Bret Bielema's Departure Stuns Wisconsin

Shocking news out of Madison Tuesday, as Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema has decided to head to Arkansas.

Bielema’s agreement with Arkansas came together in less than 24 hours, according to multiple sources.

... Money likely played a role in Bielema’s decision. He reportedly will make $3.2 million from Arkansas and turned down even more, so the money could go to his assistants.

... Having a better chance to win a national title also was a motivating factor for Bielema, Ball said. Arkansas is a member of the Southeastern Conference, which has produced the last six national champions.

Arkansas, which competes in the loaded West Division against the likes of Alabama, LSU and Texas A&M, has yet to win an SEC title since coming over from the former Southwest Conference in 1992, losing all three of its appearances in the league title game.

The Razorbacks are upgrading their infrastructure, with an 80,000-square-foot football operations center currently under construction, and are looking into expanding the 72,000-seat Razorback Stadium.

After going 68-24 in seven seasons at UW, Bielema leaves a hole.

(I've never been Bret Bielema's No. 1 fan, but it's impossible to argue that he wasn't successful at Wisconsin, as evidenced by his teams winning 44 more games than they lost in seven seasons.)

Athletic director Barry Alvarez is now charged with filling that hole. At least temporarily, there's a puncher's chance he'll fill it with Barry Alvarez.

According to a source close to the UW football program, athletic director Barry Alvarez does not plan to allow Bret Bielema to coach the Badgers in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 against Stanford and may lead the team on the sideline himself.

That source said Alvarez, who was out of town and unavailable for comment, planned to oversee the team while he searches for a replacement for Bielema, who accepted a job Tuesday to coach the University of Arkansas.

Alvarez's last game as coach at UW was the 2006 Capitol One Bowl, a 24-10 victory over Auburn. He led UW to victories in the 1994, 1999 and 2000 Rose Bowls.

In the university's only public comment about Bielema's departure, Alvarez made it a point to say that one of his priorities was making sure the current players, "especially our seniors ... have a tremendous experience in the Rose Bowl."

Certainly, you can infer -- if you're inclined to read between lines and such. It sure seems as if Alvarez is contemplating taking the team to Pasadena himself, and the report linked above from Jeff Potrykus adds more fuel.

As a UW football fan, I'd have to support the endeavor. Perhaps it'd be a trial balloon of sorts for a full-time return. One more run for Alvarez, and the chance to perhaps pick his own successor a second time.

With a 68-24 record and three straight Big Ten titles, I'd say Alvarez did all right with his choice of Bielema.

Stunned by his departure, perhaps the best thing Alvarez can do is let the smoke clear, focus on his current crop of football players having a great time at the Rose Bowl, and make sure he does the right thing for the program's future.

BlogPoll: Week 2 Ballot, I Guess

Here is this week's BlogPoll ballot, as submitted by yours truly Monday morning.

The Ciskie Blog Ballot - Week 2

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
2	USC Trojans	--
3	Oklahoma Sooners	--
4	LSU Tigers	--
5	Florida St. Seminoles	--
6	Georgia Bulldogs	--
7	West Virginia Mountaineers	--
8	Oregon Ducks	--
9	Michigan St. Spartans	1
10	South Carolina Gamecocks	1
11	Virginia Tech Hokies	1
12	Stanford Cardinal	1
13	Clemson Tigers	2
14	Texas Longhorns	2
15	TCU Horned Frogs	3
16	Florida Gators	3
17	Michigan Wolverines	3
18	South Florida Bulls	4
19	Arizona Wildcats	--
20	Ohio St. Buckeyes	--
21	Baylor Bears	4
22	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	1
23	Boise St. Broncos	1
24	UCLA Bruins	--
25	Northwestern Wildcats	--
Dropouts: Arkansas Razorbacks, Wisconsin Badgers, Oklahoma St. Cowboys, Nebraska Cornhuskers

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings »

There is a lot to discuss. Much was moved, especially once we got through the top five.

A few thoughts:

• Amazingly disappointing performance by Arkansas, which seemed to let the foot off the gas after opening a 28-7 lead over Louisiana-Monroe. The Razorbacks deserve to fall out of the top 25.
• So does Wisconsin, which laid an egg bigger than any its laid in years, losing 10-7 to an average-at-best Oregon State team. The Badgers let a Beavers defense that allowed nearly 200 rushing yards per game last year hold them to 35 yards on the ground Saturday. Danny O'Brien couldn't have been worse. Not much poise, and didn't seem to have his accuracy going. The offensive line was so offensive that the line coach was canned Sunday. Strikes as a move made out of desperation, but Bret Bielema has never really done anything like this before. In my mind, that adds a bit of legitimacy to things. The season can still be salvaged, but it won't be if the line doesn't improve, both in run-blocking and pass pro.
• Kudos to Jim Mora and UCLA. At least we're finding out that Rick Neuheisel could recruit, even if the coaching part of things was somewhat subpar.

Danny O'Brien Named Wisconsin Starting Quarterback

It comes as a surprise to probably no one not named Joel Brennan, but Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema named his 2012 starting quarterback on Sunday.

It's Maryland transfer Danny O'Brien.

In June, O'Brien transferred to Wisconsin from Maryland, where he made 17 starts the past two seasons and passed for 4,086 yards with 29 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He graduated from Maryland in May and became eligible immediately at Wisconsin.

O'Brien beat out senior Curt Phillips and redshirt freshman Joel Stave for the starting job.

"Both Curt and Joel had great camps as well, we are very fortunate that we have 3 QB's that can play winning football for us," Bielema tweeted. 

Insert "Free agency," "QB Transfer U," or "ACC" jokes here. It'll be the second straight year that Wisconsin has taken an immediate transfer from an ACC school and named that player its starting quarterback.

Of course, Russell Wilson won the gig last season, and he did all right, leading the Badgers to a second straight Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl berth. It sure wasn't his fault that the Badgers didn't beat a beatable Oregon team in the Rose Bowl, either.

O'Brien doesn't have Wilson's track record. In fact, the former Terp has seen his share of struggles at this level. After a more-than-solid freshman season, O'Brien stumbled in 2011, throwing seven touchdown passes to ten interceptions. Maryland stunk under new head coach Randy Edsall, and O'Brien didn't appear to be a great fit in the offense moving forward.

That said, O'Brien was Wisconsin's best option from the minute he decided to play there.

You see, he doesn't need to be anything close to Wisconsin's offensive MVP. That's Montee Ball, the Heisman Trophy candidate who will hopefully be fully healthy and ready to go for the opener against mighty Northern Iowa. O'Brien also shouldn't have to worry about getting overwhelmed by opposing pass rushers, as the Badgers have yet another pretty good offensive line in front of him. With Jared Abbrederis back, the receiving corps should be good, too.

Maryland allowed 34 points per game last season, putting even more heat on O'Brien and the offense, which simply wasn't built for big numbers. This offense is built for big numbers, and the defense won't be nearly that bad.

It won't be as explosive as it was with Wilson, but O'Brien is an upgrade for the Badgers at quarterback, and the Badgers are easily good enough to win another Big Ten title.

Badger Football Rabble: August 14

With Wisconsin's football team in its second week of practice, much is going on in Madison. What won't be going on there is a significant on-field challenge, at least not until October.

(No, Nebraska fans, that's not a shot at your overrated team. The Badgers and Cornhuskers play in Lincoln. Wisconsin's home games before an Oct. 27 date with Michigan State are as follows: Northern Iowa, Utah State, UTEP, Illinois, Minnesota. Yawn.)

While all the talk over the first week of fall camp seems to have been centered on running back Montee "Heisman" Ball, who was assaulted on campus Aug. 1, and had been silent until Media Day on Sunday.

Ball, who sustained a concussion when he was assaulted, didn't dodge any questions, including those concerning his Heisman Trophy candidacy and his physical condition heading into the season.

The 21-year-old Ball said he made a last-minute decision to go out with some friends before the start of training camp.

"We weren't getting rowdy or anything. I was just heading right back to my place a block away and I was attacked. That's all I remember," Ball said. "I'm very blessed because it obviously could have been a lot worse."

The injury kept Ball out for the first week of practice, but it sounds like he'll be weened back into the swing of things, and the hope still is that he'll be available for the UNI game.

While the running back job is Ball's as long as he's healthy, the quarterback position is once again unsettled. One year after the Badgers "rented" Russell Wilson and rode his right arm and mobility to a Big Ten title, Wisconsin has rolled the dice on another transfer. Former Maryland quarterback Danny O'Brien doesn't have Wilson's track record of success, so it remains to be seen if he can make anything close to Wilson's impact. But while no one has handed O'Brien a thing so far at fall camp, he does expect to win the job.

(I know: What did you expect him to say? But at least he's not hiding from his expectations of himself.)

As far as the competition goes, well, yeah. Fifth-year senior Curt Phillips is coming off three knee surgeries, and it doesn't appear to be going well for him in camp.

On Monday, when media were allowed to watch practice for the first time, it looked like the biggest obstacle to Phillips winning the starting job might be his problem getting much zip on his passes.

Phillips was moving around fine, but still was having problem driving off his back leg when he threw.

Also on the depth chart is redshirt freshman Joel Stave. Hopes are high, but he's not there yet.

Stave did some good things and had one of the best throws of the practice, a completion of more than 20 yards to tight end Sam Arneson against double coverage. But Stave is still developing and needs to improve in several areas, including getting a quicker release.

No way Stave's a factor, but he's ahead of Joe Brennan -- last year's backup to Wilson -- on the depth chart. That apparently has Brennan a little cheesed.

Sophomore Joe Brennan was not at the team’s media day Sunday as he has been granted a “sabbatical” by Bret Bielema as “[h]e’s looking into some options outside of the University of Wisconsin to possibly transfer to.”

... Bielema, though, hasn’t completely closed the door on a return.

“I’m not for sure that’s going to happen. I’ve allowed him to take some time away from the program here, explore his options and get a feel for where he’s at and would welcome him back if that’s kind of the direction he wants to go.”

No grudge here. If Brennan is behind three guys who weren't a factor last year, he may feel he has the right to be perturbed. No reason why he shouldn't be allowed to look at his options, and no reason for Wisconsin to just cut ties because he wants to look at those options.

Expectations are high, and Bielema doesn't need to have unhappy guys, even if they're way down the depth chart.

Big Ten Football Poll Likely Not Far Off

Tuesday begins Big Ten football Media Days, as the league looks to get on with life following the historic hammer-dropping on Penn State's program Monday, both by the NCAA and B1G.

As we move into the last week of July and get ready for football camps to open, select members of the media put together a preseason Big Ten football poll.

The results? Well, I'll give them to you now, and tell you that they probably are too far separated from reality.

 LEADERS

TEAM (FIRST-PLACE VOTES)    
 1. Wisconsin (19)     139
 2. Ohio State (5)     125
 3. Purdue     79
 4. Illinois     72
 5. Penn State     65
 6. Indiana     24

LEGENDS

TEAM (FIRST-PLACE VOTES)    
 1. Michigan (16)     134
 2. Michigan State (7)     120
 3. Nebraska (1)     104
 4. Iowa     72
 5. Northwestern     51
 6. Minnesota     24

Title-game winner: Michigan over Wisconsin (11 votes), Michigan State over Wisconsin (7), Wisconsin over Michigan (5), Wisconsin over Nebraska (1).

It's about what I expected, only Nebraska didn't get as many votes in the Legends Division as I thought it would.

Michigan is the sexy pick. Brady Hoke gets a lot of starters and regulars back, including Denard Robinson, who looked more comfortable as the season wore on.

(As an example of this, Robinson's accuracy down the stretch was better than it was earlier in the season. He's still scattershot at times, which drives people nuts, I'm sure. But if he can bring that completion percentage up to 60 or higher -- it was 55 last year -- Michigan should reap the benefits.)

I think the biggest thing to look at between Michigan and Michigan State, besides the fact that their head-to-head game is in Ann Arbor this year, is the stability at quarterback and wide receiver. Michigan State has to replace Kirk Cousins and his top four receivers from last year. No easy task.

Nebraska has 14 starters back, including Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead in the offensive backfield. Not only that, but the Cornhuskers have outstanding senior linebackers in Will Compton and Sean Fisher.

Shockingly, Minnesota was picked last. The Gophers open the Big Ten season at Iowa Sept. 29, in a game that could decide if this team has any prayer of making a bowl in Jerry Kill's second season. I can't wait to see if MarQueis Gray has developed at all as the quarterback, or if Max Shortell -- who played as a true freshman -- has a chance to supplant him. If the team struggles, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see Shortell by mid-October. Incoming freshmen Mitch Leidner and Philip Nelson shouldn't be in this mix at all. I'm sure Kill wants to redshirt both if he can.

In the Leaders Division, it's much more cut and dried. Wisconsin is an easy favorite, with postseason-ineligible Ohio State also looking dangerous. Illinois could be a threat if Tim Beckman can get quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase to be more consistent. Outside of that, the division is pretty mediocre.

It'll be interesting to see if anyone in the Leaders Division can pick up the slack among those bottom four teams. I think Illinois is the best of the bunch, but Purdue could surprise, and Penn State's troubles could be Indiana's ticket out of the cellar.

Penn State Sanctioned, JoePa Statue Gone, But It's Not Enough

That's what I keep thinking. It's not enough. It will never be enough.

What Jerry Sandusky did to those kids defies any kind of words that I can deliver. And nothing Penn State can do will ever serve as a make-good. You can't retroactively change what happened, or magically heal the human beings affected by Sandusky's inhumane behavior.

However, it's equally unreasonable to expect that nothing be done. Life should not be allowed to go on as normal at that university.

And it won't.

Monday morning, the NCAA announced historic sanctions against the university. Here are the details:

The NCAA has hit Penn State with a $60 million sanction, a four-year football postseason ban and a vacation of all wins dating to 1998, the organization announced Monday morning in a news release.

"These funds must be paid into an endowment for external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims and may not be used to fund such programs at the university," the statement said.

The career record of former head football coach Joe Paterno will reflect these vacated records," the statement continued.

Penn State must also reduce 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period, the release said.

Like I said, it's not enough. It's also not enough that legendary coach Joe Paterno's statue outside Beaver Stadium was taken down on Sunday.

"I now believe that, contrary to is original intention, Coach Paterno's statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our university and beyond," (school president Rodney) Erickson said in his 592-word statement. "For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location."

It's not the right decision. It's the only decision.

There is a healing process that the university needs to go through here. It was rocked to its core by this scandal, which didn't even last the length of a pregnancy. The Sandusky investigation results were released on a lazy Saturday last November. From that point, everything seems to have been practically in fast-forward. Paterno was removed as football coach, the university decided to hire an outside guy -- New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien -- to lead the program, Paterno died, Sandusky was convicted of 45 counts related to abusing children, and former FBI director Louis Freeh destroyed any remnants of Paterno's legacy in his report on the scandal, released not even two weeks ago.

Paterno was aware of at least some of Sandusky's behavior; certainly, the former coach knew enough that he had to think someone should stop Sandusky. Instead, he seemed more interested in protecting the minions that "ran" the university, and protecting reputations that didn't need or deserve protecting. He was an active participant in the attempted cover-up, and frankly, based on Freeh's report, Paterno should have been facing federal charges along with former school officials Tim Curley and Graham Spanier, who are facing charges.

These punishments by the NCAA don't solve any of this. Nothing will. The organization felt it had no choice. But more than that, NCAA president Mark Emmert felt a need to protect his phony-baloney job with this action. It's an action he should have taken with rogue schools years ago, but chose to follow the NCAA's horrific processes.

Matt Hayes of The Sporting News believes the NCAA has shown its hypocritical side in all of this.

Excuse me if I can't get excited about an organization that saw Ohio State players accept cash in envelopes after coach Jim Tressel's lies and illegal benefits for players were exposed, but said lack of institutional control wasn't an issue.

If I can't get excited about an organization that knew Cecil Newton was shopping his son, Cam, to Mississippi State — yet let him continue to play at Auburn (and eventually win a national championship) — because it had no rule prohibiting parents from shopping their offspring to the highest bidder.

If I can't get excited about an organization that knows street agent Willie Lyles was paid $25,000 by Oregon for useless recruiting information; that knows Lyles was the "mentor" for five-star recruit Lache Seastrunk; that knows Oregon coach Chip Kelly lied when asked by a newspaper if he knew Lyles (Kelly later said, we call him 'Will'); that knows Kelly told Lyles he needed more recruiting information from Lyles after the fact, yet we're more than a year into the Oregon investigation with no end in sight.

If I can't get excited about an organization that looked at quite possibly the worst case of NCAA infractions in the history of the sport at North Carolina — in its depth and breadth of clear, indisputable illegal benefits and academic fraud issues — and decided it wasn't as destructive as a Southern Cal assistant coach who the NCAA claimed "knew or should have known" Reggie Bush was getting illegal benefits.

What happened at Penn State is the single greatest tragedy in sports history. Whatever penalties the university receives from the NCAA — whether or not the sport's governing body and Penn State agreed on them — isn't the point. If it were up to me, I'd shut down the program for the exact number of years the university hid the child abuse. 

This isn't a bad take at all.

More.

We have to step away from the raw emotions of a horrific moment in college football, and look at the bigger picture. You can't make a quick decision on one case because it's unthinkable in its impact and destruction on so many lives, and then drag your feet on others (Southern Cal, North Carolina, Oregon, Ohio State, Miami of Florida) that cut to the very core of amateur athletics.

You can't claim lack of subpoena power in exposing issues at rogue schools, and then use the Freeh Report as the framework of your sanctions against Penn State — the same Freeh Commission that also had no subpoena power. 

Hayes is right in what he is saying. The NCAA is an athletics institution, yet it has miserably failed to properly govern athletics.

Maybe this will spur some action in that regard. But virtually everything with the NCAA is a process, so don't bet on it.

Random Rabble: April 10

The idea of crooked coaches with screwed-up ideas of what constitutes discipline and leadership isn't really new to college sports, but the last few days have been another hit to the overall reputation of the profession.

It started early last week, when Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino was in a motorcycle accident that landed him in the hospital with (thankfully) non-life threatening injuries. Of course, the story didn't end there.

The Razorbacks coach was put on paid administrative leave on Thursday night less than seven hours after his boss, athletic director Jeff Long, learned Petrino had failed to disclose he had been riding with a female employee half his age when his motorcycle skidded off the road over the weekend.

Petrino said he had been concerned about protecting his family and keeping an "inappropriate relationship from becoming public."

It was a stunning revelation for a highly successful coach who prides himself on complete control and intense privacy in his personal life. Petrino will now wait out his fate while Long conducts a review.

Whoops.

Petrino could be fired, and probably for cause, not because he's a married man with four kids who carried on an affair with a woman half his age. Instead, his employment could be in jeopardy because he lied to his boss and tried to cover up the fact she was riding with him when he crashed.

Of course, since it's the SEC, it's not as easy as logic dictates it should be. You see, Arkansas was 11-2 last season, and the Razorbacks are favored to be in the preseason top ten this summer. Why the hell would we care about Petrino lying to his bosses, or generally not being a trustworthy cat? He can win football games, and that's all that matters in that particular part of the country.

Well, until it comes to Election Day. Then, suddenly, morals matter when they fit the talking points.

Elsewhere in college football, Matt Hayes of Sporting News has a pretty impressive story on Urban Meyer's undoing at Florida. The new Ohio State coach has been the subject of much controversy already, which we'll get to in a second.

Hayes writes extensively about Meyer's inability and general unwillingness to institute any sort of discipline for his star players with the Gators. It's a culture that caused many a problem for the program after Meyer left and Will Muschamp took over.

Ironically, Florida’s downfall began at the height of Meyer’s success—the 2008 national championship season. Three seasons of enabling and pandering to elite players—what Meyer’s players called his “Circle of Trust”—began to tear away at what he’d put together.

“I’ve never heard of Circle of Trust before in my life,” Meyer said.

Former players, though, contend it was the foundation of Florida’s culture under Meyer. In the season opener against Hawaii, Meyer said a few elite players (including wideout Percy Harvin, linebacker Brandon Spikes and tight end Aaron Hernandez) would miss the game with injuries. According to multiple sources, the three players—all critical factors in Florida’s rise under Meyer—failed drug tests for marijuana and were sitting out as part of standard university punishment.

By publicly stating the three were injured and not being disciplined, former players say, Meyer was creating a divide between the haves and have-nots on the team.

“They were running with us on the first team all week in practice,” one former player said. “The next thing you know, they’re on the sidelines with a (walking) boot for the season opener like they were injured. Of course players see that and respond to it.”

It was Harvin, more than anyone, who epitomized the climate Meyer created. While former players say Harvin always was treated differently as a member of Meyer’s Circle of Trust, it was the beginning of his sophomore season—after he helped lead the Gators to the 2006 national title—that it became blatant. That's also when it began to contribute negatively toward team chemistry.

During offseason conditioning before the 2007 season, the team was running stadium steps and at one point, Harvin, according to sources, sat down and refused to run. When confronted by strength and conditioning coaches, Harvin—who failed to return calls and texts to his cell phone to comment on this story—said, “This (expletive) ends now.”

“The next day,” a former player said, “we were playing basketball as conditioning.”

It only got worse as Harvin’s career progressed. At one point during the 2008 season, multiple sources confirmed that Harvin, now a prominent member of the Minnesota Vikings, physically attacked wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales, grabbing him by the neck and throwing him to the ground. Harvin had to be pulled off Gonzales by two assistant coaches—but was never disciplined.

When asked about the Harvin incident, Gonzales—now offensive coordinator at Illinois—said, “I think it’s a little overblown. I mean, every great player wants his voice to be heard.”

Said Meyer: “Something did happen and something was handled. I don’t think it’s fair to Percy Harvin or Billy Gonzales to talk about it.”

I'm not one to judge, but it seems like Meyer had a tendency to play favorites at Florida. I'm not saying this doesn't happen elsewhere, but I'm going to guess Nick Saban doesn't pull this stuff at Alabama, and it's a big reason why he is able to win year after year.

I'm also not going to judge Harvin, but it's not like his NFL career has come without any problems.

Speaking of Meyer, do you remember the kerfluffle that Wisconsin created regarding his recruiting practices at Ohio State? Hayes' story, which I told you is extensive (and very long and very, very good, too), goes on to detail some of the things Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema was upset about.

Bielema, whose team hosts Ohio State on Nov. 17, has declined to offer specifics.

However, according to The Sporting News, UW officials accused Meyer of having former Ohio State players currently in the NFL call recruits. Such calls would be an NCAA violation.

In addition, UW officials accused Meyer and other Ohio State coaches of "bumping into" offensive line recruit Kyle Dodson during mandated dead periods. That would also be an NCAA violation. Dodson, from Cleveland, backed out of a commitment to UW and signed with the Buckeyes.

A college football source confirmed Monday those were the alleged violations that raised Bielema's ire long before signing day. Bielema's issues with Meyer were part of a larger look at how Meyer ran the Florida program.

"There's a few things that happened early on that I made people be aware of," Bielema said in February, "that I didn't want to see in this league that I had seen take place at other leagues . . . recruiting practices that are illegal.

"And I was very up front and was very pointed to the fact. I actually reached out to coach Meyer and shared my thoughts and concerns with him, and the situation got rectified."

I'm guessing Nov. 17 will be a very interesting day in Madison. Odds are that it'll be a prime-time game, and there's nothing like giving fans in Madison the whole day to lube up before a big game. I'm sure they'll treat Meyer wonderfully.

Wisconsin Lets Great Season Slip Away

Hope everyone had a good New Year's weekend. Back in the grind we go, I guess.

After back-to-back losses on Hail Mary throws derailed Wisconsin's BCS title hopes before October was over, there was still a chance for the Badgers to finish the season on a high note. The Big Ten title was within their grasp -- thanks in large part to the numerous flaws shown by division foes Ohio State and Penn State throughout the season -- and therefore the Rose Bowl was still a possibility.

By winning out, Wisconsin was able to earn the Big Ten championship, and they got that Rose Bowl slot against Oregon Monday.

It was there that Wisconsin's inability to manage the clock and close a game again bit them hard. This time, Oregon found a way to win the highest-scoring Rose Bowl ever, 45-38. Both teams led, but neither ever led by more than seven points.

Turnovers were a factor, with Wisconsin getting a touchdown off an Oregon fumble, and Oregon getting a huge touchdown off a Wisconsin interception. But it was a turnover that only led to a punt that turned the game for good.

Wisconsin sophomore receiver Jared Abbrederis caught a long pass from Russell Wilson. As he was being tackled near the sideline, he lost the ball. Inexplicably, the ball died on the grass and didn't bounce out of bounds. Oregon recovered. Abbrederis has to secure the ball more effectively, but it was a great strip and a hell of a lucky break for Oregon, because the ball totally should have bounced out of bounds.

The other big play in the game was a Wisconsin kickoff that went for a touchback.

The Oregon returner fielded the kick in the end zone, took a couple steps, then thought better of it and dropped to a knee. The rules say the ball must be completely out of the end zone to be out of it (just like the tip of the ball just has to cross the goal line for a touchdown to stand). The ball was clearly not out of the end zone. Only half of it (maybe) was.

Badgers coach Bret Bielema protested the call, then burned a timeout to try to get the officials to review it. That left Wisconsin with only one timeout later, and instead of getting the ball back with 50 seconds left, Wisconsin didn't even have 20.

Then came the spike at the end of the game. Wilson tried to kill the clock, but there wasn't enough time for that. I don't know if that call came from Wilson or Bielema, but it was a poor decision. Along with the unnecessarily burned timeout, it was another example of Bielema struggling with clock management.

To recap, Wisconsin lost three games this season. The first came on a Hail Mary pass at the end of the game where three Badgers watched a Michigan State player catch an already-tipped pass before any of them tried to tackle the receiver (on a tipped pass, there can be no pass interference ... everyone is fair game). The second came on a glorified Hail Mary pass in which Wisconsin let an Ohio State player run down the field without bothering to do much about it.

Then came the Rose Bowl.

Ugh.

Bielema is getting shredded for his clock/timeout management. He should. It's not getting better.

However, the big picture dictates that Bielema is doing a pretty good job. Yeah, he's 2-4 in bowl games (Barry Alvarez was 8-3). Yeah, he's 0-2 at the Rose Bowl (Alvarez was 3-0). But this is not a program that tasted a ton of success before Alvarez arrived. The transition wasn't perfect, but Bielema did well taking over and keeping things going with at least a solid rate of success on the field.

He doesn't strike me as a threat to win a national championship, but neither did Gene Chizik, either. And Les Miles is potentially crazy, yet is going for another title on Monday. Chip Kelly is nuts, too, and he could have won last year.

Bielema is flawed, but is he more flawed than others who have caught lightning in a bottle and won? I don't know.

It's frustrating to be sunk by similar circumstances in losses, but it's also easy to lose sight of all the good Bielema has done. The Badgers had a great power running game this season, but Wilson's presence allowed them to form a formidable passing game that consistently took pressure off Montee Ball. Offensive coordinator Paul Chryst will be missed as he makes his way to Pittsburgh to become head coach, but there is talent, and if Bielema can solve the inconsistency at quarterback that forced him to recruit Wilson in the first place, Wisconsin will be back in Pasadena soon.

As Bielema himself said Monday, hopefully a future trip is accompanied by tears of joy, not tears of sorrow.

BCS Needs Help, Change

I've made no qualms about the fact that the BCS sucks. Hell, I typically refuse to seriously entertain arguments that it's good in any way for college football.

Back in 2006, Michigan and Florida were jousting for the final spot in the BCS title game against unbeaten and top-ranked (and, as it turned out, severely overrated) Ohio State. Michigan had lost its season finale to Ohio State in a nail-biter that came one day after the death of legendary former coach Bo Schembechler.

The Wolverines were still ahead of Florida in the BCS rankings, but Florida beat Arkansas Dec. 2 for the SEC title while Michigan and Ohio State watched TV. No. 2 USC lost to UCLA, shockingly taking itself out of the running.

That, naturally, brought on the politicking that makes the BCS so damn special to college football fans.

Remember when Florida was worried Michigan and Ohio State were going to meet in a rematch for the title? Here’s what Urban Meyer said that day:

"We’re going to tell a group of young men who just went 12-1 with the most difficult schedule against six ranked opponents that they don’t have a chance to go play for a national championship?” Florida coach Urban Meyer asked incredulously. “I’m going to need help with that one.”

Here’s then-freshman receiver Percy Harvin:

“Michigan already had its chance. I think we deserve a chance.”

And the best quote came from Florida President Bernie Machen (who is a playoff guy):

“If they don’t vote for us after tonight, we need a new system,” Florida President Bernie Machen said after the game. “We should be packing our bags for Glendale.”

Florida got in, largely because a number of voters decided that their win over Arkansas meant they were suddenly better than Michigan.

Now, of course, the lobbying is of a different sort. An Alabama team that is idle this weekend while the SEC, Big 10, and Pac 12 decide conference titles with championship games is expected to play LSU in the BCS title game Jan. 9. That game might actually be played even if LSU stubs its toe against Georgia Saturday.

Seriously.

The games this weekend don't count. At all. They have no bearing on the BCS, which prides itself on telling us how every game counts.

These games don't count, and apparently LSU's win over Alabama Nov. 5 meant nothing, too, because Alabama will get another shot at LSU.

I'm guilty of saying publicly that Alabama is the second-best team in the country, yes. But as Stewart Mandel writes this week, the BCS is choosing Alabama not because it's clearly deserving, or because the world is clamoring for another Alabama-LSU snoozefest.

Instead, the selection is about the past, and not the present. If you look at the case Mandel makes, it's not about the present. Oklahoma State has more wins against top 25 teams, more wins against top 50 teams, and actually (gasp) won its conference. Alabama didn't even win its division, much less its conference.

The system needs help. There is no easy way to determine a second-best team in a world where there is only one viable unbeaten (sorry, Houston). I'm not going to bang the playoff drum, because there's no point. People are either going to scream along with you or scream at you. There is no convincing the insane on this issue. They will continue to believe that every game counts in the BCS, and that there are no major issues with the bowl system.

Go ahead. Rally against facts, and against the truth. It wouldn't be the first time the majority believed in a lie.

Meanwhile, another season has gone by where the powers-that-be have ignored the obvious cash cow that is a college football playoff in favor of an inferior, corrupt, less lucrative bowl system that sucks half the life out of a sport a lot of people would love if only given the chance.

Oh, and we continue to judge teams that play different styles and different schedules by results of games that were played three, four, five, or more years ago.

Of course, this doesn't matter to the BCS. The SEC is king, the league that produces national champions. That voters already spoke loudly about a potential title game rematch five years ago is irrelevant. That, after all, involved the crappy Big 10. This involves the NFL-like SEC. And you know fans will flip their TVs on in droves to see another big SEC game morph into a field goal-kicking contest.

Since it's the BCS, that's all that matters in the end.

Big Ten Football = Not Good

One of the things that gets cast aside once my attention span gets dominated by college hockey is college football.

I love college football, but the fact that we still don't have a likable system to decide a major-college champion is a problem, and it doesn't help that the Big Ten is basically a non-competitive entity in the sport.

If that hadn't been proven beyond a doubt before this weekend, things that happened Saturday only underscored the problems this league is having right now.

We know who the top Big Ten teams are in football. Nebraska, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Penn State, and probably either Michigan or Ohio State are the top five. What we didn't know is how far this upper tier is from being a legitimate contender nationally.

The only one of the group -- Wisconsin -- that had even a prayer of a BCS title shot blew it the last two weekends. How did they blow it?

Well, I'm glad you asked. Against Michigan State, in Wisconsin's first true road game of the season, the Badgers jumped to a 14-0 lead, fell behind 31-17 with a bunch of third-down screw-ups on defense, special teams bloopers, and two Russell Wilson interceptions. The Badgers then tied the score thanks to two great drives led by Wilson. And then Michigan State scored on a Hail Mary pass on the last play of the game. While three Badgers stood and watched, Kurt Nichol caught a deflected pass, then leaned into the end zone.

As if that wasn't gut-wrenching enough, Wisconsin went to Columbus Saturday, jumped to another early lead, and then went through a similar comedy of errors in falling behind 26-14 in the fourth quarter. Wilson led them back again, and Wisconsin took a 29-26 lead into the final minute. Then Ohio State got a 40-yard score in the last 30 seconds. Buckeyes win 33-29. Ugh.

This isn't about blame. The Badgers aren't good enough, and haven't been good enough for years. They prove it when they go on the road to play good, but inferior, teams.

(No disrespect intended here. But I'm sorry. Ohio State and Michigan State aren't as good as Wisconsin, and never should have been in position to win those games. It's a symptom of a problem for Wisconsin.)

And if Wisconsin -- with the mercenary quarterback, stout running game, and somewhat decent defense -- isn't good enough to win a national title out of the Big Ten, there's no hope.

Nebraska is decent, but got blown out at Wisconsin a month ago, and it's not like that was an accident. Michigan State and Ohio State are good teams, but MSU had no chance Saturday in Lincoln, and tOSU wasn't good enough to beat middling Miami. Or Michigan State. Michigan lost to Michigan State, and the quarterback is hardly consistent with his throws, but they're good, and they should be good enough to end their tOSU losing streak later in November.

Penn State may have lost convincingly to Alabama, but that's no crime. What is a crime is that they still only have that one loss, despite an offense that makes the phrase "sets football back 40 years" seem like an understatement. Did you watch that Illinois game? My word. I knew Illinois wasn't that good, but that was one of the worst football games you'll see all season.

Who's coming out of this league? Probably Nebraska at this rate. And what chance will Nebraska have against Oregon or Stanford or whoever else in the Rose Bowl? Probably not very much.

This is the state of Big Ten football. On the outside looking in.

2011 College Football Preview: Big Ten

As usual, my 2011 College Football Preview includes information compiled from a variety of sources, most notably the work of Phil Steele. Check out his preview publications and material on his website. I also scour local newspapers and school websites for updated information, but it should be noted that all information contained in team and conference previews is only current up to the date of that post's publication.

BIG TEN CONFERENCE
Predicted Order of Finish
Leaders Division
1. Wisconsin
2. Penn State
3. Illinois
4. Ohio State
5. Purdue
6. Indiana
Legends Division
1. Nebraska
2. Michigan State
3. Northwestern
4. Michigan
5. Iowa
6. Minnesota

Top Storylines in the Big Ten

Nebraska brings league title game, bad division names, instant contender. Welcome, Nebraska. Before you've won a Big Ten game, you have a target on your back. You have the label of "favorite." That's what happens when you have a defense with guys like tackle Jared Crick, end Cameron Meredith, and cornerback Alfonzo Dennard, and a young quarterback like Taylor Martinez. Yeah, Bo Pelini has to replace some offensive pieces like Roy Helu and Niles Paul, but the Cornhuskers walk into the Big Ten as a team capable of contending for the national championship. Martinez was up and down as a freshman, but he got through a sometimes-rough first year and helped lead his team to a ten-win season. Nebraska will keep with the run-first offense, with Martinez and junior back Rex Burkhead leading the charge. It's the kind of addition a league makes and is really happy with in hindsight. There is a buzz around this league that hasn't existed for a while, and it distracts people from the goings-on at tOSU.

How Russell Wilson's inability to hit changed the Big Ten race. To put it bluntly, Wilson created a new contender for the national championship by transferring to Wisconsin. The Badgers return two top running backs, an experienced senior receiver, and they possess one of the best offensive lines in the nation. Gabe Carimi is gone, but center Peter Konz and left tackle Ricky Wagner both return. Six starters return on defense, but they also bring back middle linebacker Chris Borland, a medical redshirt last year. Senior Aaron Henry is the leader in the secondary, and junior Mike Taylor will make plays at outside linebacker. But the story is Wilson. The former All-ACC quarterback solidifies the only major question mark Wisconsin had, as sophomore Jon Budmayr didn't look ready to step into Scott Tolzien's shoes. The Badgers don't play a true road game until Oct. 22 (Michigan State), and they open the league schedule Oct. 1 at home against Nebraska, the toughest game on their slate. Bret Bielema has matured as a coach, to the point that he is no longer a detriment to a program that has the look of a serious BCS contender.

What's left of Ohio State is still good. No more Terrelle Pryor. No more Sweatervest. Ross Homan and Devon Torrence are among those gone from the defense. Suspensions have sapped the team's depth for the first five games of the season. But Ohio State is still dangerous. Joe Bauserman takes over at quarterback, and he has plenty of weapons with the likes of Rod Smith and Jaamal Berry, and Dan Herron will be around after his suspension is served. The Buckeyes can catch, block, run, and will still play good defense. The key will be surviving the suspensions of guys like Herron and DeVier Posey, and then surviving road games against Nebraska, Illinois, and Michigan, along with home dates against Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Penn State. It's a tough draw this year, and a somewhat-gutted Ohio State team might not be its old self as a result. But they're still good.

Jerry Kill era opens with no promises or insane bluster. Unlike his predecessor, new Minnesota coach Jerry Kill doesn't feel the need to talk about what the Gophers are going to do. Instead, he's working to rebuild a program that was once a perennial bowl contender, but has gone 17-33 in the last four years. The Gophers have some talent, especially on the defense, for Kill to work with. But he acknowledges that this is a long-haul project, and not one that will carry a lot of short-term victory. For now, this team will work with what is there. On defense, guys like Kim Royston, Troy Stoudermire, and Brandon Kirksey have to make a leap as individuals for the team to truly improve. Offensively, it's on the broad shoulders of junior MarQueis Gray, a prized Tim Brewster recruit who was moved to receiver last year and caught 42 passes while Adam Weber finished his Gopher career as the school's all-time leading passer. Gray has an arm, but he's untested at that position at this level. The Big Ten schedule is a bear, with the most winnable games (Michigan, Purdue, Northwestern) all on the road.

The Rest of the Story

Joe Paterno has 14 starters back for his 46th year as Penn State coach. The Nittany Lions might not be BCS material, but they are good enough to make a second-tier bowl and perhaps pull an upset or two in league play. ... Lots of hope around this Illinois team, with sophomore Nathan Scheelhaase back along with leading receiver A.J. Jenkins. The offense was good last year, and should be even better this year. ... I think Purdue is going to improve this year, as Danny Hope enters his third season as head coach. I'm just not sure how far up the Leaders Division standings they can get, especially with some uncertainty at quarterback. ... Former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson takes over at Indiana, and his first job is to replace Ben Chappell, the school's No. 2 all-time passer. There are some pieces in place, but Wilson has a lot of work ahead. ... Senior quarterback Kirk Cousins and junior back Edwin Baker lead the way for Michigan State, a team largely forgotten in the Legends Division thanks to Nebraska, but one that is extremely talented and very much a title threat. ... Quarterback Dan Persa's health is a significant question for Northwestern, but once he's good to go, the Wildcats have one of the better offenses in the league. ... The Brady Hoke era starts at Michigan, and hopes are high it won't be the disaster that the Rich Rodriguez era was. The Wolverines return star quarterback Denard Robinson, leading receiver Ray Roundtree, running backs Michael Shaw and Vincent Smith, and seven starters on defense. Then again, given how bad the defense was last year, seven returning starters might not be a good thing. ... If junior James Vandenburg can lead the offense and get the ball in the hands of receiver Marvin McNutt, Iowa will be good enough to win eight or nine games again this season.

The Teardown of Ohio State Continues

It's been over a week since Ohio State finally had the good enough sense to tell Jim Tressel to get the hell out of town. The leader of the nation's most self-absorbed and sanctimonious football program was exposed as a fraud on the level of Lane Kiffin, only a fraud who won at least ten games virtually every year he was on the job.

In other words, Tressel was a cheater who actually knew how to take advantage of his cheating. Kiffin is just a fool until proven otherwise.

While the NCAA continues its investigation, and the Buckeyes try to find a quarterback, along with the soul they sold to win BCS games, it's interesting to read different takes on the situation.

Bill Carter of Sports Business Journal doesn't even want to call Tressel a coach, that's how low he thinks of the former media favorite.

He also tears down the notion that coaches who run opposite of Tressel should be considered heroic, or that they should be cheered incessantly for making tough decisions. As an example, he notes that Virginia lacrosse coach Dom Starsia led his team to a national championship this season, even though one of his players was charged with murdering a women's player last year, and he has dealt with disciplinary issues during this season.

This is no slight on Coach Starsia. I think he did a commendable job in which he should be congratulated — just not honored. A year ago, he provided leadership to a group of young men between the ages of 18 and 22 as they tried to understand a tragedy for which they had no experience to draw from. This year, University of Virginia lacrosse coach Dom Starsia provided the appropriate leadership expected of any college coach. Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel did not. This year, he punished individuals with no consideration of their skill level, for behavior that was detrimental to the team.

I’ll say it again — he did what we should expect any adult in a leadership role to do. Nothing more. I hope the athletic director and the administrators at the University of Virginia reward Coach Starsia with a handshake and a smile and tell him “good job” — which would be commensurate with the job he has done. But, by no fault of his, I’m sure he will be lauded as a hero for making “tough decisions” (I would simply call them “right decisions”).

I guess you would call Coach Starsia heroic if you are comparing him with Jim Tressel. (I can’t even call Tressel “Coach”.) Tressel provided no leadership whatsoever. Himself overpaid and self-entitled, he allowed the teens and young adults for which he was responsible to behave similarly (despite the fact that being paid at all is breaking the rules and to be self-entitled will result in difficulties out in the real world — so much for college football coaches teaching life lessons!).

I could write 100 paragraphs on how disgusting I think his behavior is, but it’s a bore. To me, Tressel is a nobody. He’s a footnote. I hope I forget about him by the end of this week, though I doubt ESPN will let me. 

The ESPN part is funny, because as one-time FanHouse comrade Clay Travis noted weeks ago, ESPN was flat-out refusing to cover this story was it was breaking in front of the world. Naturally, they weren't covering it because they wanted to both protect Tressel and themselves ... they didn't break the story, so they weren't going to take it seriously.

No one can deny the hero worship we give to coaches like Starsia, provided it's in a sport we care about. The problem is that we also mix in hero worship for cheats and liars like Tressel, and then we just brush them off like yesterday's news when they're exposed.

After all, there are other cheats and liars to worship. Until they get exposed, too.

Big Ten Hockey Official

Not surprisingly, the formation of a Big Ten Conference for men's hockey became official Monday.

The league issued a press release to announce what's been suspected since the day Penn State announced they were starting up a hockey program and building a new arena to house it.

Here is the text of the Big Ten's announcement.

The directors of athletics of Big Ten institutions which sponsor men's ice hockey unanimously announce their intention to recommend to the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors in June the establishment of men's ice hockey as an official conference sport for the 2013-14 academic year with participation by Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin.

The recommendation includes both the establishment of the inaugural Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament in March of 2014, with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship, and a 20-game conference schedule with each team playing the other five schools four times (two home games and two away games). In addition, the Big Ten's men's ice hockey programs will continue to proactively work to maintain a strong schedule of non-conference competition with the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).

In September of 2010, Penn State announced the establishment of men's and women's ice hockey programs set to begin competition in the 2012-13 academic year, giving the Big Ten six institutions sponsoring men's ice hockey. Big Ten rules allow for a conference championship when six institutions sponsor a program in any given sport.

Since Penn State's announcement, the conference has researched and investigated the establishment of men's ice hockey as a conference sport. The conference has sought input and communicated both internally with conference chancellors, presidents, administrators and coaches, and externally with members of the hockey community, including the CCHA and WCHA.

With the addition of Nebraska on July 1, 2011, the broad-based athletic programs of the 12 Big Ten institutions will sponsor 298 teams with more than 9,500 men and women student-athletes competing for Big Ten Championships. The conference currently features 25 official conference sports, 12 for men and 13 for women. The last official conference sport established by the Big Ten was women's rowing in the 1999-2000 academic year.

Simultaneously, the University of Minnesota announced their intention to be a part of this venture.

The University of Minnesota and the five other Big Ten institutions which sponsor men's ice hockey announced today their intention to recommend to the Big Ten Council of Presidents/Chancellors in June the establishment of men's ice hockey as an official conference sport. Competitive play would begin in the 2013‐14 academic year, and in addition to Minnesota, the participating schools in the league would be Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin.

The recommendation includes both the establishment of the inaugural Big Ten Men's Ice Hockey Tournament in March 2014, with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship, and a 20‐game conference schedule with each team playing the other five schools twice at home and twice on the road. 

"It's worth celebrating that a BCS conference institution in Penn State has joined the great landscape of college hockey. We are also pleased that the Big Ten has embraced this move by recommending that men's hockey be added as an official conference sport," Minnesota director of athletics Joel Maturi said. "At the same time there are some mixed emotions for us, as Minnesota is an original and proud member of the WCHA. We would depart with fond memories, and the sincere belief that many of the great WCHA rivalries that the Gophers have been a part of will continue through non-conference play."

In addition, the Big Ten announced that participating schools will continue to proactively work to maintain a strong schedule of non‐conference competition with the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA).

"We are excited about the possibility of a Big Ten hockey conference beginning with the 2013-14 season," Minnesota coach Don Lucia said. "Our rivalry with Wisconsin is well documented and it will be nice to play Michigan and Michigan State more than once a year. It will also be exciting to create new rivalries with Ohio State and Penn State. Right now we enjoy playing in the WCHA and will work with the league and WCHA schools to maintain established and traditional rivalries to ensure a competitive and entertaining non-conference schedule."

In September 2010, Penn State announced the establishment of men's and women's ice hockey programs set to begin competition in the 2012‐13 academic year, giving the Big Ten six institutions sponsoring men's ice hockey. Big Ten rules allow for a conference championship when six institutions sponsor a program in any given sport.

Obviously, this announcement is expected to have an impact on the sport. Here are a few bullet thoughts, many of which I've probably covered either here or on the air before.

• Expect the departing WCHA teams -- Minnesota and Wisconsin -- to have a scheduling arrangement with the remaining WCHA teams, most notably North Dakota, St. Cloud State, UMD, Bemidji State, Minnesota State, and St. Cloud State. The teams that bolted from the CCHA -- Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State -- will probably have a similar arrangement with the league they left. There should be a high priority placed on having the teams play members of the conferences they are leaving. No one in Sault Ste. Marie is going to give a crap about Lake Superior State playing Minnesota, but they'll care if Michigan shows up on the schedule. As for Penn State, it makes sense to have them play WCHA teams to even up the non-conference arrangements.
• The development is going to hurt the CCHA more. Programs like Lake Superior State, Ferris State, and even Western Michigan and Bowling Green rely in part on the income they get from extra attendance when Michigan and Michigan State visit. Having Notre Dame in the league helps, but they're simply not as big a draw. Not only that, but there is simply no reason for the CCHA to ever again play its championship in Detroit. If you thought the crowd in St. Paul for the Bemidji State-UMD/UAA-Colorado College doubleheader Thursday was sparse, you should have seen what the Joe had for Notre Dame-Miami Friday afternoon. It was visually striking in that it would have been extremely embarrassing if 1) I was a big-time CCHA supporter, or 2) I hadn't seen it happen so many times before, no matter who played in that Friday afternoon game. The CCHA should look at moving to a smaller rink, perhaps the one Fort Wayne used to host a regional last year. The days of them selling 15,000 tickets for the league championship in Detroit are likely over.
• From a conference standpoint, the WCHA is still on solid ground, with new additions Nebraska-Omaha and Bemidji State both doing well this year. UNO is looking at a new building for their program, and Bemidji just opened one. They will lose income with Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving -- no doubt -- but North Dakota is a decent (sarcasm) program, and the league still sports college hockey's best coach (Dean Blais).
• The CCHA, meanwhile, is down to eight teams. Room for expansion, but they have to worry about further losses first. Will programs like Lake Superior State, Ferris State, and Bowling Green survive without having the Big Ten schools on their schedule? It's a question that will be answered in the coming couple of years. Will the CCHA reconsider adding Alabama-Huntsville? It's not a hideous trip for anyone in the league outside of Alaska and the Upper Michigan schools, but most of the trips in league play are tough on them.
• I mentioned room for expansion, but who will be the schools adding hockey? If Illinois or Nebraska add it, they will join the Big Ten. You've undoubtedly heard about Paul Kelly's dream of USC or UCLA, but those are logistical nightmares, even for the WCHA. Imagine being USC or UCLA, knowing you would need a facility, a coaching staff, players, and also to fly to every one of your road series because Colorado is the closest state housing Division I hockey programs. Tough sell, methinks. 
• Will Alaska join the WCHA? The NCAA exemption rule indicates any WCHA team that went to Alaska twice would be allowed to play four extra non-conference games. The WCHA can't stand on the "You can't schedule an 11-team league" excuse anymore. It also puts the two Alaska schools in college hockey on a stronger footing, and in a league where they could play each other four times per season without any problems. Furthermore, it might open up more non-conference dates for everyone in the WCHA. That means more home games, something that could be attractive to potential newcomers. Just a thought.
• With the CCHA at a maximum of nine teams (assuming they pull the collective head out and take UAH), and the WCHA at a maximum of 11 (if they add UAF, something I admit is unlikely), there is room in those leagues for expansion. There is room in Hockey East for expansion. All is not lost in college hockey. Actually, this might be a good thing.

Big Ten Hockey Ready to Ruin, Save Sport

As we await the arrival of Penn State on the college hockey scene, we also await the arrival of Big Ten Hockey.

(CHN says that the Nittany Lions' new arena is coming along nicely, which speeds up the timetable for all this.)

It seems a foregone conclusion that the Big Ten will form a hockey conference, with members Minnesota and Wisconsin leaving the WCHA, and Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State leaving the CCHA. That six-team league might not have a long conference schedule, but they will be formidable in terms of television revenue.

This has left many college hockey supporters to do a lot of hand-wringing over the potential impact of the Big Ten.

Some will tell you that this is a good thing for the sport. The addition of a Big Ten conference increases the sport's national television footprint, thanks to the success being had by the Big Ten Network, and its obvious role in televising college hockey games. Bumping the WCHA back to ten teams and the CCHA to eight would mean the leagues have room for future expansion, which might open the door for new programs to sprout up in the Upper Midwest.

There are others, though, who sit fearful of the Big Ten's unknown impact. They believe the CCHA could suffer, with smaller programs like Lake Superior State, Ferris State, Bowling Green, and Western Michigan having problems without the revenue they get when Big Ten schools visit for conference games/series.

My friend Jess Myers wrote this last week for 1500 ESPN in the Twin Cities.

Strong and successful programs like Miami (Ohio) and Notre Dame (which also has a new rink under construction) would remain. However, small-school programs in Michigan like Ferris State and Lake Superior State have budgets that rely in at least some part on the revenue they generate from the yearly home games versus those high-profile teams. Those two schools, along with the likes of Michigan Tech and Bowling Green (which flirted with dropping hockey two years ago), could face fiscal extinction if a Big Ten hockey league comes on-line.

Does it matter? Well, there are 58 Division I programs currently. That's just enough in the eyes of the NCAA to field a 16-team tournament conducted at four regional sites. Take away three or four of those 58, and we might be back to the somewhat goofy 12-team arrangement that had top seeds needing only one win to get to the Frozen Four.

One thing is abundantly clear.

Jess isn't right or wrong, because we don't yet know the impact the Big Ten will have on college hockey.

Maybe it would inspire further expansion. Maybe it would be a death blow to small programs.

In the end, the prospects of further expansion are interesting. College Hockey, Inc., head Paul Kelly has not hid from the fact that he'd like to see California schools add Division I hockey. Giving them a traditional power league like the WCHA to join could be attractive.

Perhaps serving as a bit less of a pipe dream, schools like Illinois and Nebraska could have interest in joining the Big Ten.

(Remember, Nebraska joins in all sports this year.)

What bothers me are the absolutes some fans on Twitter and message boards are using to describe this. The Big Ten could be bad for the sport, but it's hard for me to buy that argument, given the information currently available.

******

Instead, I am trying to see this as a positive.

The new league's members will have scheduling arrangements with their old leagues, so rivalries like UMD/Minnesota, St. Cloud State/Minnesota, and Michigan/Northern Michigan won't go away with the snap of a finger.

With only six teams, the Big Ten needs to keep a good relationship with the existing leagues in Division I. They can't rely on Atlantic Hockey tomato cans like American International for all their non-conference games. Assuming four games against each Big Ten team, that makes a 20-game conference schedule. If there are no trips to Alaska involved, the Big Ten teams would have to play 14 non-conference games to fill their schedules.

Minnesota and Wisconsin aren't going to want to play Boston College and Boston University all the time, so logic dictates they'll have to schedule WCHA and CCHA teams.

As far as other moves that could happen as a result, it makes sense for Alaska to join the WCHA at some point, because they'd no longer have the big-time draw of the Big Ten teams in the CCHA. Moving would allow them to play four games per year against rival Alaska-Anchorage, and it would allow the WCHA to exempt -- for at least some teams -- two road series per year instead of one, opening up the chance to play more non-conference games.

That might be a scheduling nightmare for the WCHA, but it's something they could deal with, because it's a move that would be good for business in the end.

No idea if that would ever happen, but I thought I'd throw that idea out there.

No matter what, the Big Ten could just as easily be a huge positive for the sport. Since it's virtually inevitable, it might be a good idea to be more accepting of the idea and try to figure out ways that this could be good ... rather than waiting for it to be bad.

TCU Lacks Guts to Play Wisconsin Again

This is a bit old, but I thought I'd throw it out there for those who hadn't heard it yet.

Recently, it was revealed that someone (ESPN?) was trying to set up what would have been a great game to open the college football season. The proposal was to have TCU play Sept. 3 at Wisconsin.

Since there had been rumors that UNLV was trying to back out of their game in Madison on that day, all it would have taken (logistically, at least) is for TCU to get out of their deal to play Baylor.

Of course, that's assuming TCU would want the game.

They didn't.

I guess they think they're better off playing Baylor at home than a marquee game against Wisconsin. Of course, they were more than willing to play Oregon State at Cowboys Stadium. In a one-time, blow-off game that didn't have a return game in Corvallis scheduled with it.

Easy decision to make when the game's in your backyard, I guess. When that game is on someone else's turf, it's just as easy to whine about contracts and return games.

UW coach Bret Bielema said during an appearance on WTSO-AM in Madison that he was contacted less than two weeks after the loss to TCU about a possible rematch.

"I would definitely love the challenge to play them again," Bielema said on the show. "And really, I thought it would be a great sell with our folks. Unfortunately, TCU wasn't as excited about the matchup."

TCU officials didn't share Bielema's enthusiasm for two reasons.

The Horned Frogs have a contract to play at Baylor on Sept. 3 and the reported offer was a one-game deal that did not include a return game with UW visiting Fort Worth.

Sounds like Gary Patterson's only willing to schedule these one-off games if his team is at or close to home.

Gotta love hypocrisy.

If you read "Death To The BCS," you'll come to understand that people like Patterson are exactly what's wrong with college football. The "cartel," as the book calls those who fight for the BCS, thrive off BS like the sanctity of the regular season.

Yet the BCS system's flaws are what discourage TCU from taking this game. As long as they have to win every game they play to have a shot at a BCS bowl, there is no benefit whatsoever for them to take a single game at Wisconsin.

None.

Because if they lose, they lose their shot at the BCS, and Patterson is a moron for taking the game. This is especially true when you consider the fact that they'd be giving up a home game against a mid-pack (at best) program like Baylor.

Of course, if there were a playoff system in place that rewarded not only elite records but teams willing to play tough schedules, TCU takes this game in five seconds.

Which situation is better for college football: TCU at Wisconsin or Baylor at TCU?

Tell me again what good the BCS does.

Did SaveGopherFootball.com Harm Gopher Football?

This just in: People in Minnesota don't necessarily like Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi.

Some have taken their dislike too far, however.

The folks behind the website SaveGopherFootball.com might have a well-meaning plan. After all, they have been consistent in their stance that Maturi -- the same guy who headed a search that led to Tim Brewster -- shouldn't be allowed to search for Brewster's successor.

That's fine. There's nothing wrong with taking a stand and speaking out. Gopher football has stunk for so many years that the alumni and fans should take a stand.

However, actions that interfere in Maturi's ability to do his job ... well, that's just wrong.

Former All-Big Ten punter Adam Kelly went so far as to contact officials at other universities to warn them that Maturi might contact their coach without asking permission.

"That's unethical and reprehensible behavior," university President Robert Bruininks said. "To interfere in the process that way, I think it's indefensible."

Kelly, though, said Maturi was the unethical one, citing his hush-hush contact with San Diego State coach Brady Hoke before the Aztecs' season had ended. In addition to e-mails, he said he called Temple's athletic director, Bill Bradshaw, to point out a newspaper column critical of Maturi.

"He said, 'We already read the story, and it was his opinion that hundreds of other AD's around the country had read it and were shaking their heads," Kelly said. "Was it [the call] unethical? It's more unethical to contact a coach before his season's done."

Bruininks said he was surprised by the negativity from outside the program, calling it the work of "a relatively small and active group that I think is offbase.

"I don't think they've done the university any service, and I think they've done a disservice to themselves."

Kelly is right about Maturi being unethical in not asking permission to interview coaches. That's just a courtesy and has been part of virtually every school's protocol for many years.

But two wrongs don't make a right, and Kelly's wrong might have actually hindered his alma mater's ability to hire the kind of coach he wanted them to.

How ironic. In trying to help, his group may have harmed.

Gophers Hire Jerry Kill; Fans Would Have 'Killed' For Someone More Exciting

Here's the problem when it comes to hiring coaches.

There is no "tried and true" formula.

You can try to hire a guy with loads of experience who may have gotten a raw deal from his previous employer, and it turns into a guy like Tubby Smith. Unwanted in Kentucky, Smith's been great for Minnesota, and he isn't under this never-ending pressure to win national championships. He's making good money and likely enjoying himself while he does it.

Of course, going this route when making a hire might lead you to Rick Neuheisel. Jettisoned in Washington after a rather odd-looking "scandal," Neuheisel was hired by UCLA three years ago to take over his alma mater's floundering football program.

Well, they made the EagleBank Bowl last year (only because Army lost their last game and didn't qualify). Overall, Neuheisel is 15-22, 8-19 in Pac-10 play, and there are a lot of people calling for his head, especially considering that UCLA had a prime opportunity to gain relevance in Los Angeles because of USC's failings the last two years.

(Tyrone Willingham also qualifies here, thanks to the "work" he did at Washington after everyone accused Notre Dame of being racist when they fired him.)

You can hit home runs with guys like Dan Mullen, hired by Mississippi State despite never being a head coach in his life. He's got the Bulldogs playing in a Jan. 1 bowl game in just his second year on the job.

Of course, you can also strike out embarrassingly with the likes of Tim Brewster, hired by Minnesota despite never being a head coach in his life. He got the Gophers to a pair of Insight Bowls, but failed to impress at any point, especially points where he was required to actually coach and not just talk about coaching.

It's not an exact science. So when Minnesota fired Brewster and went about their search for a new coach, athletic director Joel Maturi had an important decision to make.

If he made a mistake, it was in his philosophy, not his execution.

As I wrote back when Brewster got fired, Minnesota needs a significant change to their football culture. Even before Brewster took the job, mediocrity had set in, and it became accepted. Glen Mason was a good coach, but he was never going to get Minnesota further than, say, the Sun Bowl. The Sun Bowl is a nice game that's well-run, but El Paso doesn't resonate among fans and alumni like Pasadena does. It's just a fact of life.

There are many programs that won't ever achieve anything better than the middle-tier bowls -- Peach, Sun, Gator, Holiday, and the like -- outside of an anomalous year or two. It's not a bad way to make a living, really.

But Minnesota wanted to aim higher. They determined Mason wouldn't get them there, and they fell for Brewster's bluster.

It could have worked, had Brewster possessed any real sense of how to run a football team (note: "into the ground" doesn't count).

Burned -- in part -- by Brewster's lack of experience, Maturi set out to fix that failing this time around. He wasn't going to settle for the hot assistant coach who lacked head coaching experience. The otherwise perfect candidate (Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst) was out as a result. No chance.

When fans heard this, names like Mike Leach and Mike Bellotti floated around. Then Miami fired Randy Shannon, bring to light another name. No buyouts would be necessary for any of them.

But were they fits?

This is what I wrote about this search:

Look around the league right now. The most successful coaches -- Jim Tressel, Kirk Ferentz, Bret Bielema, Pat Fitzgerald, and Mark Dantonio -- spent time in the Big Ten as assistant coaches before becoming head coaches in the league. Of them, only Fitzgerald is an actual alum of the school (Northwestern) he is at now, but the point is that all these coaches have worked within the culture of the league.

The Big Ten isn't like witchcraft or anything, but you don't see a lot of successful Big Ten coaches getting jobs at Florida or anything like that (notable exception is Nick Saban, but he left Michigan State for LSU after the 1999 season). It's a different way of doing things, and you have to understand the types of student-athletes who can succeed at these schools.

Just hiring the offensive coordinator from Auburn (Gus Malzahn), for example, isn't going to guarantee you anything.

Same thing if you try to pluck a coach like Gary Patterson from his current job (TCU). Patterson is great at recruiting Texas high-school stars. That state is so rich in talent that it's ridiculous, and Patterson does well getting top players to go to a Mountain West school.

Of course, if he takes the Minnesota job, he can't be guaranteed any kind of similar success in recruiting. Why would the star running back from Southlake Carroll say "No" to Texas so he could go to Minnesota?

Leach would have been a sexy, newsworthy hire. It also would have been a potentially volatile one. In an interview with The Sporting News magazine, Leach details what he's looking for from a school that wants to hire him. Among the items on his list are a rich recruiting base (Minnesota? Nope.), an undervalued program looking to get better (Minnesota is only undervalued because they're so bad), and an administration that is stable and focused (Minnesota is changing presidents, and Maturi is thought to be somewhat on the hot seat. It's not the picture of stability.

Only in the perfect situation would Leach be a good fit. His ego is such that he isn't right for just any opening, and his pedigree is impressive enough to allow him to do whatever he wants while he waits for the right job.

Gophers fans who wanted him over anyone are dreaming. He would have clashed with the administration. He's the anti-Tubby Smith, a gentleman (at least on the outside) who oozes class and dignity. Leach oozes smarts and is an eccentric fellow, but he's also got quite the ego, and he isn't afraid to use it. Just comparing Leach and Smith is unfair, because they're very different people.

As far as finding the right fit goes, Maturi may have done well here. He pigeonholed himself by not considering coaches who lacked FBS head coaching experience, because it left Chryst off his list. He also made it clear he wasn't going to hire another Brewster, so NFL assistants who lacked head coaching experience (Darrell Bevell and Leslie Frazier, for example) weren't going to be considered.

Neither was Marc Trestman, a former Gopher who is a successful CFL coach in Montreal.

In Kill, Maturi found a guy who has a lot of experience building programs, and he's got roots in the Midwest. He doesn't have the Big Ten experience I wrote about and thought was a necessity, but he does have an understanding of how to win football games in the Midwest. If Maturi wasn't going to consider first-time head coaches, he was not likely to get a guy with Big Ten experience that would satisfy his fanbase.

Then again, outside of the wrong guy (Leach), Maturi wasn't going to win with his fanbase. They wanted the sexy name, and Maturi was right not to deliver it to them.

After all, Illinois wanted the sexy name in Ron Zook. Look what that got them.