the just released schedules were a flat-out statement that the B10 doesn't believe SOS will matter in playoff selection
football
Denard working out at QB for Jacksonville
The Jacksonville Jaguars had Denard lining up in the shotgun formation at QB during Wednesday's OTA practice. Looks like his QB days are not over. The last line of the article predicts that if Denard does well, he could be reclassified from RB to QB in the future.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/05/15/jags-using-denard-robins...
Big Ten Recruiting Rankings 5-15-13
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Michigan gets a commit and content is a little slow today, so recruiting rankings hit the front page. Plenty of movement this week with Big Ten schools picking up commitments in each of the last eight days. Changes since last rankings:
5-1-13: Rutgers picks up Pete Mokwuah.
5-2-13: Illinois picks up Chayce Crouch.
5-3-13: Penn State picks up Daquan Worley. Northwestern picks up Tommy Doles.
5-6-13: Nothwestern picks up Dareian Watkins.
5-8-13: Nebraska picks up Jason Hall.
5-9-13: Northwestern picks up Auston Anderson. Maryland picks up Johnathan Thomas.
5-10-13: Penn State picks up Marcus Allen and Jared Wangler.
5-11-13: Michigan picks up Lawrence Marshall.
5-12-13: Ohio State picks up Lonnie Johnson.
5-13-13: Michigan State picks up Matt Sokol.
5-14-13: Northwestern picks up Justin Jackson.
5-15-13: Michigan State picks up Chris Frey.
Chart? Chart:
| Big Ten+ Recruiting Class Rankings | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 247 Comp. Rank (Ovr) | School | # Commits | 5* | 4* | 3* | Rivals Avg | Scout Avg | 24/7 Avg | ESPN Avg | Avg Avg^ |
| 1 (5) | Michigan | 9 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3.44 | 3.56 | 3.78 | 3.78 | 3.64 |
| 2 (12) | Ohio State | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 3.38 | 3.63 | 3.88 | 3.50 | 3.59 |
| 3 (14) | Penn State | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 3.00 | 3.33 | 3.33 | 2.89 | 3.14 |
| 4 (15) | Northwestern | 9 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 3.22 | 3.11 | 3.44 | 2.89 | 3.17 |
| 5 (20) | Rutgers | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2.56 | 2.56 | 2.89 | 2.44 | 2.61 |
| 6 (23) | Michigan State | 8 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3.17 | 3.33 | 3.50 | 3.00 | 3.25 |
| 7 (34) | Wisconsin | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3.50 | 4.00 | 3.75 | 3.50 | 3.69 |
| 8 (41) | Iowa | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3.33 | 3.00 | 3.67 | 3.33 | 3.33 |
| 9 (44) | Illinois | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.75 | 2.75 | 3.00 | 2.50 | 2.75 |
| 10 (52) | Maryland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3.33 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.08 |
| 11 (56) | Minnesota | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3.00 | 3.00 | 3.33 | 2.33 | 2.92 |
| 12 (70) | Nebraska | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2.50 | 2.50 | 3.00 | 2.00 | 2.50 |
| 13 (81) | Purdue | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.00 | 2.00 | 3.00 | 2.00 | 2.25 |
| 14 (NR) | Indiana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
^The average of the average rankings of the four recruiting services (the previous four columns). The figure is calculated based on the raw numbers and then rounded, so the numbers above may not average out exactly.
NOTE: Unranked recruits are counted as two-star players.
On to the full data after the jump.
OT: Last Night's Dinner With Tressel
Last night my company won a "Manny" award for new product development here in Northern Ohio. The Keynote speaker and presenter was Jim Tressel and about a month ago I asked the board what question I should ask him given that I thought I would have the chance to do so. Unfortunately circumstances did not allow for me to speak to him at any length last night (he was mobbed by adoring Buckeye fans and we were not seated together) but we did exchange email addresses and I dropped him the following note this morning:
During your tenure at OSU you definitely created “fortress Ohio” and made recruiting nearly impossible for Michigan. As you well know, if you wanted an Ohio kid you got him. The “zero sum gain” of you keeping all the Ohio kids in Ohio not only strengthen the Buckeyes it weakened Michigan and, while I no longer actively recruit, I’m fascinated that Meyer does NOT seem to be following your lead and is definitely letting us back in. We are not only competitive for the first time since 2000 we are winning recruiting battles head-up and that simply did not happen while you were the Head Coach. Very long preamble to the actual questions. One, why do you think Coach Meyer is foregoing your “Ohio first” recruiting mentality and two; do you think he’ll regret it in the long term?
If he responds I will let everyone know what he says. It was generally a pretty fun evening and during Tressel's keynote someone had to leave the room so Tressel stopped mid-sentence and said "wow......must be a Michigan fan". That line certainly got a lot of laughs.
Finally what's the saying around here? "Pics or it didn't happen." Well I have a pic. Unfortunately. Somewhat embarrassingly I have seemed to have photo bombed myself as you will see from the attached picture of a seemingly very surprised mGrowOld and the former coach of the Buckeyes.
Jags (Denard) in London Oct 27
At some point over Denard's Michigan career I decided I would follow whichever team drafted him. So I checked out the Jags schedule to see if they had any interesting road games, since J-ville is not exciting to me, especially after the Gator Bowl a couple years ago.
However, I noticed they were playing SF in London on Oct 27. There are plenty of reasons to go including: going to London in itself, although expensive is fun, an NFL game experience in another country and supporting Denard being the genesis of the trip ends up being an ancillary benefit.
I'm curious to know if anyone has planned on going or might be interested in taking a group trip.
Sam Webb on LB Recruiting
In response to my email question this morning Sam Webb said that we are definitely in on OLB prospect Jimmie Swain from Missouri. No offer yet, but one is likely in the near future. Kudos to Balrog of Morgoth for uncovering this guy in the Kyron Watson thread yesterday. Swain's highlights are impressive and he has the frame to play SLB.
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1332538/highlights/25488376
Sam also mentioned what many of us had already surmised - that we are likely now looking for at least three linebackers in this class - perhaps two SLB plus Ferns.
PSU about to get blasted again by SI investigative report
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SI is publishing an investigative report into the medical care for athletics in a story titled "Do Athletics Still Have Too Much Power at Penn State." Still unclear what is in the report, but based on the spin coming from PSU already, it doesn't look good.
http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2013/05/sports_illustrated_investigati.html
EDIT: SI has released a summary of their report and it is pretty damning of the AD David Joyner and head coach Bill O'Brien.
Link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20130515/penn-state-athletics-power/
