Nebraska will be the "obligatory" top 25 team for the conference rated below the MAC.

Sorta like what you and HV were saying about NIU.

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Well, Ohio State would likely be a top 10 team too, but they aren't eligible.

Also, Michigan may jump in there too, and likely will if they beat Iowa next week.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Right. Check the standings again. You were laughing at the "obligatory" MAC representative. Now you are listing a hypothetical for possibly getting another team in two weeks from now.




The gap is just too big. You Big Ten guys have been right all along. There is no way NIU could be a middle of the pack Big Ten team. Just.....no way.

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It may happen tomorrow. I don't really know. It almost certainly will if they beat Iowa.
Well, they did lose to a borderline middle of the pack team in Iowa.

However, the Big Ten is terrible this year, and this year, NIU would probably be able to be a borderline middle of the pack team.

It would really help your case if NIU, in it's history, had ever actually beaten a Big Ten team that made a bowl game or if the MAC as whole had beaten a Big Ten team that finished with a winning record in recent memory. With the Iowa and Indiana losses this year, it's highly unlikely they'll do it this year, and I think it may have only happened one time since 2008, but I may have missed one.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

That's cute. Doesn't really have anything to do with what I said, but still cute.

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That's pretty funny. I make a point about the record of the MAC vs. Big Ten "middle of the pack" teams and NIU's results vs. Big Ten "middle of the pack" teams and you say it doesn't have anything to do with what you said.

I can agree with that.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Michigan is ranked in both polls now.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

So is Kent St.

Big Ten domination.

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Now, I haven't exactly been watching a ton of Illinois football, but for some reason I have a terrible feeling that Purdue is going to struggle this weekend against them and win a close game or lose.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I think the Boilers beat the Illini, then lose the oaken bucket in the last game of the Danny Hope era.

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Only if they plan on losing 6-3. Illinois is absolutely atrocious. Reminds me of the end of the Turner/beginning of Zook era. Laughably bad.

It's the end for him no matter what, but I think they beat Indiana. There still is quite a talent gap between the two teams.

I wish I could know how this season would have gone if Hope didn't absolutely love Caleb Terbush.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

While he outcoached Ferentz this weekend, I still didn't get why Hope kept pulling Marve for Henry on Saturday. Marve was slicing up the Iowa defense and it seemed like with the exception of the first TD, Henry was getting negative yards per play when in the game. It made no sense.

If they win out and sneak into a crappy bowl, he'll probably get another year.

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It was hard enough for him not to put Terbush back in.

He's a good guy, a good recruiter, and the players seem to like him. He's just way over his head.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

It's already over. He's gone. They can't afford to not make a change. They'll lose millions next year by retaining him.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

You are literally the only person in America that has any concern about losing to Illinois. Trust me.

Here's how the game will go because this is how every Illinois game has gone.

The 1st quarter will be fairly competitive and Illinois may even take a 3-0 or, manna from heaven, a 7-0 lead. Illinois will do something stupid, likely a turnover. Purdue will score and then take a lead.

Illinois will then quit and it will be quite apparent. Sometimes teams will quit and you don't really see it. You'll see this. Purdue will then proceed to dominate the game and win something like 31-10 or 34-6.

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My Maserati does 186.

They seem more worried about the $500k or so buyout than ticket sales

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You know they gave Hope an extension that actually lowered his buyout?

His negotiating skills are as good as his gameday coaching skills.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I thought I read somewhere that the buyout was either $500k or $750k

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I think that is right.

It was bigger before, primarily as a way to make sure that he wasn't screwed out of being a coach in waiting by getting fired once Tiller was gone.

I just find it hilarious that a guy on the hot seat accepted a smaller buyout than his previous contract, but it may have saved his jbo before.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

File this under the "I'll believe it when I see it" category, but Purdue is supposedly targeting Butch Jones from Cincinnati. Word is that if they are willing to pay what it takes he has interest. I didn't think getting a coach like that was possible.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I don't think people realize how tough it is for coaches like Beckman, Hope, Ferentz, and Wilson. These schools are in the middle of nowhere. Trying to convince a highschool kid from California, Texas and Florida to go to a cold weather state in the middle of nowhere is near impossible. I'd argue this is a bigger recruiting hurdle than Northwestern's academic standards.

While East Lansing, Ann Arbor, Columbus, Minneapolis, Madison aren't booming metropolis... they are urban enough to offer a little more excitement to a highschool recruit. State College and Lincoln are exceptions, but the history with these programs overcomes alot similar to what happens in South Bend. Arguably both of those schools have also deteriorated in recruiting too.

I think you are overrating that difficulty. State College and Lincoln are not the only examples of midwest/plaines states success. K-State, Missouri, Kansas for a little while. Hell, Wisconsin should be impossible to recruit being in the middle of nowhere and zero tradition before Alvarez.

The truth is, players follow good coaches and good coaches make players better.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I disagree. Madison vs. Iowa City is different. Ann Arbor is different... and fairly close to a major metropolitan area (even if it is Detroit). These middle of nowhere schools make it difficult to recruit. Believe it or not, recruits are wowed when they see the Chicago skyline from Northwestern's beaches... no one tells them that its only warm enough to go into that water about 1 month a year!

What about Jones do you like?

A guy at Cincy is on your "didn't think was possible" list???

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Well, I didn't think any BCS coach was possible. I know the Big East is a stretch to call a BCS, but so is the Big Ten this year.

He's proven more at better schools than any other possible choice. He's a bigger name and has recruited Indiana well, though some say that it was an assistant coach who is now at OSU that did that.

I think he is young enough and has a bright future. The only concern would be if he'd eventually leave for a bigger job, but in reality that would be a good problem to have given where we are now.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Well gotta figure if they are willing to pay out the cash he will come. A Big 10 job is better than Cincy. It isn't NIU, but probably close.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Just not a job at Illinois apparently.

Taken from: http://espn.go.com/blog/bigeast/post/_/ ... r-the-buck

Here is your reason for him looking elsewhere:

Jones just got a new contract with a pay raise, taking his 2012 salary up to $1.575 million. That still ranks him No. 4 among the six head coaches whose salaries have been reported, behind Strong, Holtz and UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni ($1.6 million).

Of the eight head coaches currently in the Big East, only Strong and Jones have led their teams to Big East championships. But Jones has done more with less. Not only does he make less, his budget ranks No. 5 among the six schools that disclosed financial information through public information requests.

Just to compare, Louisville had athletics department expenses of $81.1 million for 2010-11; Cincinnati had expenses of $43.7 million. That is nearly half. The Bearcats also rank third to last in athletics spending among all public schools in AQ conferences.