What’s next for Maryland Football?

Things have been happening quickly – and not for the better for Maryland Terrapins football team.

By now you probably have heard about the ESPN.com article that delved into the potential treatment of players by the Maryland training staff. This isn’t your run of the mill controversy given the tragic death of Jordan McNair. The latest domino to fall, not unexpectedly, is head coach D.J. Durkin. He is now the second Big Ten coach to be placed in Administrative Leave in the last two weeks.

What now? Do you think that Durkin is being treated unfairly? Will his fans fight for Durkin like Ohio State’s have fought for Urban Meyer?

Here are some of the latest links of interest.

• The coaching community reacts to the suspending of Durkin and other members of the training and coaching staff. South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp is one of the more notable names quoted here.
• Deadspin, as usual, has an interesting take on the story. (NSFW)
• Check out Maryland’s Twitter feed.

More updates on this blog to come.

Maryland Basketball Receives Important 2018 Commitment

There are big hopes for Maryland’s 2018 recruiting class with the Terps in the mix for a number of highly regarded recruits. The first domino has fallen as over the weekend 4-star SF Aaron Wiggins committed to coach Mark Turgeon. 

The Terps are a fringe top 25 preseason tram in 2017-18 based on early projections but Wiggins’ commitment means better days may be ahead of Maryland. What do you think of his commitment Maryland fans, and do you think it means there is more to come?

 

Early Odds for Select Michigan Football Games

For those of you who like to check out the lines for college football games this fall, some are out. Sportsbooks are starting to release odds for select games in advance of the upcoming season. Here are the odds for four of Michigan’s games.

• Michigan is a three-point favorite over Florida in the season opener.
• Michigan will host Michigan State at the Big House this year and the Wolverines are an early 15-point favorite.
• In what will be one of their two most difficult road games, Michigan is a 14-point underdog at Penn State.
• Jim Harbaugh is 0-2 against Ohio State and, despite hosting The Game this year, the Wolverines are an early eight-point underdog.

Do you think these odds will go up or down as the season progresses Check back for more early season odds for other BIG teams in the days and weeks ahead.

PFF and the Jabrill Peppers Conundrum

Pro Football Focus (PFF) is at times a controversial website. Namely because the site doesn’t simply regurgitate information (like some annoying blogs we know). Its scouts and experts have their own system of rating player performance that doesn’t consider hype and press clippings.

That doesn’t mean that PFF is always right. Jared Goff was the #4 overall rated player by PFF going into the draft last year (it’s too early to tell if Goff can live up to that but early results aren’t that positive). But former Ohio State star Joey Bosa was ranked #1 and some advanced metrics show Bosa, when on the field, has had an amazing impact in San Diego.

So yesterday PFF came out with its latest First Round mock draft. Guess who wasn’t there? A consensus All-American and Heisman Trophy finalist Jabrill Peppers of the Michigan Wolverines.

Now that article is admittedly the opinion of one PFF analyst, Steve Palazzolo. But it seems hard to believe that Peppers won’t be a first rounder. To be fair, that isn’t the only surprise in Palazzolo’s list. But what is your thought? Is Peppers more hype than production? Or will his incredible athletic skills translate regardless of college metrics.

Penn State basketball notes: a roller coaster ride so far

It’s a story that Penn State basketball fans have seen played out for a number of years now. The Nittany Lions just can’t seem to get over the hump to become conference contenders or consistent NCAA tournament participants.

The latest example of Penn State’s battle for attention among NCAA tournament contenders was a resounding thud, a 19-point loss to George Mason.

Here are some other PSU basketball notes:

• Penn State’s freshmen class is among the top three takeaways in the season so far;
• Some additional Penn State/Pitt battles – on the hardwood – may be in the offering soon;
• And head coach Pat Chambers is looking to build a consistent winner in State College, but will it work?

 

Bowl Preview: Northwestern vs. Pitt

Remember when Northwestern football was synonomous with ineptitude? It wasn’t really that long ago.

But under head coach and former linebacking star Pat Fitzgerald, the Wildcats are consistently at or near the top half of the BIG. This year a 6-6 campaign netted Northwestern a date in the Pinstripe Bowl with Pitt led by head coach and former Michigan State defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi. The Panthers (8-4) will be a touch matchup against the Wildcats given Pitt defeated both Clemson and Penn State this year, two of the top five ranked teams at the end of the regular season.

Here are some other interesting links about this upcoming bowl game:

• Hail to Purple has a dedicated bowl page with some great information for ‘Cats fans;
• Northwestern this year had a 3-game period this year of offensive explosion, but still can’t match Pitt’s consistent offensive firepower shown this year;
• Campus Insiders believes that both special teams and intangibles favor the Panthers;
• With the game being played at Yankee Stadium, both schools have a connection to the New York Yankees;
• Pitt fans traveled well last year, which helped the Panthers secure the bid;
• Northwestern students may have a special opportunity to get tickets to the bowl game.

What happened to Michigan State football this year?

That’s the question all Spartan fans have following a shocking 3-9 season that saw MSU win just one BIG conference game. Graduations, players being dismissed, youth, injuries and some coaching mistakes from Mark Dantonio and his staff all played a role, not to mention lacklaster and inconsistent quarterback play.

As MSU heads into an early offseason, here are some links about what may have happened this year in East Lansing and how the Spartans can recover.

• Here’s a compelling article from The Only Colors on what went wrong and how to make it right in 2017. Note the amount of experience that many young players received this year for MSU.
• Before the Penn State game, columnist Mike Gross put some of the reasons for the struggles on MSU’s offensive line and QB play.
• Spartan Avenue has some of the biggest disappointments in 2016 – and there were many.
• There are brighter days ahead for the Spartans, according to The Detroit News.
• The schedule has changed – and 2016  Group of 5 darling Western Michigan is still coming to East Lansing.

Saturday’s BIG Hoops roundup

A quick primer at a decent Saturday of BIG basketball:

• Wisconsin hasn’t always had much success against their in-state rival Marquette in recent years but the Badgers (9-2) had an impressive offensive performance yesterday in a 93-84 win.
• Not a big surprise but Nebraska fell to Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. It’s been a struggle in recent weeks for the 6-5 Cornhuskers.
• In another tough matchup, Michigan (7-3) lost at Pauley Pavilion against the suddenly dominating and undefeated UCLA Bruins.
• The Buckeyes (8-2) picked up possibly the best BIG non-conference win of Saturday by beating UConn following a disappointing loss earlier in the week.
• Maryland beat St. Peter’s in a bit of a sleepy second-half performance. But a win is a win for the 10-1 Terrapins.
• You didn’t miss much if you didn’t watch Indiana throttle Houston Baptist 103-61. Indiana remains the BIG’s highest-ranked team.
• Isaac Hayes and Caleb Swanigan continue to carry Purdue at times, such as they did yesterday for the Boilermakers in a 77-53 win over Cleveland State.
• There’s good video of head coach John Groce commenting on Illinois’ convincing win over Central Michigan, a team that was leading the Mid-American Conference on scoring offense.
• Injuries continue to pile up for Michigan State (7-4) although the hope is that Miles Bridges is one game closer to returning following a 71-63 win over Tennessee Tech.
• The production is not there for the Nittany Lions (6-5) who lost a rivalry game 81-73 to Pitt at a neutral site.
• Rutgers picked up its second road win of the season as head coach Steve Pikiell returned to his old stomping grounds at Stony Brook in a 71-66 Scarlet Knights win.
• Iowa was off but the Hawkeyes earned some rest after its win earlier this week over rival Iowa State, a game in which Iowa held the Cyclones to 0.784 points per possession in the first half.

Bowl preview: Minnesota versus Washington State

Bowl games are becoming pretty commonplace in Minneapolis as the Golden Gophers are headed to their fifth consecutive bowl game.

The match-up with Washington State’s high-powered passing offense in the Holiday Bowl on December 27 should be entertaining. Dubbed the “Air Raid,” the Cougars are a slight favorite (around 4.5 to 6.5-point favorites) courtesy of the betting lines. Here are some other links about this upcoming bowl game.

• If nothing else, it will be a warmer venue for Minnesota players and fans compared to last year.
• The Holiday Bowl and the match-up with the always entertaining Mike Leach will give Minnesota great exposure. 
• The Pioneer Press gives a great profile of what Washington State is all about and why the game should be a great challenge.
• With Tracy Claeys’ long-term role at Minnesota in some question, what will the Gophers’ level of motivation be?

Fickell takes over at Cincy. OSU’s Ed Warinner next?

With many other job openings having been filled, it was about time for Cincinnati to make a decision on its open coaching job. And Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell is the guy who has been hired.

What else do Buckeyes fans need to know?

• Fickell is staying with the Buckeyes through the playoff but will any players join him as a Bearcat?
• For this moment, Fickell’s Twitter account still lists his current job.
• Cleveland.com columnist Doug Lesmerises feels Fickell’s time to run his own program has come.
• Could offensive coordinator Ed Warinner be next? He is a serious candidate for the job at Western Kentucky.