It's been quite the week. To say America has had better weeks in its illustrious history would be putting it lightly, though the developments late Friday night should hopefully have everyone optimistic for a better string of days to follow.
With that brief comment given on the recent chain of events, here are a few things to consider this Saturday morning in the world of sports.
LEADERS AND LEGENDS CONFINED TO THE ASH HEAP OF HISTORY. Amid the nationwide intrigue regarding the conclusion of the manhunt in Boston, Massachusetts, the Big Ten quietly announced that its expected divisional alignment will see the end of the failed Legends/Leaders experiment. The Big Ten will realign its divisions and drop Legends/Leaders, going with a simpler East/West label instead.
I'd hate to tell the Big Ten I told it so, but, well, I told it so. When the divisions were announced, my position chastised the conference for the following.
- The B1G had nonsensical divisions to start. What justification could there be for putting Wisconsin on an island like it did?
- It announced the new divisions only with placeholder names of "X" and "O", making its nonsensical divisions even worse. It was screwed no matter what stupid division names it finally conjured.
- No reason was given for why one program was a Leader and not a Legend. Why is Ohio State a Leader and not a Legend? We're Leaders, right? Could you remember without having to Wikipedia it?
- But, seriously, Legends and Leaders. Those aren't divisions, those are corporate buzz words from the "synergy" conference your boss made you attend.
Alas, Big Ten fans finally got what they wanted. Legends and Leaders are no more, to be replaced with East and West. The remaining question to ask: how much money did the Big Ten waste on the focus groups that came up with those ill-fated divisions in the first place? Is that promotion to come up with a mnemonic for it still on the table?
As for the divisions themselves, I'm a little surprised that the B1G decided to split Indiana and Purdue rather than the two Michigans. Purdue will be in the West, which is probably something useful to a lot of the more "western" teams in the league. For example, Champaign and West Lafayette are separated by only an hour and 45 minutes of driving, though Illinois and Purdue could've been separated by an artificial division barrier. There exists, then, the (statistical im)possibility that Indiana and Purdue could play in consecutive weeks, with the second game for the conference football championship. It may have been better for competitive balance (and for both Indiana and Purdue fans) to split the Michigans rather than the two Indiana schools.
Seriously, the B1G West looks like the old Big XII North. I guess this is good news for Nebrasky fans, though. It'll be familiar territory for them, albeit with greater travel costs.
Next step that I would like for the Big Ten to consider is adding a yearly conference-opening rival for each program in the league. The SEC used to do this, though it seems to have retreated from it with its latest expansion. It's why you saw Arkansas and Alabama play every year to begin SEC play, as well as the familiar South Carolina-UGA rivalry in September. Placing a yearly opponent (possibly a good one) in front of the league schedule is a nice way to orient the B1G fan that league play is beginning. Maybe I'm harking back to 1975 here, but Ohio State v. Michigan State to begin conference play would have me intrigued. Penn State would be kind of cool as well.
CAN BEISBOL BE BERRY BERRY GOOD TO OHIO STATE? We all know Major League Baseball is under way, which is of interest to the Ohio State fans that usually sort themselves into the Tribe-Reds schism. Thus, come autumn, it's the Buckeye football team that reaches across this divide and unifies the Buckeye State. Still, Ohio State baseball could do the same. So, how's our Buckeye baseball team doing?
In a word: fine. Ohio State lost, 9-2, yesterday to Illinois, a game for which Deshaun Thomas threw out the opening pitch. It is still very much in play for a league title, though. At 7-5 in league play (23-12 overall), the Buckeyes are just 1.5 games behind Minnesota and That Team Up North. There's still a month left to play. What makes Ohio State's situation a little more interesting is that Ohio State is essentially done playing road games. It doesn't leave Columbus for the rest of the season, sans a three-game stand in Evanston against Northwestern. If the Buckeyes can get some home cooking going, it could vault to the top of the league standings. This would at least help its position for the NCAA Tournament.
As you might have guessed, B1G TEN baseball is not exactly elite in this country. That belongs to the SEC, Pac-12, and probably ACC and the Big West. B1G TEN baseball is equivalent to Conference-USA football. Still, we field a sport in it. So, therefore, I want a national championship in it. Ohio State's last national championship in baseball was 1966, which was also the B1G TEN's last national championship in the sport.
I'd give UCF amnesty if it went back to this. UCF FOUGHT THE LAW, AND UCF WON. Now, here's this.
Do you remember the scandal at Central Florida? Probably not. You probably don't remember the University of North Carolina being a diploma mill for football and basketball either, since both of those scandals were overshadowed by Terrelle's Pryor's tattoos, Miami's Neven Shapiro case, and the awful scandal at Penn State. Here's a refresher:
What UCF was accused of was, on its face, one of the worst packages of NCAA violations in recent memory. Not only were both of its revenue sports using a runner (among others) to help recruit athletes and that runner was providing benefits to student-athletes, but all of this was with the knowledge, encouragement, and even active participation of the athletic director.
For all that, UCF got off relatively light. Twin postseason bans, scholarship losses and major recruiting restrictions are not a slap on the wrist. But considering the conduct, it could and should have been much worse. The NCAA would have been justified in laying to waste both of UCF’s most prominent sports for the rest of the decade. Instead, UCF had significant but manageable sanctions for the next few years.
Well, here's the funny thing. Central Florida appealed the bowl ban, which was the biggest slap on the wrist the NCAA handed down in its relatively light package of punishments. Central Florida won that appeal.
Yeah, I don't know. I'm not the kind of Buckeye fan that is still bitter over how the scandal that brought down Jim Tressel unfolded. I only ask (nay: demand) that it never happen at Ohio State again. However, comparing cases makes one wonder how Central Florida could get off, essentially, scot-free when its athletic director was largely serving as a runner. Given how this unfolded at Central Florida, how NCAA botched the Miami case, and how it has ignored the UNC issue, I'd be furious if I were a USC fan.
At least, I think those are still out there. Are they?
MISCELLANY. NHL finally returning to Boston today... NBA playoffs begin today... Notre Dame's spring game is today, in which Manti Te'o is guaranteed to miss zero tackles on the day... Notre Dame's ACC schedule for 2014-2016 is available... Jim Tressel is on Twitter... No, really, he's on Twitter... Wisconsin and South Florida agree to a home-and-home... 9-game B1G TEN schedule very likely coming next... Czech Republic != Chechnya, and one can only imagine what prompted the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States to make that public service announcement... Auburn bro's tattoo is a bit much... That big long-haired dude from Gonzaga is declaring for the NBA Draft... Rutgers is paying Mike Rice $475,000 to go away.
