The Big Ten is 2-4 this bowl season after yesterday's "victorious" day at the office that saw the B1G go 2-2. Bo Pelini and company slayed some taxes, and Sparty made another 4th-and-championship stop. (Thank goodness for yesterday and Johnny Freakin' Football because this bowl season was on life support.)
Of course, when Ohio State carries the capstone of the B1G's pride into Friday's showdown with Clemson, it will do so without its star defensive end and future NFL cornerback. (Yesterday, Kyle wrote the run down of the latest round of problems in Ohio State's Orange Bowl prep. Basically: it's been a trash week.)
MORE LIKE RICH HOMIE DANTONIO. Sparty captured their first Rose Bowl victory in 26 years yesterday, but Mark Dantonio was already a winner:
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio will be among the top three Big Ten coaches in terms of salary with his new deal, athletic director Mark Hollis confirmed before Wednesday’s Rose Bowl.
Hollis said the specifics of the deal are not ready for release, but he confirmed in a text message that Dantonio will be in the top three – which could potentially mean an increase from $1.96 million (ninth in the Big Ten) to the $4 million range, based on the current salaries of the top three.
Buckle up, OSU fans. Dantonio moves into the division with next year's B1G realignment and isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
GOOD TRY, GOOD EFFORT PSU NUT. Yesterday, Bill O'Brien blasted "the Paterno people," a crazed wing of the Penn State fanbase. (He allegedly grew tired of politics at Penn State.) What was it he said again?
You can print that I don’t really give a ---- what the ‘Paterno people’ think.
Again, O'Brien was talking about a crazed cadre of zealots cloying to a false mirage of their disgraced/dead idol, who didn't think O'Brien "respected" his predecessor enough. This memo, however, didn't reach the desk of Nikki Bowser, the writer at SB Nation's Black Shoe Diaries:
Bill O’Brien certainly had his work cut out for him when he got to Penn State in 2012. In the last couple of days, I’ve realized that he wasn’t cut out for the job. He did a lot of good for Penn State, and gave us all something to rally around in the hardest of times. But his off-season games (talking with NFL teams while promising players he was staying) made me question his intentions. I’m disappointed to find that the university hired someone who was only interested in using Penn State as a stepping stone to something "better."
... I guess I’m one of those "Paterno people" that Jones implied O’Brien didn’t care about. So Coach, go ahead: put your fist through that windshield. At one point, we were all Paterno people. If you don’t care what JVP’s supporters think of the program, then you never got what Penn State is about.
So yeah, Penn State people are handling news about Bill O'Brien leaving for the Houston Texans about as well as I'd expected.
Erick Hackenberg, father of heralded Penn State freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg, says his son will let the PSU hiring process play out before deciding to transfer or not.
THIS PICTURE MAKES ME FEEL SOME TYPE OF WAY WELCOME TO NAWLINS, JAZ. Man, I think New Orleans tops the list of American cities I want to visit. Tonight at 8:30 on ESPN, Oklahoma is playing Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
Here is Sooner wide out Jaz Reynolds:
Asked for the strangest thing he saw on Bourbon Street, Reynolds laughed and said he’s pretty sure he saw a drunk dog.
“I don’t know if he was drinking, but the dog was wobbling, then he just fell over on the curb,” Reynolds said. “I thought he had to be drunk. I’ve never seen a dog that lazy.
“It was a little lab. That was the craziest thing I saw.”
Like I said: I want to visit New Orleans.
TIMETABLE ON BRAXTON'S DECISION. We've known Braxton Miller is waiting until after the Orange Bowl to announce his intentions on the 2014 draft, and now we've got clarification on that timeline:
Braxton Miller said he will make his decision on the NFL about a week after the Orange Bowl.
— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) January 1, 2014
Unless Braxton Miller completely bombs the Orange Bowl, I think he's going pro. His package is based on his athleticism, why would he risk an MCL sprain against mid-table Minnesota? Sure, he won't project as a day one starter in the League, but at least he'll be making hundreds of thousands of dollars and won't have to concern himself with geology classes.
Education and classes will always be there. A chance at the NFL won't.
Braxton has grown as a player every year he's played. He's a father.
I hate to say it, but I think he's gone.
THOSE WMDs. The quest for the holy grail of a zero-calorie sweetener... Jimbo Fisher reflects on Auburn coaching days... Delany wants to know: do you even lift, Pac 12?... Ninja star-throwing range opening in Kentucky... Snapchat data leaked... Hopefully Chris didn't get arrested at that Phish concert... Infographic on famous heists... Ohio had record low traffic deaths in 2013... 18th century account of 8-year-old Mozart's prodigal talents... Artic fox pup...
