Drew Thurman (9:29 am)

In December when the Big Ten announced that they were pursuing adding more teams, Notre Dame and AD Jack Swarbrick made it clear that they wanted no part of it. Just four months later though, the Irish may be more interested due to trying to stay relevant. The Pac-10 has also announced that they want to add teams as well, which means a massive power shift could be about to happen in college football. So, though Notre Dame wants to stay independent, they could be forced to get over their preference.

“I believe we’re at a point right now where the changes could be relatively small or they could be seismic,” Swarbrick said. “The landscape could look completely different."

Swarbrick and the Irish are worried about the possibilities of seismic changes. This would have huge implications, the biggest being the economics of being part of a power conference. The Big Ten, for instance, may be too lucrative of a deal for the Irish to pass up (not that they aren't now).

"I think seismic is a possibility,” he said. “I don’t know where the spectrum falls out. You have such an interesting media environment here. It’s having such an impact on people. You have two conferences who have separated themselves economically. And you have all the other conferences lined up in successive years for broadcast negotiations. That’s a tough situation for everyone in that position. The bar has been set so high, and the media market is so tepid, that it creates tension.” 

The Big Ten could be totally changing the landscape of college football, will Notre Dame jump on board? Well, it appears things could be slowly heading in that direction.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/10740/bt-expansion-push-could-force-nds-hand

Dave Thurman (7:12 pm)

Evan Turner is the newest media darling.  With college basketball's player of the year award all but conceded to him, the only thing that remains for Evan to do is lead the Buckeye roundballers to the Final Four.  

Of course nobody can debate his greatness this season.  Turner has done everything but sell hot dogs at halftime, and I'm surprised the team hasn't asked him to add that to his list of tasks.  While not the best at any single aspect of the game, I'm not sure I ever remember a college player being more versatile.  So ET deserves all the accolades, the magazine covers, and the hardware that is coming his way. No debate here!

But, while we celebrate a special season by an amazing player, let's not forget the incredible coaching job that has quietly taken place on the OSU sideline in 2009-10. With an impressive resume already at his disposal, Matta has taken his x's and o's to another level this year. 

Think about it.  Lacking a solid point guard, a big man who can post up and be a threat to score, or any depth at all, he has once again led the team to a Big Ten title, their third in five years.  Early entries to the NBA draft, transfers, and defections have cost this squad a long list of players that could still have eligibility including Greg Oden, Mike Conley, DaeQuan Cook, Kosta Koufos, B.J. Mullens, Walter Offut, Eric Wallace and Noopie Crater.  Forced to play a somewhat short center (6-8 Dallas Lauderdale) who possesses hands of stone, and a very small power forward (6-5 David Lighty), the team managed to somehow out rebound the opposition.  And often using but six players, and rarely more than seven, the team stayed remarkably fresh and seemed to finish with a flourish.