Tag: Big Ten

Former Saints J.T. Barrett, Michael Mauti make Big Ten Network All-Decade Team

Former Saints players J.T. Barrett (Ohio State) and Michael Mauti (Penn State) were recognized on the Big Ten Network All-Decade Team.

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Former New Orleans Saints quarterback J.T. Barrett was recognized on the Big Ten Network All-Decade Team as the first-team quarterback for his efforts with the Ohio State Buckeyes, where he started 44 of the 50 games he played while breaking a long list of records; including Drew Brees’ conference title for career yards on offense, which he set at Purdue back in the day.

Barrett joined the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2018 and went on to be signed, released, and re-signed to their practice squad 28 times, though he’s currently a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. For the curious, that’s one transaction away from tying the record former Saints wide receiver Andy Tanner set with the team from 2011 to 2015, having been involved with 29 different transactions.

But Barrett wasn’t alone in representing the Saints on the Big Ten Network’s All Decade Team. He was joined by former Saints linebacker Michael Mauti, who made a name for himself on special teams. But before he stood out for his home team, Mauti was starring for Penn State at the college level. He stepped up as a leader for the Nittany Lions in the wake of NCAA sanctions in the early 2010’s, earning recognition as the Big Ten Linebacker of the Year in 2012. Now, he’s been shouted out again by being named to the Big Ten Network’s All-Decade Second Team.

Mauti, a New Orleans native, had a three-year run with the Saints and did the bulk of his work on punts and kickoffs. He earned a spot in Saints history in 2015 by blocking and recovering a punt against the Atlanta Falcons, then carrying it into the end zone for a touchdown, recalling an iconic play by Saints legend Steve Gleason back in 2006 — a game Mauti had attended as a young fan.

While neither of these players may have left the sort of lasting impressions they’d hoped for on the Saints, it’s great to see them earning this respect for their impact on the college game. Those are the sort of memories that endure.

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Sports Illustrated proposes a conference realignment that would put the Badgers in the College Football Playoff

Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde’s article yesterday called “Realigning America” throws out today’s college football structure and…

Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde’s article yesterday called “Realigning America” throws out today’s college football structure and introduces an entirely new one, one which would ensure the Badgers’ spot in the College Football Playoff for years to come.

His nationwide changes include 10 12-team leagues, a round robin schedule within each league with each team playing one out-of-conference game, all 10 conference champions and two at-large teams making an expanded 12-team playoff and a committee to decide those two extra teams and award the top four teams first round byes.

His proposal would also work for the college basketball season, though obviously with the regular NCAA tournament format staying in place.

Now, you’re probably wondering who the Badgers would have in their division and why I’m writing them into the playoff.

Here it is.

Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Western Michigan, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Missouri, North Dakota State and Nebraska.

For schools like North Dakota State and all three Michigan-based schools this would be a painful schedule to play each year.

For the Badgers? They would have just Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa State to get through in order to make the playoff. Now, they obviously won’t have their way with these teams every year, but compared to having to beat Ohio State, Penn State or Michigan? This new alignment would be a cakewalk for Paul Chryst and his team.

 

Now my personal thoughts.

I’m a big fan of the traditional Big Ten and the football culture and history surrounding the conference. Seeing it disbanded would be tough and would make the sport feel weird for years on end.

One huge positive that would come from this structure, though, is an insanely-captivating College Football Playoff format–one seen in the tweet below.

There has long been talk about expanding the playoff under the current conference alignment but given how the sport is currently structured that expansion would be a difficult one.

In this new format what you see above would come easily, and would make for an entertaining and, for lack of a better word, awesome end-of-season tournament each season.

A rundown of College Football News’ game-by-game record predictions for the Wisconsin Badgers

College Football News recently released their previews for the Big Ten season and each Big Ten team…

College Football News recently released their previews for the Big Ten season and each Big Ten team.

As written about earlier this week, the outlet had four Badgers on their preseason All-Big Ten team: Logan Bruss, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Jack Sanborn and Jack Dunn.

Well, the outlet also ran through the Badgers’ schedule and predicted the outcome of each contest.

Here are their game-by-game record predictions for the 2020 Wisconsin Badgers.

 

Sept. 4 vs Indiana: W (1-0, 1-0 Big Ten)

Sept. 12 vs Southern Illinois: W (2-0, 1-0 Big Ten)

Sept. 19 vs Appalachian State: W (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten)

Sept. 26 at Michigan: L (3-1, 1-1 Big Ten)

Oct. 3 vs Notre Dame (at Lambeau Field): W (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten)

Oct. 10 vs Minnesota: W (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten)

Oct. 24 at Maryland: W (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten)

Oct. 31 vs Illinois: W (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten)

Nov. 7 at Northwestern (at Wrigley Field): W (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten)

Nov. 14 at Purdue: W (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten)

Nov. 21 vs Nebraska: W (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten)

Nov. 28 at Iowa: L (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten)

 

As seen above, the outlet has the Badgers’ two losses coming in their two toughest road games—at Michigan and at Iowa. Now, if fans are not allowed to attend games this season that significant home field advantage that the Wolverines and Hawkeyes have could be nearly eliminated.

 

In early May I went through the Badgers’ schedule and did the same thing, giving game-by-game score predictions for each game.

My results were eerily similar to those of College Football News, as my 10-2 record included an 8-1 Big Ten record and losses coming against Notre Dame and at Iowa.

One big takeaway from much of the offseason talk surrounding Paul Chryst’s team both from local outlets and national? Though the team said goodbye to all-world producers on the offensive and defensive side of the football, Chryst will be able to reload and continue the impressive run of success he’s been on since taking over as head coach in 2015.

Four Badgers included in College Football News’ preseason All-Big Ten team

College Football News released their preseason All-Big Ten team this week and four Badgers were included in their squad…

College Football News released their preseason All-Big Ten team this week and four Badgers were included in their squad.

They four are tackle Logan Bruss, defensive lineman Isaiahh Loudermilk, linebacker Jack Sanborn and punt returner Jack Dunn.

This after Paul Chryst had three 2019 end-of-year all-conference players in running back Jonathan Taylor, center Tyler Biadasz and linebacker Zack Baun.

The outlet also predicted each game in the Big Ten schedule and had the Badgers finishing the season at 10-2 (7-2 Big Ten) with losses coming at Michigan and at Iowa.

So, if their record prediction and All-Big Ten nods are any indication, College Football News believes the Badgers will have little trouble recreating the production of Jonathan Taylor, Quintez Cephus, Chris Orr, Zack Baun and others as they look to finally get over the hump and win a Big Ten championship.

2020 Big Ten Schedules, Team-By-Team Predictions For Every Game

What’s going to happen this college football season in the Big Ten? The schedules and predictions for each team and every game.

What’s going to happen this college football season in the Big Ten? The schedules and predictions for each team and every game. 

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Big Ten Schedules, Predictions

2020 Preseason Big Ten Championship Prediction
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin

2020 Big Ten Team Previews, 5 Things To Know
East Indiana | Maryland | Michigan
Michigan State | Ohio State | Penn State | Rutgers
West Illinois | Iowa | Minnesota
Nebraska | Northwestern | Purdue | Wisconsin

Big Ten East Schedules, Predictions

2020 Indiana Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Preseason Prediction: 8-4
2020 Preseason Big Ten Prediction: 6-3
2019 Preseason Prediction: 5-7
2019: 8-5, 2018: 5-7
2020 Indiana Preview

Sept. 4 at Wisconsin L
Sept. 12 WKU W
Sept. 19 Ball State W
Sept. 26 at UConn W
Oct. 3 OPEN DATE
Oct. 10 Maryland W
Oct. 17 at Rutgers W
Oct. 24 Michigan State W
Oct. 31 Penn State L
Nov. 7 at Ohio State L
Nov. 14 Illinois W
Nov. 21 at Michigan L
Nov. 28 Purdue W

CFN in 60: Michigan Wolverines Preview
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2020 Maryland Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Preseason Prediction: 3-9
2020 Preseason Big Ten Prediction: 1-8
2019 Preseason Prediction: 6-6
2019: 3-9, 2018: 5-7
2020 Maryland Preview

Sept. 5 Towson W
Sept. 12 Northern Illinois W
Sept. 19 at West Virginia L
Sept. 26 OPEN DATE
Oct. 3 Minnesota L
Oct. 10 at Indiana L
Oct. 17 at Northwestern L
Oct. 24 Wisconsin L
Oct. 31 Rutgers W
Nov. 7 at Michigan L
Nov. 14 Ohio State L
Nov. 21 at Penn State L
Nov. 28 Michigan State L

2020 Michigan Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Preseason Prediction: 10-2
2020 Preseason Big Ten Prediction: 8-1
2019 Preseason Prediction: 11-1
2019: 9-4, 2018: 10-3
2020 Michigan Preview

Sept. 5 at Washington L
Sept. 12 Ball State W
Sept. 19 Arkansas State W
Sept. 26 Wisconsin W
Oct. 3 Penn State W
Oct. 10 at Michigan State W
Oct. 17 at Minnesota W
Oct. 24 Purdue W
Oct. 31 OPEN DATE
Nov. 7 Maryland W
Nov. 14 at Rutgers W
Nov. 21 Indiana W
Nov. 28 at Ohio State L

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2020 Michigan State Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Preseason Prediction: 6-6
2020 Preseason Big Ten Prediction: 4-5
2019 Preseason Prediction: 9-3
2019: 7-6, 2018: 7-6
2020 Michigan State Preview

Sept. 5 Northwestern W
Sept. 12 at BYU L
Sept. 19 Toledo W
Sept. 26 Miami W
Oct. 3 at Iowa L
Oct. 10 Michigan L
Oct. 17 Ohio State L
Oct. 24 at Indiana L
Oct. 31 Minnesota W
Nov. 7 OPEN DATE
Nov. 14 at Penn State L
Nov. 21 Rutgers W
Nov. 28 at Maryland W

2020 Ohio State Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Preseason Prediction: 11-1
2020 Preseason Big Ten Prediction: 8-1
2019 Preseason Prediction: 10-2
2019: 13-1, 2018: 13-1
2020 Ohio State Preview

Sept. 5 Bowling Green W
Sept. 12 at Oregon W
Sept. 19 Buffalo W
Sept. 26 Rutgers W
Oct. 3 OPEN DATE
Oct. 10 Iowa W
Oct. 17 at Michigan State W
Oct. 24 at Penn State L
Oct. 31 Nebraska W
Nov. 7 Indiana W
Nov. 14 at Maryland W
Nov. 21 at Illinois W
Nov. 28 Michigan W

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2020 Penn State Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Preseason Prediction: 10-2
2020 Preseason Big Ten Prediction: 7-2
2019 Preseason Prediction: 9-3
2019: 11-2, 2018: 9-4
2020 Penn State Preview

Sept. 5 Kent State W
Sept. 12 at Virginia Tech W
Sept. 19 San Jose State W
Sept. 26 Northwestern W
Oct. 3 at Michigan L
Oct. 10 OPEN DATE
Oct. 17 Iowa W
Oct. 24 Ohio State W
Oct. 31 at Indiana W
Nov. 7 at Nebraska L
Nov. 14 Michigan State W
Nov. 21 Maryland W
Nov. 28 at Rutgers W

2020 Rutgers Football Schedule Prediction

2020 Preseason Prediction: 3-9
2020 Preseason Big Ten Prediction: 1-8
2019 Preseason Prediction: 3-9
2019: 2-10, 2018: 1-11
2020 Rutgers Preview

Sept. 5 Monmouth W
Sept. 12 Syracuse L
Sept. 19 at Temple W
Sept. 26 at Ohio State L
Oct. 3 Illinois W
Oct. 10 at Purdue L
Oct. 17 Indiana L
Oct. 24 Nebraska L
Oct. 31 at Maryland L
Nov. 7 OPEN DATE
Nov. 14 Michigan L
Nov. 21 at Michigan State L
Nov. 28 Penn State L 

NEXT: Big Ten West Schedules, Predictions

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Preview 2020: College Football News All-Big Ten Team

Preview 2020: Previewing and looking ahead to the Big Ten season with the College Football News All-Big Ten Team, Top 30 players

Preview 2020: Previewing and looking ahead to the ACC season with the College Football News All-Big Ten Team & Top 30 players. 

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews 

2020 Big Ten Team Previews, 5 Things To Know
East Indiana | Maryland | Michigan
Michigan State | Ohio State | Penn State | Rutgers
West Illinois | Iowa | Minnesota
Nebraska | Northwestern | Purdue | Wisconsin

CFN in 60 Video: Ohio State Buckeyes Preview
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2020 Preseason CFN Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year

QB Justin Fields, Jr. Ohio State
Was he really worth all the hype?

The guy who was right there with Trevor Lawrence as everyone’s No. 1A or 1B top recruit of 2018 played behind Jake Fromm at Georgia in his one year, and he was just off enough in the Ohio State spring game to raise a few doubts, and …

67% passing, 41 touchdown passes, three interceptions – with two in the CFP loss to Clemson – and with 484 rushing yards and ten scores. He was banged around a bit, but he always kept coming back and he always kept producing. And now there’s absolutely no questioning how good he is as the main man for another Buckeye team good enough to at least get to the playoff.

He’s going to be everyone’s No. 1A or 1B – along with Lawrence – on everyone’s 2021 NFL Draft list.

Speaking of top recruits in the 2018 class …

2020 Preseason CFN Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year

LB Micah Parsons, Jr. Penn State
Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields – those were the two franchise quarterbacks everyone wanted.

But there was no doubt who the best linebacker recruit in the nation was.

Not every five-star super-recruit lives up to the unfair and unrealistic hype, but Parsons has been every bit as good as the expectations in his first two seasons. He finished third in the conference last season with 109 tackles to go along with five sacks, 14 tackles for loss, and doing it all while growing into a better factor in pass coverage.

This year, the 6-3, 245-pound junior will take over Chase Young’s role as the national superstar defender from the Big Ten.

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College Football News 2020 Preseason All-Big Ten Team: Offense

QB – Justin Fields, Jr. Ohio State

RB – Elijah Collins, Soph. Michigan State

RB – Stevie Scott, Jr. Indiana

WR – Rashod Bateman, Jr. Minnesota

WR – Rondale Moore, Soph. Purdue

TE – Pat Freiermuth, Jr. Penn State

OT – Logan Bruss, Jr. Wisconsin

OG – Blaise Andries, Jr. Minnesota

C – Matt Allen, Sr. Michigan State

OG – Wyatt Davis, Jr. Ohio State

OT – Alaric Jackson, Sr. Iowa

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College Football News 2020 Preseason All-Big Ten Team: Defense

DE – George Karlaftis, Soph. Purdue

DT – Carlo Kemp, Sr. Michigan

DT – Isaiahh Loudermilk, Sr. Wisconsin (DE)

DE – Shaka Toney, Sr. Penn State

LB – Micah Parsons, Jr. Penn State

LB – Jack Sanborn, Jr. Wisconsin

LB – Antjuan Simmons, Sr. Michigan State

CB – Tariq Castro-Fields, Sr. Penn State

S – Sydney Brown, Jr. Illinois

S – Xavier Henderson, Jr. Michigan State

CB – Shaun Wade, Jr. Ohio State

College Football News 2020 Preseason All-Big Ten Team: Special Teams

PK – Keith Duncan, Sr. Iowa

P – Blake Hayes, Sr. Illinois

KR – Ihimir Smith-Marsette, Sr. Iowa

PR – Jack Dunn, Sr. Wisconsin

2020 Big Ten Team Previews, 5 Things To Know
East Indiana | Maryland | Michigan
Michigan State | Ohio State | Penn State | Rutgers
West Illinois | Iowa | Minnesota
Nebraska | Northwestern | Purdue | Wisconsin

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Colin Cowherd has an interesting take on who are the best programs in college football

The picture speaks for itself but earlier today FOX Sports radio host Colin Cowherd put the top college football programs into tiers…

The picture speaks for itself but earlier today FOX Sports radio host Colin Cowherd put the top college football programs into tiers and did not include the Wisconsin Badgers in his list.

Ahead of the Badgers (somehow) is Florida State, Miami and Michigan–all teams who have a lower winning percentage than Wisconsin in the last decade.

Should storied programs like USC, Notre Dame and Texas get the nod over the Badgers? Sure. But I don’t think many would disagree that right now the Wisconsin Badgers are a tier-two college football program.

The long run of consistent success speaks for itself, but if we want to use numbers, look at overall winning percentage the last decade (Hint: the Badgers rank No. 7 behind only Stanford, Oklahoma, Boise State, Clemson, Ohio State and Alabama).

Keep in mind, also, that the Big Ten has been one of the strongest conferences in the country in the last decade and the Badgers have been near the top of it every season.

Are the consistent top-10 recruiting classes there? No, or at least not yet.

But at least in my mind there is no way programs who have struggled mightily recently–Miami and Florida State to name two–should get a nod on this list instead of the Badgers.

If you want to hear his argument about his list, here it is. But it seems like only a national championship will, in Cowherd’s mind, get the Badgers into the second tier.

The five most important players on the 2020 Wisconsin Badgers

The 2020 college football season is right around the corner and teams around the country have began their in-person preseason programs…

The 2020 college football season is right around the corner and teams around the country have began their in-person preseason programs.

The Wisconsin Badgers, one of those teams holding weight room workouts, head into 2020 without many of their key contributors and most important players from the 2019 unit, those being Jonathan Taylor, Chris Orr, Tyler Biadasz and Zack Baun to name a few.

If you’ve been a college football fan for more than two years, though, you know that the key to a program succeeding year-in and year-out is having new guys come and fill the shoes of departed players.

Here, in order, are my top-5 most important players on the 2020 Wisconsin Badgers.

 

No. 5: Running back [Insert name here]

Syndication: Unknown
Badgers running back Nakia Watson pushes Michigan State safety Xavier Henderson aside on 19-yard run in the first half. NCAA Football Michigan State At Wisconsin. Credit: Mike De Sisti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-Imagn Content Services, LLC

The Badgers enter 2020 with Jonathan Taylor’s 2255 scrimmage yards and 26 total touchdowns gone to the NFL and big shoes to fill.

But that’s what the Badgers do, cycle in running backs like it’s been the same player all along.

On Twitter yesterday I saw the perfect description of what the Wisconsin running back system is:

“Wisconsin running backs don’t graduate – they just burn up like a Phoenix and are reborn with a new name and immediate eligibility.” I could not have chosen better words.

Now the only real question Paul Chryst and his staff have is who will their Phoenix be this year–Nakia Watson or Jalen Berger.

No matter who is the starter or who leads the team in carries, though, the position will be a pivotal one to the team’s success this year (as it is every year) because of the way Wisconsin plays football.

Normally the running back position isn’t one of the most valuable on the team–as in some cases much of their success can be attributed to offensive line play and the quarterback’s ability to not let the defense stack the box.

For the Badgers, though, an offense without a ground game and a great running back always seems to be no offense at all.

Chryst and offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph will need Watson or Berger to carry the load and (make a step towards being able to) recreate Taylor’s insane production.

 

Next…No. 4 who is getting some NFL love before he enters his senior season

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

Former Notre Dame Defenseman Lucia Named CCHA Commissioner

In 1971, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association began play.

In 1971, the Central Collegiate Hockey Association began play. It thrived until massive realignment throughout college hockey led to its demise in 2013. Now, a new CCHA is set to begin play for the 2021-22 season. Someone needs to run it, and that someone is Don Lucia.

Lucia, a Notre Dame defenseman from 1977 to 1981, has been named commissioner of the new CCHA. As a player, he tabulated 23 of his 30 points for assists while playing under Lefty Smith. Immediately after graduating, he went into a coaching career, starting as an assistant at Alaska-Fairbanks and then Alaska-Anchorage before returning to Fairbanks to serve as head coach from 1987 to 1993. After taking the reins at Colorado College from 1993 to 1999, he went to coach at Minnesota and had his greatest achievements, becoming the winningest coach in program history and leading the Gophers to back-to-back national championships and five Frozen Fours before his retirement from coaching in 2018.

In 31 seasons as a head coach, Lucia went 736-403-102. He was the 1994 national coach of the year, the WCHA Coach of the Year three times and the 2014 Big Ten Coach of the Year. Now, he begins the next chapter of his hockey life. Best wishes to him for continued success.

MSU Basketball’s Mady Sissoko is the No. 3 ranked incoming freshman in Big Ten

Incoming Michigan State freshman Mady Sissoko is the No. 3 ranked recruit in the Big Ten.

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Michigan State Basketball fans are still waiting to hear if Xavier Tillman will be returning to MSU for his senior year or not, but the hypothetical heir apparent to his role will definitely be joining the team this year and that is Mady Sissoko from Mount Pleasant, Utah. There is a ton of excitement around the 4-star big man this year, and today, it was pointed out by FOX College Hoops that Sissoko is the third highest-ranked recruit coming to the Big Ten this year according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Sissoko has a 0.9850 composite ranking and is the No. 39 overall ranked player in his class. Only Indiana’s Khristian Lander and Illinois’ Adam Miller have higher-ranked incoming recruits.

Here is the list of the best recruit on each Big Ten team, ranked. Note that these aren’t the top-14 recruits, just the top recruit from each team:

Sissoko will be joined this year by fellow freshman AJ Hoggard, who is the No. 72 ranked player in the 247Sports composite rankings with a score of 0.9719.

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