Post-Big Ten Division Announcement Debriefing
by KJ@theonlycolors on Sep 2, 2010 7:50 AM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans Football
15 comments
So, big picture, the process of arriving at Big Ten divisions can be summed up as follows:
- Step 1: Maximize the odds that Michigan and Ohio State meet in the title game by putting them in opposite divisions and precisely balancing the two divisions based on post-1993 performance.
- Step 2: Guarantee that, should the outcome you want from Step 1 actually occur, there will be at least some level of anticlimax associated with the outcome since the two teams in question will be playing in back-to-back weeks. As a bonus, you reduce the odds of getting semifinal-type games in the final week of the regular season and stick several teams with decided non-rival Rivalry Week opponents. And, that's not enough, every Big Ten team will miss playing one conference opponent for a full four-year period starting next season.
So, like, smashing success, boys. So much more interesting (and revenue maximizing!) than a simple geographic split.
Moving right along: Within the context of the jury-rigged framework Jim Delany et al. have created, MSU comes out looking pretty good. Our primary rival is in our division, Nebraska and Iowa are somewhat less frightening than Ohio State and Penn State as divisional foes, and fixed cross-divisional rivals don't come much friendlier than Indiana (as artificially-generated as that rivalry may be, Brass Spittoon or not). (Bonus: Mark Hollis gets his regular trips to Chicago to play Northwestern.) If/when MSU puts itself in a position to make a run at a Big Ten title, odds are we won't be able to complain about schedule imbalances as a major obstacle.
Of course, the two non-fixed cross-divisional opponents we drew for the first two years of 12-team play both came up "CONTENDER": Ohio State and Wisconsin. There was a decent chance we'd draw two teams from the OSU/PSU/Wisconsin group, 30%, but that does take the short-term sheen off the IU thing. (By the way, there was some sort of a random draw, right? Right? Who am I kidding? Probably not.)
LIVE THREAD: Big Ten Divisions Announcement Show
by Pete Rossman on Sep 1, 2010 5:28 PM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans News Roundup
44 comments
OK, so we most likely know what the divisions are going to be, and that those divisions will apply for football only. Still, there should still be some good information coming out of this special, and what else do you have to watch at 7 on a Wednesday night? Tune into the Big Ten Network or bigtennetwork.com and follow along in this thread.
Big Ten to Announce Divisions, Who Shot J.R.
by Pete Rossman on Sep 1, 2010 1:31 PM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans News Roundup
52 comments
In the Big Ten Network's summer programming season finale, the two divisions for football will be announced at 7 PM Eastern, 6 Central. Jim Delany will do the announcing I assume, and Mark Hollis will be in the Big Ten Studios along with three other athletic directors. Andy Katz of ESPN is reporting from several sources that the divisions will be set up thusly (with the division names being entirely my creation):
| CORSO DIVISION | ZOOK DIVISION |
| Michigan | Ohio State |
| Nebraska | Penn State |
| Iowa | Wisconsin |
| Michigan State | Indiana |
| Northwestern | Purdue |
| Minnesota | Illinois |
Once again, this is not definite, but Katz seems pretty sure this is how everything shakes out. For football that seems split pretty evenly, for basketball though, holy crap. If the Big Ten goes to an SEC 16 game model (10 games in division, 6 out), when does State lose that division for the first time, and how far does their RPI drop? For that sake alone, I hope they stick with the 18-game schedule.
We'll have a live blog starting at 6:30 PM tonight of the Big Ten's announcement. Until then, discuss away.
MSU FOOTBALL PREVIEW: I'd Rather stick to football
Yes, that's high quality punnage in the way only Joe Rexrode can smith words. Fantastic op-ed piece which simultaneously backhands the repetition of the Rather hall storyline while providing hope for the future. Read this now.
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Musing Through the MSU Depth Chart
by KJ@theonlycolors on Aug 31, 2010 8:12 PM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans Football
6 comments
I may be a basketball-inclined college sports blogger, but I could certainly have done with less basketball-related news over this past MSU sports blogging offseason. It's made for great traffic and commenting levels, but it's also induced way too much offseason stress and introduced too many question marks for the the upcoming basketball season.
I'm going to go ahead and declare the Offseason of Tumult over. (I presume all individuals associated with MSU athletics will recognize my authority in this area and adhere to the edict.) After all, we've got a real, live regular season football depth chart now. And real, live Spartan sports action is less than 100 hours away.
Joe Rexrode has already covered the major data points to be gleaned from the depth chart. Building off his work, here are my own musings:
- Very nice to not have an "OR" at the quarterback spot this fall. I'm a numbers guy, so I don't tend to put a lot of stock in intangibles, but having a clear leader at the quarterback spot has to be worth something.
- Making Andrew Maxwell the back-up quarterback is absolutely the right move. In the horrific scenario that Kirk Cousins goes down for the season, the coaching staff would no doubt take a hard look at moving Keith Nichol back to quarterback and making him the starter. Short of that, having a back-up quarterback who's spending his 100% of his time focused on the position is what you want.
- Four co-starters at the two receiver spots: B.J. Cunningham, Mark Dell, Keshawn Martin, Nichol. I'd think Cunningham and Dell are the favorites to see the most playing time in two-WR sets, as they continue to work themselves back into Mark Dantonio's good graces from the dorm assault incident. (Martin and Nichol were listed as the only starters on the spring depth chart.) Martin and Nichol will certainly see lots of time on the field, though. The trick play options when both of them are on the field are almost limitless. I'm thinking flea-flicker/throw-back/reverse/option-pass.
- Four tight tends who will contribute. We knew that already, of course.
- Le'Veon Bell is the only tailback listed behind Edwin Baker and Larry Caper. As noted by LVS in his post on the rushing game, Bell looks tantalizingly goalline-backish at 6'2", 230 pounds. Caper is expected to play against Western despite suffering some sort of arm/wrist injury that has him wearing a cast.
- I'd forgotten about Fred Smith moving to fullback. He's the back-up behind Josh Rouse.
- Offensive line had already pretty much shaken itself out. He locked up the position early and hasn't gotten a lot of attention of late (very likely a good thing), but I still think D.J. Young may be the most important player on this team, protecting Cousins' backside. Young's a senior, but he's also going into just his second season as an active MSU player after transferring from Bowling Green. Hopefully, his experience at right tackle last season translates well to the left side.
- The depth chart reinforces how young the defensive line is: Of the 12 players listed are, 8 are freshmen or sophomores. We'll be watching one of those young linemen just a little more than the others: William Gholston is listed as the back-up (behind co-starters) at the "RUSH" end position. Three "OR"s among the 4 defensive line spots, so lots of opportunities for people to make themselves factors. Blake Treadwell is questionable for Saturday's game with a leg injury.
- No surprises at linebacker or in the secondary. Lots of freshmen once you get past the starters in the defensive backfield. (Sidenote: After the disaster that was the MSU pass defense last season, who would have thought that the weakest Big Ten secondary in the state would reside in Ann Arbor?)
- Final "OR" is at placekicker: Dan Conroy and Kevin Muma. Barring catastrophe, there should be a couple of weeks to sort that out before there's the potential for a game-deciding field goal attempt.
Final bit: Rexrode reports that the team has something called a "unity council": a group of 12 players from which the 4th weekly rotating captain will be selected (joining Cousins, Greg Jones, and Aaron Bates). Sounds a little too much like a part of a communist leadership apparatus, but anything that helps keep the entire roster on the straight and narrow off the field is a good thing in my book.
On that note, we've come full circle back to off-the-field/court tumult. Let the games begin!
Rivals Updates Their 2012 Basketball Top 150
Good news as MSU ends up with three four-stars all in the top 100. Our highest rated recruit is Matt Costello at No. 57. Kenny Kaminski is No. 77 and Denzel Valentine is No. 95. Some other names of note include Gary Harris at No. 24 and Jordan Hare at No. 88.
Korie Lucious Arrested for Drunk Driving
by Pete Rossman on Aug 31, 2010 11:21 AM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans Basketball
45 comments
The most tumultuous basketball offseason in memory just got a little more tumultuous, as Lansing TV station WLNS is reporting that Korie Lucious was arrested for drunk driving last night. According to WLNS:
We have a copy of the ticket which says he blew a .09 on a breathalyzer test.
For reference, .08 is the legal limit (Edit - if you're over 21 - which Lucious isn't. It's .00 for minors). Lisa Byington is reporting that Izzo won't comment until he gathers all the facts but rest assured his comments will not be glowing. On the plus side, football season starts Saturday, and I'd never thought I'd be using football to get away from basketball's problems.
EDIT: For the record, Lucious doesn't turn 21 until November, so there might be a minor in possession charge as well.
Raymar Morgan to play in Israel
[Mazel tov! --LVS.]
Morgan has signed to play with Maccabi Rishon LeZion, located in central Israel, which is part of Ligat HaAl, the top professional league in Israel.
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