzela for the Penn State game and let's bring some noise! We're trying to get as many students as possible to bring them. INVITE AS MANY PEOPLE FROM OHIO STATE TO JOIN AS YOU CAN! Let's do this." Apparently one Buckeyes fan was ahead of the curve, bringing a vuvuzela or some derivative to last year's game against Iowa. But alas, the Big Ten (AKA no fun police) is putting the kibosh on the vuvuzela. From Every Day Should Be Saturday: Per Scott Chipman of the Big Ten Conference via e-mail this a.m.: "The Big Ten has specific policies that do not allow irritants or noisemakers, so vuvuzelas would not be allowed. Below is the specific language from our football game management manual." A. Nonpermissible Items -- The arena management is responsible for enforcing the Big Ten policies in this regard. The following items may not be brought into the arena by patrons: Alcoholic beverages, bottles, cans, cups or containers, irritants (e.g., noisemakers) or strobe lights. In addition, the facility may have additional restrictions on items that can be brought into the arena. I don't know how well vuvuzelas would go over at a college football game, and I'm sure a lot of folks -- and their eardrums -- are pleased to see the Big Ten's response. Personally, I don't mind them, but I'm biased, as half of my family is from South Africa and I've watched soccer games there before. I'll still give Ohio State students credit for the idea, and I bet we'll still see a vuvuzela or two smuggled into The Shoe on Nov. 13.

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