Friday Skull Session

Mornin' Sunshine!

I hadn't even fully settled in to my first Friday back, when I was getting ribbed for the lack of foodporn in last week's post. Before any rumors start flyin' that I've gone vegan, did you know a little piece of heaven exists in Terminal B of DFW? There's definitely better BBQ out there than Cousins DFW, but a layover never tasted so good. Brisket on a fully loaded baked potato made a non-direct flight completely worth it.

HEY THERE, YOUNGIN'. ESPN's Todd McShay, Steve Muench and Kevin Weidl have ranked the nation's top 25 underclassmen (ESPN Insider: must be a subscriber, sorry) including true freshmen, redshirt freshmen and true sophomores for the 2012 season, by evaluating their film and rating their impact on college. Note: these are not NFL projections.

Three B1G players made the list, including Ohio State's very own Braxton Miller and Ryan Shazier. Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah also made the cut. Nice to see Shazier get some national-love, considering the disappointment by some Buckeyes that Manti Te'o was getting so much love this year, while Shazier's stats were definitely comparable, minus the Notre Dame LB's interceptions.

It was also a nice mention for Miller, since most of Buckeye Nation was hoping the sometimes-standard five finalists would get the invite to NYC for the Heisman ceremony, though not much of a surprise considering the impact he had on his team. 

The future looks bright in Columbus.

DUMB AND DUMBER. After the outpouring of criticism following the Legends and Leaders Debacle of 2010, the B1G now wants YOU to give your input on the conference's realignment clusterf*$%. Pardon my French, I'm still not over the additions. MARYLAND AND RUTGERS?!

Anyway, moving on...

With the recent additions of two new teams, it brings back to the forefront the discussion on how the conference should be divided. The good news? It appears they're not married to the Legends and Leaders names. Or, rather, they might be falling into the 50% of marriages that end in divorce category. The really bizarre news? Inner-Outer.

One of the options given is an "Inner-Outer" option (don't panic, these won't be the final division names... I don't think *gives Jim Delany the stank eye*) that divides the schools up into an inner circle, geographically speaking, and the outer ring that surrounds it. This would put Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Rutgers and Wisconsin together in the "outer" group  and Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern and Purdue together in the "inner group. While the balance of "powerhouses" in this option looks pretty decent, have fun on the road trip to Lincoln, NE, Rutgers! Welcome to the BIG.

Probably the best news for most is that they're considering an East-West division, which people have been calling for since 2010. While the competitive balance might be an issue here (East: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers, and Ohio State; West: Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Northwestern and Illinois) at least it could prove to the world that we may not be able to count, but we have maps, and uhh... such as...

Also: speaking of B1G names, did you know Jim Delany has a son named Newman? Not telling you for any particular reason, but I just found this out last week and thought you should know. You're welcome.

One of the best underclassmen of 2012

YOU MUST NOT KNOW 'BOUT ME. Who would've thought Bret Bielema would appear so irreplaceable? In fairness to Wisconsin, it hasn't been that long since Bielema bolted for Fayetteville, which really is a match made in heaven as that fan base wears plastic pig snouts on their faces, and, well, there's this. But I digress!

Al Golden, who appeared to be a heavy favorite for the job early Thursday apparently shut down any speculation of that rather quickly. Despite the prospect of leaving South Beach for Madison — and, in fairness, Madison is a pretty great place — the Wisconsin job is actually a pretty attractive one... and Golden is laying out in South Beach while a potential NCAA hammer could fall any minute. Not sure Alvarez thought this would be a hard sell.

Either way, the latest candidate to emerge has been Mike Riley of Oregon State. Riley's current contract at Oregon State, where's he led the Beavers to an 81-66 career record — over two stints in Corvallis — and a 9-3 season this year is set through 2019, but it rolls over one year each time he takes the Beavers to a bowl game.

The only question is, if he takes the job how will he motivate players with In N Out in the B1G?

A LITTLE PRAISE FOR GENE *DUCKS*. Ohio State fans can probably take their pick of most polarizing Buckeyes these days. Terrelle Pryor, Gene Smith, Jim Tressel, and a bit of a throwback to Maurice Clarett likely top the list. Though, I suppose putting Smith on that list would imply he's got a definitive fan base these days. Ditto for Tressel who doesn't have too many haters. With the Buckeyes sitting in Columbus on January 7th, as Smith's alma mater Notre Dame plays a one-loss Alabama team for the national title, there is no love lost for Smith these days.

That said, there was some praise for Smith from his peers this week, according to Dave Briggs of the Toledo Blade. Briggs points out that the OSU Athletic Department is doing quite well in the first year following the NCAA sanctions, with both football and basketball firmly in the top ten. Donations to the athletics program are doing incredibly well, and plans are in place to replace the St. John Arena. 

The Blade also obtained emails from 2011 that showed that support within the Board of Trustees for Smith never wavered:

"Gene has gone through a lot over the past 10 months," current Board of Trustees chair Robert Schottenstein wrote to president E. Gordon Gee and board members Alex Shumate and Gil Gloyd in November, 2011, after OSU landed Meyer. "I think he's done a very fine job, under considerable stress, and a great job on this. I think we've turned an important corner."

 

In a separate email, Cloyd wrote, "Again, we are very fortunate to have a great leader like Gene Smith to lead us from the abyss to the pinnacle."

Regardless of one's feelings on Smith, it's an interesting read. And sometimes we need a reminder that most sports fans aren't the biggest fans of their sport or conference's commissioner, school presidents, or athletic directors. They don't do it for the love.

LINKS. LINKS. LINKS. The Browns definitely won this one... Just in case you still think I might have gone vegan... Maurice Clarett articles never disappoint these days, and Eric Crouch does WHAT?... The Bowl Season Drinking Game... This kid has one arm, what have YOU done today?