This used to be my favorite week of the year.

The past two years, of course, have been filled more with dread and despair than excitement for the best rivalry in college sports. I try to temper my expectations, and my trash talk, so not to get crushed by another loss to Ohio State. They still crush me.

So this year, I’m throwing caution to the wind. My blood boils every time I see Scarlet and Gray, and a whole week of suppressing my hate is only going to serve to make me even more irritable. This is very likely my last Ohio State game as a student, and I can’t hold back any longer. Instead, it’s time for an airing of grievances, Buckeye-style:

1. Hey, Michael Wilbon gets away with this, so I’ll try it too: I’ve heard on “very good authority” that Terrelle Pryor got paid to attend Ohio State. He also has a horrendous taste in suits. And the throwing arm of a little girl.
2. Yes, Jim Tressel wears a sweater-vest, drinks Mike’s Hard Cranberry Lemonade, watches That’s So Raven, and wears Uggs. I have proof:
3. Justin Boren appears to have dressed up for Halloween as some frightening cross between Rich Rodriguez and Charlie Weis, just seconds before Weisriguez contracted herpes.
4. Maurice Clarett’s prison jumpsuit is completely lint-free, thank you very much.
5. Presented without comment:

   

6. 57-42-6

Yes, we may suck, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to miss out on the rivalry fun this year. Go Blue!

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• Hockey player upset Winston reinstated — ESPN.com — The Winston saga has been covered in detail already by other news outlets and blogs, but I will say that this story should have gotten as much local media coverage as the Feagin incident, if not more. At least we kick our criminals off the team. Good for A.J. Sturges that he spoke out against his own school and stood up for what he thought was right.
• Small to return, with limitations — Columbus Dispatch — Ray Small is still (barely) hanging on to a spot on the Ohio State team, but Jim Tressel says Small will “probably not” be in the mix at wide receiver. This leaves an inexperienced position for the Buckeyes with even less experience, assuming that Tressel doesn’t relent as the season progresses.
• Wisconsin suspends safeties Carter, Pleasant — ESPN.com — Shane Carter and Aubrey Pleasant, both backup safeties for the Badgers, are suspended indefinitely for undisclosed reasons. Carter, son of NFL legend Cris, led the Big Ten in interceptions in 2007 but has been plagued by off-field issues. Both players have started in their careers.
• Buckeyes’ Boren to miss several weeks — ESPN.com — Sprained knee. Commence holding tongue.
• PSU’s Wallace likely suspended for 1-2 weeks — ESPN.com — Man, ’tis the season, I guess. Corner A.J. Wallace is projected to start for Penn State, but will probably be suspended for at least the opener against Akron because of academic issues.
• Sources: Big Ten to have 3 Jan. 1 bowls — ESPN.com — Big Ten drops the Alamo Bowl and adds the Gator Bowl, which would pit the No. 4 or No. 5 Big Ten squad against the No. 3 ACC team. This adds another Jan. 1 bowl game for the conference, so the move is fine by me.
• On the record: Penn State, steady as she goes — Dr. Saturday — The Doc projects Penn State to take the Big Ten, and places Michigan seventh, between MSU and Northwestern. It’s hard to argue with most of the choices here, although I think Wisconsin is rated a little high at 5th.
• Precedent — On Wisconsin! — A spirited defense of Bret Bielema from On Wisconsin!, comparing Bielema’s first few seasons to stretches of Barry Alvarez’s Badger coaching career. However, the argument leaves me wondering how Alvarez became such a legend with all the stretches of inconsistent/mediocre seasons.

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• Friday Ruminatin’: There’s a devil waitin’ outside your door — We Will Always Have Tempe — With the possibility that Jim Tressel will retire when his contract expires in 2012 (he has stated that he wants to coach 40 years, and he’s already coached 35, and not much beyond), WWAHT looks at possible replacements. May I suggest John Cooper?
• Opponent preview: Michigan State defense — The Wolverine — Michael Spath continues The Wolverine’s opponent previews with a look at the Spartans’ defense. The linebackers and defensive backs look good, but MSU will have to improve their defensive line play while replacing two starters.
• Previewin’: Iowa – Maize n Brew — Beauford agrees with most of the pundits, putting Iowa at 9-3 and third in the conference. Am I the only one who thinks Iowa is a fraud?
• Checking in with … Penn State’s Darryl Clark — ESPN.com — Adam Rittenberg with the interview, which touches on the rest of the Big Ten quarterbacks, Clark’s concussions (three in his career), and him helping out incoming freshman (and former Michigan commit) Kevin Newsome.
• Time to change? Big Ten debates playing games in December — Toledo Blade — Another battle of tradition versus progression, which seems to be a common one in the Big Ten. Personally, I think Big Ten teams will eventually have to start scheduling December games if they want to have a better shot at BCS bowls, individual postseason awards, and the like. The best solution would be adding a twelfth team and having a conference title game, but that’s going to be tough to pull off.

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Lots of good stuff from media day yesterday, especially with Hail to the Orange, Eleven Warriors, and Bucky’s 5th Quarter all attending. Here are some highlights from around the internets:

• Zook Smash! the press conference! — Hail to the Orange — HTTO runs through the highlights of Illini coach Ron Zook’s press conference, including Zook revealing his way of punishing players for minor infractions: the stair master. Mike Barwis sees your stair master, and raises you 10 minutes in the wolf pit.
• Blog: Big Ten Kickoff in Chicago — GopherSports.com — Minnesota’s official site has been providing solid live-blog updates for those curious about the Golden Gophers.
• Mark Dantonio has lofty goals for Michigan State: Big Ten title, BCS bowl — Chicago Tribune — Dantonio talk about playing up for big games, and clearly is familiar with Michigan State’s history: “I think it’s very, very important to recognize that we’ve been in that situation before at times, the Spartans raised up a bit, and we fell a little bit flat,” Dantonio said. “We’ve won very, very few games just going away. We’ve been involved in a lot of close games.”
• Big Ten Media Days: Dantonio in Bulletpoints — The Only Colors — More Dantonio, this time focusing on the quarterback competition, throwing a few new wrinkles into the offense, and recruiting.
• Pat Fitzgerald says returning linemen hold key for Northwestern football — Chicago Tribune — Something I hadn’t noticed until now: Northwestern doesn’t play Ohio State or Michigan this season. Could they possibly be a dark horse for the Big Ten title after winning nine games last year? Crazy.
• Saturation — Eleven Warriors — Jason of 11W, who attended the media day festivities, gives a wrap-up of the day as a whole, and also summarizes Jim Tressel’s remarks, both during the official conference and in the hall afterward.
• Penn State considered benching Anthony Morelli for Darryl Clark? Now they tell us … — Dr. Saturday — “I thought it would discourage the kid that we were using,” Paterno said of Morelli. … “I thought the kid we were using had the potential to be a good quarterback. I blew that one.” No kidding, JoePa. Also, that picture never gets old.
• Michigan’s Rich Rodriguez, Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema fall flat at the podium — The Patriot-News — This is “um, what?” material to say the least. Some Penn State homer takes a couple innocuous quotes from RichRod and Bielema and uses them as an excuse to make two horrible jokes himself. How’s that chip on your shoulder, David? Still there? Bummer.
• Big Ten Media Days: Day 1 — Bucky’s 5th Quarter — Wisconsin blog provides a live-blog of yesterday’s events, and also gives a team-by-team rundown afterwards.

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• There, I Said It: Deconstructing the Blankie — We Will Always Have Tempe — Sam at WWAHT pens a great piece on just how much people should weigh Ohio State’s 53-game win streak over non-BCS-bound teams (holy @#$%!) versus their five-game losing streak against top-ten teams. Conclusion: stop using somewhat misleading records such as the ones previously stated and just enjoy the fact that your team is 83-19 under Sweatervest. Tremendous, well-thought out post that is worth a read.
• Trouble Up North? — Eleven Warriors — Ah, the flip side. 11W links to that idiotic News & Sentinel post that suggested Rich Rodriguez would be Marshall’s head coach next season as if it was a real news article, then goes on a rant about how RichRod’s job could be in jeopardy, then says he’ll probably be back for year three, and somewhere in the middle says the key to his continued employment is the success this season of a bunch of freshman who haven’t seen the field yet. Um, what?
• The Seantrel Henderson Sweepstakes — The Daily Gopher — I might have put this at the top again, but I’m running out of good Seantrel pictures. The Daily Gopher is doing a great (albeit slightly creepy, in the sense that all recruiting is slightly creepy) job of aggregating news on the No. 1 prospect in the country. This edition has a lot of interesting tidbits, including Henderson’s father saying he has a hard time saying no, Henderson himself claiming several schools (including Michigan) offering him the chance to play both football and basketball, and the possibility of school prestige playing a large part in his recruitment. From the Michigan side of things, I think we’re a pretty big longshot right now, but this could be one of those recruitments that comes down to the wire. RichRod, prepare the snake oil!
• The Big East: 25 Years Too Late — Black Shoe Diaries — BSD scoffs at the notion of Penn State leaving the Big Ten for the Big East (something the Big East has recently expressed interest in), noting the irony that Joe Paterno and the school petitioned the conference in the early ’80s hoping to become a member, but were denied because it was thought they would be too dominant in football and not competitive in basketball. Which, by and large, is exactly how they stack up in the Big Ten, if you maintain a loose definition of “dominance”. After 15 years of establishing themselves in the Big Ten, it makes no sense for Penn State to leave for the sad-sack Big East.

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Football:

• Ferentz tops Rodriguez for top spot in Big Ten coaching rankings — SI — Rivals analyst Tom Deinhart, writing for SI.com, ranks Michigan’s coach one spot ahead of Jim Tressel. Personally (and I know this is blasphemy) I’d flip Tressel and Ferentz in his rankings. Something Wolverine fans can all agree on: Dantonio is too high at #5. Just because. Jerk.
• Michigan Announces Alumni Football Game Roster — MGoBlue — The whole list is out now, courtesy of Michigan’s official site. Also, some notable non-participants will be in attendance: Steve Breaston, Mike Hart, Jon Jansen, and Super Bowl Champs LaMarr Woodley, Ryan Mundy and Larry Foote, who will be honored for their accomplishment on Saturday.
• Five Big Ten players on Lott Trophy watch list — ESPN — Brandon Graham heads the list of nominees for the Big Ten. The award recognizes the impact defensive player of the year, “who reflects integrity, maturity, performance, academics, community and tenacity.” I’m pretty sure “Tenacity” is BG’s middle name.
• National Notebook: Clay coming into his own — Rivals — Rivals recruiting editor Jeremy Crabtree takes a look at 2010 four-star running back prospect Brennan Clay of San Diego Scripps Ranch, a former teammate of Tate Forcier and a current target of Michigan. He is trying to make it up to campus for the spring game, and states that Michigan sits in his top five.
• Two major hurdles for Edwards-to-Giants trade — Pro Football Talk — PFT addresses the rumors that Braylon Edwards will be shipped to the New York Giants. Right now, the major issues are the Browns asking price and Braylon’s contract demands, both of which are too high for the Giants as it stands right now.

Basketball:

• Rivals.com early preseason top 25 — Rivals — Michigan comes in at No. 18, and looks to only move up from there, as the poll assumes all undeclared underclassmen (say that three times fast) will not enter the NBA draft. I’m having a tough time weathering my expectations, but the Big Ten looks to be really tough next year, with Purdue coming in at No. 4, MSU at No. 5, and Ohio State No. 15. Minnesota and Illinois also make the top 25, at No. 21 and No. 25, respectively.
• Report Card: Laval Lucas-Perry — UM Hoops — Another report card from Dylan, another link from me. Michigan hoops fans should really be following the guy’s site. LLP struggled with high expectations after a blazing-hot start this season, but I expect to at the very least become a solid role player if (when?) he finds the consistent shooting stroke that practice observers rave about.

Hockey:

• Rogers named AHL Man of the Year — aeroes.com — Former Michigan defenseman and current Houston Aeroes player Brandon Rogers earned the AHL Man of the Year award for his outstanding service to the Houston community. It’s always great to see a former Wolverine making such a great impact on his community and representing his school in the best way possible. [HT: The Blog That Yost Built]

Other:

• Midweek Matchup: Indigenous Tribe Week — Varsity Blue — FormerlyAnonymous previews the baseball team’s midweek tilt against Central Michigan.

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