wol-va-rine

Well actually they can't win the conference because they can't play in the conference title game. I think he meant it's possible for tOSU and Penn St to win the divisions, but since neither of them can go to the CCG you'd have the 2nd place teams from each division playing for the CCG. Hence a team that didn't win their division winning the CCG. I think he means just OSU, PSU is in the same division (Leaders) as OSU so they couldn't both win their division...I think the original post was just saying that Wisconsin (for example) could come in 2nd in their division, still go to the CCG and win the conference even though they didn't even win their division...

it's an FPS series set in and around Chernobyl NPP twenty years after the initial explosion, and just after a second explosion compromises the decaying sarcophagus (at the rate it's actually decaying in RL quite plausible, no...?), I play (and I'm also an admin) on a server in the Ukraine (i-ii-iii-ii-i) where the ping isn't that bad considering the distance (~110ms), and there's usually an admin around to ban the cheaters and knuckleheads and the players are pretty friendly and speak more English than you'd think...lol, the single player campaign is my favorite and the atmosphere is amazing, especially if you have a rig capable of running some of the mods, it's really big in Europe but not so much in the states... it's really cheap, you can find the whole series (3 games) on Steam for about $20-$30 depending on the sale, and the first game, Shadow of Chernobyl, can be picked up for around $5 usually (Steam even has $0.99 sales on it at times, I thought I'd see if anyone here had ever played it, I heard about it many moons ago on the [H]ard|Forums and gave it a try and loved it... the best thing is that multiplayer starts out the same for everyone, same rank, same weapon choice, you build up rank in the game and get a better choice of weapons, so everyone is equal at the start of every online game, not like MW where your prestige and rank carries over to multi... just thought I'd mention it, it's a great, cheap game...

he probably just let his frustration get the best of him, they've had something like 5 or 6 assistant coaches leave in the last month or so and that absolutely killed their recruiting, they only signed 12 kids and were ranked in the bottom half of the conference in recruiting (8th), considering the type of season they had that seems like a ridiculously low number of signees...

FWIW I heard on Paul Finebaum's show today that Florida did this too. I think I saw that Auburn is doing it as well, and surprise, surprise, Saban wants no part of it...lol

I think it's a positive. If a player doesn't work out as an athlete, I'm sure you'd always be able to switch them to an academic or other type of scholly... um, no, you can't just switch kids to other scholarships... I like this because this is basically what the B1G schools has been doing anyway, I can't remember any kids at Michigan getting "cut" because they weren't playing, now granting a kid a 5th year is different because their 4 years is up and they should have their degree by then anyway, this won't really change much for B1G teams and let's be honest, kids get in trouble and that will be the available avenue for coaches to "cut" kids who aren't really gonna contribute and are taking up a schollie if that's how they want to operate... in the end I think this does nothing but help B1G schools come signing day...

didn't see it, what did he say...? and be honest, did it really take that to get you pumped for Nov. 24th...? that's always a given...lol http://www.foxsports...222&feedID=3701 turning into Mike Hart + 150 LBs yeah, I googled a bit and found that same page, meh, it's a rivalry and stuff gets said all the time, stuff was said right after the game this year too, nothing new here, PeeWee will find out that your legacy at either school is not determined by what you say, it's determined by what happens on the field, he better be able to back it up, we'll see...

Tressel wasn't. Ohio State at the end of the John Cooper era was unattractive to the home run hires. What Ohio State lucked out on was Jim Tressel's meticulous work as a manager seeing the big picture & fixing all the little problems to get everything working again. When I use the term 'home run' I don't necessarily mean the big name guys. There was little surprise that RR was a failure. He was incapable of seeing things outside of his narrow specialty. The real home run guys I tend to see are ones who intimately understand the program they are going to but also are big picture guys. Without that you don't have that long term platform. I don't see Hoke as a big picture guy. He is competent and will never be a failure like RR but he is not the guy you build a dynasty upon. Harbaugh was that kind of guy. There aren't many of them out there and that is why he could have been special in Ann Arbor. I know all the burnt bridges with Harbaugh were not from one side but it still would have been a great thing to see. Now excuse me while I go throw up after admitting that the special nature of our rivalry requires both programs to be not just good...but at a higher level. I guess we disagree, I do see Hoke as a big picture guy who definitely understands Michigan, I also think he will go down as a better coach than Carr and his record will show it, just like the Tressel hire I think time will only tell, but I like our odds...

yep, if you get an Ohio kid that OSU wants you better make sure he's committed 100% and not slack off in your recruitment of him, and I don't believe there was any conference wide gentleman's agreement, I do think there were special circumstances where Dantonio and Tressel were good friends and so they may have had a "gentleman's agreement" between themselves, but obviously that's not the case anymore because Tressel in gone, circumstances are different now...

didn't see it, what did he say...? and be honest, did it really take that to get you pumped for Nov. 24th...? that's always a given...lol

I wouldn't say a lot. 2010 DC/DL - Jim Heacock CoDC/LB - Luke Fickell S - Paul Haynes CB - Taver Johnson 2012 DC - Everett WIthers CoDC/LB - Luke Fickell DL - Mike Vrabel DB - Bill Sheridan The only difference between Jim Tressel's last staff and the interim year was the edition of Vrabel to coach LB and Luke took over the DL. Absolutely no idea. People seem high on the odds of him ending up in Columbus but you never know. The powers that be in Ann Arbor should be setting the coaching bar much higher than 'solid'. Lloyd Carr was a solid coach (and a good man) and it got him fired. The fatboy/donut jokes are because he comes across as a buffoon far too often. the powers that be liked what they saw in Hoke, before his tenure at OSU how was Tressel a "high bar" hire...? we'll see, but I think Hoke will do better than most (including you) think, RR was a pretty big name hire and look at what a f**kmess that was... I think we got the right guy and when the talent level is back up to where it should be I think he'll win big...

To clarify he didn't let the staff go. Paul Haynes took the DC position at Arkansas (and who can blame him?) & then lured Taver Johnson to come work for him (they are tight). Heacock had wanted to retire for several years but kept returning out of loyal to Coach Tressel. If he wanted it he would still be on the staff (he and Coach Meyer are also close). Scott Schaffer, Braithwaite, Tony GIbson, Jay Hopson? Come on, that is a recipe for failure. RRod's fatal mistake was hiring defensive coaches who were at the point in their careers where they should have been learning their trade at some MAC school....not thrust onto one of the biggest stages. Robinson & Tall were the only two I remember with any meaningful prior experience. Conversley Luke spent five years being groomed to handle the role (no he wasn't ready to be a HC at a big time program but he has more than proven his chops as an evaluation, recruiter, coach & co-ordinator). Withers is almost a mirror image of Luke, he had a rocky year of on the job training as a HC but prior to that has shown himself to be one hell of a DC. Sheridan has been in the business a long time and has a wealth of experience and knowledge at both the College & Pro level and is highly regarded as coach. Vrabel is the only one who you could argue has not paid his dues as a coach but he also spent a dozen years playing at a high level in the NFL and learning from one of the better defensive minds in the game. The pieces have the potential for greatness. The only potential problem I see is how well they work together as a team. Three guys who have all been defensive co-ordinators at high levels (and two of them were thrown into the fire to learn as interim head coaches) each no doubt have their own opinion on the 'right' way to do things. If they learn to mesh well the Silver Bullets aren't going to skip a beat. Borderline worst case scenario is still => than the '11 squad that was decimated by injuries and loss of leadership.Put a competent Offense on this past year's team and you have a highly probable 11-1 Buckeye team in the B1G championship game. Sure there are going to be road bumps but the odds of seeing anything like the complete cluster f#*k RR fielded on defense is extremely small. I mean even with a complete implosion Ohio State will still at least have talent out there. There are of course no guarantees but defense looks to be more likely to trend upwards going forward. Now if you guys hadn't screwed the pooch and pissed Jimmy Harbaugh off we might have this thing back where it should be. Harbaugh was not the long term solution, sure I wanted him, but he would've only been there a few years (if that), he has always had his eyes set on the NFL, Hoke on the other hand will add stability and continuity to the mix, this is his dream job, he isn't going anywhere unless we force him out, and I don't think that'll happen, I think all the fatboy/donut jokes distract people from the fact that he is a solid coach and is going to do a great job in Ann Arbor, I think the rivalry is interesting again now that he's here, it's gonna be fun to see how this plays out... so, when is Diggs gonna sign...? he's pretty much a lock at this point, no...?

Could you please cite the post where his beatific nature was lauded? Thank you for your assistance. Well one thing is for certain in Feb 2015 there are going to be a LOT of people with egg on their faces. You really want to wager on it not being you? I would agree with you if he had kept the defensive staff in tact, now I'm not sure, I think letting that defensive staff go could end up being his downfall ala Rodriguez and his defensive debacles, he could win big at OSU, or he could develop more "health problems" and retire again, neither would surprise me...

a few points here... - Dantonio was quoted out of context by a reporter (one that wasn't even at the presser) who took a few quotes (one specifically mentioning OSU and the other a more general, less specific quote) and strung them together to make the general quote look like it was specifically referencing Meyer when it wasn't, it's also been known for a while that MSU and OSU had an unspoken rule that they would not go after each other's committed recruits because of the close relationship that Dantonio and Tressel had, that is no longer the case... - MSU, PSU, and even Michigan had Ohio recruits that committed to them while OSU was in flux between the time that Tressel was fired and Urban was hired, most of the kids that flipped to OSU recently would've probably committed to OSU originally if not for the uncertainty, once that uncertainty was gone they basically just did what they wanted to all along... - we didn't lose anyone from Ohio in our class and believe me they tried, but a ton of our commits were long standing commits, we got a ton of them early and it gave our coaches a lot of time to build really strong relationships with the kids, the coaches stayed in touch with them and stayed away from recruiting negatively, they didn't bring up the problems at OSU or PSU, they just focused on what Michigan had to offer and a lot of the Ohio kids were quoted as saying that really made an impression on them... - if you've ever followed Urban then you know that he absolutely loves it when kids get in trouble, not publicly of course, but think about it, with the new 4 year schollies given out by B1G schools, kids in trouble are a God send to a coach that oversigns, the ball is then in his court, he has the upper hand because punishment is not black and white in most cases and the gray areas can be worked, is he a starter...? give lip service about "punishing" the kid and let him keep playing, is he a backup that will probably never see the field...? cool, come recruiting time he's expendable, take this year for example... - the B1G allows you to sign as many kids as you have schollies for up to the 85 limit +3 (to account for attrition I guess)... - with the commits they have signed they are at 84, with Stefon Diggs possibly bringing that total to 85 if he signs... - OSU has a limit of 82 schollies because of their sanctions, 82 +3 = 85 is their real limit this year, now they have to "find room" for those 3 extra kids because they have to get back down to 82 before the start of the season (fall semester)... basically three current Buckeye players who are not really projected to contribute on the field and who have also run afoul of the law or team rules in any way should be very nervous about their scholarships, I think Urban is a prick and an incessant liar, but the dude is a winner, maybe the B1G can become the first conference in which he doesn't win really big...we'll see

yeah, these new rules don't really stop this practice, they just limit it, 25 per year is still over the 85 limit after 4 years (25 x 4 = 100), this rule is just to eliminate the most egregious violators, like Houston Nutt (it's actually called the "Houston Nutt rule" by a lot of people) who used to regularly sign 30+ recruits per year at Ole Miss (his worst year was 2009, he signed 37 recruits), back then he even used to joked about the fact that there was nothing stopping him from signing 85 per year if he wanted to, the B1G handles it differently and only allows you to sign as many recruits as you have scholarships available at that time, at Michigan we have had some pretty big classes lately (like this year, because of the attrition surrounding RR's tenure, the scholarships were there to be given and no one was cut to make room because they weren't contributing on the field, our biggest class in the last 10 years (27) pales in comparison to most of the SEC schools who have multiple 30+ recruit classes in the last 10 years...

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL FSU #8!?? BAHAHAHAHAHHA and MICH ST #9? WOW..... And the idiots at ESPN will continue to take that bait on FSU... Just like mice going after the cheese. I have NO IDEA what they're thinking ranking MSU in the top 10. They said it themselves, they're losing the starting QB and top 4 receivers. Good luck breaking in your new offense. They also lost the center of their defense Worthy... Oh well. Let's hope we spank em next year. Just a reminder... defense wins championships, and MSU has a very good defense returning almost all their starters, probably the best defense in the conference next year, and they have good running backs, if they can "survive" until their new QB and WRs start to get it together they could be a very dangerous team...

Are you saying that Alabama is no Appalachian St? They're definitely no Toledo ouch... although Appy St. was the more apt comparison here, being the first game of the season and all, but let's give credit where credit is due, RR lost to Toledo, IN MIDSEASON no less...ugh

actually, playing this type of game in the first game of the season is pretty rare in the B1G these days and has been for a while, the marquee OOC matchups are usually the second or third game of the season, that makes me pretty nervous, I also think the Bama game will be much tougher for us because Bama just seems to be deeper (oversigning) and can afford to lose starters more than Boise can, Boise St. loses almost their whole team (they only return 6 starters on offense AND defense), I think MSU will be favored and should be, it won't be an upset if they beat BSU and actually, I'd consider it an upset if BSU won...

Thanks for that, it really is interesting to look at. Spurrier voted us 15th and Saban and Bo himself voted us 16th along with Marshall's, Bowling Green's, and Syracuse's coaches. And we didn't get any love from Baylor, Boise State, La Tech, Virginia, or Iowa State (go figure) all 20th. *Edit* Oops, either way it's still interesting to see that. yeah, it's still really interesting and I'll definitely check out the final poll, it was pretty weird that Rocky Long, Hoke's DC last year at SD St., and supposedly good friend, voted Michigan the lowest of any other coach except for one other coach that also had us 18th, pretty disappointing vote imo, we were anywhere from 8th to 18th in that poll IIRC...

I think they were talking about a "tough stretch of games" when they gave up 9 TDs instead of all season, Bama has given up 12 TDs this year, still really, really good, but 9 is kind of an unthinkablely insane number...

actually that's the old poll used in the final BCS calculations (as evidenced by LSU being a unanimous #1), I don't think they've released the new interactive poll from the final ballot yet...

But Gilbert played like crap for the most part. That one sh#t data point matched up with the rest of his Texas career. I know what you're saying and I agree but this wasn't the best example. The one thing you can say about this guy is that he was a vocal leader tonight, and that is huge IMO. true, his completion % was horrible, but at one point he had thrown two straight TDs to bring Texas back to within 24-21, after that is when it became a waking nightmare with turnovers on his last three drives (2 ints and a fumble) IIRC, up to THAT point it was a "decent" game by a kid who had no idea he would be playing, and he actually made the game competitive for a while, I thought they had no chance when McCoy got hurt...

the kid from Texas when McCoy got hurt...? lol, didn't that end up being his only decent game ever...? Gilbert or something...?

yeah, Bama wouldn't have played Texas in the BCSCG, but they wouldn't have been playing Nebraska either, it would've probably been Cincinnati, and it would've been a slaughter...

even though it usually skews the matchups a bit with getting two BCS team in there, the money (which is evenly distributed among conference members IIRC) that second BCS bowl brings always makes it worth it...