ESPN College Football

Hump day linkage:

• Michigan AD Dave Brandon not only doesn't favor using campus sites for semifinal games, he doesn't think they should be played in the Midwest anywhere, not even indoors. Huh?
• Pat Harty argues that the Big Ten should go to geographical divisions to avoid some of the gaps between rivals on the schedule. Dallas Clark might be the best story of the Kirk Ferentz era.
• Bruce Feldman has an excellent story about how two dirty plays don't define Michigan State's William Gholston.
• Steven M. Sipple looks at some of the candidates to eventually replace Tom Osborne, including recent hire (and former Huskers player) Jamie Williams. Nebraska picked up its first offensive lineman in the Class of 2013.
• Joe Paterno earned a state pension of more than $13 million during his 61 years at Penn State. A look at four big recruiting targets for the Nittany Lions this summer. Rob Bolden is staying put.
• Purdue got a $2 million donation that could go toward some improvements at Ross-Ade Stadium (but not lights).
• Tom Dienhart breaks down the best of Week 2 in the 2012 Big Ten season.
• Minnesota's Jerry Kill shared some optimism at a Rotary Club event.
• A planned SEC Network could eclipse the revenues of the Big Ten's similar venture.
• Gene Smith says Ohio State's athletic department is in its "glory years."
• Stewart Mandel talks realignment and playoff possibilities in his SI.com mailbag.

Links are schedule-heavy today, as everyone is weighing in on the 2015/2016 slates.

• One downside of the future schedules is a four-year break for Ohio State and Nebraska.
• Wisconsin finally returns to Michigan's schedule in 2015. Wolverines coach Brady Hoke has restored pride among former players.
• After two unforgettable games in 2011, Michigan State and Wisconsin won't meet from 2013-16. Pat Caputo writes that Michigan State and Michigan should play at night.
• With Rob Bolden's status up in the air, Penn State recruit Steven Bench is ready to be the team's No. 3 quarterback. Polish off the Land Grant Trophy -- it's coming back in 2015.
• Illinois should have no trouble marketing its 2015 home schedule. Illini coach Tim Beckman, aware of the sacrifices his family makes for his career, lets his kids choose which high school they attend.
• Iowa fans can weigh in on who their team's protected rival should be. Iowa's 2014 schedule is just plain weird, Mike Hlas writes.
• A closer look at Week 1 in the Big Ten this fall. Tom Dienhart also ranks the Big Ten's top defensive linemen.
• New Nebraska associate AD Jamie Williams understands the speculation about him taking over for Tom Osborne.
• Wisconsin's end-of-season game with Penn State helps offset the sting of not seeing Iowa nearly enough. The man behind the Bucky Badger mascot design passes away.
• Northwestern lucked out with the schedules for 2015 and 2016.
• Ohio State returns to Minnesota's schedule in 2015.
• Indiana will finally face new Big Ten member Nebraska in 2015.
• Mike Carmin details 10 things to know about Purdue's future schedules.
• Maybe the plus-one model isn't dead, Scott Dochterman writes.

CHICAGO -- When the college football playoff push kicked off, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith planted himself in the campus-sites camp.

Smith favored having the semifinals on the campuses of the higher-seeded teams. The setup would give Big Ten teams like Ohio State an advantage they've never enjoyed in the current BCS/bowl setup -- nationally significant games on Midwest soil in late December or early January. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany was among the first major college football figures to stump for campus sites this winter.

"We've shifted," Smith told ESPN.com on Tuesday. "I was originally for campus sites, and I still go back there mentally every now and then as discussions occur, but the bowls have a really good system set up to host."

The reasons for the Big Ten's shift are well known by now. Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said Tuesday that a playoff outside of the existing bowls would "pretty much destroy the bowl system." Preserving and protecting the Rose Bowl is paramount to Delany and the rest of the Big Ten brass.

Smith also thinks there are operational advantages to keeping the biggest games at bowl sites.

"There are certain schools that would put it on and host it extremely well," he said. "Others might be challenged with that. Bowls have done this a long time. They have great local organizing committees. ... And it's good for the game."

The strongest counterargument is that campus sites would ease the burden on college football fans. Rather than make separate trips for a league title game, a national semifinal and a national championship game, fans of some teams could have one of those games closer to their homes.

Another apparent plus for Big Ten backers is the potential weather advantage Big Ten teams could exploit by hosting games. Unlike squads in the South and West, Big Ten teams are conditioned to play cold-weather football, but they typically face the best from the SEC, Pac-12 and Big 12 in ideal conditions at places like the Rose Bowl, the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and University of Phoenix Stadium.

The thought of a college football playoff in the snow is both novel and exciting to some Big Ten fans. But Smith actually sees it as a drawback.

Brace yourselves, Woody and Bo ...

"Let's say Ohio State is hosting and it's January or December, and let's say it is 5 degrees," Smith said. "Is that right for the game? We're not pro. We need to figure out what's best for the game, and I think a fast surface, good weather is important for the game. It's important for the kids."

Delany, Osborne and others acknowledge that campus sites could favor the Big Ten, which hasn't won a national championship since after the 2002 season. But in surveying presidents, athletic directors, coaches and even players, the overwhelming majority favored the bowl sites.

"It would be a competitive advantage to have semifinal games at home fields," Osborne said. "... but the bowls have been good to us."

The sentiment isn't sitting well with some folks. The Big Ten might have been alone in advocating for campus sites, but it's fair to ask if the Big Ten gave up on the crusade far too easily.

Yahoo! Sports' Dan Wetzel writes today:

Somewhere Mike Slive of the SEC and Larry Scott of the Pac-12 are kicking back with a cackle of delight. These guys are angling for every possible edge while the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl sit in adjacent bathtubs, holding hands and waiting for the moment to be right.

Wait, the rest of college football has to be asking, you're not even going to fight and try to make us look like wimps for arguing against football in the cold?

Wait, you seriously are going to ask the same fan base to travel three times in a month -- Big Ten title game, semifinals and championship game, the last two at least via airplane? And you think we won't end up with the majority of the crowd?

The Rose Bowl's power over the Big Ten is something to behold. It makes normally intelligent men say ridiculous things.

Of the Big Ten groups advocating for playoffs at bowl sites, the coaches' position makes the least sense. These are guys who typically capitalize on every possible advantage presented to them. But they seem to value their players' bowl experience over the possibility of making Alabama or USC play them in the snow.

Why should the Big Ten care if TCU and Oregon have small stadiums and can't accommodate the media and the corporate sponsors? The Big Ten, for the most part, doesn't have those problems.

In my recent interview with Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman, I asked him why so many powerful people in the Midwest care so much about bowl games located so far away.

"It's part of the tradition of college football," Perlman said. "It is a good experience for student-athletes. It makes more sense in terms of ending the season than some kind of playoff. It helps the communities that have been supportive of intercollegiate football for a long time."

What about the local communities Big Ten schools can serve by keeping games on campus?

Wetzel writes:

There's no question Big Ten fans love the Rose Bowl, although not as much as they once did. They also like to win, also would like to shut the SEC up and also really like showing off their legendary stadiums and great cities, fighting against the idea that they live in some inhospitable, rusted-out region.

Plenty of them could use the economic impact of staging these massive events in the Midwest too.

That's not going to happen. The campus-sites ship has sailed. Perhaps it's a tradeoff the Big Ten made to ultimately ensure strong playoff access for league champions.

If and when the Big Ten champion qualifies for a playoff, however, it will more than likely play a virtual road game. The team will have to fight like heck to win.

A lot harder than the league did to have meaningful games on campus.

CHICAGO -- Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith has chaired the NCAA basketball tournament selection committee, so he knows a thing or two about difficult decisions and fan backlash.

While a four-team playoff in college football will please most fans of the sport, Smith thinks it won't mitigate the debate about who's in and who's out. Just the opposite, in fact.

Smith and his fellow Big Ten athletic directors on Monday began studying the polls, the final BCS standings and any other rankings since the 1992 season. They found that differentiating between No. 4 and No. 5 is often tougher than choosing the two best teams to play in the national title game.

"When you start looking at [Nos.] 3, 4, 5 and 6, you're going to be able to put a piece of paper between those teams," Smith said.

The final regular-season polls from recent seasons often show small differences between No. 4 and No. 5.

In 2010, No. 4 Wisconsin had only six more points than No. 5 Stanford in the AP Poll, 22 more points in the Harris Poll and 37 more points in the Coaches' Poll. In 2009, both Florida and Boise State were within 70 points of No. 4 Cincinnati in the AP and Coaches' polls. In 2004, the AP Poll had Utah at No. 4 and Texas at No. 5, while the teams were flipped in the Coaches' Poll, separated by just 24 points. In 2007, No. 4 Georgia led No. 5 Virginia Tech by just 35 points in the Coaches' Poll. The final Harris Poll that year had USC at No. 5 and Virginia Tech at No. 6.

"Who's going to pick that 4 and 5?" Smith said. "It's just like in the NCAA tournament. Who's left out? That's what's going to happen."

It's not surprising that the conference commissioners spent so much time on potential selection procedures for the playoff at last month's BCS meetings in Florida. Several Big Ten ADs say there's support for a selection committee to be used for the future format.

The playoff also will put more teams in the mix for berths than the current system, when usually only one team can have a legitimate claim to one of the spots in the title game.

"In the FCS, now they've got 20 teams in the playoff and they're talking about going to 24 because the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th teams are not happy," Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said. "Well, you can only imagine what's going to happen here. Every team probably in the top 10 or 12, they're going to have some argument as to why they should be in the four-team playoff.

"People think this will settle it on the field, this will diminish the amount of controversy. I don't think that'll happen at all. If anything, it will escalate it because you have more teams involved."

CHICAGO -- The SEC champion has an unofficial reserved spot in the national championship game because of the league's unprecedented run in winning those contests.

Big Ten athletic directors want to make sure their league champion, which hasn't hoisted the crystal football in nearly a decade, has as good a chance to play for the national title as possible in the future postseason model. The ADs have spent much of the spring meetings discussing elements of a four-team playoff, but their top priority is clear.

"The conference champion piece," Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told ESPN.com. "We're a collegiate environment, and we've set everything up for competition to be conference champions, and we have it in every single sport that we have. ... When you go through your conference and you win your conference championship, that's pretty strong."

Smith thinks conference championships have been devalued a bit externally because of the obsession with national championships. Ohio State is the last Big Ten team to play for a national title in football (after the 2007 season) and the only Big Ten team to win a championship (after the 2002 season).

"Our industry and the media have built up the national championship so much that we forget that these young people win valuable conference championships that they will have for the rest of their lives," Smith said.

What type of access should conference champions have in a four-team playoff? Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany recently mentioned a proposal to have the top four conference champions receive automatic berths in a playoff as long as they finish in the top 6 of the final rankings.

Osborne told ESPN.com that there has been "a lot of discussion" this week about having the top three conference champions and the highest-ranked at-large team in the four-team playoff. This model would give access to a team like reigning national champion Alabama, which didn't win its league or its division but finished No. 2 in the final BCS standings and beat LSU for the title.

"I don't think you can say all four placements are conference champions," Smith said. "You have to leave some room for that type of scenario, that best high-ranked team that is not a conference champion has some room to get in there.

"There's some balance there. ... But clearly, high-ranked conference champions should be in the mix somehow."

Including, in most years, the champion of the Big Ten.

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne talks with Adam Rittenberg about the latest playoff proposals and Tommie Frazier not being elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

Even when the Big Ten reads the tea leaves and sees a college football playoff is inevitable, the league, along with its partner, the Pac-12, still finds a way to tick off most of the country.

Not surprisingly, the most-discussed element of the BCS postseason options proposal obtained by USA Today is the option to expand the national semifinals to accommodate the traditional Big Ten/Pac-12 matchup in the Rose Bowl. In case you missed it, here's how the plan would work:

In the latter plan, the four highest-ranked teams at the end of the regular season would meet in semifinals unless the Big Ten or Pac-12 champion, or both, were among the top four. Those leagues' teams still would meet in the Rose, and the next highest-ranked team or teams would slide into the semis. The national championship finalists would be selected after those three games.

Ugh. So you'd have six teams vying for two spots. And some kind of selection committee would determine which of the winners of the "semifinal" wouldn't make the national championship game.

The Rose Bowl is my favorite event on the college football calendar. I've only covered two of them, but if you put me in Pasadena every Jan. 1 for the next 30 years, you'd hear no complaints. Still, this plan seems borderline ridiculous.

And it has Jim Delany's fingerprints all over it. Delany and his Pac-12 counterpart, Larry Scott, don't want to see the Rose Bowl diminished in any way. But as Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne told me and others have stated, any playoff system will hurt the bowls, including the Rose. Still, fans want a playoff.

The Rose Bowl thing brings up an interesting debate, one I discussed Wednesday during a radio interview in Omaha. One of the hosts, Dirk Chatelain (he of Omaha World-Herald fame), asked whether the Big Ten's Rose Bowl love has gone too far and whether there's a disconnect between the traditionalists who run the league and the fans. Chatelain mentioned that a new generation of Big Ten fans, who grew up during the BCS era and the playoff push, might be less tied to the Rose Bowl.

Take Ohio State fans, for example. They've watched their Buckeyes dominate the Big Ten during the BCS era but have seen them only in one Rose Bowl since the span (2010 Rose Bowl). Meanwhile, the Buckeyes have played in three national title games.

Do Big Ten fans value the Rose Bowl enough to make it an integral component of the national playoff plan? Would the potential devaluing of the Rose Bowl with an alternate and, most likely, more sensible playoff plan be too much to give up?

Here's your chance to weigh in. You can also send me your views here (please include which Big Ten teams you root for).

LINCOLN, Neb. -- As of 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, the door to Tom Osborne's office hadn't been broken down.

That didn't mean Osborne, Nebraska's athletic director and former football coach, wasn't being bombarded with feedback on the team's decision to wear an alternate uniform, which Osborne described Monday as "futuristic," for one home game this coming season. While most Huskers players and adidas reps are thrilled, there's a portion of Big Red Nation that has a different view.

"A lot of people in this state are very traditional," Osborne told ESPN.com. "We're going to try it for one game. ... Some young people and some players and some recruits kind of like it. Probably most of our traditional fans aren't going to be too thrilled."

Nebraska is following the trend of alternate uniforms around college football. A new-age team, Oregon, is credited with launching the fad, but tradition-rich programs like Michigan and Ohio State have donned throwback unis in recent years. Michigan State wore a special uniform for its game against Michigan last year.

Nebraska's getup appears to be a nod to the future, but some will undoubtedly see it as a slight to its past.

I tend to agree with ace columnist Tom Shatel on this. It’s fine for one game, as long as Nebraska doesn't go too far (which it won't). Fans don't like to think their program has to follow a trend, but college sports are big business, and for Nebraska, adidas pays a lot of the bills and can call the shots.

While I had to ask Osborne about the unis, I was much more interested to chat with him about bigger-picture topics relating to Nebraska, the Big Ten and college football. The 75-year-old is as sharp as ever and had some interesting thoughts on the state of the game.

Here's some of what Dr. Tom had to say:

• Nebraska's first full year in the Big Ten has gone well according to Osborne, who called commissioner Jim Delany's leadership style "very inclusive." He added, " There are always concerns about individual needs, but I see a difference in what we experienced before [in the Big 12] in that people are willing to give a little, sacrifice a little, for the welfare of the whole. That bodes well." He called the Big Ten Network a major asset, particularly for recruiting.
• Osborne likes the idea of playing playoff games either on campuses or in other regions than just the major bowl sites (Miami, New Orleans, Glendale and Pasadena). "It's something that would benefit your fans, and that helps the atmosphere," he said. "And it certainly would help the teams from the northern part of the country.”
• Osborne said the proposal to increase bowl eligibility from six wins to seven wins would be "a step toward trying to eliminate some of the less relevant games." But he added that any type of playoff system, even the current BCS structure, diminishes the bowl system to some degree. Asked about BCS bowl access and the increase of unattractive matchups, he talked about taking the top 10 teams and assigning them to the big bowls, regardless of conference affiliation. "When you tie in conference champions, sometimes you get a conference champion that doesn't have much national appeal and might not have a very good record," he said. "That can throw a team with one loss in with somebody that's got three or four losses. ... I'm in favor of protecting the top 10 ranked teams, irrespective of what conference you're from. That may not play real well with a lot of the conferences, but usually the major conferences are going to have at least one [top 10 team]."
• I asked Osborne about the Nebraska football brand, which was at its peak during his last years as coach in the mid-1990s, when the Huskers claimed three national titles (1994, 1995, 1997). Nebraska is still seen as one of four brand-name programs in the Big Ten -- Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State being the others -- but the team, while winning 38 games the past four seasons, hasn't appeared in a BCS bowl game since the 2001 season. "The thing that enhances [the brand] is winning," Osborne said. "It wouldn't hurt to have a national championship in football or one of our major sports, baseball. We're pretty good in a lot of things. We've won three Big Ten titles so far this year, have a chance to win two or three more this spring. But certainly a championship in football would help us." And how close is Nebraska in football? "They're pretty close," he said. "I think they'll have a good chance next year."
• Osborne is "a little bit" surprised the Big Ten hasn't won a national title in a decade. He talked about the locations of the national title game, all well outside the Big Ten footprint, and talked about how hard it was for Nebraska to beat Miami in the Orange Bowl, the Hurricanes' home stadium (Nebraska went 1-3 in those games). He also talked about how the Big Ten has been stricter than some leagues about oversigning. Asked about the SEC and other conferences trying to rein in oversigning, Osborne said, "There's concern about it. But if you say you can't sign more than 25 but midyear signees don't count, you're still leaving the door open."
• Osborne likes the Big Ten's new partnership with the Pac-12, billed as a brand-strengthening alternative to expansion. He also thinks realignment fever will die down for a bit. "The time where major disruption can occur is when you have television contracts are up for renewal," he said. "That's when people can start looking toward greener pastures sometimes. So we'll see how things turn out over the next two, three, four years."
• Osborne also weighed in on Nebraska coach Bo Pelini and his development in the role. Pelini is 39-16 at Nebraska. "Sometimes people point out a specific event on the sideline or something, but he has matured in terms of his sideline demeanor," Osborne said. "He's always been well-respected by the players. They seem to like to play for him. Of course he's an excellent defensive coach. He understands offense from the standpoint of defense, which is a good way to understand it."

It's time.

If the Big Ten Champions Tournament accomplishes nothing else, at least it will let us try to settle a debate that has raged for 15 years. Bring on this long-overdue matchup of:

No. 2 seed Nebraska 1997 vs. No. 3 seed Michigan 1997

Curse the BCS all you want, but if that system were in place in 1997, there would have been no split-national title controversy. Of course, Michigan was the No. 1 team in the final Associated Press poll after beating No. 8 Washington State 21-16 in the Rose Bowl, while Nebraska was No. 1 in the coaches' poll following its 42-17 blowout of No. 3 Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. Legendary Huskers coach Tom Osborne announced his retirement before the bowl, which may have influenced his fellow coaches' votes.

So which team was more deserving? Nebraska averaged 46.7 points per game and won by an average margin of more than 30 points per game. The Huskers also needed a miracle against Missouri and edged Colorado by a field goal.

Michigan averaged 26.8 points per game and won by an average of more than 17 points per game. The Wolverines had close calls against Notre Dame, Iowa and Ohio State and had to hold on to win the Rose Bowl.

Common opponents: Michigan beat Colorado 27-3 and Baylor 38-3, both at home. Nebraska beat Colorado 27-24 and Baylor 49-21, both on the road.

Michigan had the better defense, Nebraska the better offense.

The computers favored Nebraska, but Michigan had been No. 1 all season.

Michigan had the Heisman Trophy winner in Charles Woodson. Nebraska had the Lombardi Award winner in Grant Wistrom and the Outland Trophy winner in Aaron Taylor.

So it's a tough debate, and it's a shame this game was never played on the field. But vote in our poll and decide a winner. Big Red fans always turn out in force, so Michigan fans will need to mobilize in support of their side as well.

Voting will close at 9 a.m. on Friday. And don't forget to drop me a line to break down this matchup and explain your vote. I'm sure there will be very strong opinions.

And the nominees for best lunchtime links are ...

• Michigan's Junior Hemingway still maintains that he caught a touchdown at the end of the Iowa loss. Iowa's Mike Daniels is healthy now after an injury-filled senior season and hopes to make an impression at the combine.
• Mike Martin didn't achieve his goal of breaking the NFL combine record for bench-press reps, finishing five behind teammate David Molk. Both were among the top performers in their position groups.
• An Ohio defensive back and Wisconsin running back gave their commitments to Michigan State over the weekend.
• Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne still has amazing energy at 75, but he doesn't plan to overstay his welcome.
• Ex-Ohio State running back Dan Herron told NFL executives his side of the story about his suspension.
• Penn State might not have any 2013 commitments yet, but the Nittany Lions are being active all over the country in recruiting. Former players reflected on the tumultuous end to last season at the combine.
• New NCAA kickoff rules could lessen the impact for Minnesota return specialist Troy Stoudermire.
• Former Wisconsin quarterback Brooks Bollinger is joining Paul Chryst's new staff at Pittsburgh. Could Bret Bielema lose yet another assistant coach?
• Former Illinois kicker Derek Dimke talks about his experience at the NFL combine.
• The Sporting News looks at burning questions for every Big Ten team this spring.

Statement are beginning to roll in from around the Big Ten Conference following the passing of former Penn State coach Joe Paterno on Sunday morning. Paterno coached his final 19 seasons in the Big Ten and won three league titles (1994, 2005, 2008).

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Joe Paterno. His passing marks a tremendous loss for Penn State, college football and for countless fans, coaches and student-athletes. Our condolences go out to the Paterno family and to the entire Penn State community."

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer

"I am deeply saddened to learn about the passing of coach Joe Paterno. He was a man who I have deep respect for as a human being, as a husband and father, as a leader and as a football coach. I was very fortunate to have been able to develop a personal relationship with him, especially over the course of the last several years, and it is something that I will always cherish. My prayers and thoughts go out to his wife, Sue, and to their family, and also to the family he had at Penn State University. We have lost a remarkable person and someone who affected the lives of so many people in so many positive ways. His presence will be dearly missed. His legacy as a coach, as a winner and as a champion will carry on forever."

Nebraska athletic director and former coach Tom Osborne

"I am saddened to hear the news of Joe Paterno's passing. Joe was a genuinely good person. Whenever you recruited or played against Joe you knew how he operated and that he always stood for the right things. Of course, his longevity over time and his impact on college football is remarkable. Anybody who knew Joe feels badly about the circumstances. I suspect the emotional turmoil of the last few weeks might have played into it. We offer our condolences to his family and wish them the very best."

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon also tweeted: "The U-M Athletic Dept expresses its condolences to the Paterno Family on Joe's passing. Very sad. May he RIP."

Fans at Indiana's Assembly Hall observed a moment of silence for Paterno before today's basketball game between IU and Penn State.

More statements from around the league are on the way and we'll post them on the blog.

What's on the menu today?

• Here's what Penn State interim AD Dave Joyner said Thursday about the school's coaching search. Joyner dismissed speculation that a candidate is in place.
• A good piece by The New York Times’ Pete Thamel on Urban Meyer and his fresh start at Ohio State. The Buckeyes' Johnathan Hankins has been described as an "SEC-style defensive lineman," and he'll get to show if that's true against Florida. Ohio State and Florida both understand coaching turmoil this year.
• All signs point to Rob Bolden starting at quarterback for Penn State in the TicketCity Bowl. Penn State RB Silas Redd benefited from time off, and he should do damage against Houston.
• Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald shares his 10 favorite moments as coach with ESPNChicago. More on the No. 63 monkey traveling with the Wildcats.
• Illinois has officially sold only 1,800 tickets to the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase isn't shy about making his faith public.
• A final pre-bowl personnel update for Iowa, which is dealing with a bout of the flu. Breaking down the Insight Bowl in detail. Mystery still surrounds who will be the Hawkeyes' No. 1 tailback.
• Michigan defensive lineman Will Heininger hopes he has enough time to heal and play his final game in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. It's a New Orleans homecoming for Wolverines WR Drew Dileo.
• An elaborate gag involving an alligator, a trainer and a leg chomp surprised Michigan State at practice Thursday. Spartans cornerback Johnny Adams is considering skipping his senior year and going pro.
• Nebraska AD Tom Osborne likes the chemistry he sees in Bo Pelini's program. The Huskers think they'll be able to match South Carolina's speed.
• Wisconsin star Montee Ball set the tone for his big season in spring ball. Badgers linebacker Kevin Claxton (leg) plans to play Monday in Pasadena.
• Purdue adds a decorated defensive line recruit.
• Minnesota AD Joel Maturi turns down a chance to be commissioner of a new hockey conference.

For links on the Ohio State/NCAA situation, see our earlier post. Now, zipping around the rest of the Big Ten ...

• Illinois is getting low on running back options for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. The coaching transition makes for a weird time around the Illini.
• Defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski left Iowa, and all signs point toward him taking the same job at Nebraska. Tom Osborne believes Bo Pelini will stay put in Lincoln.
• Bobby Bowden said he would have done more than Joe Paterno to stop Jerry Sandusky. It's a bittersweet birthday for JoePa. Should Penn State change its name?
• The Marcus Coker suspension is all too familiar for Iowa. Kirk Ferentz made a statement with his statement about staying.
• Al Borges says the Michigan offense has a lot more it can do next year. Fitz Toussaint got better and better as the year went along.
• Michigan State players got a special helmet to mark their win over Michigan this season. Isaiah Lewis has moved past his Big Ten title game mistake, and he has the full support of his coach. The Spartans are finding it hard to duplicate Georgia's size in their bowl rep.
• Two more Purdue players got in trouble and could miss the Little Caesars Bowl game.
• Wisconsin's Paul Chryst made a very good impression at Pitt but still looks like the second choice in that coaching search.

Is Bo Pelini interested in the Penn State head-coaching vacancy?

Depends on whom you believe.

For the second consecutive day, media reports out of Pennsylvania mentioned Pelini's name in connection with the Penn State job. And for the second consecutive day, Pelini denied he has had any contact with Penn State about the position.

"The irresponsible reports that are going on out there aren't true," Pelini told reporters in Lincoln following Tuesday's practice. "I have not interviewed for Penn State and I'm not saying anymore on that."

The (Harrisburg) Patriot-News' David Jones tweeted Monday afternoon that Pelini has had discussions with Penn State officials but isn't in the mix for the job. Pelini denied having any contact through a school spokesman and Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said he hadn't heard from anyone at Penn State wishing to speak with Pelini.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ron Musselman reported today that Pelini met with Penn State acting athletic director Dave Joyner last week in Texas but is no longer considered to be in the mix, according to a source close to the search.

The Post-Gazette reported prompted Tuesday's denial by Pelini. Penn State sports information director Jeff Nelson tweeted earlier today that the school interviewed only one candidate for the position last Friday. Lions interim coach Tom Bradley confirmed he was the candidate.

What do we make of the reports and the Pelini denials? Pelini also squashed a report from Columbus last month that he had interviewed for Ohio State's coaching vacancy.

This is what we at ESPN like to call the silly season, where rumors run rampant regarding coaches and jobs. I also know both Jones and Musselman have covered Penn State for a long time and are tapped into the search there. They know their stuff when it comes to PSU.

It seems odd that Pelini would want to leave Nebraska for Penn State, given all the uncertainty in State College right now. Ohio State seemed to make more sense, given his ties to the school (he played for the Buckeyes) and to the state (he's from Youngstown, Ohio).

Osborne has been committed to Pelini and understands better than anyone the connection between continuity and success. Pelini has a great gig at Nebraska, but he also seems to struggle with the criticism that comes with the territory in a state where Husker football means everything.

The Lincoln Journal Star's Steven M. Sipple outlined why Pelini would appeal to Penn State, citing, among other things, Nebraska's academic improvement under his watch.

Sipple also added this:

I sometimes wonder how Pelini reacts to fan criticism in the wake of this year's 9-3 regular-season record. Remember, he was stung in 2003 when he was part of the Nebraska staff jettisoned after producing the same record. Some Husker fans no doubt feel flattered when Pelini comes up in speculation regarding prominent jobs. Other folks no doubt become annoyed. As I wrote last December, get used to it.

Nebraska fans aren't too familiar with their coaches being mentioned for other jobs, as the Omaha World-Herald's Tom Shatel writes today.

Perhaps Huskers backers should check in with their pals in Iowa to see what it's like.

The links aren't going anywhere, but the Big Ten chat starts right now.

• Illinois' offensive staff won't be retained by Tim Beckman, Bob Asmussen reports. Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning, meanwhile, has the option to stay.
• Recruit Bri'onte Dunn re-commits to Ohio State after meeting with Urban Meyer. Colleague Joe Schad reports Meyer will add North Carolina interim coach Everett Withers to his staff. Ohio State's Gator Bowl ticket sales, meanwhile, are going at a slow pace, Bill Rabinowitz writes.
• Several Big Ten players appear on SI.com's All-America teams.
• Navy says Penn State has not asked to speak with coach Ken Niumatalolo about its vacancy. Marketing experts say Penn State was right to cut licensing ties with Joe Paterno.
• Coordinator Greg Mattison says Michigan's defense has exceeded his expectations. Michigan's seniors select alternate road uniforms for the Sugar Bowl.
• CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd ranks the bowl games. The Rose Bowl is the second most intriguing matchup, according to Bruce Feldman.
• Randy Peterson weighs in on the Kirk Ferentz-Kansas City Chiefs talk and who will replace Iowa defensive coordinator Norm Parker. Oklahoma will have Iowa star wide receiver Marvin McNutt on its radar screen.
• Recruiting experts say Michigan and Michigan State must be wary of Meyer on the trail.
• With Ralph Bolden sidelined, Purdue must keep No. 2 running back Akeem Shavers healthy for its coming bowl. The Boilers' bowl appearance should boost recruiting efforts.
• Nebraska AD Tom Osborne is confident Bo Pelini will pick the right defensive coordinator. Possible DUI charges against Huskers center Mike Caputo might not be filed until after the Capital One Bowl.
• Minnesota's newest 2012 recruit explains why he decommitted from Baylor and chose the Gophers.
• As ticket sales sag, Wisconsin should do better in looking out for its fans' best interest. What do Wisconsin fans, Neil Diamond and the Kennedy Center have in common?
• Northwestern loses a defender for its bowl game and regains the services of another.