People talking. People laughing. A man selling ice cream. Singing Italian songs. Can you dig it? Well, I can. I haven't been waiting such a long time, for Saturday. It's just six days, and that song is far from my favorite in the catalog of Chicago songs.
Anyway, here are some things happening that you may find interesting.
OUTBACK, CAPITAL ONE BOWL STAY B1G. The second and third marquee bowl games for the Big Ten retained their allegiance to the conference on Friday when both extended their contracts with the Big Ten to 2020. Assuming there are still bowl games as the next decade approaches, the best of the midlevel teams in the league will be traveling to Orlando and Tampa for January exhibitions.
@bigtenconf agreement extends a 20-year relationship w conference to play in #TampaBay #FootballinParadise #TampaBay #americasbestbeaches
— Outback Bowl (@outbackbowl) July 19, 2013
We've renewed with @B1Gfootball through the 2020 game. Hugs all around! http://t.co/4KMW9H1P0K pic.twitter.com/Nzwc4NWQdu
— Capital One Bowl (@CapitalOneBowl) July 19, 2013
The news is great for the Big Ten. The quality of its football lags behind the revenue the league generates, but the bowl games are signature events. You could argue that they are the second and third best non-"BCS" bowl games (behind the Cotton Bowl). They command time slots on January 1 that make them events around which the general college football fan makes his/her TV viewing schedule (while nursing a New Year's Eve hangover). Leaving aside, for the moment, the silliness of its corporate sponsorship (they're still the Citrus Bowl and Hall of Fame Bowl to me, dammit), the Capital One Bowl and Outback Bowl seem almost ingrained in Big Ten football fans. We have them, and, really, we expect them. They're part of us.
With that said, I was never a fan of the Outback Bowl. For one, Outback is not a great restaurant. Second, I never understood Tampa as a "destination". Third, and most important for me, I think the Outback Bowl (or Gator Bowl, take your pick) is overkill of B1G-SEC bowl games. It's equivalent to the Epirus of the ongoing B1G/SEC War. A Big Ten team could win (e.g. Michigan State v. Georgia in 2012, Iowa v. South Carolina in 2009, Penn State v. Tennessee in 2007) and the effort would seem almost not worth it for the conference as a whole. An SEC team can win, but a win for their league in the Capital One Bowl is much bigger. They are played concurrently, but the Outback Bowl resides in the Capital One Bowl's shadow.
Basically, I'd trade the Outback Bowl for the Peach Bowl in a heartbeat. The Peach Bowl is a woefully underrated bowl, and the ACC gets to play in it instead of the Big Ten. The Peach Bowl in Atlanta is college football's New Year's Eve Times Square Ball Drop. The atmosphere is fantastic, and, again, the ACC gets to play in it and not the Big Ten. It's bogus. Do you think the ACC would notice if we took it from them?
NFL NAMES THE TOP 50 PLAYERS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL. Is it problematic for a professional league to be sending these kinds of signals to amateur athletes?
NFL.com published a list of the top 50 "most talented" players in college football. At first glance, the list tells us what we already know, or assume to be true from what the SEC and ESPN tell us is true. Jadaveon Clowney is #1 on this list. Alabama dominates the list with four players in the top 11 and eight total on the list.
Two Buckeyes made the top 15. Bradley Roby was the first Buckeye mentioned, listed at #12. Ryan Shazier appears two spots behind him at #14.
There are only three players from the Big Ten on the list, including Roby and Shazier. Taylor Lewan, the left tackle for Michigan, is the first player from the league mentioned. He's at #9. This coincided with a corollary post on NFL.com about how the Big Ten is "short on elite college-football talent."
What is happening in the Big Ten? Ohio State coach Urban Meyer has chided his coaching cohorts in the league for their recruiting ability (or inability), and this list shows that the Big Ten is not keeping up, especially not with the SEC -- three players from Alabama alone in the top six and 19 league players in the top 50 -- and the Pac-12, which boasts 12 in the top 50.
Gut reaction? Sure. I'm not sure it's a function of being "short on elite college football talent". I know we have to keep mentioning this because the message is never received no matter how many times its sent, but geography and population flight are lazy answers for this issue. That's been going on since the 1960s and now is the tipping point? Ohio, by itself, still has more people than states like Georgia, is double the population of Tennessee, and is more populated than Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina combined. The median age, by state, doesn't differ greatly between Midwest and Southeast, though the Northeast is a bit older and the Southwest is a bit younger. It's not like Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsylvania (three of six states over ten million in population) are full of just pensioners. We can talk about spring football and the difference that makes at the high school level, but that's another issue entirely.
As that quote indicates, this is all effort. Kentucky football — of all programs — is running laps around programs like Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, and Purdue. As long as those programs, their fan bases, and their administrations accept that, or are okay with that, then this will be the norm. Those Big Ten schools will still generate a ton of football revenue, almost despite themselves. The Big Ten isn't necessarily "short on elite college football talent". It is short right now on "give a [expletive deleted]". It pervades all aspects of the program, both recruiting and actual coaching/quality of play.
One very curious omission on this list is Braxton Miller. I can understand if the list was framed as those with just pro potential, since Miller is not there yet. If, however, we're talking about "top 50 talented" college football players, then I'm not sure why a Heisman front-runner is snubbed. I mean, Johnny Manziel's pop-gun arm is on there at #22.
Alas, it's just one dude's, like, opinion, man.
He'd be my first Big Ten defender drafted too. MOCK DRAFT THE BIG TEN. BTN published a mock draft of the Big Ten that is worth at least a skim. Three personalities for the network held their own mock draft in "snaking" (i.e. 1-2-3, 3-2-1, 1-2-3, etc.) order to select the eight best players in the league for their "team". The rules, in addition to the selection process, are somewhat simple. Each team has a quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, a kicker (for some reason), and one defensive player.
Here are the three teams these three BTN employees made for themselves.
QB: Braxton Miller, Ohio State
RB: Venric Mark, Northwestern
RB: Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska
WR: Jeremy Gallon, Michigan
WR: Christian Jones, Northwestern
TE: Jacob Pedersen, Wisconsin
K: Mauro Bondi, Nebraska
D: Max Bullough, LB, Michigan State
QB: Taylor Martinez, Nebraska
RB: Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
RB: James White, Wisconsin
WR: Cody Latimer, Indiana
WR: Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin
TE: C.J. Fiedorowicz, TE, Iowa
K: Drew Basil, Ohio State
D: Chris Borland, LB, WisconsinQB: Devin Gardner, Michigan
RB: Carlos Hyde, Ohio State
RB: Stephen Houston, Indiana
WR: Allen Robinson, Penn State
WR: Kenny Bell, Nebraska
TE: Devin Funchess, Michigan
K: Jeff Budzien, Northwestern
D: Ryan Shazier, Ohio State
A poll followed for BTN.com readers to select whose team they think is best. I think I'm partial to the third team, though BTN.com readers are mostly picking the first team. I think we can all agree that any team in which Taylor Martinez was selected first is an automatic "nnnnnnope".
That first team has a lot of deceptive star power. Braxton Miller (the first overall pick) grabs everyone's attention. But, Venric Mark and Jeremy Gallon don't get enough recognition for how good they are. That Christian Jones and Jacob Pedersen round out that receiving corp makes that squad a bit more interesting.
Still, I like that third team Devin Gardner should be a quality quarterback for Brady Hoke in his third year at the helm in Ann Arbor. His continued development, and Taylor Lewan's return to Michigan, should prevent the Wolverines from following an 8-5 season with a similar campaign. In addition, that tailback tandem of Carlos Hyde and Stephen Houston is really good. Give me Ryan Shazier over any of the other defenders selected. It's weird that linebacker was the only defensive position selected. No consideration for Brad Roby, Bruce Gaston, Darqueze Dennard, or Ra'Shede Hageman?
MISCELLANY. Tom Rinaldi haunts your dreams... Alabama's football facilities... Dwyane Wade's ex-wife in midst of a rather weird, and public, meltdown... Cancer forces FC Barcelona's manager to resign... Not a good look, Eagles/Taylor Swift fan... FIU can't do anything right... Goodness, Yasiel Puig... You won't want to miss this handsome collection of articles previewing the 2013 Ohio State season in one great magazine, so buy it...
