Some big changes are in store for Mount Union football.

The reigning Division III national champions will enter 2013 with a new head coach. Larry Kehres is stepping down after 27 years on the sideline, according to the school. His son, Vince, will take over as head coach. Kehres originally started as a swimming coach, then moved on to being an assistant football coach. By 1986, Kehres was the head coach.

With Kehres as head coach, Mount Union has won 11 National Championships. The 2012 season was Mount Union’s first national championship since 2008.

Kehres has spent more than 40 years of his life at Mount Union. He graduated from the college in 1971. Kehres finishes his coaching career with a 332-24-3 record. He has a .929 winning percentage, the most ever in college football. His percentage puts Kehres ahead of Knute Rockne, Barry Switzer, Tom Osbourne, Frank Leahy, Bud Wilkinson and Urban Meyer.

Vince Kehres has played for his father and was part of two National Championships as a player. Additionally, the younger Kehres has been defensive coordinator for the program for the last eight seasons, according to the school.

I wrote the post on Mount Union in December, which you can read here. Long story short, Mount Union is definitely the Alabama of Division III football, without any of the Finebaum. They’ve been dominant for so long.

Kehres will remain part of Mount Union as the athletic director.

The B1G, largely regarded as the nation’s top men’s basketball conference in spite of what RPI indicates, begins tournament play Thursday at 11AM CDT when #8 Illinois tips off against #9 Minnesota at the United Center.

It’s basically anyone’s tournament at this point. Well, almost anyone (I wouldn’t get my hopes up, Nebraska, Northwestern or PSU fans). The regular season championship came down to the wire and was settled on the final day when Indiana defeated Michigan 72-71 in the final seconds. Had the heroics failed, we could very well have been looking at a four way tie between Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan and Michigan State.

First round byes go to Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan State and Wisconsin. Indiana, by virtue of their first outright conference title since 1993, grabs the #1 seed, giving them their highest seeding in the history of the tournament (previous best, #3 in ’99, ’07, ’08). Ohio State and Michigan State split the season and the tiebreaker for the #2 seed went to The Buckeyes. The Badgers claimed the #4 seed by virtue of a win against Michigan in Madison.

Darkhorses include six-seed Iowa, (who collected 20 wins for the first time since the ’05-’06 season), nine-seed Minnesota (who, in spite of a couple tough season-ending loses, pulled off huge wins over MSU, Wisconsin and Indiana) and eight-seed Illinois (who had big wins over OSU and Indiana). Of that group, Iowa is the team that most desperately needs a good run in the B1G tourney. This is thanks to an RPI of 77 due largely to their 99th ranked strength of schedule. Winning two games in the tourney would go a long ways towards building their resume, which needs a big signature win.

And then there is Purdue. We really like Pete here at the Neutral Zone. Yep.

The full bracket follows:

If anyone has been following anything that the NCAA Investigation team has been doing over the last couple of years, then this should come as absolutely no surprise to you. It was revealed on Wednesday that the NCAA, while doing the Miami investigation, has found evidence of improper conduct… by the NCAA. Oh.

Apparently, former investigative staff members worked with the attorney of former Miami booster and convicted Ponzi scheme crazy Nevin Shapiro. They were told to “to improperly obtain information through a bankruptcy proceeding that did not involve the NCAA”. Oh.

Part of the statement released by the NCAA goes into more detail about what went wrong:

As it does not have subpoena power, the NCAA does not have the authority to compel testimony through procedures outside of its enforcement program. Through bankruptcy proceedings, enforcement staff gained information for the investigation that would not have been accessible otherwise.

So, the NCAA lied to try and catch liars. Your head hurt yet?

The NCAA head honcho, Mark Emmert also said on Wednesday, “I have been vocal in the past regarding the need for integrity by NCAA member schools, athletics administrators, coaches, and student-athletes. That same commitment to integrity applies to all of us in the NCAA national office.” Sure you have, Emmert.

Also from Emmert:

To say the least, I am angered and saddened by this situation. Trust and credibility are essential to our regulatory tasks. My intent is to ensure our investigatory functions operate with integrity and are fair and consistent with our member schools, athletics staff and, most importantly, our student-athletes

The Miami Hurricanes have been under investigation by the NCAA for over two years and was first reported by Yahoo Sports. It seems that the NCAA should maybe hire Yahoo Sports in place of who they already have in there because at least they are competent.

The findings have now prompted Emmert to investigate his investigation team and and do a review of his entire enforcement program. What does all this mean for Miami? It means that the NCAA is halting all investigation proceedings until he can get his own department straight.

It may take forever for that to happen, so looks like you’re good Miami.

Look at all of the shiny lights!

Another city, another basketball game. We arrived in Memphis this morning, and after wading through Iowa State fans in town for the Bowl game tomorrow, we watched Memphis have an easy time winning over Loyola Maryland.

The FedEx Forum is the stadium used for both the University of Memphis Tigers and the Memphis Grizzlies. Since that was the case, it had a very NBA feel. It was also larger than any of the other arenas we’ve been to.

Though the atmosphere felt professional, Memphis still managed to treat us to the most college-y game yet. This was the first game that we’ve been to that had a band! How exciting! Rather than rap music with questionable lyrics at the breaks, we got to hear an excited band play songs such as “Love Shack” and that Ozzy Osbourne song where they say “Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay.” There was also a mascot, which was infinitely more adorable than the weird Wildcat in Cincy. This Tiger was so cute and cuddly that I tried to figure out a way to bring him home.

There were also cheerleaders and a dance team! I thought the announcer kept calling the dancers the Memphis Pop, but turns out it’s actually the Memphis Pom. The husband coined the phrase “Future Cougars” to describe the team. They did a number of routines, and were actually quite good. They were leaps and bounds better than the Cincy ladies, and I would almost say they’re better than the Illinettes (don’t tell anyone I said that). The hot dog received a solid 7.5 from my hot dog connoisseur, and I skipped the nachos which were the now overly familiar salty goop. SLU, I’m counting on you to provide me with something different.

Our seats were way up in the nosebleeds, and that might’ve contributed to the lack of excitement during the actual game. That and the fact that our seat neighbors spent most of the game turned around talking to their friends behind them. I’m not sure if they had any idea what was going on at any point. The first half proved to be somewhat interesting, and it looked like Loyola Maryland would give Memphis  an actual game. At the half, Memphis had the lead, 37-33. This was going to be a much higher scoring game than we were used to.

Memphis pulled away quickly in the second, partially because of the two technical fouls in a row from Loyola. There were also at least two intentional fouls from Loyola, which were part of their 26 total. This meant that Memphis went to the line a lot, and had they made those buckets the game would’ve been wrapped up even quicker. Memphis went to the line a whopping 41 times (I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a game with that many trips), and they  made 29 of those. On the flip side, Loyola went to the line just 17 times. It was fun to see former Illini Stan Simpson in action yet again, and it was nice to see he was as useful for the Tigers as he was for the Illini before transferring.

Thanks to those fouls (Memphis was in the bonus with about 11 minutes left), the game dragged on a wee bit. Despite the lame fans next to us, most people seemed genuinely interested in what was happening on the court. The arena was pretty full, and the attendance was announced at over 16,000. It’s clear that people in Memphis like their basketball.In appreciation, the Tigers employed a proper introduction, which included lasers, and the kind of rumbling music that gets the fans, and the players, truly pumped. So on the whole the atmosphere was the most exciting, but also felt much more like a professional game. It was fun to experience a win for the home team.

Tomorrow is the last stop on our trip, where we’ll revisit the Lobos as they head to SLU. Then, sadly it’ll be time to head back to the real world.

It has been a rough year for the B1G. From an abysmal football season to mocking of their new members to everyone freaking out about the departure of Wisky coach Bret Bielema for Arkansas, they just can’t seem to catch a break.

Now, their Female Athlete of the Year award namesake was apparently a hooker.

Suzy Favor Hamilton, who appears to be your basic All-American girl next door role model type, was outed in this Smoking Gun report as a high-dollar Vegas call girl, who charged 600 bucks an hour.

Beginning last December, Suzy Favor Hamilton, 44, has worked with one of Las Vegas’s premier escort services, booking scores of “dates” in Sin City and other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston.

Favor Hamilton is a B1G legend. She won four B1G Female Athlete of the Year awards, is the NCAA championships record holder in the 800m and 1500m and was named the B1G athlete of the decade for the 90s. She was also a three time Olympian and held a couple of world records.

She used the assumed name of Kelly Lundy for her call girl career. Apparently, for some reason, she shared her real identity to some of her clients. Because, you know, it makes sense to trust someone who is paying you for a “girlfriend experience” with your innermost secrets.

It’s no doubt quite a shock to not only the B1G, but also Nike and Disney, for whom she has done a bit of endorsing.It’s a shock, for sure, and it will be interesting to see the damage control that is performed in light of these revelations.

The University of Maryland has decided to join the B1G. It’s rumored that Rutgers is following suit tomorrow, but in the interest of not jumping the gun, let’s just roll with some information on the University of Maryland.

Location:
College Park, MD

Driving Distance from current B1G Members (courtesy Google Maps):

Illinois – 712 mi, 12 hours 18 mins
Indiana – 641 mi, 11 hours 11 mins
Iowa – 906 mi, 15 hours 34 mins
Michigan – 523 mi, 9 hours 17 mins
Michigan State – 588 mi, 10 hours 24 mins
Minnesota – 1,104 mi, 19 hours 33 mins
Nebraska – 1,205 mi, 20 hours 25 mins
Northwestern – 713 mi, 12 hours 49 mins
Ohio State – 421 mi, 7 hours 27 mins
Penn State – 200 mi, 3 hours 52 mins
Purdue – 653 mi, 11 hours 26 mins
Wisconsin – 844 mi, 15 hours 9 mins

Founded:

1856 – Maryland is the largest university in the state and in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Much like all but one member of its new conference, Maryland is a member of the Association of American Universities. They were a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference athletic league.

» Continue reading “B1G Fans – Get To Know Maryland”

One word: accurate.

So, uh, this was a bad week. The only thing that kept it from being a completely awful week is that Arkansas isn’t a B1G school.

Minnesota 44, New Hampshire 7 - Minnesota beat a team they were supposed to beat, so they did something a lot of other B1G teams didn’t do. Kudos to you, Gophers.

Ohio State 31, UCF 16 - This game wasn’t as pretty as the score shows. It’s a win, though, and winning when you play horribly could mean the team ineligible for the B1G championship could troll the entire B1G this year.

Penn State 16, Virginia 17 – PSU snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by missing 4 FGs, including a potential game winner as time expired.

Purdue 17, Notre Dame 20 – This was one I had tabbed as an upset special and it didn’t work out. In relation to some of the other B1G losses, this one actually doesn’t look so bad. Regardless, the Boilermakers were so close, but so far away.

Indiana 46, UMass 6 - This might be the most bittersweet win in Hoosier history. They won and won big, but they lost stud QB Tre Roberson to a broken leg in the process.

Michigan 31, Air Force 25 – Speaking of winning ugly, one week removed from the Bama debacle, Michigan struggles against Air Force. This game was all Denard everything as he tallied 426 yards of total offense. Seeing as how Michigan finished the game with 422 total yards of total offense. Well, yeah…

Michigan State 41, Central Michigan 7 - MSU dominated a directional Michigan team that they should dominate. MSU is beginning to emerge as the likely team to beat in the B1G.

Iowa 6, Iowa State 9 - Iowa follows up a lackluster performance against Northern Illinois with a lackluster performance against Iowa State. The new and improved CyHawk trophy will stay in Ames.

Wisconsin 7, Oregon State 10 – Remember when Wisconsin was figured to be a lock to win the B1G? Following a close shave against Northern Iowa with a loss to Oregon State kind of makes one rethink that a bit.

Nebraska 30, UCLA 36 – Taylor Martinez and his improved passing game was all the rage last week. This week, they go to the West Coast and the Martinez we all remember returns.

Northwestern 23, Vanderbilt 13 – Hey, look, a B1G team beat an SEC team! Northwestern racked up 17 points in the 4th quarter to take this one.

Illinois 14, Arizona State 45 – Illinois capped off the disastrous B1G trips out west with a huge loss to the Sun Devils. It can’t be blamed on the loss of Scheelhaase, though, as he doesn’t play defense.

A picture is worth 1000 words. It’s probably also the best way to sum up each game for each B1G team this week. The B1G had a mixed bag of success with some schools looking brilliant (OSU and Nebby) some pretty good (Ilinois and Purdue) and the rest kind of…well….

Minnesota 30, UNLV 27 – 3OT thriller that was almost 4 hours long and didn’t start until 11PM ET. So, maybe thriller is a bad descriptive word.

» Continue reading “Weekly B1G Recap In Random Gifs”

So a company called Smack Apparel has designed a new Penn State shirt taking shots at the NCAA and their sanctions against the University. I present you said shirt:

Its almost as though the company COMPLETELY forgot what Penn State was being sanctioned for. So, the NCAA is overstepping their bounds and protecting the innocent, but Penn State did none of things. Oh.

*Just to be clear, the school did not design these shirts or sign-off on them. Smack is an independent company*