ESPN College Football

"College Football Live" examines the top storylines for the 2012 season.

Cassidy Hubbarth and the college football bloggers bring you the best from the spring and what that means for the games in the fall.

1. Jimmy Johnson has been out of coaching for more than a decade, and out of college football for nearly 25 years. But he knows enough about the University of Miami to know that he likes second-year coach Al Golden. “I told Al he’s doing it the right way,” Johnson said Tuesday at his College Football Hall of Fame press conference in New York. “He’s an outstanding recruiter. He’s very disciplined. I think he’s the perfect guy to get Miami back on track.”

2. The Big Ten athletic directors backed away from commissioner Jim Delany’s trial balloon of playing semifinal games on campus. It is, in theory, a good idea to even the playing field. But it ignores the history of bowls and the celebratory nature of the traditional postseason. All sides seem to want to integrate the playoff system into the bowls as much as possible. The battleship that is college football’s postseason doesn’t turn easily.

3. A very happy 100th birthday Thursday to Ace Parker, one of the greatest American athletes of the prewar era. Parker starred for Wallace Wade at Duke from 1934-36 as a single-wing tailback (5.9-yard rushing average), punter and defensive back. The 1936 Blue Devils went 9-1 with seven shutouts. Parker won the NFL MVP Award in 1940 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Parker also played outfield for two seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics (1936-37). He is the oldest living member of the Pro and College Football Halls of Fame.

Adam Rittenberg recaps the day at the Big Ten spring meetings, where the future postseason format and bowls were hot topics.

Big Ten blogger Brian Bennett talks about why the former Buckeyes quarterback has decided to revisit the Ohio State scandal.

"College Football Live's" panel of experts previews Nebraska's upcoming season.

Cassidy Hubbarth and the college football bloggers go around the country to look at the challenges facing coaches heading into their second season.

1. Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas remains impressed with the tenor of the meeting in South Florida last week about the postseason. “Those were as intense, focused and serious meetings as I’ve ever been a part of,” Neinas said, “with a healthy respect for those who disagreed.” Neinas wants the BCS to increase emphasis on schedule strength and continue to ignore margin of victory. “Oregon winning by four touchdowns may be the same as Wisconsin or Nebraska winning by two,” Neinas said. “We shouldn’t take style of play into account.”

2. The announcement that the BCS decided on a four-team playoff is the easiest part of the decision. Over the next seven weeks, the leagues must decide when and where they will play the semifinal games -- Bowls? No bowls? -- and how to select the four participating teams. It will test the goodwill that came out of the meetings last week. It will test the schools’ allegiance to the bowls. College football always tries to strike a balance between tradition and revenue. This time, finding that balance couldn’t be more important.

3. The SEC edged the Big Ten in the final count of the 2012 NFL draft, 42-41. However, the SEC won in the first round, 9-4, and the first two rounds, 14-11. That gives both sides the requisite fodder to settle barroom discussions from now until the 2013 draft. Illinois had four players drafted in the first two rounds. And recruiting was a big reason that the Illini plucked Ron Zook out of the fired coaches support group. Zook coached at Illinois as he coached at Florida: great talent failed to translate into enough victories.

The panel of experts at "College Football Live" preview the preseason's top-20 teams. They start with Ohio State at No. 20.

Ivan Maisel and Gene Wojciechowski debate whether the bowls or a playoff system is the way to go.

Cassidy Hubbarth and the college football bloggers go around the country to explain how a playoff system would help everyone.

Big Ten bloggers Adam Rittenberg and Brian Bennett will occasionally give their takes on a burning question facing the league. We'll both have strong opinions, but not necessarily the same view. We'll let you decide which blogger is right.

Today's Take Two topic is this: Last season, defensive tackle was clearly the strongest overall position group in the Big Ten. What position will be the best throughout the league in 2012?

Take 1: Brian Bennett

I'm tempted to go with linebacker, where some high-profile players and future stars are scattered throughout the conference. But my pick is running back.

There's some major star power at the position this year in the Big Ten, starting off with last year's Heisman Trophy finalist and record breaker, Wisconsin's Montee Ball. While Ball is the obvious choice for preseason offensive player of the year, he could get pushed by some other backs, including Nebraska's tough-as-nails Rex Burkhead, who ran for 1,357 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. Even with last year's No. 2 league rusher (Iowa's Marcus Coker) gone, the position is still stacked with guys like Penn State's Silas Redd, who we both think is primed for a huge season; Michigan's Fitz Toussaint, who ran for more than 1,000 yards despite not taking over lead rushing duties until the eighth game of the season; and Michigan State's Le'Veon Bell, who came on strong late last season and looks great this spring.

Purdue has some very capable runners in Akeem Shavers, Akeem Hunt and Doug Gentry, and Ralph Bolden is coming back from an ACL injury. Ohio State has a potentially strong group with Carlos Hyde, Jordan Hall, Rod Smith and freshman Bri'onte Dunn. Stephen Houston showed some good things for Indiana last year, and transfer Isaiah Roundtree had a big spring game. Minnesota is high on junior college import James Gillum. And don't forget James White at Wisconsin, who could start for most teams in the country.

Iowa, Illinois and Northwestern have some question marks at tailback. But overall, running back is where the Big Ten's bread will be buttered this season.

Take 2: Adam Rittenberg

A good choice, Bennett, as the Big Ten returns six of its top seven running backs and would have brought back all seven if not for Marcus Coker's transfer. But my experience covering this league has taught me to never overlook the defensive line. The D-line once again will be the Big Ten's strongest group in 2012.

Sure, the league loses standouts like Devon Still, Whitney Mercilus and Jerel Worthy. But you could substitute the names Aaron Maybin and Mitch King after the 2008 season, or Brandon Graham and Jared Odrick after 2009, or J.J. Watt and Corey Liuget after 2010. The Big Ten always finds ways to reload up front, and this year will be no different. There might not be as many familiar names as there are at running back, but that soon will change.

Let's start off with the top returning linemen, Ohio State's John Simon and Purdue's Kawann Short, both of whom earned first-team All-Big Ten honors in 2011. Both men will contend for All-America honors, and could be potential first-round picks in the 2013 class. Then you have a guy we're both excited about: Michigan State defensive end William Gholston. He's a physical freak, as you recently detailed, and has the potential to dominate games and become one of the nation's truly elite defenders in 2012. I'd also include Penn State defensive tackle Jordan Hill in this group of known commodities with the potential for very big things this season. Penn State's overall depth along the defensive line should be better this year.

Now for some lesser-known names who could have breakout seasons. Let's start at Illinois with defensive end Michael Buchanan and defensive tackle Akeem Spence. Buchanan is poised for a big year, as he showed in Illinois' spring game, while Spence is a next-level player who could follow Liuget's path this season. Speaking of defensive tackles, watch out for Ohio State's Johnathan Hankins, a very big man who can do very big things this season. The Buckeyes' heralded incoming freshmen should only bolster their line.

Michigan loses two standout linemen (Mike Martin and Ryan Van Bergen), but it's hard to imagine the Wolverines falling back much at all up front. Nebraska boasts good depth at the defensive end spot and could see a big year from a guy like Cameron Meredith.

While there are some question marks around the league, including an unproven line at Iowa, teams like Northwestern and Minnesota should be improved up front.

It’s a given that not everybody will be totally satisfied when college football finally settles on a playoff format, which will likely be in place for the 2014 season.

The USA Today this spring outlined four options being discussed, and one of those was aimed at keeping the Rose Bowl heavily involved in the process.

So much so, that the “Four Teams Plus” plan calls for the Big Ten and Pac-12 champions to always play in the Rose Bowl. The other two games in the playoff format would be filled by the four other highest-ranked teams. The two teams playing for the championship would then be selected after those three games were played.

In other words, the Big Ten and Pac-12 would get their own little play-in game for the sake of keeping the Rose Bowl involved every year.

Not surprisingly, SEC commissioner Mike Slive told a group of sports editors in Birmingham, Ala., on Monday that the “Four Teams Plus/Big Ten and Pac-12 Rule” model was not one of his favorites.

Even my esteemed colleague and Big Ten blogger, Adam Rittenberg, doesn’t like the idea.

Why play a so-called semifinal game if there’s a chance that the winner of that game might not even reach the championship game?

If you ask me, it sounds a lot like a bunch of Little League dads getting together and trying to rig a tournament where their team gets in the easiest bracket with just enough byes to get to the championship game even though they’re about the third or fourth best team in the field.

As I stated above, not everybody is going to be happy with what we end up with in the way of a playoff.

I do agree with Rittenberg that playing the semifinal games at campus sites would help preserve the pageantry of college football. Plus, it would be fun to see Alabama or Florida playing in Columbus, Ohio during the middle of the winter, and it would be just as fun to see Wisconsin or Ohio State venturing into Tiger Stadium or Bryant-Denny Stadium at any point in the season.

I still say the most important decision in this whole playoff debate will be how the teams are selected. Will a committee be formed to pick the teams, or are we going to stick with the BCS standings?

Good luck in finding a totally unbiased committee. And if we stick with the BCS standings, I’d like to see more weight given in the formula to strength of schedule.

The next BCS meetings take place next week in Hollywood, Fla.

Maybe the Big Ten and Pac-12 officials can get their own room to discuss things.

1. The NCAA slapped a five-year penalty on former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel last year, and as of Tuesday night, the question arose of who will return to run a team faster -- Tressel or deposed Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino? Tressel at least has nothing preventing an NFL team from returning him to the sideline. Petrino is persona non grata in the BCS and, because of his callous treatment of Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank and general manager Rich McKay, it’s a good bet that no NFL team will rush to hire him, either.

2. Integrity returns? Maybe winning is neither everything nor the only thing. First, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell crushes the New Orleans Saints for their bounty program, and now Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long resists the urge to keep the lying, misleading coach who took the Hogs to a 21-5 record over the past two seasons. The great Bobby Jones assessed himself a one-shot penalty in the 1925 U.S. Open, which he then lost in a playoff. Complimented for his self-assessed penalty, Jones replied, “You may as well congratulate me for not robbing a bank.”

3. The changes at Penn State will unveil themselves in many ways over the months to come. The athletic department announced Wednesday that new coach Bill O’Brien, with other Nittany Lion head coaches, will do 18 alumni meet-and-greets on nine days from Apr. 30 to May 16. Joe Paterno last did this sort of thing in the spring in 2009, when he went to three dinners. Paterno didn’t need to do them. O’Brien does. The alumni want to like him. But they have to meet him first.

ESPN writers and bloggers discuss keys for BCS title contenders in the BCS conferences.