This week we have a number of important matchups that will help determine who goes BCS bowling after the season. So settle down, relax, and get ready for another great weekend of college football.

As always, we begin with some of the marquee games to pay attention to this week and then the entire rundown of the college football TV schedule and point spreads for Week 13.

College Football TV Schedule and Point Spreads for Week 13

Marquee Games for Thanksgiving Week – Saturday, November 26th

No.3 Arkansas at No. 1 LSU

• Arkansas-LSU Date: Friday, November 25th
• Arkansas-LSU Kickoff Time: 2:30pm
• Arkansas-LSU TV: CBS
• Arkansas-LSU SpreadL: LSU -11.5

So settle down, relax, and get ready for another great weekend of college football. As always, here are some of the marquee games to pay attention to this week and then the entire college football TV schedule for Week 8, plus a link below to another fantasy college football freeroll tournament from our friends at Daily Joust.

No. 4 Oklahoma State at Missouri 

• Oklahoma State-Missouri Date: Saturday October, 22nd
• Oklahoma State-Missouri Kickoff Time: 12pm
• Oklahoma State-Missouri TV: FX
• Oklahoma State-Missouri Spread: Oklahoma State -7

#20 Auburn at #1 LSU

• Auburn-LSU Date: Saturday, October 22nd
• Auburn-LSU Kickoff Time: 3:30 ET
• Auburn-LSU TV: CBS
• Auburn-LSU Spread: LSU -22

One could just as easily ask, “Why isn’t Cincinnati in the Big Ten,” or, “Why isn’t Ball State in the Big Ten?” (Actually, don’t be surprised when you see my “Why isn’t Iowa State in the Big Ten?” article.)

But Notre Dame is different.

Not only is Notre Dame situated near the center of the Big Ten’s geographical footprint, but it also has existing football rivalries with Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue.

Notre Dame is third on the list of the all-time winningest college football program, joining Big Ten schools Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State in the top ten. (I’m focusing on football because football was largely responsible for the formation of the major athletic conferences and because football continues to drive conference expansion and realignment today.)

The Big Ten, more than any other major conference, cherishes and guards its academic reputation. And Notre Dame, by almost any measure, is an academically elite institution.

More significantly, the Big Ten wants Notre Dame.

The richest conference in America—a league that dominates the region in which Notre Dame resides and whose members get to be part of a prestigious collective of top-flight research universities—has been courting Notre Dame for two decades, and America’s favorite Catholic football-playing university has consistently responded, “No  thanks. We’re good.”

Why?

Fighting Irish football players raise their helmets to Notre Dame students, who passed a resolution opposing Big Ten membership. (Source: Wikipedia)

Last weekend, Syracuse and Pittsburgh announced their intentions to leave the Big East for the ACC. Rumor has it that Connecticut and Rutgers could follow.

Notre Dame needs the Big East to provide a home for it’s non-football programs. Were the Big East, as we know it now, to fall apart (and it looks now like it probably won’t), the Irish could find themselves in need of a new conference for their basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, and Olympic sports teams.

Notre Dame may even have to eschew football independence to maintain an affiliation with a major conference. (I doubt that we’ll hear Father Jenkins announce in a press conference, “We’ve decided to join the Horizon League in all sports except football.”)

The ESPN ticker on Monday cited sources who said that, if Notre Dame football were to join a conference, it would join the ACC, not the Big Ten. Yahoo’s Dan Whetzel earlier this week wrote a column explaining why Notre Dame should head for the ACC. He cites population trends (Rust Belt states are growing slowly or not at all, while southern and mid-Atlantic states are blowing up) and argues that Notre Dame would stand out as the ACC’s top game day destination (as opposed to being in the Big Ten, where the Irish would have to compete for that distinction with Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin, etc.).

In the ACC Notre Dame would join former rivals Miami and Florida State and private, sectarian schools such as Duke and Boston College.

Would Notre Dame really join the ACC before the Big Ten, given its location and historic rivalries? For that matter, why isn’t Notre Dame in the Big Ten already? The Irish played a century’s worth of elite football in the middle of the Big Ten’s neighborhood. Why didn’t the league bring in Notre Dame decades ago?

It’s complicated.

There have been times when Notre Dame would have done anything short of blasphemy to get into the Big Ten, and there have been times when the Big Ten would have done anything short of renaming itself the Archdiocese of Football to add Notre Dame to its roster. But there has never been an occasion when both parties were interested in each other at the same time.

Rockne’s Crusade

When the presidents of Northwestern, Purdue, and the Universities of Chicago, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin founded the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives (later known as the Big Ten) in 1896, Notre Dame—though growing in prestige and enrollment—was just one of many private, sectarian universities in the Midwest.

Knute Rockne: He wanted the Big Ten, but the Big Ten didn't want him. (Source: Wikipedia)

In 1887 a group of football players from the University of Michigan taught the game to Notre Dame students. Though Notre Dame’s football team had some success in the late nineteenth century, the program was hardly remarkable.

That changed in 1913 when Jesse Harper took over as head football coach. In Harper’s first season, Notre Dame scored wins over national powers Army, Penn State, and Texas. In 5 seasons under Harper, Notre Dame went 34-5-1.

The program’s success continued after Knute Rockne took over as head coach in 1918. During Rockne’s tenure, Notre Dame completed five undefeated seasons and won the 1925 Rose Bowl.

In 1926 Notre Dame, having established itself as the home of one of the nation’s elite football programs, applied for admission to the Big Ten. The league had expressed interest in expansion and was considering adding Michigan State. Rockne visited the Big Ten schools, making his case for Notre Dame. Michigan was opposed to adding the Catholic school from South Bend; Chicago and Illinois weren’t warm to the idea either.

(Chicago football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg accused Notre Dame of using its prep school as a four-year training program for its football team. In truth, Notre Dame no longer operated a prep school by the time it applied for Big Ten membership. Michigan coach Fielding Yost accused Notre Dame of developing players for five or six years in its intramural program before promoting them to varsity.)

Though the student paper at the University of Minnesota published an editorial in favor of adding Notre Dame and Nebraska (and changing the name of the conference to the Big 12), the league voted 6-4 against expansion. Opposition to Notre Dame could have stemmed from anti-Catholic prejudice, a dislike of Rockne, rumors of impropriety, or a combination of the three. And even then there were some in the Notre Dame community who didn’t want the school to give up its athletic independence.

(You can read the full account of Notre Dame’s 1926 appeal for Big Ten admission in chapter 23 of Shake Down the Thunder, available through Google Books.)

When the University of Chicago left the Big Ten in 1946, Notre Dame—along with Nebraska, Iowa State, Pittsburgh, and Marquette—were considered as possible replacements. In 1949 the league settled on Michigan State.

A Changing Landscape

Notre Dame and the Big Ten would flirt with each other again, perhaps most notably in 1999.

Today only 4 Division I-FBS schools are independent in football: Notre Dame, Army (which was a football-only member of Conference USA before the Great Realignment of 2004–2005), Navy (which the Big East was reportedly preparing to invite as a football-only member before Pitt and Syracuse bolted), and BYU (which left the Mountain West earlier this year and is reportedly one of the top schools on the Big 12′s wish list). All four schools are members of conferences for all sports other than football. (Notre Dame is in the Big East; Army and Navy are in the Patriot League; and BYU is in the West Coast Conference.)

As recently as the early 1990s, there was nothing unusual about being an independent, in football or in general. 26 schools were football independents during the 1990 season, among them Notre Dame, Florida State, Penn State, Miami, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.

The following year the Big East decided to sponsor football and welcomed former independents Miami, Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia as football-only members. Penn State would soon join the Big Ten, Florida State the ACC, and South Carolina the SEC. Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis, Southern Mississippi, and Tulane would form Conference USA.

Television dollars were largely responsible for the change in landscape.

From the birth of television until the 1980s, the NCAA negotiated all television contracts for its member schools. After a series of legal battles (including one spearheaded by Notre Dame itself), member schools won the ability to enter into their own agreements with television networks. Since TV networks preferred negotiating with conferences instead of with dozens of individual schools, many independent schools decided they were better off joining leagues.

But Notre Dame didn’t need a conference to strike a football deal with NBC in 1991.

Before long Notre Dame was the only high-profile football program to maintain its independence. In 1995, the Irish joined the Big East in all sports other than football.

“Catholic, Private, Independent”

Meanwhile the Big Ten, which had added Penn State as an eleventh member, was courting Notre Dame as a twelfth. In December 1998 the university’s Faculty Senate voted 24-5 in favor of pursuing membership in the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC), the academic wing of the Big Ten.

The Big Ten schools, along with the University of Chicago (who left the league in 1946) founded the CIC in 1958 as a research cooperative. But the cost of joining the CIC would be Notre Dame’s athletic teams—and particularly the football team—joining the Big Ten, and that was not a price that the school was willing to pay.

In February 1999 then Notre Dame president Father Edward Malloy released a statement including the following:

The process of sharing information with the Big Ten and CIC has been of great value to Notre Dame. It encouraged us to consider a variety of issues integral to our pursuit of academic and athletic excellence, as well as to our distinct mission as a Catholic university. We have great respect for both the academic stature and the athletic integrity of the Big Ten universities.

Why, then, not take the ultimate step in partnership and become a member of the Big Ten? That answer, in the end result, transcends the many individual factors, academic and athletic, that weigh either for or against conference affiliation. Ultimately, the answer lies in the institutional identity of Notre Dame, its overarching definition. Just as the Universities of Michigan or Wisconsin or Illinois have core identities as the flagship institutions of their states, so Notre Dame has a core identity, and at that core are these characteristics—Catholic, private, independent.

Malloy noted that Notre Dame would have been, by far, the smallest Big Ten member. Northwestern, who has an undergraduate population similar to Notre Dame’s has three-times as many postgraduates.

Notre Dame also would have been the only Big Ten school with a religious affiliation. (Northwestern was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church but severed formal ties with the church decades ago.) All of the existing Big Ten schools—save Nebraska, which got booted earlier this year—are members of the American Association of Universities (AAU), a collective of 59 of the top research universities in North America.

When you look at the AAU’s roster, you’ll notice that many of the nation’s best religiously affiliated schools, including Notre Dame, are not on it. The Catholic University of America, for instance, left the AAU in 2002, saying, “it has become clear that CUA and the vast majority of AAU institutions are moving forward but on different trajectories.”

Last year Notre Dame’s student senate adopted a resolution opposing membership in the Big Ten and CIC. The resolution expressed “concern about Notre Dame aligning itself with 11 other Midwestern universities ‘who do not embody our unique national, Catholic and undergraduate characteristics.’ ” Students feared that membership in a regional conference might threaten the school’s identity as a national university (which doesn’t make sense to me, but whatever) and that membership in the CIC—which emphasizes research and graduate programs—would threaten the school’s emphasis on undergraduate education.

At any rate, Notre Dame’s decision to remain independent and reject the Big Ten’s overtures is about more than just football.

**********

If the Big East had imploded earlier this week, as some assumed it would, Notre Dame would have a tough decision to make. But as long as the Big East remains a viable basketball (and field hockey, etc.) conference,  as long as the Big East doesn’t give Notre Dame a join-us-in-football-or-leave ultimatum, and as long as NBC agrees to broadcast Notre Dame football, the Irish have no need for the Big Ten (or the ACC, for that matter).

But if you’ve ever wondered why they didn’t join the Big Ten at some other point in history, now you know.

**********

Josh Tinley is the author of Kneeling in the End Zone: Spiritual Lessons From the World of Sports. Follow him at twitter.com/joshtinley or send him an e-mail.

Michigan State has jumped to an early 2-0 record, defeating both Youngstown State and Florida Atlantic.

The same cannot be said about Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish started the season as the 16th ranked team in the nation, but the Irish showed, once again, that they were not worthy of such a highly ranked spot, losing their first two games of the season to USF and Michigan.

Notre Dame is plagued again by the inconsistency of its two quarterbacks, Tommy Rees and Dayne Crist. Both quarterbacks have started one game (Crist in week one and Rees in week two) with Rees showing the better performance thus far and earning the starting position on Saturday, though he has struggled with his accuracy and has thrown four costly interceptions.

Saturday the Irish offense is going to have to be error-free against a very stingy Michigan State defense that has only allowed a total of six points in two games. The Irish’s offense has almost entirely focused on wide receiver Michael Floyd, who has already racked up 325 receiving yards on 25 receptions and two touchdowns, but they’re going to need some more help from other players.

Floyd is a great receiver and Rees’ go-to man, but when Floyd isn’t open Rees has trouble connecting with other receivers. There’s going to have to be more diversity when going against Michigan State’s defense, or Notre Dame is going to have a hard time scoring. Running successfully with Cierre Wood can only help the Irish, but they’ve had two very solid running games and still lost both games.

It comes down turnovers. Plain and simple.

Michigan State’s offense, led by Kirk Cousins and B.J. Cunningham, hasn’t put up numbers that compare to Notre Dame, but it hasn’t worked against itself either, like Notre Dame’s offense has. It’s very hard to win games when you turn the ball over; and Notre Dame, while they’ve played two very close games they could have won, has learned that out the hard way.

Notre Dame’s defense isn’t so good that Michigan State will have great trouble scoring, but if Michigan State doesn’t get some points on the board early, or is having a tough time stopping the Irish’s offense, I’d wouldn’t bet on Michigan State’s offense to be the saving grace that can win the Spartans the game. The Spartans won’t completely shut Notre Dame down, but they need to keep the game in the 20s to be within reach for their offense.

Now, before I reveal my prediction for the 2011 game, I’d like to link you to a comment that a user who goes by the name of “Grant greenwood,” posted yesterday on my MSU-ND preview and prediction article from back in 2009. It created a pretty big wave of laughter here at MSF, and I think you will laugh to.

But Irish fans, get your laughs in now. There won’t be much laughter come Saturday.

Prediction: Michigan State 24 | Notre Dame 21

No. 15 Michigan State at Notre Dame Game Info

• Michigan State-Notre Dame Date: Saturday, September 17th
• Michigan State-Notre Dame Kickoff Time: 3:30pm
• Michigan State-Notre Dame TV: NBC
• Michigan State-Notre Dame Point Spread: Notre Dame -5

Week three is not without its share of what should be exciting and entertaining games, and here at MSF we want to make sure you get to see all of them.

Here are some of the marquee games to look at this week, then the entire college football TV schedule for week 3.

*All times are Eastern Standard Time

This Week’s College Football Marquee Matchups

No. 3 LSU at No. 25 Mississippi State

• LSU-Miss State Date: Thursday, September 15th
• LSU-Miss State Kickoff Time: 8pm
• LSU-Miss State TV: ESPN
• LSU-Miss State Point Spread: LSU -3.5

No. 21 Auburn at Clemson

• Auburn-Clemson Date: Saturday, September 17th
•  Auburn-Clemson Kickoff Time: 12pm
• Auburn-Clemson TV: ABC
• Auburn-Clemson Point Spread: Clemson -3

No. 15 Michigan State at Notre Dame

• Michigan State-Notre Dame Date: Saturday, September 17th
• Michigan State-Notre Dame Kickoff Time: 3:30pm
• Michigan State-Notre Dame TV: NBC
• Michigan State-Notre Dame Point Spread: Notre Dame -5

No. 22 Arizona State at Illinois

• Arizona State-Illinois Date: Saturday, September 17th
• Arizona State-Illinois Kickoff Time: 7pm
• Arizona State-Illinois TV: Big Ten Network
• Arizona State-Illinois Point Spread: Illinois -1

No. 1 Oklahoma at No. 5 Florida State

• Oklahoma-Florida State Date: Saturday, September 17th
• Oklahoma-Florida State Kickoff Time: ABC
• Oklahoma-Florida State TV: ABC
• Oklahoma-Florida State Point Spread: Oklahoma -3

This Week’s College Football TV Schedule and Point Spreads

Week 2 brings us more exciting college football action, and here at MSF we’re making sure you don’t miss any of the games you want to see.

Here are some of the marquee games to look at this week, then the entire college football TV schedule for week 2.

*All times are Eastern Standard Time

This Week’s College Football Marquee Matchups

N0. 21 Missouri at Arizona State

• Missouri-Arizona State Date: Friday, September 9th
• Missouri-Arizona State Kickoff Time: 10:30pm
• Missouri-Arizona State TV: ESPN
• Missouri-Arizona State Point Spread: Missouri -8

As we motor forward during March Madness 2011, here are the leading candidates for the top coach in college basketball for 2011.

Matt Painter (Purdue)

When you consider the Boilermakers were on their way to a one seed last February – the seed Duke eventually received to make their path to the title — before Robbie Hummel’s season-ending injury, Purdue was stacked and hungry this year and arguably could’ve been ranked #1 preseason.

Then Hummel went down again…for the season.

Did Purdue sulk and slip into mediocrity? No. All The “Paint Crew” did was get better as the season progressed, go undefeated at Mackey Arena for the first time in more than four decades, finish on a long win streak that’ll eventually push their season win total near 30, and make their case for a one seed — though as of now, they are likely a two at worst.

Rick Pitino (Louisville)

I won’t even delve into his personal nightmares last offseason, but this was supposed to be a rebuilding year along the banks of the Ohio River. However, playing in the awesome new KFC YUM! Center (where an NBA franchise should move soon), the Cards have won a dozen games in America’s toughest conference, over 20 wins total, and should find themselves rewarded with a three or four seed in March Madness. Good work, Rick.

Steve Lavin (St. John’s)

The loquacious Lavin, finally removed from the broadcast booth and back on the bench, did not underachieve in his first year on Broadway (as he was often known to do while in Westwood); in fact, the Johnnies are arguably the biggest surprise of the season. Surely they have more “quality wins” than nearly any school: Notre Dame, Georgetown, Duke, Connecticut, Pitt and Villanova. Therefore, the Red Storm, like the Cardinals, should receive a three or four seed, barring a mishap over the next week or so.

Dave Rose (BYU)

Sure he has The Jimmer, and yes, they were mauled last night by New Mexico, but if you actually watch this team, you realize the Cougars are very balanced — not to mention athletic, intelligent and tough. A 27-3 record (as of today) places Brigham Young behind only Ohio State, San Diego State and Kansas for best winning percentage this season. And playing in the Mountain West – nation’s fourth best conference, and maybe 2nd or 3rd, truly – is not easy, especially on the road. In their two biggest games, BYU rolled San Diego State by 13 each time. Those were the Aztecs’ only two losses this season! BYU has also beaten conference leaders Saint Mary’s, Utah State and Arizona. Duke, for comparison’s sake, doesn’t have half the quality wins

Steve Fisher (San Diego State)

This is not a force or stretch either. The Aztecs lost in the first round last March, and while they were expected to be better, no one looked for 20 consecutive triumphs to begin the season, and 28 wins in 30 games so far. As I’ve written before, a lot of Fisher’s legacy at SDSU depends upon this season, since the Aztecs still have not won a tournament game in the former Michigan coach’s decade atop Montezuma Mesa. We shall see.

Honorable mention (and in a normal year, all these guys could be in consideration for top 5):

• Mike Brey (Notre Dame)
• Bill Self (Kansas)
• Mark Turgeon (Texas A & M)
• Sean Miller (Arizona)
• Jamie Dixon (Pitt)

What do you think?

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

**********

* – Matt Painter photo credit: Michael Conroy/AP via New York Times

With 90% of national radio talk and darn near 100% of local talk being football-driven (which, along with fantasy/gambling, accounts for the preponderance of the sport’s popularity), I don’t foresee this occurring anytime soon, yet I still think it’s the proper course.

After all, the Colts season is done. I realize that’s harsh, so I’ll put it another way: Their 2010 destiny is ‘scripted’ for them. This is unfortunate because, when healthy, Indianapolis can beat anyone. But they’ve simply suffered more key injuries than any team in the NFL this season (starting running back, two starting receivers, top tight end, best linebacker, all-pro defensive backs, offensive line, etc), which cannot be overcome.

As I’ve said on twitter recently, the best team does not usually win the super bowl; it’s the team that avoids injuries. For better or worse, football — with all the vicious and unnecessary hits by beastly, juiced-up men — has become a game of attrition. Keep players healthy and you’ll succeed. The Colts have not, therefore they have little chance in December/January following a three-loss November.

Should Indianapolis manage to take three or four of their final five games, they have a good chance to outlast Jacksonville and others to hold off a mediocre AFC South. This would even enable them to cpature a home game – turning the tables on two years ago when a 12-4 Colts team had to play on the road at an 8-8 Charger team due to NFL’s backwards rule of rewarding ‘winners’ of garbage divisions over true winners. San Diego triumphed in that tilt, and in many ways, the 2010 season is becoming redolent of 2008.

Indianapolis would then likely host a Jet/Patriot/Raven/Steeler team with 11 or 12 wins. Maybe they’re healthy, and maybe Peyton Manning gets some help (he’s had none as Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz astutely pointed out this morning), and perhaps the Colts win? After all, coming into the evening of November 28, 2010, Indy has not lost a home game that’s mattered since September 2008.

But that’d be it. They’d then travel to one of the four aforementioned solid teams with little chance of victory. (They’d have to do it again the following week to win the super bowl). Others locally may be more sanguine, but in my view, the Colts’ 2010 team is not capable of such feats.

So we in central Indiana should all move our sports attention to basketball. It only makes sense.

A perfect starting point is with the NBA’s Pacers – a laughingstock since I relocated here nearly five years ago, considering they’ve had zero playoff appearances while the Colts have rightly dominated the headlines.

But while the area’s football squad has been lackluster this fall, Indiana’s basketball team is coming off a week where they mauled Miami in south Florida, demolished Cleveland, should’ve beaten Oklahoma City, and then won at Staples Center against the Lakers for the first time ever. Even the national media has reluctantly noticed this is not the same Pacers team as past years. I’ve heard that cliché before, but today it’s actually true.

No more thugs, decent young talent (Darren Collison, as expected, a huge addition; Roy Hibbert made Pau Gasol look a fool last night and improves daily; and Danny Granger is still all-star caliber), and a ton of heart. This made be sacrilege, but I wish the Colts were such a clean, hard working group. These are not your 2005-2009 Colts; nor are these your 2006-2010 Pacers, thankfully.

And collegiately, Notre Dame is unbeaten coming off an impressive eight team tourney win in Orlando.

Indiana, despite playing no one, is undefeated, which is important coming off the worst few years in school history.

Purdue, even without Robbie Hummel, should be one of the three best teams in the nation’s premier conference.

And oh yeah, despite early struggles, Butler is coming off a national title appearance, and is still the Horizon League’s best squad, and a top 25 team most nights who should improve throughout the season as they regularly do.

How do I know this? Because the blog Cat Scratch Fever has a picture of former Notre Dame QB Jimmy Clausen dressed up as the purple Teletubby. And on Clausen’s Twitter account, it says, “no just I dressed up along with all the other rookies lol.”

LOL indeed Clausen. LOL indeed.

Immediately, I thought of another Notre Dame “legend” who looks good in purple. The question is, who looks better?

Jimmy Pickles, the Grinning Purple Teletubby

Image credit: TwitPic via @ChrisLittmann

Or…

Charlie Grimace*

Cast your vote now in this very important debate:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

**********

* – Okay, so Charlie Weis never really dressed up as Grimace, but this is the finest Photoshop work KVB has ever done (in fact, it may be the finest work he’s ever done period) so I had to take this opportunity to post it again. Yes, that’s how we roll here at MSF.

Every Midwest fan has the pleasure of looking toward the, err, the MAC Championship? Ohio Bobcats vs. Central Michigan Chippewas? And on a Friday night?

I’d rather go on a bar crawl with friends, see a movie, gouge an ice pick straight into my eyes…anything but watch that game.

(Not that I don’t try. The 11:00am contest last Friday between Ohio and Temple had its one viewer before I changed the channel immediately at noon when better games kicked off. I will say the first hour of Ohio-Temple was way better than standing in line waiting for a Black Friday sale item in the freezing cold. But sorry, you can’t trick me with your lone game this upcoming Friday night as if it is anything special before the REAL championship games on Saturday.)

Thinking about this obviously led me to fantasizing about something I have been dreaming about since high school.

No not my true high school crush Alyssa Milano, I’m actually talking about a BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP game! (No homo.)

There are some pretty straightforward answers to the questions that inevitably are raised whenever the topic of a Big Ten Championship game comes up:

1. They could play it in the Indianapolis Colts’ conveniently located and incredibly well-built Lucas Oil Stadium.
2. It would obviously occur this last weekend in college football.
3. Hell, Wisconsin could still go to Hawaii this year since they lost too many Big Ten games to be in the title game (I’m sure you were wondering this aloud).
4. It would also help the champion on the BCS stage and level the playing field with opponents who play in their conference championship game.

Of course the “ifs” are much more interesting to discuss.

• How do you split the two divisions?
• What school should be added as the 12^th team to the conference?
• Do you really need a 12^th team to have a championship game?
• Is Cincinnati the team most likely to get a final spot?
• How would the graphic artist sneak the number “12” into that “BIG TEN” symbol?

The two division split is hard even before you add a 12^th team. East and West divisions seem logical and easy. But I don’t always like the easy way out.

Is a Woody and a Bo division a good idea? Separating Ohio State and Michigan seems like a good idea for the conference commonly called the Big Two. But I can hardly make that argument after the last two years have seen Michigan generate one of the worst conference records at 3-13, tied with the “mighty” Hoosiers.

Will Michigan ever be relevant again? Almost for sure, but let’s move on, and I will contradict myself by saying let’s take the easy way out.

The records are from this year. The name of each division is a tribute to the previous year’s divisional champ:

2009 PATERNO EAST

1. Ohio State (7-1)
2. Penn State (6-2)
3. Michigan State (4-4)
4. Purdue (4-4)
5. Michigan (1-7)
6. Indiana (1-7)

2009 FITZGERALD WEST

1. Iowa (6-2)
2. Wisconsin (5-3)
3. Northwestern (5-3)
4. Notre Dame (2-1, projected 4-4)
5. Minnesota (3-5)
6. Illinois (2-6)

For argument’s sake, let’s add Notre Dame as the 12th team since they are the most talked about potential 12th Big Ten team that I know of. Though they were 2-1 versus the Big Ten this year, it is hard to believe they would not have lost their share of games against teams like Iowa, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin. It was either Purdue or Notre Dame in the FITZY WEST (as I like to call it) and this way Indiana and Purdue stay in the same division.

All that being said, had this been the alignment for this year, we would have had a re-match of the awesome November 14th Iowa-Ohio State game in Columbus that had to be concluded in overtime. This time, however, the game would take place on a neutral field.

Sounds like an intriguing Big Ten title game right? Sounds like Ohio State might not have had at least a “share” of the Big Ten title the last five years if there was a title game? For all these “what ifs” let us refer to whatifsports.com to get some simulated answers. They do not create simulations for 2009 college teams until after the bowl games so let’s go backwards five years:

Darryl Clark

2008 SIMULATION

Ohio State (7-1) shared the Big Ten title with Penn State (7-1) even though the Bucks lost head to head, which perturbed many Nittany Lion fans. Rightfully so.

In the above division separations, Penn State would have won the Tressel East while Northwestern would have come out on top in the Zook West. The simulation includes play on a neutral field so that is how all these outcomes are calculated.

It didn’t matter as Penn State won 10 out of 10 simulations by an average score of 38-13. Not too exciting. Still want that championship game? Let’s look deeper and decide.

Todd Boeckman

2007 SIMULATION

Ohio State out of the Tressel East with Illinois from the Bielema West. At the time, this would have been an intriguing matchup on paper since weeks earlier Illinois upset Ohio State in Columbus.

But I think we’ve seen many rematch games turn out the way the simulation did. Ohio State won 8 of 10 simulations by an average score of 27 to 19.

Would fans still have seen LSU beat the Bucks in the national title game with less time off and a championship game? Probably. Moving on.

2006 SIMULATION

PreGame WarmUps

This was one of the most interesting simulations…or the most backwards simulation I haven’t decided yet. Ohio State beat Michigan in that awesome #1 versus #2 game, moving on to play Wisconsin out of the Weis West.

The simulation? Wisconsin winning 6 out of 10 games by a definitive average of 29-14!

Would Troy Smith still have won the Heisman (and gotten fat during the layoff)?! Would Florida have destroyed their opponent in the title game if it was not Ohio State? Who would it have been, Michigan, USC, Boise State, Louisville?! We will never know but it shakes so many things up.

2005 SIMULATION

This year would have been another Penn State thrashing of Northwestern from the Ferentz West by an average score of 50-13. Wow.

Let’s give Notre Dame (9-3, BCS Sugar Bowl loss to LSU) a chance. They were arguably better this year than the following senior season with Quinn and his mates. Penn State and Notre Dame were tied after 10 simulations, with Notre Dame winning an eleventh sim. The averages were tied at 24 as well, so needless to say this could have been one of the best conference titles that we have seen so far.

Looking at other conferences with title games, they can only expect one really close game and one major upset every five years.

2004 SIMULATION

Yes this was a long time ago…Michigan was actually competitive! Iowa comes out of the Ferentz West for this year’s title game, with Michigan getting 6 out of 10 victories by a simulated 21-16 average.

Yes, this would have been consecutive years for the title game match-up so I’m sure you get the point.

All these simulations should be taken with a grain of salt of course, but it is a fun way to show the potential results if the Big Ten split into two divisions and played a championship game. It would obviously be exciting for Midwesterners but wouldn’t shake up the national scene that much.

That is also why this is a simulation and can’t be compared to reality. Heck, maybe the national media would respect the Big Ten more if they had one. Maybe recruits would pay more attention to these teams if they competed in a finale game.

All that said, would it be the greatest dream in the world to see a Big Ten conference title game? Or could it just delay the inevitable? Could it help the winner by giving that school less days off as the BCS gets extended further and further into January because of TV networks? I do believe that is the true advantage for the current conferences with championship games.

And as for the games themselves, it is certain that we would get match-ups at least as exciting as Ohio-Central Michigan or Texas-Colorado in 2005 (70-3).

Wrapping things up all I can say is I would be in favor. Forget Notre Dame if they are too self-absorbed to join a conference in football. They are in shambles anyway and I don’t think even Super Stoops can save them. Also, forget making an argument and pulling teams from another conference (i think we’ve all heard cases from as far East as Syracuse to as far West as Iowa State).

Get a conference championship game going with the current league of eleven and see who wants in after that.

The sucker punching started this past Saturday, when Mike Brey, Tyler Harangody, and the Fighting Irish lost to Jim Calhoun and the UCONN Husk–wait a minute, crap…got that mixed up.

Let’s start over.

The sucker punching started this past Saturday when Charlie Weis, Jimmy Pickles, and the Fighting Irish lost to Randy Edsall and the Connecticut Huskies in South Bend.

It continued early on Sunday morning when Jimmy Clausen was sucker punched at a bar in the wee hours of the morning.

And then this morning there was more sucker punching with the reports that Clausen’s family has sold their home in South Bend.

But does this latest sucker punch really amount to much, or is it much ado about nothing?

Here is the report on the Clausen family selling their home from the Chicago Tribune (via The Big Lead):

Century 21 real estate agent Kathye Currey told the Tribune on Tuesday that the house Clausen’s family owns at 703 E. Angela Blvd. in South Bend has been sold.

“It has an accepted offer on it right now,” Currey said of the property that is mere steps from campus. “It was for sale, it listed on the middle of July of this year. And it just went pending last week.

“Pending (means) the sellers have accepted an offer on it. It’s sold. It just has not closed with the title company yet.”

Now, at first glance, news of the Clausens (who are from California and use the house during the season) selling their home seems like a pretty strong indication that Jimmy will forego his senior season and enter the NFL draft.

However, allow me to play devil’s advocate here for a second. I don’t recall coming into the season a feeling that Clausen’s departure was a foregone conclusion. Yet, the article states that the house went on the market in the middle of July.

If that is the case, then the Clausens selling their home is not a knee-jerk reaction to Charlie Weis’ job status or the punch-heard-round-the-world. Perhaps they had already been planning to do so, regardless of whether Jimmy would be in South Bend for his senior season or not.

How would they have known in July?

I guess they could have been sitting on an offer and waiting for the “right time” to accept it, and that the last week has offered up the perfect confluence of events for the “right time” to be declared, but who knows. That’s a lot of speculating.

So while every story involving the words and “Notre” and “Dame” is so hot right now, I’m not sure that this story really amounts to all that much. His parents are selling their house. Fine. They were apparently willing to do it in July and I didn’t hear anyone squawking about it then.

Still, add up the disappointing season, the likelihood that Charlie Weis will be gone, the likelihood that Golden Tate will be gone, and the fact that random South Bend residents are punching him in the face, and it’s a pretty good bet that Jimmy Clausen will be in this year’s draft.

From the timeline of events, I’m just not sure much can really be read into the ownership status of his parents’ house.

Nope.

Literally adding injury to insult, Notre Dame starting quarterback Jimmy Clausen was reportedly involved in a fight outside a South Bend bar at 2:30 am on Sunday morning. Clausen apparently sustained at least one black eye as a result of the scuffle.

We have received unconfirmed tips to Midwest Sports Fans that Clausen was threatening to give another bar patron a “golden tate” and the subject of the threat did not take too kindly.

I’m kidding…I think.

Here is the report via the Chicago Tribune account of the bar fight involving Jimmy Clausen:

Starting quarterback and team captain Jimmy Clausen was involved in an altercation outside a South Bend, Ind., bar in the hours after a double-overtime loss to Connecticut on Saturday, taking a punch to the face in the incident, sources told the Tribune.

Clausen suffered at least one black eye as a result of the punch, according to a source.

Clausen was apparently at the bar with family members and teammates as they commiserated following Notre Dame’s loss to Connecticut. There was no mention of Clausen showing up for his night of bar hopping in a limousine.

Our friend Paul Banks over at The Sports Bank had the following to say about the Clausen fight, which is just the latest in a series of alcohol-related incidents involving the Notre Dame QB.

The [Tribune] article goes on to remind us all what an egocentric, douchenozzle with a sense of entitlement Clausen truly is. He takes after his coach, who shares his arrogance and misguided belief that the rules don’t apply to him.

Ultimately, I’m sure this story will end up going away after about 24 hours. So Jimmy Clausen has consumed some alcohol while underage and participated in Beer Olympics. Anyone who really has a problem with that either needs to go to college, needs to remember their college years, or should have put down World of Warcraft and had some fun.

And while I don’t doubt that Clausen was probably drinking — what else do you do at 2:30 in the morning on a college campus when you’re out? — it sounds like he may have either been lagaretteblounted or simply got into a little scuffle outside the bar, something that happens on a regular basis on college campuses.

Either way, it’s a fun story for bloggers to post because it gives us all chances to take pot shots at Notre Dame, Jimmy Clausen, and Charlie Weis, but Clausen will be in the starting lineup this Saturday against Stanford and this story will have been forgotten by the time Clausen’s black eye clears up.

So, in conclusion…Jimmy Clausen.

**********

* – Jimmy Clausen photo credit: Ann Arbor News File Photo via MLive.com

Michigan State again gave their opponent a second chance, only for it to bite them back in the butt.

Late in the 4th quarter, Michigan Sate was down 30-33. Michigan State’s WR, Larry Caper, beat all of the Irish’s defense. He was wide open. All he had to do was catch the ball. Instead the ball was too high, and while Caper got his hands on the ball, he wasn’t able to catch it.

It would have been a TD and given the Spartans the lead, and maybe even the game, but it only led to an Irish interception that would clinch the game for the Irish.

The hero tonight?

Kyle McCarthy is the big man on campus this weekend for Notre Dame. His interception at the 4 yard line, with 57 seconds left, sealed the win for the Irish. A win that they needed really badly. Last week, Notre Dame let Michigan come back and beat them. A loss that put even more doubt on the team, including head coach, Charlie Weis.

The Irish aren’t even close to showing that they are the real deal. They won the game, and while thats all that matters in the end, having another late night scare shows that this team doesn’t know how to finish a game. It was another scare for loyal Fighting Irish fans. A scar that not many fans want to endure 2 weeks in a row. A scare that kinda ticks you off.

One thing that will make fans happy is Jimmy Clausen continues to play extremely well. He threw for 300 yards with 2 TD passes and no interceptions. He is looking like a great leader for a team that needs one. He has played very well this year, and is a reason why the Irish should be hopeful this and next year.

A huge blow to the Irish is the loss of WR Michael Floyd. Floyd suffered a broken collarbone when he landed in the endzone. He leads the nation in receiving yards per game (160), and in yards per catch (29.1). Luckily, Golden Tate and Clausen were able to pick up the slack, something they might have to be doing for some weeks. It’s not yet known how long Floyd will be out.

Overall a win is a win. However I am beginning to doubt this defense that, in the first week, looked very strong. They have given up two straight 30+ point games. A team can’t expect to win when their defense gives up that many points in a game. Defense should be the main thing for the Irish to work on this week in practice.

The Irish’s season depends how the defense plays. Look for the defense to step it up next week.

Let me just say one thing looking back at last weekend and then we can get into the preview: Notre Dame lost the Michigan game because of terrible, crazy, offensive play calling.

What were they thinking when they called two pass plays with the lead late in the 4th quarter!? Run the ball and make Michigan use their timeouts! It was just dumb play calling at its “finest”.

Now back to the ND-MSU preview. Before we delve into the analysis, here are the particulars for Saturday’s matchup:

Michigan State at Notre Dame

• Michigan State-Notre Dame Date: Saturday, September 19th
• Michigan State-Notre Dame State Kickoff Time: 3:30 ET
• Michigan State-Notre Dame TV Channel: NBC
• Michigan State-Notre Dame Point Spread: Notre Dame -10.5

Notre Dame has to win this game, and on paper Notre Dame is the stronger team; but this is sports, and if you haven’t found out yet that anything can happened in sports, well you’re not a very astute fan.

So while Notre Dame should win this game, don’t count out Michigan State too easily.

Despite the 30+ points given up against Michigan, Notre Dame’s defense has improved dramatically. While the Irish offense is explosive, I believe it is their defense that will be the key to this game. Defense wins football games, as the old adage goes, and Notre Dame has the defense to do beat Michigan State, along with the offense to back it up.

Michigan State needs to stay to the basics of football. That is playing smart football, not giving up many turnovers, and converting on chances. Michigan State is running against the wind in this game, but playing smart football can make all the difference.

This game will go to the team with the better choices, play calling, and whoever converts on the others mistakes. Those are fairly common things you have to do to win a football game, but not many teams can do that in a game, and they end up paying the price for not sticking to the basics.

Overall I see Notre Dame winning this game comfortably. if not, then maybe Notre Dame isn’t as good as they were hyped to be.

The last two meetings between these teams were sloppy blowout games and neither team ended up having a good season. But this year both squads look to be back on track and the rivalry is being revived.

Last week, Michigan coasted to an easy 31-7 victory over Western Michigan, scoring all of their points in the first half. Freshman quarterback Tate Forcier solidified himself as the starter for the Wolverines while fellow freshman Denard Robinson flashed the speed and big play ability that quarterbacks in Rich Rodriguez’s system are known for having.

Rich Rodriguez’s spread option offense was effective against the Broncos, as Michigan racked up 242 rushing yards from 8 different ball carriers. The problem for the Wolverines is they are currently without a go-to running back. Backup quarterback Denard Robinson was the leading rusher with 74 yards.

In Notre Dame’s season opener, the Irish shut out Nevada 35-0 with Jimmy Clausen throwing for 4 TD’s. Claussen showed poise in the pocket, completing 15 of his 18 attempts.

Charlie Weis and the Fighting Irish look ready to make it back to another bowl game this year, and possibly even compete for a BCS bid. The offense that was in complete disarray two seasons ago is now finally coming together.

Saturday’s matchup between these two bitter rivals is an intriguing one. Both teams have shown vast improvement from last year, but this will obviously be the first real test for each squad with Rodriguez and Weis both seated firmly on the hot seat to bring their teams back to the elite level of college football.

Before we get into an analysis of the matchup, let’s take a quick look at the particulars:

#18 Notre Dame (1-0) at Michigan (1-0)

• Notre Dame-Michigan Date: Saturday, September 12th
• Notre Dame-Michigan Time: 3:30 ET
• Notre Dame-Michigan TV: ABC
• Notre Dame-Michigan Location: The Big House in Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Notre Dame-Michigan Point Spread: Notre Dame -4.5
• StubHub: Michigan-Notre Dame tickets for as low as $95
• StubHub: Michigan football tickets
• StubHub: Notre Dame football tickets
• StubHub: all College Football tickets

Notre Dame-Michigan Preview and Analysis

Notre Dame comes into the game a slight favorite and rightfully so. Clausen is starting to fill in the void that was left when Brady Quinn left for the NFL draft. (Side note to Notre Dame fans: please don’t treat Claussen like the “golden boy” as you did with Quinn. Thank you.)

To win the game, the Irish must provide strong pass protection for Clausen and allow him to spread the ball around. Michigan, on the other hand, needs to pressure Clausen and limit his ability to locate WRs Golden Tate and Michael Floyd down the field. If Michigan tries to get in a shootout with Notre Dame, the Wolverines won’t be able to keep up with the Irish’s high-octane offense.

If Claussen can put up 300-plus yards passing Michigan won’t have a chance. Tate, a speedy and talented young receiver, could be the X-factor with his big play potential.

Michigan needs to control the pace and the clock by running the football over and over. Forcier looked good passing the ball last week, although he only put the ball in the air 20 times. He completed 13 of those passes for 175 yards and tallied 3 TDs. You might look at those stats and think the Wolverines should throw more.

On the contrary, Forcier’s efficient passing was set up by 50 rushing attempts at 4.8 yards per pop. Michigan would do well to follow attain a similar run:pass ratio. Forcier will have to be smart with the ball again when passing plays are called. An improving Irish defense picked off two passes last week and will be licking their chops going up against a freshman making only his second start.

Notre Dame-Michigan Prediction

This game can go either way and will likely be decided by one or two key plays. Notre Dame comes in ranked #18, but when playing in the Big House all rankings go out the window. [Editor's note: as do Division 1-A and 1-AA classifications...right App State?]

Rich Rodriguez will have the Wolverines amped up to start the game and the Irish will have to take the fans out of the game early. Luckily for Notre Dame fans and the embattled Weis, the Irish have an experienced quarterback to rely on in Jimmy Clausen, who is no stranger to pressure, expectation, and hostile environments.  

In this high profile matchup between two of the all-time giants of college football, Clausen’s experience will most likely be the difference.

My prediction for this game: Notre Dame- 31 Michigan- 24

**********

* – Notre Dame / Michigan helmets image credit: The Onion

* – Charlie Weis photo credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio via WSBT-2

* – Denard Robinson / Tate Forcier photo credit: Said Alsalah/Daily via Michigan Daily

* – Jimmy Clausen in high school photo credit: Pre Pro Sports