Rich Rodriguez is being sued by West Virginia University for $4 million dollars on the account that he breached his contract. Not going to say that he did or he didn’t, but the legalities of it will be going on for a long time, according to The Ann Arbor News.
WVU Athletic Director Ed Pastilong’s deposition was made public and here are a few excerpts:
- When asked about damages to WVU’s football program since Rodriguez’s departure, the AD cited the losses of standout players Steve Slaton and Darius Reynaud, both of whom left a year early for the NFL, pledges from donors Ken Kendrick and Don Reynolds, an overlap in paying two assistant coaching staffs and other pledges from donors.
- The athletic director said he did not – nor did he know of anyone within the athletic department who did – help former Mountaineer Athletic Club administrator Larry Aschebrook land a job at Arizona State. Aschebrook has been a central figure in charges leveled by ex-WVU assistant coach (and current Michigan assistant) Calvin Magee concerning racism.
- Pastlilong called Rodriguez a friend and an outstanding coach and employee.
The NCAA released its annual Academic Progress Reports (APR) today. Purdue was below the cut line, with a score of 920. Purdue was not penalized though. Michigan State’s football team was one point above the cut line. Minnesota was only two points above the cut. A score of 925 could force the NCAA to impose sanctions on the program, such as loss of scholarships or postseason ineligibility.
Big Ten Schools:
- Northwestern, 969
- Penn State, 964
- Michigan, 951
- Iowa and Indiana, 950
- Wisconsin, 944
- Ohio State, 942
- Illinois, 930
- Minnesota, 927
- Michigan State, 926
- Purdue, 920
I will not attempt to analyze these numbers. There is so much that goes into this, and a lot of times, in the case of Joe Tiller, it probably isn’t ALL his fault that his team was below the cut line. It will be interesting to see what comes out of it.
Links: NCAA.org APR, Gophers Escape Academic Penalties (StarTribune)
Michigan State is opening up their season August 30 on ABC against Cal, reports the Detroit Free Press.
The Spartans are 2-1 against Cal all-time.
I’m working on getting a full television schedule from Mark Rudner at the Big Ten. More announcements to come.
This whole Justin Boren thing is a big mystery. He left the big Blue, claiming that “family values have eroded.” Then, of course, because he is a very good offensive lineman, he was welcomed with open arms by Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes. Now an Ohio columnist is trying to convince Buckeye fans that Boren doesn’t have SARS or something like that and that he is part of RichRod’s plan to beat the Buckeyes.
In fact, Boren’s dad, Mike, was a Wolverine. And now his younger brother, Zach, has committed to OSU. He might be the Boren that Wolverines need to be worried about, he’s rated as the third best linebacker in Ohio.
Right now, as much as Boren seemingly hates RichRod, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Boren is giving Tressel plenty of ideas from the Michigan playbook. But this is the Big Ten and there are always surprises.
Filed under: Big Ten
Stewart Mandel, a great SI writer, and a Northwestern alum might I add, released his post spring game Top 25 today, with Ohio State at number 2, most likely because they are kind of 1b behind Georgia at 1a.
The other teams in the rankings: Wisconsin at 10, Illinois at 19, and Penn State at 21. Not sure how I feel about either Illinois or Penn State, especially with the Nittany Lions minus Sean Lee. But the best thing about college football is that someone always steps up.
In this day in age, it’s impressive to have four teams in the top 25. 5 or 6 years ago, we might not have said that, but the power conferences have grown to about 8 now and teams like BYU and Mizzou are turning into giants.
Filed under: Ohio State
Oops, almost forgot this guy. Former Ohio State head coach John Cooper was elected to the Hall of Fame as well. And he thought it was going to happen.
“I thought it was going to happen, because you go in based on your record,” Cooper said just a while ago. “Still, when it does happen, you have to pinch yourself.”
Link: Columbus Dispatch
Michigan made another attempt (I guess that’s a bad way to put it, we don’t know how he will pan out) at figuring out their quarterback situation. The Blue signed Wichita Falls (Texas) Rider QB Shavodrick Beaver, an ESPN-150 recruit. Rich Rodriguez recently signed top-50 quarterback Kevin Newsome. It looks like Michigan could be scary at that position in the future, depending on how Newsome fits into the system.
Says ESPN’s Tom Luginbill via Bruce Feldman’s blog: “He probably isn’t as far along as a passer as they would like, but he’s on his way and he is an explosive dual-threat out of the spread. Plus, he’s playing against great competition each and every week. He is probably very similar to what Pat White looked like coming out of high school as a passer, but Beaver is much bigger and may be more explosive for his size.”
The last time Pat Fitzgerald was in South Bend for anything this important was September 2, 1995. Northwestern surprised the nation by beating Notre Dame 17-15.
Fitzgerald will be back in South Bend next summer, but this time to be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Fitzgerald is one of 15 players and coaches to receive the honor.
“I’m truly honored and humbled with this incredible honor,” said Fitzgerald in a statement from the NU Athletic Department. ”This achievement speaks to the success of our teams that won Big Ten championships in 1995 and 1996. My teammates are as much a part of this as I am.”
Fitzgerald won the Nagurski and Bednarik Awards in 1995 and 1996. He was known as the backbone and emotional leader of the NU defense that led the nation in scoring defense in 1995. He broke his leg on the second to last game of the season and could not play in the Rose Bowl that year.
Link: ChicagoSports.com
I started this blog to kick the Big Ten Network’s ass when it comes to reporting everything that has to do with Big Ten football. I think their coverage is weak and they should utilize local reporters more. So that’s what we’re going to do.
Big Ten football is king in the midwest. You go from Ohio to Michigan to Illinois to Wisconsin and they all talk about Big Ten football. Go into any bar in the state of Wisconsin or Iowa in October and you’ll find every television tuned to the Iowa game. We hope you enjoy this.
With the large scale tension between the mainstream established media and the blogging media, we are hoping to bridge that gap. Not every newspaper guy or author is like Buzz Bissinger. I want to be a cultivator of information and uphold strong journalistic values. I am a journalism student after all. I believe in this.
