Thursday Skull Skession

By Alex Gleitman on November 4, 2010 at 6:00 am
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"Thug U"The U Not So Hot So not only is it not "All About The U" in South Beach, but ther Hurricanes' struggles are affecting the Buckeyes in the BCS standings as well. The further Randy Shannon's team plunges down the drain this seaosn, the further OSU drops in the computer rankings, minimizing the already low chances of inching back into the MNC picture. Things get even worse this weekend as both starting quarterback Jacory Harris and starting running back Damien Berry are out for Saturday's game against Maryland. At 5-3 things are not looking good for that team down south, and it will be up to true freshman Stephen Morris to lead the team, a chance he's been waiting for since he decided to take his talents to South Beach last winter.

Take A Step Back For A Minute If you haven't heard, tragic news came out of Starkville yesterday, when it was announced that Mississippi State defensive end Nick Bell had lost his battle with cancer. Our prayers go out to the Bell and MSU families as this is definitely a sad day, especially for a kid that was on the field playing as recent as a month ago. A bad last 30 days for college football, as this news comes after the tragic incident that left Rutgers defensive tackle Eric LeGrand paralyzed. LeGrand was recently transferred from the hospital to a spinal rehab center, so our prayers are with him as well on his recovery. Stuff like this makes you take a step back and realize a silly loss to Wisconsin is so insignificant in our lives right now.

Head Coach Hunting If you didn't know, Minnesota is in the midst of looking for a new head coach. Rumors late Tuesday had Phil Fulmer as a coach of interest for the Gophers, and apparently that interest is reciprocated. Fullmer would certainly be an interesting candidate and the big name the school is looking for, but I'm not sure that he has many good years left in him. Apparently the school's dream list doesn't include Fullmer though, instead putting Jim Harbaugh, Gary Patterson, and Chris Petersen at the top of the pool. The chances of Minny getting any of those three are slim to none in my opinion.

Expansion: Big East Style Rumors have been swirling for a while that the Big East would look to expand in order to survive/bolster it's football membership. Those rumors have come to fruition, as the league was given permission to expand from 8 to 10 teams. Two teams that have been linked to the conference's expansion plans, TCU and UCF, have denied alleged contact, but it will only be a matter of time before the Horned Frogs and Knights are in touch with commissioner Joe Marinatto. I think both schools are solid options for the conference, but I would also look to try and talk to Memphis, Temple, Houston, East Carolina, and FCS Villanova. The latter won the FCS Championship last year and looks like a school that is able to make the jump and makes sense because of it's basketball membership, but I'm not sure that would truly help the football status of the league. Memphis is average at football, but brings a ton in basketball, Temple is very solid in both, and Houston and ECU are stronger in football. If I were in charge, Memphis and Temple would be my choice, but what do you think?

 Buckeye Quick Shots Some random notes from Columbus in this bye week: OSU and Penn State will kick-off at 3:30 ET next weekend. Cam Heyward has been named a Lombardi Finalist. Rob Oller makes the case why style points should be a part of the computer rankings in the BCS. Jim Tressel would rather have Thanksgiving week off over a bye week. Lee Caryer looks at OSU's basketball scheduling strategy this season. Bucknuts has a nice feature on OSU senior Jon Diebler. Finally, a nice piece on DeVier Posey's up-and-down season from The Plain Dealer.

Big Ten News Michigan loses another defensive back for the season to injury. That should make it even more of a field day come November 27 for Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeye offense. Adam Rittenberg has the buzz on whose stock is up and whose is down in the conference. Bret Bielema has no problem with the Big Ten's tie-breaking system, although why should he when the Badgers currently look to benefit the most from the way things shake out. Matt McGloin and Rob Bolden will compete to see who starts this week. Michigan State can really help Ohio State by winning out according to Doug Lesmerises, while Rusty Miller says things aren't too clear in the conference race. JaJuan Johnson made first team All-America for Purdue and other Big Ten news. Finally, LTP thinks Northwestern will beat Penn State this weekend, simply because "they're due".

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