Big Ten at Ten 8.23.12: So We're Talking Football, Huh?

Yesterday evening, Mike Jones introduced a very important discussion to the OTE population: Are shirts and ties okay to wear at a football game? This obviously spurred on quite a bit of discussion, generally ending in some sort of mangled discussion about whether it's healthy for Ted's to be passionate enough about the Vikings to wear this monstrosity:

[Note: This shirt would be off limits in the state of Oklahoma because it might be gang related due to its huge lack of the great state of Oklahoma College Football team logos all over it. Don't believe me? Well, Graham's mom sent him a link who sent me the link who posted it here for proof. So there. Then later, Dave Brandon (Michigan AD) invited the kid to a game because why wouldn't you? Okay, back to our regularly scheduled rant...]

While this really has nothing to do with the links or talking about football specifically, I just want to point out that we are officially down to a week before the 2012 FBS NCAA CFB Season begins. ONE FREAKING WEEK!!! After watching basketball, hockey, the Olympics, soccer, bowling, tennis, golf, or whatever, we are finally on the cusp of watching our real favorite pastime. I, for one, could not be more excited about the prospect. Yesterday, I started planning for next week's first official Football Watching Extravaganza of the season by taking inventory of various foodstuffs I will be serving.

Of course, this got me thinking. I know Chad has done a great job in the past of getting a potluck out before the season and last year we even got some food ideas out there from the writers, but my guess is that our commenting group knows where it is at food-wise. This year, my secret go-to will be a new homemade chili I've been trying to perfect. The key is smoky paprika, Chipotles in Adobo Sauce, black beans, and homemade chili seasonings including a little Cajun flare for good measure. My wife adds in some homemade jalapeno cornbread and you grab a frosty beverage of choice and we are good to go.

So whether you are tailgating, partying, or watching the game by yourself because your friends are embarrassed by your jersey/hawaiian shirt/shirt & tie/bucknuts costume, etc. let me know in the comments what you are eating this year. I'm in need of some new recipes and as we all know, food is one of the most important parts of the experience.

ICYMI: Closing Arguments 2012 So Far

Indiana: "How do you boost a defense? In this case, you just move on to talking about the offense."

Minnesota: "And one more thing: Jerry Kill doesn't care about your stupid positional rankings and polls. He thinks you can blow them out of your ass. (I'm looking at YOU world wide leader in sports B1G blog.)"

Illinois: "If there was ever a team in need of an identity, it is the Fighting Illini. Program history is littered with rapturous highs and wretched lows."

Ohio State: "Meyer has somehow managed to turn a one year post season ban and scholarship reductions into a source of motivation, and if Ohio State plays as pissed off as Urban Meyer coaches, God help the B1G."

Northwestern: "In a cynical world, maybe all of us should be rooting (even just a little bit) for the guys in purple."

Purdue: "When the robots come to get us (and they will), will it really seem that weird that Purdue just won the Big Ten Championship?"

Iowa: "Unfortunately, the belief that "no hype = good Iowa team" translated into "actual hype" and we expected more despite questions at running back, tight end and on the defensive line. Well...that was a mistake."

Team Links:

• Robert from A Lion Eye goes Mailbageddon and it is all about Camp Rantoul. This thing is crazy informative and crazy long.
• Illinois has their kicker, Nick Immekus (note: this article is by Bob Amussen who voted Michigan 1 in the AP Poll. The local station had him on last week, and I gotta admit, he's a pretty funny guy and he justified his pick well. If this would've happened to a SEC team randomly getting too much love, like South Carolina, nobody freaks out like they did on him)
• The Chicago Trib goes all previewy on the Hoosiers... It still looks a little bleak in Bloomington.
• The Crimson Quarry looks at the Rivalry Game for 2012: Purdue
• The Courier Journal provides a look at the Hoosiers Defensive line.
• There is a chance that the Tribune is going all previewy on the entire Big Ten today, but since I search through these articles using Google News Reader, I'm not sure. Either way, here is their Iowa preview.
• Not really Iowa related technically, but I just figured I'd troll the Hawkeyes a bit with news that their best friend ever got the starting nod.
• The Sporting News says cliche things about the steadiness of Ferentz despite the low expectations of the Hakweyes this year. They also mention an empty trophy case.
• The last time Iowa played Northern Illinois at Soldier Field... Mike Hlas recounts that day and gives us this gem:

The same day that the Hawkeyes last met the Huskies, Michigan lost at home to Appalachian State, 34-32. "Yeah, we heard that after the game," Iowa defensive lineman Matt Kroul said. "I can't believe that. Can you believe it?"

• Well, it's official, the Tribune must have done a preview of everyone. We'll see if it comes up on each search. Here's Michigan.
• Two Michigan players out for the year: LB Kaleb Ringer (Knee Surgery) and OL Chris Bryant (Fractured Tibia). Good luck to both of them. Man it would suck to fracture your tibia.
• The Wolverines may have found themselves a KR in freshman Dennis Norfleet (this totally sounds like a NCAA 2012 Computer Generated Name).
• Michigan AD Dave Brandon: "The Band is coming to Dallas (not literally the band, 'The Band,' however that would be awesome) and you all better enjoy every last effing note." (probably not the exact quote, but I'm sure he wanted to say that)
• MnB breaks down the Quarterbacks and basically spends a lot of time talking about the awesomeness of Denard, which is what I would do in that situation.
• Michigan State would really like the BCS to stop screwing them ove be friends with them this year.
• Of course I'm going to give the Chicago Trib more links: Michigan State
• John Supine opines on the new powers in the B1G: Michigan State and Wisconsin.
• How would you spend $10 MM? The Spartans like Big Screens.
• The Gophers would really like to end the season in a bowl.
• It's funny, I could not find the Chicago Tribune preview for the Ilini (admittedly, I tried like twice and gave up), but have for everyone else. Whatevs. Here is Minnesota.
• TDG previews Minnesota Week 4 Opponent: The Syracuse Orange.
• I'll lead off Nebraska links with the Chicago Tribune article to get it out of the way.
• TE Kyler Reed looks to take more of a leadership role with the Cornhuskers.
• Sports Illustrated reminds you that Nebraska won 3 National Championships in the 90s.
• Corn Nation points out all of the ways Northwestern worked Nebraska over last year... Let's actually not link to the article. You're going to have to click through Corn Nation's page and find that because it's depressing and I don't want to talk about it. (Ok, I lied, it's linked... Still.)
• The Chicago Tribune does not preview Northwestern but actually writes an article about CHICAGO'S BIG TEN TEAM!!! Actually, it's about how Northwestern's defense better step up this year.
• SoP continues the countdown (9!!!) with a profile of Sophomore Safety Jimmy Hall.
• LTP tries to figure out what reasonable expectations should be for the upcoming season.
• Buckeye Empire is 'amped' for the season... you know, URBZ!!!!!!!!!
• LGHL gives some fictional best case scenarios for the Buckeyes.
• Ohio State (now) Defensive Lineman is a big freaking dude...
• I'm beginning to think that those Chicago Tribune pieces are wire pieces... Now I wish I didn't link each one. Oh well, here is the OSU treatment.
• Matt McGloin is gaining confidence as camp goes on. I'll let you all make snarky comments.
• Adam Rittenberg says the PSU football team aims to give a little hope back to everyone in State College this year.
• This probably deserves its own post, but a very interesting interview with Graham Spanier in the New Yorker.
• The BSD guys take a stab at where they think things shake out for the Nittany Lions this year.
• Purdue gets the wire preview treatment.
• Wait, Purdue has a leader for the QB job? I feel like I've been lied to all along. Caleb TerBush is number one. Who knew?
• I thought we sometimes stretch for content. Yahoo! should be better than this. Oh well, I'm still linking to their Top 25 Unusual College Nicknames because Purdue and Indiana make the list.
• Hammer and Rails takes a look at Joe Tiller's last recruiting class and what their impact can be at Purdue.
• So we're back to the Tribune hosting these previews... Wisconsin, come on down.
• B5Q gives a positional breakdown of the Back Seven.
• Wisconsin came up in this article in passing because they subscribe, but this is an interesting interview with the guy behind XandO labs, a scheme based research tool.
• BTN gets a pic of the new shiny alternate helmets in Wisconsin.