Outlook for Rutgers Players in the NFL Draft

The 2013 NFL Draft kicks off tonight in New York City with the first round, and continues throughout the weekend with rounds two and three taking place Friday and rounds four through seven taking place on Saturday. Although it is unlikely that a Scarlet Knight will be selected in the first round, we should hear plenty of Rutgers players have their names called on Friday and Saturday. Based on the projections from "internet scouts" and my own personal opinion, it appears that seven Rutgers players will be selected in the coming days. That figure would beat the school record of five, which was set in 2009 when Kenny Britt, Mike Teel, Jason McCourty, Courtney Greene, and Tiquan Underwood were all selected.

Here's a brief overview of the Rutgers players that are expected to get drafted this weekend.

Khaseem Greene OLB Round 2
Greene is one of the top true linebackers in the draft, and he figures to come off the board in the second round. His speed, side line to side line play making ability and coverage skills have NFL teams interested in him as a weakside linebacker in a 4-3 defense. His experience as a safety gives him some versatility too, which teams are looking for more and more lately as offenses become more diverse.

Logan Ryan CB Round 2-3
Ryan is one of the most physical corners in the draft and he will probably end up with a team that runs a lot of zone coverages on day two. Scouts question his catch up speed, but his size, fluidity, ball skills and aggressive nature have them intrigued. It's a very deep draft at corner, and he didn't run a great 40 yard dash, so he may be selected later than he should be.

Steve Beauharnais MLB Round 3-4
Beauharnais was a bit overshadowed by Greene during his time at Rutgers, but he is a great player in his own right. He was a late riser in the draft process and is expected to go in the third round. As a smart, instinctive player who can play in tight spaces, defend the run and cover, he should be able to play in the middle in either a 4-3 or 3-4 defense.
 

Jawan Jamison RB Round 4-5
Jamison received a 3rd round grade from the draft advisory board, but it appears he will go later than that. As a small back, teams are concerned about his durability and lack of stand out speed. He is more quick than fast though, with tremendous cutting ability, so he still projects as a change of pace back who can also help as a pass catcher.

 Duron Harmon S Round 4-5
Harmon impressed enough at the NFLPA All Star Game in January to throw himself into the mix for being selected in the middle rounds. He is adept in deep coverage, but he is at his best defending the run and delivering big hits. He is also a special teams standout and considered one of the draft's top sleepers.

 DC Jefferson Round 5-6
Jefferson may not have been the most productive player on the banks, but his skill set has drawn the eyes of NFL talent evaluators. Jefferson has outstanding size and athleticism, and teams have been willing to take risks on raw tightends in the past. He should hear his name called in the middle to late rounds.

 Mark Harrison Round 5-7
Harrison flashed all the tools as a receiver at Rutgers, but he never really put it together for a full season. He has nice size and is a physical receiver who can stretch the field vertically, but he often had mental lapses and dropped quite a few passes. His talent will earn him a chance though, probably coming off the boards in the later rounds.

Scott Vallone DT Undrafted Free Agent
Vallone had a great college career, but he will likely go undrafted, as he is undersized for a defensive tackle. He should catch on with a team as a free agent, and he has the motor and quickness to possibly make a roster as a 5 technique defensive end in a 3-4 scheme.

RJ Dill OT/G Undrafted Free Agent
Dill is a very big, powerful blocker, but his lateral mobility is considered a problem. He should sign with someone as an undrafted free agent and a move to guard may be in the works.

Brandon Jones CB Undrafted Free Agent
Jones had a big senior season, showing off his ball skills and speed in coverage, but he will also likely go undrafted.

Julian Pinnix Odrick Tears ACL, Likely Out for 2013 Season

You never want to see a player suffer a serious injury, and you especially don't want to see it happen during spring practice. Rutgers has unfortunately suffered one such injury this spring though, as defensive end Julian Pinnix-Odrick tore his ACL earlier this month. He will probably miss the entirety of the 2013 season.

Pinnix-Odrick --a redshirt freshman from Montclair-- figured to get significant playing time at the "R" (weak side) defensive end position, listed as the back up to Marcus Thompson there, so this is pretty significant loss. Defensive line depth is one of Rutgers' biggest strengths, however, so it's possible they can absorb this injury, but you don't want your depth tested before the season even starts.

As a member of the heralded 2012 recruiting class, JPO took a redshirt last year, but he did impress as a pass rusher during practices. He could conceivably come back later in the year, but it is very unlikely and it's probably best for all parties involved for him to just take a medical redshirt this year. Hopefully he can get healthy and become a big contributer in 2014.

Spineless Rutgers Leadership Caves to Media Sensationalism and Political Grandstanding, Tim Pernetti Scapegoated

 Warning- I'm going to curse. A lot. I'm very mad about this.

As I often so eloquently put it, I don't give a shit about college basketball. The quality of play is just so poor and it's boring and Rutgers is bad (well, worse than others) at it. There's no reason for me to care about it at all. Throw in the fact that basketball destroyed Big East football, and I've grown a down right hatred of the sport. I have no desire to write about basketball what so ever-- the tagline of this blog says "A Rutgers FOOTBALL Blog"-- but I feel compelled to write about this because Rutgers' shithole of a basketball program has led to the downfall of the entire athletic department, and possibly the university itself.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you know what this is about. Video of psychotic former basketball coach Mike Rice abusing his players both physically and verbally was "leaked" to ESPN --by former Rutgers director of player development Eric Murdock (who is using the tapes to extort the university)-- and aired on the network. In the tapes, Rice is shown shoving, kicking, punching and throwing basketballs at players, while also directing homophobic slurs in their direction. It was appalling and just downright disgusting. Rice's actions should not be tolerated from a supposed leader of young men, and he absolutely deserved to be fired for what he did. Quite frankly that should have been done in November/December or in March. My problem with the fallout from this story is the ensuing firestorm from the national media and Trenton that led to Athletic Director Tim Pernetti's (forced) resignation.

The media (and not just ESPN) has a way of sensationalizing pretty much anything that may even ever so slightly over step the bounds of morality in the sports world. Whether it's steroids in baseball or NCAA infractions or Mike Shanahan allowing Robert Griffin III to play on an injured knee or whatever else it may be, minor stories tend to get blown way out of proportion. Rutgers and Tim Pernetti are just the latest victims of the unfortunate reality of today's media world, where page views usually triumph over common sense. Calling for Rice's firing was hardly controversial, so most of the media ire was directed at Pernetti, in order to keep the story alive and get page views. The damnedest thing about this media frenzy is there was very little new information released when the video was made available. Tim Pernetti spoke of the video's contents back in December when Rice was suspended and fined, and they didn't make a peep about it.

This media outcry gave chicken shit politicians like Steve Sweeney --the head of New Jersey's state senate in Trenton-- a platform to draw attention to himself in hopes of advancing his political career. Demanding Pernetti to step down got his name on ESPN.com, so he must be pretty proud of that, since he's obviously an attention whore who doesn't give a fuck about what the people he represents want. Governor Chris Christie also took this opportunity to grandstand --it is an election year after all-- also calling for Pernetti to lose his job. This is in spite of the fact that he told Pernetti he was "there for him." Sadly, this is just the way politics are in New Jersey. A bunch of cowards who only care about political power and don't give a fuck about the well being of the people or institutions in the state make the laws. That's why New Jersey can't be the great state it should be and is the laughing stock of the entire country.

The pressure from the media and Trenton forced Rutgers President Robert Barchi's and the Board of Governor's hands, and they caved in like a spineless worms and forced Pernetti to resign. Less than four months after they praised the way he handled the situation. They basically could have told Christie and Sweeney to go fuck themselves and keep Pernetti, but they didn't want to risk possibly losing some state funding. That line of thinking made little sense, considering Christie may be voted out of office on 8 month and it's not like Rutgers gets that much money from the state anyway. It's truly an embarrassing amount compared to the state funding other flagship state institutions receive. Barchi has more important stuff on his plate --notably the merger with the medical school-- but he really displayed poor leadership throughout this entire ordeal. He did not watch the tapes in November, and he let the supposed "legal process" play out before signing off on the initial punishment for Rice. After Pernetti's resignation, he made an ass of himself in the press conference, and came off looking like a smug academic type who doesn't care about athletics. He knew someone would have to fall on the sword, so he forced Pernetti to be that person, since he is a poor leader.

Tim may not have handled this situation perfectly, but he didn't do anything that should have cost him his job. He is an honorable man, so I will take his word for it when he says in his letter of resignation that his initial reaction was to fire Rice in November (If that is the case, it makes his forced resignation even more of a travesty). Rutgers' attorney's would not let that happen, however, as they would have admitted guilt in the Murdock wrongful termination case. So instead, Pernetti followed "the process" that was laid out for him by the school, and suspend Rice for three games, fined him, and tried to rehabilitate him. Maybe Pernetti should have fought harder to terminate Rice, but he followed what his bosses and lawyers told him to do and seemingly settled the manner. And as I said before, they praised how he handled the situation. Plain and simple, he was scapegoated, just like Bob Mulcahy before him.

Even if it was Pernetti's decision to give Rice a slap on the wrist, it would have been a more drastic punishment than what other abusive college basketball coaches received. Cal's coach fucking hit a player ON THE GOD DAMN COURT DURING A GAME, and only received a "public reprimand" from the Pac 12. Why didn't anyone call for Cal's AD's head then? Morehead State's coach got in a player's face and yelled him to the point of tears on live TV and he only received a brief suspension. Why no faux outrage at that? I also hope the irony of ESPN causing shit about this when they employ Bob Knight isn't lost on anybody. But LOL, he's in Applebees commercials now making fun of how he abused players!

A lot of the media types also seem to think Pernetti left the players in harm's way. That of course, was not the case though. In addition to the anger management training Rice went through, Pernetti assigned someone from the athletic department to monitor Rice's practices and report back to him. Additionally, the players didn't seem uncomfortable with his behavior. It's quite telling that they waited until AFTER he was fired to ask for their release to transfer.

Pernetti did an immeasurable amount of good for Rutgers and there's no chance they find a better person for the job than him. Pernetti is not only an alumnus of the school, but a former athlete whose knowledge of the TV business is second to none as well. He was one of the best athletic directors in the entire country, and was even nominated for the AD of the Year Award. His greatest accomplishment was obviously getting Rutgers to the Big 10, and that should be the most important thing we remember in his legacy. It should also not be forgotten how he greatly improved the financial mess Rutgers' athletic department was in before he took the job, had his athletes perform in the class room, and allowed no NCAA violations on his watch. He legitimately cared about all his athletes, not just the football players. A number of non revenue sports have shown their support for him since he stepped down from his position. He was beloved by the entire Rutgers community, and I'm sad to see him go.

Losing Pernetti's leadership will suck, especially with the upcoming move to the Big 10, but the football program should be fine. The rest of the athletic problem is my concern. The athletic department will likely lose two major donors in wake of this, and the plans to renovate the RAC will probably be put on the back burner for the foreseeable future. There is a reinstate Pernetti movement  going on, but it probably won't work. It's worth a shot though, and I encourage you to sign it. You don't have to put your name on it, I signed it a second time under the name Jacques Strape. If more people sign it, it will get more attention from state representatives.

Rutgers 2013 Spring Practice Preview

Rutgers will open up spring practice tomorrow, as they get back on the field for their first of fifteen spring sessions that will take place over the next month, culminating in the spring game on April 27. Spring ball is much more relaxed than training camp in the summer, and no definitive roster decisions will be made, but it is a good opportunity for players, especially underclassman, to get more reps and some hands on coaching during the offseason. The two biggest things for Rutgers this spring will be for new offensive coordinator Ron Prince to learn his personnel from an on-field perspective, and for the players competing for starting spots in the defensive back field, at linebacker and on the offensive line to distinguish themselves in some sort of pecking order heading into summer work outs and eventually training camp.

At his pre-spring press conference today, head coach Kyle Flood announced some position changes, injury news, and the depth chart for spring ball.

Injuries

On the injury front, wide receiver Brandon Coleman, back up center Matt McBride and defensive end Dave Milewski will all miss the entirety of spring practice. Coleman, who had ten touchdown receptions last year, underwent a "minor procedure" on his knee this offseason and will look to get fully healthy for training camp in the summer. He is an experienced player and he knows the play book, so this isn't really that big of a deal (Mohammed Sanu missed spring practice before his monster 2011 season). McBride will sit out as he recovers from offseason shoulder surgery, and Milewski is still recovering from the torn ACL he suffered during training camp last season.

Incoming freshman corner Nadir Barnwell will be limited to non-contact drills this spring, as he comes back from shoulder surgery. Although he will be a limited participant, he will still be able to get mental reps in practice, which is just as important as getting physical reps, as he looks to fight for playing time in the fall. Kenneth Kirksey will also be limited to non-contact drills for the first three weeks of spring practice because of a foot injury, but they will try to work him back into contact drills by the end of spring.

Position Changes

Four Scarlet Knights will be permanently switching positions this spring. None of these moves are too surprising, and they were foreshadowed last year.

The most notable position change is Jeremy Deering moving from wide receiver to free safety. He practiced a little bit at safety last season, but he never saw any time on defense in a game. Deering has been one of Rutgers' top athletes since his freshman year in 2010, but he has struggled to consistently crack the line up on offense. A move to defensive back is quite common for talented skill position players who don't get the ball, and Deering has a much better opportunity to be an impact player at safety than he did at receiver. He is listed as a starter and will compete for the job. I think this move should work out very well.

Senior Michael Larrow will move from defensive end to tight end. Rutgers is very thin at tight end and very deep at defensive end, so this move makes a lot of sense. The rising senior showed flashes on the defensive side of the ball, but he suffered some injuries early in his career and was suspended for four games last year and basically in the dog house after he was reinstated. He practiced a bit a tight end in bowl preparation last season, and he will hopefully at least be able to contribute as a blocker.

Redshirt sophomore Marquise Wright is now an offensive guard after playing defensive tackle his first two seasons on the banks. He was buried on the depth chart last year at nose tackle, even with Al Page and Ike Holmes both missing significant time, and he did get a brief look at guard during bowl practices last year, so this move is totally unsurprising. Wright is a big, strong player, but he is probably not quick enough to play on the defensive side in Rutgers' scheme. He is currently listed as a back up at left guard, but he could conceivably fight for playing time elsewhere on the line once he learns the playbook.

Red shirt freshman Ian Thomas is moving to corner back after spending last season as a wide out. Wide receiver is another position Rutgers is very deep at, so he will have a much better opportunity to earn playing time as a corner. Thomas is a tall, rangy athlete who can run, so he is a great fit for Rutgers' scheme that has its' corners press and play man coverage often.

Pre-Spring Depth Chart

On the offensive side of the ball, there aren't any surprises. The Knights return seven starters from last year to this unit, and Savon Huggins and Paul Carezola unsurprisingly took over as the starters at running back and tight end, respectively. With Coleman hurt and the other wide receiver spot open, Miles Shuler, Quron Pratt and Leonte Carroo are listed as the starting receivers. The three of them will compete for the one starting role, but they will all still be involved in the offense regardless.

The only real intrigue on offensive depth chart is on the right side of the offensive line. As it stands now, Andre Civil, who started at right guard last year, is listed as the starting right tackle, and Taj Alexander, who received a lot of playing time last year backing up Civil, is listed as the starter at right guard. Civil is pretty locked into the line up, and he can play either guard or tackle, but Alexander will be in a fight for his job with at least two other players. Alexander is considered the favorite to start right now, but Chris Muller (who would play guard) and Keith Lumpkin (who would play tackle) offer more upside and are hot on his trail. Muller was one of the top offensive line recruits in the nation in 2012, and he impressed last year during practice. Lumpkin stands at a massive 6'8'', and he is extremely light on his feet and moves very well. Alexander was solid last season, but he will have to take a step forward to win this competition.

Rutgers suffered a lot of attrition on the defensive side of the ball this offseason, and they have a lot of big holes to fill, especially in the secondary, but there's still a lot of talent here.

On the defensive line, the two tackle spots are both listed as OR's on the depth chart, but it would be absolutely shocking if Ike Holmes does not win the starting nose tackle spot and Darius Hamilton does not win the starting three technique spot. There is plenty of depth at these two spots, but Holmes played very well in his four starts last season before suffering a season ending broken wrist, and Hamilton more than held his own playing as a true freshman last year.

At linebacker, Kevin Snyder will fill one of the two vacated spots, but the question is which one. He is capable of playing any of the three linebacker positions, and he will start either in the middle or on the weak side, depending on which redshirt freshman backer is more ready to step into the lineup. Quanzell Lambert, a big guy in the middle, and Steve Longa, a very athletic type on the weakside, are the two battling it out for the spot in the starting line up. Both players should see plenty of playing time during the season, but Lambert is listed as the starter and probably has the inside track to start.

In the secondary, three starting spots and basically all of the reserve roles are open. Lorenzo Waters is the only definitive starter here, honing his craft at strong safety, and everything else is up in the air. At free safety, the a fore mentioned Deering is listed as the starter, and he will be competing with Jonathan Aiken, redshirt  freshman Davon Jacobs, and South Carolina transfer Sheldon Royster for that spot. At corner, Tejay Johnson is the heavy favorite to win one of those two open spots, but Gareef Glashan (who is currently listed as the other starter), Jevon Tyree, Nadir Barnwell, Ian Thomas, and Delon Stephenson will all fight for the position opposite him.

Notes-
The only number change seems to be Gary Nova, who is switching from 15 to 10, which was his number in high school. He obviously couldn't have that number the last two years since DC Jefferson did.

Offensive lineman David Osei is no longer with the team, despite having a year of eligibility left.

The spring game will benefit the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund. Each player will wear the name of a town affected by the storm on his name plate during the game, and each jersey will be signed by Coach Flood and given to that town.

Big East Schedule (Finally) Released

@cwalter76 We're working hard to get it done, will be ready soon. Obviously lots of factors holding it up this year (realignment, TV, etc.)
— BIG EAST Football (@BigEastFB) February 28, 2013

The Big East (finally) released their 2013 schedule today, after the scheduling process was delayed because of conference realignment and TV, according to my "inside" "source" at the conference. We already knew what Rutgers' schedule looked like for the first four games of the season, in addition to their home and away conference opponents, and now we finally know how the rest of the schedule is laid out.

August 29 @Fresno State (Thursday)
September 7 Norfolk State
September 14 Eastern Michigan
September 21 Arkansas
October 5 @SMU
October 10 @Louisville (Thursday)
October 26 Houston
November 2 Temple
November 16 Cincinnati
November 21 @Central Florida (Thursday)
November 30 @Connecticut
December 7 South Florida

Some thoughts:

I figured they would play Louisville on a short week, but I was really hoping it would not be this early in the season. Rutgers is going to have a young secondary this year, and it would have been ideal for this game to be in November or December so they had as much experience as possible before facing Teddy Bridgewater. At least they will have been tested by Fresno State and SMU, who both have very good passing attack, before this one. SMU is also probably the perfect team to play before a short week, since they are not a very physical team.

For some reason, Rutgers will have 16!!! days between the Louisville game and their next game against Houston. Having some time off at the half way point of the season is nice, but this is excessive. I don't recall a team ever having that big of a break in the schedule, and you have to worry about rust being a factor against Houston.

Having an off week before playing Cincinnati is probably the best thing about this schedule.

December 7th will be the latest Rutgers has ever played a regular season game. It will probably be cold, and that should be a big advantage for the Knights against South Florida.

The Louisville and Central Florida games will be nationally televised on ESPN, and the South Florida game be on either ESPN, ESPN2, or ABC. The Louisville game is obviously going to be the marquee game Rutgers plays this year, and it will be on at the same time as the baseball playoffs, presumably. That's really unfortunate, especially if the Yankees are playing at the same time. The opener against Fresno State should be on national TV too (the Mountain West has a really weird TV deal so it could be on NBC Sports Net, CBS Sports Net, Fox or one of the ESPN's), as should the Arkansas game.

Ron Prince Hired as Offensive Coordinator and Other Coaching News

Rutgers officially announced Ron Prince as their new offensive coordinator yesterday, ending the month long search to fill the position after Dave Brock left to become the head coach at Delaware. Prince, who spent the last three seasons in the NFL with the Colts and Jaguars, had been the presumed favorite for the job, and he accepted the position after interviewing and being passed over for the running back coach opening with the New Orleans Saints.

While not a super flashy hire, Prince is a pretty solid addition to the Scarlet Knights coaching staff. He has very good track record coaching offenses from his time as the coordinator at Virginia (2003-05) and the head coach at Kansas State (2006-08), and an extensive background running a pro style offense. As a former offensive line coach, he prefers to run the ball down your throat, and although his offenses have been successful for the most part, he has drawn some criticism for being too conservative. Being conservative is not necessarily a bad thing though, and Rutgers is capable of being very good offensively while relying heavily on their rushing attack. They have done a great job recruiting premium offensive lineman the last few years, and Savon Huggins is a work horse type back who gets stronger as the game goes along. Including Prince, Rutgers will have five current or former offensive line coaches on their staff, so expect for the offense to be very tough and physical.

Kyle Flood sees Prince as someone who can utilize all of their personnel packages and get the ball into the hands of their play-makers. That very well could just be coach speak, but Prince's NFL experience likely taught him a lot about deploying personnel packages and that should help Rutgers quite a bit in this department. The coaching staff struggled getting some people, i.e. Miles Shuler, the ball last season, so it's nice to see them make a concerted effort to fix it.

Personally, I was hoping that Rutgers would hire someone who is very good at developing quarterbacks, since Gary Nova (who clearly has talent but needs to be coached better in order to take the next step) will be a big part of what Rutgers does the next two seasons, but I've gradually talked myself into liking Prince since the rumors started. He has had some pretty good quarterbacks under his watch in Matt Schuab, Marques Haggans and Josh Freeman, but he is not very hand on with them, and he had really good quarterback coaches working with him in Mike Groh (who is now an assistant at Alabama) and James Franklin (who is now the head coach at Vanderbilt).

Prince's reputation has been mired a bit lately due to his poor tenure as a head coach, but his track record with offenses make him a pretty solid hire. He has plenty of experience calling plays and he will keep the pro style offense intact while putting his own spin on things. He also happens to be a pretty good recruiter, and he is someone who will likely stick at Rutgers for more than one season. Prince almost certainly will be an upgrade over Brock. He inherits a talented group that struggled at the end of last season, and it's up to him to get them to succeed up to their capabilities.

Elsewhere on the coaching staff, Dave Cohen was promoted to defensive coordinator, as expected. Cohen was a very successful coordinator at Delaware, but he did struggle a bit at Western Michigan for a multitude of reasons (some not his fault). He did a solid enough job coaching linebackers last year to earn the promotion, and he should be competent enough to do a good job. He knows what he's doing in this role and he should be able to keep the same scheme Schiano and Robb Smith ran in place. He will certainly have plenty of talent to work with.

And in a very surprising turn of events, tight end coach Darnell Dinkins has left the program to "pursue other opportunities." He seemed to be developing into a very good recruiter in Florida, and the timing of this is very odd. I suppose he may have a job lined up in the NFL or something, but there's a possibility he could have been let go for some reason. This is very strange, just totally out of left field.

Replacing him on the coaching staff is Anthony Campanile, who will coach wide receivers in addition to tight ends. I'm not sure why Prince wasn't given tight end responsibilities (a lot of offensive line coaches coach tight ends), but an assistant coaching two position groups isn't unheard of, especially when the two positions are very similar like tight ends and receivers are. Campanile was a graduate assistant at Rutgers last year working on the defensive side of the ball, but he does have experience coaching offense from his time as the offensive coordinator at Don Bosco. His promotion should be a huge boon to Rutgers recruiting wise, since he has the makings of a top recruiter with his very strong ties to the power house high school programs in North Jersey (he coached at Bosco, his brother is the head coach at Bergen Catholic and his dad was the head coach at Paramus Catholic).

In addition to all these moves, running back coach Norries Wilson was given the title of assistant head coach. That essentially just means he's second in command.

Kyle Flood didn't expect to have any changes to his coaching staff at the beginning of the offseason, but as often happens in the coaching profession, things changed in a hurry. In finalizing the staff, Rutgers brought in a new offensive coordinator who is probably an upgrade (Prince), and two very good recruiters (Campanile and Darrell Wilson), while also promoting a capable coach to defensive coordinator (Cohen) after Robb Smith left for the NFL. I think Flood did a really good job with all of these hires, and Rutgers will be better for it on the field and on the recruiting trail.

Quick Notes: Big 10 Scheduling and a Transfer

-The Big 10's athletic directors (including Tim Pernetti) held a meeting in Chicago last weekend, and and they agreed on a couple future scheduling revisions, that will not become official until this summer. The AD's, along with league commissioner Jim Delany, have decided to expand each team's conference slate from 8 games to either 9 or 10, and they also agreed to no longer schedule FCS (D1-AA) teams. These rule will probably not be implemented until 2016.

A nine game conference schedule is much preferable to eight, but a ten game conference schedule just seems excessive. The Pac 12 and Big 12 both play nine game conference schedules, and ten games would be setting new ground. Most athletic departments need seven home games to balance their budget, so being locked in to five conference road games a year would likely prevent teams from scheduling home and home series with major programs from other leagues. A nine game schedule gives you the flexibility to schedule out of conference road games on they years you have five conference home games, and it still allows you to play every team in the other division every two or three years or so (assuming they get rid of the cross over rivalry rule).

Not scheduling FCS teams anymore is a good idea in theory, but it may not be for the best in practice. This move probably is intended to improve strength of schedule, but if teams are going to schedule cream puffs from a non power conference instead, it's not going to have that big of an impact. Additionally, playing FCS teams usually allows you to get a look at your back ups and youngsters when the game gets out of hand, and not that it really matters from the Big 10's perspective, but the pay outs from these games are extremely important for the FCS programs' financial health.

 -Punter Nick Marsh has transferred from Utah to Rutgers. Marsh will have one year of eligibility remaining, and he can play right away, since he is receiving his undergraduate degree from Utah this spring. Rutgers was targeting a punter in this recruiting cycle, and they will end up with Marsh after Australian Dean Crozier was not cleared to play by the NCAA. The Knights now has three kicking specialists on scholarship, and that's really not ideal, even though Marsh will only be there for one year. Marsh was primarily the kick off specialist and rugby punter at Utah, and he will presumably have full time punting duties at Rutgers.