Wednesday Quick Hits: Penn State Game to Start at 3:30

By Sean · Wednesday, October 14, 2009 · 2:02 AM |  Share | Leave a Comment 

• As expected, the Penn State game will start at 3:30 p.m. and be broadcast regionally on ABC and ESPN.
• The Big Ten’s bowl new bowl lineup was announced yesterday, confirming most of the previously-reported details and clearing up a few others.  There were four main things in question before the announcement that have now been cleared up: 1) The contract for the new bowl lineup will run from 2010-2013.  2) The Big Ten will play an SEC team in the Gator Bowl.  3) The Dallas Football Classic, as it is being called, will take place on New Year’s Day, giving the Big Ten five games on New Year’s Day.  There is another one on New Year’s Eve, meaning nearly all of the conference’s games will take place within a span of 24 hours.  4) The Big Ten’s opponent in the Dallas Football Classic will be from the Conference USA, which I am glad to hear.  (Adam Rittenberg’s sources suggest that the bowl “will also consider Big 12 opponents,” so take that for what it’s worth.)
• One strange thing from the announcement was that there was no mention of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.  Apparently a deal with that bowl isn’t official just yet, but the Big Ten will likely still have a tie-in with the Detroit game.
• Zoltan Mesko has been named the Big Ten’s Special Teams Player of the Week for his amazing punting performance against Iowa.  He had the second-highest single-game average in Michigan history — 53.8 yards on 5 punts.
• Brandon Minor’s rushing touchdown against Iowa snapped the Hawkeye’s streak of 33 consecutive quarters without allowing an opponent into the end zone on the ground.
• The media no longer have access to football practices mainly due to the specifics of some new plays being discussed in the Michigan Daily.
• The sale of counterfeit tickets to Michigan football games is apparently starting to become a problem.
• Brian of mgoblog made the trip to Iowa for Saturday’s game, and he has a report on the experience.
• I am now tied for third in Big Ten Bloggers Pick’em.
• MVictors took an interesting look at what should happen to the Little Brown Jug when it runs out of space for scores.
• Just like they were for the Indiana game, bags will be prohibited from Michigan Stadium for the rest of the season.
• The basketball team’s media day took place yesterday, and UM Hoops has a recap of what was discussed.
• Don’t forget, Michigan Madness will take place on Friday night at Crisler Arena.
• Michigan rebounded from its season-opening loss in hockey last Friday by beating Alaska-Anchorage by a score of 6-1 a day later.
• Apparently there were a series of conference calls this past summer between Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to talk about the possibility of creating a Big Ten hockey conference.  The talks didn’t get very far after Minnesota strongly opposed the idea, which isn’t surprising.  As cool as it would be to have some variation of the Big Ten in college hockey, they would need more than just five teams.  Beyond that, they would need to think about the smaller programs in the CCHA, as losing U-M, MSU, and OSU would be a big blow to many of the teams in this state and in the CCHA in general.  A couple of them are struggling to stay afloat as it is, and I imagine losing three big schools would be a crushing blow to the rest of the CCHA.
• Michigan State’s Glenn Winston is out for the season because of a knee injury he suffered against Illinois this past Saturday.
• I knew former West Virginia fullback Owen Schmitt was crazy, but I didn’t know he was quite this crazy.
• Chad Henne and Braylon Edwards, as well as a few other Michigan men, sure played well on Monday Night Football.