It's late in the season. Time to squeeze in a Monday morning quarterback session:
• When's the last time you finished watching Big Ten football and said, "Wow, what a game!"
Three come to mind: Michigan State's "Hail Mary" win over Wisconsin; Ohio State's win over Wisconsin decided in the final 20 seconds; and maybe Nebraska's victory over Ohio State, which was the biggest comeback in school history but was far from stylistic.
Other than that? Good ones are hard to find.
That really hit home after I stepped back into the Big 12 for the weekend.
That league had three spine-tingling matchups in two days: Iowa State over Oklahoma State, Baylor over Oklahoma and Kansas State over Texas.
Big Ten football is a contest of attrition, with a patient mind-set that at times fosters a lack of urgency during games and a sense of nonchalance afterward.
Big 12 football is about attacking with your hair on fire, and having the athletes to pull off such a strategy.
• Speaking of the Big 12, can anyone confirm that after Missouri announced Gary Pinkel was suspended from coaching last week that the Tigers went from a seven-point favorite to a 14-point favorite?
• Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio has done strong work steering the Spartans through a difficult schedule and into Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game.
But he's not a lock for Big Ten coach of the year.
Brady Hoke, Michigan's first-year mentor, has done a masterful job creating order from the disorder left by Rich Rodriguez, and making the Wolverines immediately relevant nationally. A BCS bid isn't out of the question, which is something Nebraska has gone 10 years without.
Michigan isn't among the top three teams in the league in talent. But Hoke has smartly carved square holes in his offensive and defensive systems that fit the square pegs he inherited.
You've got to like coaches who win at places that don't care much about football, which is what Hoke did at Ball State and San Diego State. You also respect guys who take those jobs and make them work. Hoke isn't a guy who was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.
• Call me a nitpicker, but it's bad form for Nebraska offensive coordinator Tim Beck to dodge interviews after the Michigan loss in the same way defensive coordinator Carl Pelini hid after the Northwestern loss.
If the "teaching adults" don't show accountability in a tough spot, how are their student-athletes going to learn? That's not championship-level behavior, kind of like what shows up on the field a little too often.
• Iowa sent out a list of 14 players to be considered for All-America or All-Big Ten honors. Makes you wonder how they ever lost four games.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1024, lee.barfknecht@owh.com
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