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Mike Hall's Bio: Mike Hall does it all: He anchors "Big Ten Tonight," reports from sidelines during Big Ten games and serves as host of the Friday Night Tailgate. He also blogs right here and posts his very own video reports. |
Iowa explanation? No, THEY owe one to Iowa!
| Nov 3 2009, 4:02 PM | Topic: Campus chatter |
| I've expressed many times that I don't think it should be relevant what you or I or anybody thinks will happen in a hypothetical match-up (i.e. "Florida would beat TCU on a neutral field"). I think what matters is what you know, not what you think. And that is why I know that Iowa is not getting the respect its deserves. This is the great Pat Forde's latest column. He writes: "Seven teams (the six remaining FBS undefeateds and Oregon) deserve to be ranked ahead of (Iowa)." Pat is the best writer in college sports. But in this instance he is dead wrong. The latest BCS standings have Iowa fourth overall behind Florida, Texas and Alabama. They rank seventh in the Harris Poll, sixth in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and second in the computers. But who truly deserves to be ahead of them? I know people are skeptical of Iowa because of their late escapes against decent or good opponents and slim wins over bad ones. But everybody has bad games. If you're unbeaten, I'm more concerned with your good wins than your bad ones. And are those good wins better than the other unbeatens'? Let's compare. I have four main points. 1) Wins over teams currently above .500? Iowa has six (Penn State at 8-1, Wisconsin at 6-2, Arizona at 5-2, Michigan at 5-4, Iowa State at 5-4, and Northern Iowa at 5-3). Florida has two (LSU at 7-1, and Troy at 6-2). Let me repeat that. The mighty Gators have a whopping total of two wins over teams currently above .500. Two. And one is Troy. Alabama has three (South Carolina at 6-3, Virginia Tech at 5-3 and Mississippi at 5-3). Texas has four (Oklahoma State at 6-2, Texas Tech at 6-3, Missouri at 5-3 and Oklahoma at 5-3). 2) How about a more specific look at the top of the top including wins over teams currently in the BCS standings? Iowa has three (Penn State at 11, Arizona at 18 and Wisconsin at 21). Florida has one (LSU at 9). Alabama has one (Virginia Tech at 23). Texas has two (Oklahoma State at 19 and Oklahoma at 24). 3) How about the NCAA's listing for strength of schedule? Iowa is ranked as having the seventh toughest schedule. Florida is 42nd. Alabama is 22nd. Texas is 35th. You look at those numbers and tell me how the Hawkeyes aren't ranked number one right now! The answer in my mind is two-fold. One, there still are people that vote based on national perception and pre-season thoughts and hype. Two, that the Hawkeyes don't pass the dreaded "eye test," which is a philosophy that is so subjective it makes me want to cry out of agony. To be fair, do I think Iowa is the No. 1 team in the country right now? No, I do not. But again, who cares what I think!? You should care what I know. And I know that as of now the Hawkeyes have the better resume than anyone else in the country. Will that stay the same in a few weeks? Maybe not. But for now what team has done better?! 4) Let's compare the remaining schedules of each team. Iowa still has to play Northwestern (5-4), Ohio State (7-2) and Minnesota (5-4). Florida has Vanderbilt (2-7), South Carolina (6-3), Florida International (2-6) and Florida State (4-4). Plus the potential SEC title game, likely against Alabama (8-0). Alabama has LSU (7-1), Mississippi State (4-5), Chattanooga (5-3), and Auburn (6-3). Plus the potential SEC title game, likely against Florida (8-0) Texas has UCF (5-3), Baylor (3-5), Kansas (5-3) and Texas A&M (5-3). Plus a potential Big 12 Title Game. The current Big 12 North leader is Kansas State (5-4). That doesn't make the Hawkeyes look so bad either, does it? Only the Crimson Tide's remaining games look harder on the whole than Iowa's. Again, things can change. If Iowa loses, the argument is moot. In a month maybe things will be different and Alabama will have victories over LSU and Auburn and Florida. In which case, I'd say it deserves it more. But right now they don't. After nine weeks of play, Iowa should be the number one team in the country. FINAL NUGGET: Did have a chance to talk with Ricky Stanzi today. He was exactly the cool customer you'd think he'd be based on this season. He's said all year long that he makes sure he never gets too high and never gets too low. And he reiterated that today. He said his mindset after throwing the fifth interception was "go onto the next play." And he did. Despite throwing five interceptions, he also threw his first 300-yard game of his career. Considering all the good and all the bad, how will he remember that performance? "I'll just remember it as a win," Stanzi said. "That's all that matters." |
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From 11 to 1: The best Big Ten Network games
| Oct 27 2009, 4:23 PM | Topic: Campus chatter | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| The question posed to me was this: "Mike, was the Iowa win over Michigan State the best game in the history of the Big Ten Network?" I like that question. I liked it so much … this blog will be about it. When batting around great games we aired with some of my colleagues, I was surprised how many there were to choose from. So I made a top 10 list of games in the 26-month history of the network. Of course, since its the Big Ten, this top 10 list starts with No. 11. Yeah, he did. The Boilermakers came into the game on a five game losing streak. The Buckeyes came in as a top ten ranked team. Carson Wiggs made four field goals, including a 55 yarder. It was the first conference win for Danny Hope as head coach. They were down at one point 28-3. This game also had a 70-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage. It had 93-yard kickoff return. It had a safety. The 'Cats won despite throwing three 2nd half picks. And the drama went down to the last-play as a 59 yard field goal attempt by Nick Freeland just barely fell short. In the end it was the largest comeback in NU history. His teammates screamed at him to leave it alone, and that's what he did. Doh! The Panthers picked up the ball and thanks to the officials ruling the ball never crossed the line of scrimmage, they also got a second chance to stun the Hawkeyes. So, with a second left, of all people Hunter blocked Hallgren's second attempt, sealing the Iowa win. Forcier had two fourth-quarter touchdown passes for Michigan to come from 14 points down and force the extra play. The most dramatic was when he hit Roy Roundtree for a 9-yard score with two seconds left in regulation to tie it. Forcier showed his youth when he was intercepted by Spartan Chris L. Rucker off a deflection in the end zone on the first possession of overtime. And this huge rivalry game went to the team in green and white. It ensured their first bowl bid in 14 seasons, fulfilling the promise late coach Terry Hoeppner made to fans when he was hired three years prior. And it all happened with Jane Hoeppner looking on. The kick, which just barely cleared the crossbar, capped a comeback from being down 24-3 in a game between each schools' biggest rival. Less than 12 hours before tip-off, school officials released a report from the NCAA which accused coach Kelvin Sampson of committing five "major" rules violations. And then the game began, and blew all those who watched it away. 17 lead changes, 6 ties. During the final 96 seconds, the lead changed seven times. And then Brian Butch became the unlikely hero. Far away from the hoop, the ball landed in his hands and so he shot it. And made it. By banking it in with 4.5 seconds left. "We did not diagram the bank," head coach Bo Ryan said. "I don't think any of our other guys would have banked it." MSU scored the first touchdown of the game in the 58th minute. They did it in part thanks to a 3rd and 18 hook and ladder play! But Iowa came right back as Ricky Stanzi drove his team down the field. A defensive holding penalty wiped out a game ending interception. Iowa drove inside the ten with a first and goal, which became a 2nd and goal, then 3rd, before the clock said :02 for their 4th and goal play. Stanzi connected with Marvin McNutt for a 7-yard touchdown pass as time expired. Iowa, sixth in the BCS standings at the time, made it 12 straight wins dating back to last season, the second-longest streak in the nation. Yet again he grabbed the rebound and again got fouled. He hit that free throw with 1.5 seconds left. And we were just getting started. Blake Hoffarber was supposed to just be a decoy. But it didn't work out that way. Travis Busch inbounded it from 75 feet away to a jumping Hoffarber's hands. He caught it in traffic, spun and shot up the Hoffarber Heave. It went in, he went nuts, Tubby Smith went airborne, and the basketball world went crazy. Appalachian State took the lead with 26 seconds left when Julian Rauch kicked a 24-yard field goal. But Michigan - a program whose coach, and three offensive stars returned with their sights set on a Big Ten crown if not a national title - still had a shot. But Corey Lynch blocked a 37-yard attempt on the final play. No Division I-AA team had beaten a team ranked in The Associated Press poll. It was one of the biggest upsets in the history of college sports. I know I'm leaving some stuff off of this list. By all means shoot me a note on Twitter about any game I left off. In fact I deliberately left off non-football or basketball games. This was just using a list of the two main men's sports. But my point is this: That game Saturday was quite impressive if the only two games I can put ahead of it are the Hoffarber Heave and the App' State game. |
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Bloomington, Zeke, and Dateline NBC's Chris Hansen
| Oct 20 2009, 4:58 PM | Topic: Campus chatter |
| Had a blast last week in The game was interesting. It had such a tough rhythm to it. The first quarter went by in a snap. The second quarter took forever. That, of course, was aided by the tough injury to Illini Donsay Hardeman. As of Tuesday night I heard that he was back in But the win was massive for As for the Illini? Devastating. Can you believe this team is 1-5? I said on here a few weeks back that orange and blue fans should not panic because they Illini played such a tough schedule. Well, not anymore. And seeing them up close and personal I can tell you they looked beat. I didn't get a chance to report this during the game, but after that succession of fumbles in the third and fourth quarters I was watching the team react. The first fumble in the second half didn't drop their spirits. Coach Zook was running up and down the sidelines screaming "Lets go! Lets go!" Offensive Coordinator Mike Schultz was repeating over and over again "Lots of time left, lots of time." And their offensive line coach was praising his men, despite the outcome of the drive. Spirits were up. Then after the second and third fumbles, not at all. Not much chatter from players or coaches. It was as if they realized they were 1-5. Too many mistakes for the Illini to comeback. Six games remain. They need to go 5-1 just to make a bowl game. It does not look good. Once the game was done, I had a chance to go hang out at a couple of fun spots in Then we went to Bluebird and heard a fantastic live band play for the rest of the night. That place was a blast. One of my favorite college bars I've been to. Back to football. Perhaps the player of the week was Zeke Markshausen. Now Ben Chappell and Blair White had ridiculous performances and deserved to share the offensive player of the week award from the conference. But Zeke … let's call him the Big Ten story of the week. His 16 catches was one shy of the all-time school record. This for a guy who came into the season with a career grand total of one reception. One! He was a walk-on until this season. Yet he is second in the conference with 50 catches thus far! I had a chance to talk to him about it this week, and he's a very likable guy, too. Says he looks up to Wes Welker and watches him whenever he can. That isn't often because of the availability of Patriots games on TV in He also talked about smiling. He apparently is known to have a big ole' grin on when he makes a catch. I asked him why that is and he said it's hard to stop smiling. He's having the experience of a lifetime, why not smile? He said Andrew Brewer has a similar philosophy. And that it started for him back in high school when he started loosening up and having fun. Speaking of having fun, this week we have an extra special guest for Alumni Interview on Tailgate. Its Chris Hansen. As in, Dateline NBC's "How to Catch A Predator" Chris Hansen. Yeah, he's a Spartan alum! And |
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C'mon Feel The Illinois(e)
| Oct 6 2009, 4:51 PM | Topic: Campus chatter | ||||
Why should Illini fans be unhappy? Well, 1-3 doesn't make anyone that thrilled. Ya just gave up more than 330 yards rushing to Penn State. The week before you couldn't score a point. And you started the season losing your fifth straight game in your most important non-conference rivalry… in a game you were a seven-point favorite. Why should Illini fans be a bit more forgiving? Look who you've played! Missouri (ranked 18th in the coaches poll) and Penn State (12th) and Ohio State (8th). Those teams have a combined record of 12-2 (and those two losses came against teams currently ranked 7th and 14th!) Not that easy to score on those cats either. Out of 120 teams, Missouri is 21st in scoring D giving up only 15 points a game, Ohio State is 8th and Penn Sate is 7th. My point is… those teams are good! How many teams in the country could beat all three of those teams… maybe 10?! Here's another way to look at how odd their brutal schedule to begin the season has been. Illinois is the first non-title defending conference team since Michigan State in 1975 to start its conference play with the two defending Big Ten champs. However, the Illini upcoming schedule is Michigan State (Scoring Defense ranked 64th), Indiana (63rd,) Purdue (92nd.). I don't think any part of their remaining schedule is a cakewalk. And I'd be stunned if they went undefeated. But it certainly gets easier. And if they did win the rest of the way, they'd be 9-3 with three pretty decent losses. Perhaps a bigger question is whether Eddie McGee is the right man to start for the orange and blue at quarterback. He's been named the starter for this weekend. Our pal Adam Rittenberg described it as a desperate move at a desperate time. And that's a pretty good way of stating it. Cause, what if Eddie doesn't play dramatically better… can they possibly go back to Juice? How will that resonate in the locker room? And if McGee does play better, don't the stats I mentioned previously about how good the defenses Illinois played and how less impressive the upcoming ones will be matter? Switching gears, how about a quarterback who's younger but having a better season. Tate Forcier. I understand why some people are tired of the praise this young man's been receiving - cause there's been a lot. And despite the fact that some friendly Spartan fans sent my Twitter account some tweets my way after Saturday's game stating their unhappiness that I was impressed with the freshman's fourth-quarter drive, I still would like to point out some numbers: 11-16 for 121 yds, three touchdowns. Plus, six carries for 39 yards. Those are Forcier's statistics in the final drives of the late game situations against Notre Dame, Indiana and Michigan State. Not bad. Let alone for a froshy. Yes, his team lost this weekend, but he's still an impressive player to watch. And I think any Big Ten fan will look forward to see how he handles things in the blackout version of Kinnick this Saturday. Which defensive player has been most impressive thus far? How about a battle between Michigan State's Greg Jones and Minnesota's Nate Triplett. Triplett has a couple of picks and a couple of fumble recoveries, and is 8th in the nation in tackles, with 56. Jones is 2nd in the country with 60 tackles. FINAL NUGGET: I feel I need to apologize to America. This summer when we went to Iowa City, I saw Hawkeye QB Ricky Stanzi growing a sweet, thick beard. So, I had to comment on it and let him know how awesome I thought it was. Then, promptly before the first game of the year, he shaved it. This saddened me greatly. Well, this week I had a chance to talk to him again and addressed the pressing issue with him (watch the video to the right). He said I was the REASON he shaved it off! He said I made him self-conscious. Gah—I hurt the thing I love! I tried to explain it to him that those who CAN grow facial hair successfully have a responsibility to those of us who can't to let it grow plentifully. He said he'll try to keep growing it out, and then he said that if they keep winning I can take the credit for it. Ok, I will. |
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Rock the vote
| Sep 29 2009, 2:34 PM | Topic: Campus chatter |
| So we're four weeks into the season and the AP poll stats are glaring. Ten teams ranked in the top 10 have already lost. Five teams ranked in the Top 5 have already lost. And of course, because we live in a media world where too frequently having an opinion is more important than having a thoughtful opinion, pundits are clamoring that something is deadly wrong with college football. No. The latest claim is nothing we haven't heard before: There should not be preseason polls. Well that's a silly point of view. Having polls early in the season is a great thing for the sport of college football. Because it leads to upsets. And more importantly, dramatic upsets. If South Carolina beat Ole Miss last Thursday, you might have cared. But when South Carolina beat fourth-ranked Ole Miss, you definitely cared! If you're like me and a big fan of college football, then you probably were either sending or receiving texts when that game went into the fourth quarter to say "A Top 5 team is goin' down!" If there wasn't a ranking in September, would you really have cared on a Thursday night that an SEC team was beating another SEC team? Most likely not. But the reason people are worried about early season polls is that it can be hard for teams to move around once someone has already determined where you rank. And historically it has at times been proven that a team that starts the season poorly ranked or not ranked at all will have a harder time rising to the top spot than a team ranked in the preseason Top 10. Although often the specific argument usually goes to Auburn in 2004. Some say Auburn was forever stuck behind USC and Texas because they were ranked behind them in the preseason poll and could never jump them. I disagree. Auburn never moved ahead of those two because of Auburn's horribly weak non-conference schedule. They played Louisiana Monroe (5-6 in the Sun Belt Conference in 2004), the Citadel (3-7 in the Southern Conference) and Louisiana Tech (6-6 in the WAC). They had no one to blame but themselves. But let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater by eliminating early polls. There's an easy way to fix it. It all relies on the voters. They have to be flexible. Too many voters want to make their ballot look like what they predicted would happen before the season began. That's a very human thing to do. That's also unprofessional. One may not have thought Houston was any good to begin the season. But one has to think they are now! But that leads us to the other issue, which is an age-old argument: Are you voting based on what you've seen or what you think? This argument drives me nuts. And I've had some great debates about this with very informed and experienced analysts who disagree with me. My stance is this: Do you want me to tell you which team is better based on the results of what has happened? Or do you want me to tell you which team is better based on what I think might happen if there were a hypothetical meeting on a neutral field? How could you possibly go with option B?! Surprising situations happen all the time in sports. That's what makes sports so great. Whether it's as big as Texas over USC in the Rose Bowl, or as recent as Iowa over Penn State in Beaver Stadium, how many people thought those upsets would happen? Very few. But they did. That's what makes hypothetical assumptions so silly. So why would we base our decisions off of that many unprovens! Here's how I would do my ballot. I would examine everything week by week. For example, in the fourth week I determine which team has proven to be the best from those past four weeks. Now, that may be very different after the fifth week. It will certainly be different after the thirteenth week. And that's the point. No team owns the top spot. Team A may have the best resume and best claim to be No. 1 after a month but if they don't beat any good teams from then on, or if Team B beats more good teams than Team A by the end of the year, then Team B has proven to be more deserving of the top spot. Let me go through a hypothetical. Is Florida really the best team in the land right now? The polls say so but what have they done? They are 4-0. Three of their wins were very impressive. But the teams they've beaten? Charleston Southern (1-3), Troy (2-2), Tennessee (2-2) and Kentucky (2-1), and three of those wins came at Florida. That's a combined opponent record of 7-8. I have a hard time saying through four weeks they have proven to be the best team in the country. Now, they still have games at LSU, against Georgia and Florida State, amongst others. So as those wins trickle in and assuming they stay undefeated, they may turn out to be the best team in the land. However, the only reason you'd have them ranked in the top spot right now is because you'd be basing it off that hypothetical situation we just addressed. Which is bad. But for right now - RIGHT NOW - after four weeks, how can you say Florida is better than, say, Cincinnati? The Bearcats are 4-0. They have two pretty tough road wins (vs. 3-1 Rutgers and 2-2 Oregon State) and two wins over teams not quite as good in Fresno State (1-3) and Southeast Missouri State (1-3). As of right now, is the Bearscats' resume worse than Florida's? I don't think so. What is so wrong about voting them ahead of Florida right now? And down the line once Florida gets the wins we expect to get that will look better then Cincy's wins, then you move them ahead. What about Alabama? That team is 4-0 right now including wins against Virginia Tech and Arkansas. Shoot, the best argument might reside with Iowa. No one in the country- let alone Florida- has as impressive a win as the Hawkeyes' big one on the road against Big Ten favorite Penn State. Iowa is also 4-0 right now with wins over teams with a combined mark of 12-4! Their wins came against the Big Ten (PSU 3-1), the Pac Ten (Arizona 3-1), the Big 12 (Iowa State 3-1) and the Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa 3-1). Do I think that Iowa will end the season undefeated? No. Do I think they will end the season as the No. 1 team in the land right now? No. Most importantly, does what I think (or what anyone thinks) might happen hypothetically months from now matter? No. What matters is "the right now." And right now, after four weeks, Iowa has been more impressive than Florida. To recap: Early polls are good because they generate interest in college football in the month of September. Voters ought to cast their ballot based on what teams have accomplished, not based on some mythical hypothetical. And voters should be flexible on their ballots from week to week. There. Now all of college football's regular season's troubles are solved. Onto the Middle East. FINAL NUGGET: "Tailgate" is in West Lafayette this week. Gene Keady will be the Alumni Interview. Got this tweet from someone following Friday's show, "Who is this Jordan guy? That whole ET speech was nothing but banter. Let's talk football guys." I won't say his name 'cause I don't want to embarrass him, but ... dude, c'mon. That was the fifth segment of our fourth show of the season in our third year of doing Tailgate. And you're honestly not yet realizing this isn't an X's and O's breakdown show?! I think we can allow the network 90 minutes a week to do something different. There are 9,990 minutes remaining in the network's weekly schedule devoted to the Cover Two and the Badgers' second-string right guard. Although, now that I think about it. There's always a good chance that was Jordan's dad who wrote in. Which would then make sense. |
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