29 HOURS TO GO: If you haven’t gotten in on the Kickstarter for HTTV 2021 do so now! Friday night it ends. One guy said he’s buying it just for my writing (which, there’s a lot of it), so whatever excuse you come up with for why you want to have this, it’s definitely not the worst one.

I am printing only a limited amount this year and expect to sell out before they get to any shelves. Yes, I’ll have a Kindle version but that won’t be ready until mid-August. I wrote my piece this morning, not counting the Table of Contents and the title page. The covers have already been printed. Buy ‘em up!

RELEASE THE SPREADSHEETS: Texas got sick of carrying the league they thought they would dominate and Oklahoma did until Iowa State upset everybody. The wheels are now set in motion for the Sooners and Longhorns to join the SEC when the Big 12’s TV deal expires in 2025. At that point the Longhorn Network will become part of the Mouse, Texas A&M goes back to being the Michigan State of a larger state, and the SEC will become the super-conference (more of a league) that will finally be as strong as they incessantly tell people they are.

Here is the best take:

pic.twitter.com/N70UtjhcLj

— Maryland Terrapins (@umterps) July 23, 2021

The Big Ten is preparing its borders by letting it be known that only refugees with valid AAU membership cards will even be considered.

Notre Dame obviously would be an exception.

— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) July 26, 2021

…unless, of course, you’re rich.

It’s also set the college football anthill into a frenzy. The people who like neat and same-sized columns are busy working on their justifications why jamming regionally and culturally affiliated institutions into their specific 16-team boxes is right and good. The guy who’s got a source willing to admit that Michigan and Ohio State once got asked out by someone who knows Alabama is going to have his day circulated among pretend media until a critical mass of brains have rejected it as goofy.

The Big 12 has more existential concerns, like do they exist? Commissioner Bob Bowlsby sent ESPN a cease and desist letter accusing the network of trying lure 3-5 members to the AAC to get the Big 12 to dissolve. Why?

"It's not so much about the taking of the members, what it does — and what it's intended to do — is destabilize the Big 12 so that it implodes, thus absolving OU and Texas of their grant of rights obligations and their exit fee obligations. If the Big 12 fails to exist as an entity, they can move quicker and they can do so for less money.”

That’s fair, but as Mathlete recently pointed out, the Big 12 has some Monty Python vibes right now.

[After THE JUMP: What do we do?]

Meanwhile the Big Ten has to decide how to respond. It could:

1. Go banging on doors of USC/Washington/Clemson/whoever’s left to see if they can superconf up as well.
2. Find two loose Power 5 schools to add so it looks like they’ve done something and added new markets.
3. Form a Big-Pac federation that changes little except they share TV rights, hold crossover games early in the season, and play a championship in the Rose Bowl before the playoffs.
4. Join the remainder of the Power 5 conferences to break away from the NCAA and form a super-duper league where everybody gets to more or less do things how they want, negotiates a national TV package that streams every game, moves the baseball season back to summer, holds its own playoffs that locks out the SEC, signs players to contracts, then asks Texas and Oklahoma if they want to come too.
5. The above but then be like “lol, j/k.”
6. Something even wilder.
7. Do nothing, trusting the parochial nature of college football fans to keep them as stinking rich as they are right now while they see how Texas and Oklahoma are assimilated into the SEC superstructure.
8. That but come up with a playoff plan that hurts the superleague, and pass it while everybody’s mad.

Everything is on the table, just like it was a month ago when the Big 12 could come apart at any time, or two years ago when the Big 12 could come apart at any time. The other conferences are going to be looking for crazy ideas too. The ACC will try to lock down Notre Dame.

Until it affects Michigan’s schedule I’m happy to popcorn through this one, but I would like to see if the Pac is amenable to #3. Is it basically going back to the structure of college football in the 1990s? Yes. Do people have to know this? No.

BIG TEN MEDIA DAYS BITS. It was a tame one. One reporter said “Go Blue” before asking Harbaugh whether he was concerned about Macdonald being a first-time coordinator, and this was a news cycle among objective media professionals who would never show bias for the team they cover.

So we're back to this fanboy garbage at Big Ten media days, where a "reporter" starts his question by giving Jim Harbaugh a "Go Blue."

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) July 22, 2021

I did not look to see if Crowley Sullivan said anything, because I have enough blood pressure. Scott Frost’s new boss sticking around long after there was anything for him to do was another news cycle.

But we learned a few things about the team. Mazi Smith was the unanimous breakout player named by Harbaugh and the players when asked for three. David Ojabo and freshman Andrel Anthony were other picks. Jess Speight and Chris Hinton, but not Donovan Jeter, were named the other two of “three solid inside guys” by Harbaugh. Josh Ross sounds comfortable in the new system.

PFF ON AIDAN HUTCHINSON. He was #4 on their best DEs of college football watch list:

Hutchinson played only three games in 2020 before suffering a season-ending leg injury, but the Wolverine seemed to be on his way to taking that next step forward on a mere 149 snaps (82.5 PFF grade). With a clean bill of health, he is quite easily one of the best all-around defensive linemen in college football.

The 6-foot-6, 269-pounder is versatile, has incredible power behind his hands and is one of the more polished players at the position. Hutchinson produced an 83.6 run-defense grade and 27 run stops along with a 76.0 pass-rush grade and 46 total pressures in 2019. He never really put together a dominant performance from start to finish in 2019 like others on this list, but he was consistently good throughout the year. We need to see more elite outings in 2021, and Hutchinson easily has the potential to make that happen.

Don’t scroll down unless you want to see two Buckeyes.

BUCKEYE BREAKDOWN OF RADICAL HOOSIER DEFENSE. If you too are a dispassionate consumer of objective football knowledge, you may enjoy this Foe Film discussion of the things Indiana has been doing to remain sound against the pass despite their Oprah Winfrey approach to selecting who gets to blitz:

Against the Buckeyes, Allen and Wommack added a new wrinkle, following the second linebacker with a safety through the same gap. Even if the center picked up the first linebacker and the running back picked up the second, no one would be there to pick up the safety as the rest of the offensive line looked toward defensive ends who were dropping in coverage.

The Ravens had a similar philosophy, if “maybe we could do this worse than Indiana” will entice you to take a link to Eleven Warriors.

SHOULDA NAMED IT THE NCAA VIRUS: Then we could be united in taking it down instead of growing bored with the big fight and turning to petty squabbles like how much peer pressure to get the vaccine is too much.

Wazzu head coach Nick Rolovich participated in Pac-12 Media Days Bob Shoop-style, i.e. via videoconference, because the conference had a vaccination mandate for coaches, staff, and players, and he isn’t getting it. Rolovich did not explain why, citing a “personal decision.” At least he’s not telling others to make life easier on Covid:

The second-year coach said about 75% of Washington State's roster has been fully vaccinated or soon will be, and he praised both the state and the university for their efforts in getting residents and students vaccinated.

"I'm not against vaccinations, and I wholeheartedly support those who choose to get vaccinated, including our players," Rolovich said. "I urge everyone to consider being vaccinated."

It’s extra awkward since Wazzu is one the many schools mandating all students, faculty, and staff get vaccinated by fall. Rolovich clarified he intends to follow whatever protocols are put in place.

It’s harder to believe the “personal decision” is actually a sound one because Rolovich booted a player last year for choosing to sit out the Covid season:

It just goes to show it was never about Covid to began with. Just kicked me off the team cause of #WeAreUnited movement. But nevertheless everything happens for reason. Thankful for where God has brought me in life. I grew a lot over the past 2 years. https://t.co/ASIns61PsM

— KassidyWoods (@Kassidy7Woods) July 23, 2021

A quick Twitter stalk of Rolovich’s likes makes me pretty certain his decision isn’t a medical one. Wazzu fans seem to have come to the same conclusion and want him gone. For what it’s worth, one NFL team already took that step with a top assistant.

Breaking: Rick Dennison is out as Vikings offensive line coach/run game coordinator after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine. MIN will promote assistant OL coach Phil Rauscher to replace Dennison, hired Auburn special teams analyst Ben Steele as an assistant. https://t.co/3oOgXHsaMr

— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) July 23, 2021

My take is beating Covid-19 is more important than whether millionaire coaches can be forced to take a vaccine by the mega-millionaire operations they work for. I have no concern that Rolovich and Dennison can get jobs after this; even Art Briles got another job in football. Fortunately there’s been a corresponding rise in vaccinations where outbreaks are occurring. If you haven’t yet, please do. If we lose you to this damned virus before I can get you your copy of HTTV, I swear by Denard I will track down your loved ones and make them hopeful for this season of Michigan football.

GLI AT HOME, NOT ON YOUR SEASON TICKETS

[James Coller]

They’re bringing back a sorta-Great Lakes Invitational at the end of the year as a pair of home games for Michigan and MSU. Michigan will get Tech at Yost on 12/29 while MSU plays WMU at Munn, then get the other mid-major the next night.

This would be a neat way to brand a pair of in-state nonconference home games in late December when the full event still isn’t a good idea. Except they realized the branding is an excuse to create two home games that season ticket holders have to buy extra:

The two games at Yost Ice Arena will not be a part of the U-M season ticket package. Ticket pricing, sales dates and other information on the GLI at Yost will be announced at a later date.

It was irksome to hockey season ticket holders a couple of years ago when Michigan agreed to move a home game against MSU off-campus and did not think to refund the season ticket holders. As nice as “we’re keeping the GLI alive” plays in a press release, those same fans are going to be pretty annoyed when they find two Michigan games at Yost in December aren’t included because of branding.

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT CAN CAUSE YOU TO FORGET WHAT YOU’RE DOING MID-AIR. Simone Biles, unquestionably the greatest gymnast in the world, removed herself from competition at the Olympics. For people having a hard time understanding this, here’s a gymnastics coach explaining exactly why this was really a life and death decision:

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Andrea Orris |LA (@andreaorris)

It’s hard not to draw comparisons between responses to Biles giving up a chance at an individual accomplishment because of a high likelihood of permanent injury or death, versus those for certain coaches who got out-big boyed by my four-year-old this week.

WOLVERINE MEDALISTS: Softball alumna Amanda Chidester and the Americans took silver, losing to host Japan 2-0 in the gold medal game. She went down swinging:

Chidester, who produced a pair of game-winning hits in opening-round play, went 0-for-3 in the gold-medal contest but was robbed in the sixth inning when, with runners on first and second, her hot shot to third ricocheted off the Japanese third baseman and right into the glove of the shortstop, who completed the double play to second base to end the inning -- and Team USA's last great chance to score.

Swimmer Maggie MacNeil (Canada) won a gold and silver. Swim alumna Siobahn Haughey (Hong Kong) earned a silver, which is Hong Kong’s first-ever swimming medal and her classmate Catie DeLoof was part of the relay team that took a bronze for USA. Michael Hixon, our grad assistant diving coach, and his diving partner won silver again.

ETC. Ace on Franz Wagner, who could go 7th, as high as 4th. I also got him on board with Haskins. Jake Butt retires.  Staff shuffling for Track & Field/Cross Country after Jerry Clayton went to LSU. Ohio State’s first-world problems. Get your BIG D1CKINSON ENERGY on.