clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Spanning the Collegiate World: We're back because you haven't said no yet

While emails were being analyzed in New Brunswick, life went on in other parts of the country. I know, hard to believe, right?. So, we're back with more stuff to enlighten and illuminate your day. And maybe take a shot or two at the SEC, Syracuse, and/or UConn. Well, at least Syracuse.

By rvc73
Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Big Ten...Big Life...Big Stuff

If there's nothing else in the Big Ten, there's tradition.  And one of the best is the dotting of the "i" in Ohio by a select tuba player in the band.  Well, a group of OSU fans did a 19-mile walking trip and look at the route they took.

B1G players on the big stage

The Football Writers Association of America celebrated their 75th anniversary team.  No conference had more players on the team than the Big Ten....although several did play in other conferences when their schools were elsewhere.  No program had more than the six representatives from Nebraska, four of which garnered first-team honors, also tops on the FWAA list.  Among conference schools, Ohio State was second with five, followed by Michigan (3), Illinois (1), Iowa (1), Michigan State (1) and Penn State (1).

Holy War involves a Rutgers Alum

So apparently BYU and Utah have played football against each other about a million times.  But Utah has passed on renewing the rivalry in favor of other games.  In an interview, Utah AD and Rutgers grad (basketball letterwinner, too) Chris Hill said it wasn't a big deal.  So what if the two schools don't play each other.  Dr. Hill, for a Rutgers grad, you might have spoken poorly there.

Who's got the most over rated fans?  Flaming spear....big deal

Well, at least it isn't us getting dumped on.  I guess you have to be thought of as a great fan base before you can be considered "over rated". But proud to say there are no Big Ten teams among the over rated fan bases.  And, yes, the Irish are in the top ten.

The whole article can be found here.

Coaching Carousel....it's an up and down ride

Coaches come and coaches go.  And the idea for most is to still be on a horse when the ride stops.

Dan Wolken has a neat piece about a guy who has been to the mountain top, and is now at a much lower location on the slope.  Dennis Franchione was at Alabama....Alabama!  And now finds himself at Texas State, and finding himself quite fulfilled. Sometimes it's not where you are, but what you're doing.

Hey, wasn't he from Wisconsin?

Not exactly  He just won the Rose Bowl at Wisconsin.  Heh, heh.

NC State is doing a Tom Harmon for their QBs.  Michigan unretired No. 98, honoring NCIS star Mark Harmon's father, and allowing Devin Gardner and future players to wear a "legend's" patch on the uni.

Somehow it doesn't seem to carry the same gravitas on a Wolfpack jersey.

My new favorite Twitter site

How do you not love a Twitter site that focuses on uniforms?  Oh....really?  That many reasons?  Yeah, well, I like it anyway!  And just look at Harvard's new uniforms from Nike.  They're....well, they're....uhhh, they're....uniforms.

We can't all be Maryland (thank God!)

Speaking of uniforms....

Indiana has renewed its contract with Adidas, and they're very happy about it.  The way our friends at Crimson Quarry see it, the problems that Adidas is having everywhere may have just played into the hands of the folks at IU negotiating the uniform deal.  So, Nike isn't necessarily the alpha and omega?

Does the 'Cuse know?

We've commented about the graphics and social media material coming out of Rutgers.  It is terrific stuff; colorful, exciting, engaging.  Other schools are doing it, too.  And in a way, St. John's may be using media to take a not so subtle swipe at our friends in the frozen tundra of upstate New York.

The Red Storm is New York's team?  Huh, imagine that.  The war of words has been going on for several years, and even the Wall Street Journal chimed in.  As for us, well, we just can't get enough.  Schadenfreude.

FCS....FBS....looks pretty good to me

Think the facilities arms race is just among the Power 5 conferences?  Not so fast, my friend.  James Madison has been a star among the FCS schools, winning the NCAA National Championship in 2004, and annually putting out successful teams.  The Dukes have also done well in providing their football team with accommodations that, while not in the same league or galaxy as Oregon, are pretty nice.


Friday Night Lights

Okay, this has nothing to do with college sports.  But who here doesn't love Friday Night Lights?  I even read the book!  Come on, Connie Britton?

Showing my age?  Okay, back to FNL.

The original SI article about the Texas mayhem that sparked the movie and TV series is on line.  Great stuff.


So, you go to play for the coach and not the school?

Whenever a player wants to transfer because of a coaching change (often in the Olympic sports), the standard response from schools is, you came to play for the school.  Well, not really.  We see all the time how a coach develops a relationship with a player and his or her family.  That bonds the student-athlete with the coach.  You commit as much to the coach as you do to the school.  And in football?  Case in point from Columbus.  I guess buckeyes are thicker than blood.

Thank you, Jim Delany....and Sir George Carteret

Sir George (yes, another history lesson) was one of the original lords proprietor of New Jersey.  Later in life, in 1669, he faced expulsion from the House of Commons for misconduct as Vice Chamberlain, being accused of embezzlement.  So, corruption among New Jersey politicians goes back a very long way.  But I digress.  Carteret, along with Lord Berkeley, opened the doors to the colony of New Jersey back in 1664 and it's been a struggle ever since.

We're in the Big Ten because.....uhh, because of where we are.  The same can't be said of East Carolina, now a member of the AAC.  Geography is one thing you can't change.