Mythical National Championship Odds For 2008

The top contenders nationally:

Southern Cal +300
Florida +600
Georgia +900
LSU +1000
Ohio State +1000
Oklahoma +1000
Texas +1200
West Virginia +1400
Virginia Tech +1400
Missouri +1400

A couple things jump out: Florida at 6:1 and UGA 9:1? With the amount of love Gergia is getting from the media, I would have thought those would be switched. Besides that, the game between these two is a home game for the Bulldogs.

Secondly, I would have though Ohio State would be closer to the top. I know there is a rather large backlash from the back-to-back losses, but they still got to the BCS MNC and are, without question, the most talented team in the Big Ten. An early game at Southern Cal will be a difficult game, and a loss will hurt their chances of finishing in the Top 2, however wins are still king and, even with a loss to SC, running the Big Ten table will probably still land them in the big game; and once you're there anything can happen. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that they get Penn State and Michigan at home.

Anyway, the top Big X contenders:

OHIO STATE +1000
ILLINOIS +3000
WISCONSIN +4000
PENN STATE +5000
MICHIGAN STATE +7000
IOWA +10000

After seeing several Way Too Early Pre-Summer Polls that have Michigan State ranked ahead of PSU, this is a bit of a relief. There is always the risk that your homerism and blinders mean you don't quite know how good or bad your team will be, but even without Lee I just can't imagine a situation where we would finish behind MSU, who plays @Cal, @Ohio State and @Penn State. All in all, though, this is about what I expected. We really weren't very good last year despite winning some big games again Wisconsin and A&M, from an outsiders perception I can understand being ranked fourth in the Big Ten, especially with our five week stretch that include Illinois, @Purdue, @Wisconsin, Michigan, @Ohio State....that is brutal.

I still am shocked at how many people are on the Zooker bandwagon. They play Missouri at a neutral site (I think, definitely not home), and then play @Penn State and @Michigan in back to back weeks (although I guess Michigan could be pretty bad this year). I also don't think people realize how good Rashard Mendenhall really was. Besides rushing for almost 1700 yards, he also was the second leading receiver in terms of catchings and the third in terms of yardage. Oh, and the whole USC/Rose Bowl thing last year doesn't usually help your public perception.

Wow. Action? Action! [Edit: Some Day]

Remember when I was bitching about ticket scalping? Well it looks like PSU is thinking about actually trying to do something about it.

The opinion suggests placing student ticket packages on student ID cards, as opposed to paper tickets, to help prevent students from scalping their entire package for a high profit.

Along with placing tickets on students' IDs, UPUA suggests an anonymous online ticket exchange site, possibly on eLion, Vickrey said. Students could resell a maximum of three tickets per season, which would not allow elevated prices.

Vickrey said money would be transferred to students' bursar accounts, but they could request a check from the bursar.

If the selling maximum is not enacted, the opinion calls to penalize students caught selling their ticket package by banning them from purchasing tickets.

So, if I'm understanding this right, the actual "ticket" will be transfered from one ID to another through this Must Sell At Cost ticket exchange. A pretty good idea, honestly. I'd make damn sure your systems are working well, but deferentially a creative solution that I can get behind.

Hold on, though. What about this law? The one that lifted the 25% profit limit for ticket sclapters (which was never enforced anyway) and allowed legal, unlimited price increases?



Oh that little guy? Don't worry about that little guy.

"As long as it's written into the contract when you purchase tickets, and you promise not to do something like that, if you are caught scalping your tickets, you will be punished," Keller said.

Alright, lets do it! Right? Right?

Greg Myford, associate athletic director for marketing and communications, said tiered distribution is something that may be worked on in the "long haul" but would have to be carefully examined and would not be ready for implementation this fall.

Myford said there are some aspects of the opinion that may be in practice by this fall but would not comment on them specifically.

"The opinion is solid and has a lot of viable suggestions," Myford said. "I will say that a lot of what is written in the opinion is being given serious consideration."

Sweet Greg, keeping up the good work man.

Full story here.

Ridiculous and seemingly pointless call to action (see "long haul" comment above) written last fall by our boy Greg here.

ESPN's Recruiting Update, Old People

Change of plan. Penn State will be given it's own post because, well, this is a Penn State blog. Part II, seriously, will be later today.

Penn State"Unfortunately, the stagnant class could stem from 81-year-old Joe Paterno still hanging in there and not offering the spark often needed to relate to the younger generation of prospects. However, tradition still sells and no one coach in college football represents more tradition than Joe Pa himself."

Big Eleventh says... This is really all a ploy to talk about JoePa's age and, separately, his marketability.

The MSM has reminded us, almost weekly during the season, that Joe is old. They do it again here. Reporters love to comment on how Joe can't "relate to the younger players these days" because it seems to make sense. Problem is, it just isn't true. This years class lacks flash, but just in the last 5 years, off the top of my head, Joe has been able to relate to Connor, Scott, Morelli, Williams and King. All very highly ranked and talked to by dozens of other younger coaches. All chose Penn State. It's not Joe's age that is the problem, it is his style. The problem with saying he's too old is that he has been doing things the same way for 30 years. Almost nothing has changed since his first winning season. His name alone can be enough to win over a recruit, but his style is no longer mainstream and some people just aren't interested. The prospect of waiting 2 or 3 years is becoming more and more of a problem when there are coaches who are willing to plug guys in right away.

As for the marketability comment, I think this guy is on line but his comment is a little misleading. Joe and Graham get along great. Joe likes to coach, and Graham lets him do this. Graham like to make money, and Joe makes this happen. It's never been about football for it's own sake inside Old Main. Each game is really just another fundraising event and if people keep donating regardless of the scoreboard then the scoreboard doesn't matter.

Oh, recruiting, right. We are loaded at linebacker, have a couple of decent RB's out of Ohio, and probably aren't getting Pryor. Ohio State has been to two MNC games in a row and Michigan just landed a very high profile coach...all while we finished our second very average finish in a row. These are our recruiting problems, not old age.

Not that any of you care, but there will be a Part II, I promise.

ESPN's Recruiting Update, Part I

Why is FSU not suing ESPN for using their logo?

ESPN sent one of their child stalkers out to grade the Big Ten recruiting classes. I'm doing this is pieces because all this work warrants more than one post. Eleven quotes and one liners, First half:

Ohio State: "The Buckeyes currently have 18 total prospects heading into signing day with close to half claiming spots in the ESPN 150....Arguably one the better offensive lines assembled in the Class of 2008 and maybe in the past few years."

Big 11th Says... Nothing sucks worse than seeing Ohio State rack up damn near USC type talent, but now that they've been doing this for several years I'm getting used to it. The offense line thing scares me, though.


Illinois: "Not an overly flashy class with just one ESPN 150 member....The skill positions were emphasized in this class after last year saw a focus on the offensive and defensive lines."

Big 11th Says...If you want proof that the football world is upside down and that Paterno is no longer effective on the trail, look at how far ahead Illinois is landing talented players.


Michigan: "Lloyd Carr certainly established a top-15 class before announcing his retirement, but the big question for Wolverine fans is whether recently hired Rich Rodriguez can add some weapons before signing day to fit his explosive spread offense run at West Virginia...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor..."

Big 11th Says...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor...Pryor.


Wisconsin: "Much of last fall's struggles stemmed from a disappointing defense that led the Big Ten in 2006; four top-25 positional prospects should help...[qb recruit's] dual-threat abilities could open things up a bit more in Madison with [recruit] at the helm."

Big 11th Says...Wiscy never seems to make much noise, but everything seems to turn out fine. The opposite of PSU, really. They were vastly over-rated during the 2007 preseason, but did establish themselves as a respectable program and seem to be upping the talent level there.


Iowa: "As long as Kirk Ferentz is at the helm, Iowa should continue to bring in good prospects that my lack the ideal measureable that garner elite status but fit his system well...[also arriving is the] son of Kirk and a good player in his own right."

Big 11th Says... Iowa bringing in undersized players is not news. Also, in case you wanted to know, this is what little Ferentz looks like.


Second half, including Penn State, later today.