Jon Joseph

Holy Hickory! What a great post!

Hats off to the 3-seed Fighting Illini that took down the No. 2 seed Houston Cougars in Houston, 65-55, to be the 3rd B1G team to advance to the Elite 8. For the 2nd time in the tournament, it will be B1G on B1G Saturday when the 3-seed Illinois meets the 9-seed Iowa for a trip to the Final 4 in Indianapolis. There will be many fans disguised as empty seats. Purdue on Saturday will have its hands full out West, with an Elite 8 game against an Arizona team that butchered the Arkansas Hogs 109-88. No calamari for you, Calipari. And sorry, B12 commish Brett Yormack, but your awesome B-Ball conference has dribbled its way to two teams left. However, Arizona, the last Pac-12 legacy school standing, could win it all. Calipari can probably find the way back to Arkansas, but will there be anyone to welcome him home? https://www.citizentribune.com/sports/national/top-seeded-arizona-beats-arkansas-109-88-to-reach-the-elite-eight-for-the-1st/article_af267c70-aced-56ae-9695-f8b9c553ccba.html A B1G team was certain to win one Sweet 16 game today, but three Big Ten teams getting ahead of the 8 Ball is as B1G and as good as it can be. 😍

Never a Doubt 😍 https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2026/03/26/purdue-basketball-beats-texas-on-last-second-tip-in-advance-elite-8-trey-kaufman-renn-march-madness/89341563007/

Second-seed Purdue comes through with a 79 to 77 win over perhaps the best 11 seed in tournament history, Texas. Next up on Saturday will be a game against the winner of tonight's No. 1Arizona against No. 4 Arkansas game. Calipari wasn't certain whether Portland is in the USA, but he did find his way to San Jose. Speaking of Texas, 9 seed Iowa overcomes a ten-point deficit and wins the rubber match, defeating No. 4 Nebraska 77 to 71 in Houston. Iowa is the lowest-seeded Big Ten team to reach the Elite 8. Iowa coach Ben McCollum wins in the postseason; Google him. 😁 ESPN.comIowa defeats Nebraska, continues improbable March run int...Ninth-seeded Iowa continued its unpredictable NCAA tournament run under first-year coach Ben McCollum, beating Nebraska 77-71 in a South Region semifinal. If Illinois can defeat Houston in Houston tonight, then on Saturday, we'll see a B1G on B1G Elite 8 match-up. So far, two B1G teams are in the Elite 8, and here's to hoping for one more tonight, the Fighting Illini, and two more tomorrow night when the Wolverines play Bama and Michigan State battles UConn. 🤑

Moore on Michigan moving on from a half-wit to Whitt. Maize n BrewKyle Whittingham’s Michigan staff is ‘strict’ and similar...Michigan safety Rod Moore said that Kyle Whittingham’s staff has similarities to the Jim Harbaugh era.

Thanks, Don, for a terrific follow-up article. LeVar Woods. I believe there may be method in this seeming madness? A recent article on The Athletic predicted the coach of every P4 team in 2030. Woods was ticketed for the Iowa job with the author suggesting that LaVar's experience would be broadened by working in the conference for another defense-oriented coach. To absolve themselves from blame in the hazing scandal, Pat Fitzgerald was the administration's scapegoat. As part of the settlement of Fitzgerald's Wrongful Termination suit, he was absolved of all blame and received a settlement payment estimated to be around $100 million. However, does Michigan State have the money to field both a champion-contending basketball and football team? Will Fitzgerald be able to recruit quality high school and portal players at the level of Ohio State, Oregon, Michigan, and USC? Mark Dantonio succeeded at Michigan State by developing lesser-talented players who played for Sparty for the entirety of their college football career. Can a 'development program' compete for championships today? IMO, Jedd Fisch's coaching prowess is underrated. But like Fitzgerald at Michigan State, does he have the resources to win Big Ten titles? His record in Husky Stadium is excellent, but on the road? He is 0-2 in Seattle versus the biggest B1G boys, Ohio State and Oregon. Michigan. Say what you will about Harbaugh, but the guy returned his alma mater to championship level. When it comes to organization and discipline, the Wolverines under Whittingham are being compared to Harbaugh. Under the new OC, Jason Beck, I expect we'll see significant improvement in QB Bryce Underwood, and I know we will see a better scheme on offense with better play calling. Michigan will always have the money and the desire to compete for Big Ten and national titles. Having to play Ohio State in Columbus in early November and playing Michigan in Autzen the following Saturday will test Oregon's championship bona fides. USC? Riley won B12 titles and many games at Oklahoma, but consistently failed in the postseason. Entering his 5th season with SC, Riley has not taken SC to the playoffs or competed for a B1G title. No doubt that under GM Chad Bowen and AD Jen Cohen, SC NIL money has been aligned, and the recruiting is on par with any program in the country. Shouldn't a guy making ten million a season to coach a brand-name Blue Blood have been able to figure this out on his own, as did John McKay, John Robinson, and Pete Carroll? I think SC has everything going for it, but for the guy at the top. This is a prove-it season for Riley. Will he come through? Gary Patterson put great Ds on the field at TCU. He will be facing better competition in the Big Ten than he did in the B12. Does he have the Jimmies and the Joes and the coaching moxie after four seasons away from the game? Jim Knowles was great when coaching future pros in Columbus. Knowles flamed out at Penn State, especially at UCLA, after holding the Oregon offense in check. Matt Patricia improved Ohio State's defense. Patterson is in the College Football Hall of Fame, but will his defense be that much better than what D'Anton Lynn put on the field? Perhaps Riley will get SC to the top of the B1G and CFB, but I have my doubts. He has picked up a win from trading Notre Dame for take your pick of San Jose State, Fresno State, or the team formerly known as La-La. San Jose in Week Zero is why SC has two byes this season, the first coming in Week 8. SC is at Rutgers the Saturday before hosting Oregon. Oregon plays Portland State at home before heading to LA, as close to an off week as a team can get. Kirk Ferentz and DC Phil Parker's coaching chops will be tested in 2026. Iowa is 104th in returning production. But I still expect Iowa to be a tough out for every opponent. Thanks again, Don. It's so good to be B1G. 😍

This 'stuff' is what makes a rivalry. And it also shows that Dan is No. 1 on USC's Most Wanted poster. Great, bring it on. In the 2026 Big Ten opener for both teams, the only thing that matters will be revealed by a photo of the scoreboard at the game's end. When it matters the most, when at Oklahoma and at SC, has Riley walked the walk? No, not ever. In 2025, SC's recruiting class was No. 1 in terms of quantity. Dan finished ahead of Riley in quality, again. I do not want Dan to sink to SC's level, but a perfect response to SC's post would be to post a photo of All-America guard Emmanuel Pregnon, a player who found the grass greener at A School Up North. 😁 Is there any grass in South Central that isn't fake?

A Wolverine's Predictions for the Sweet 16 - Entirely Objective, of Course Maize n BrewMarch Madness: Bold predictions for the second week of th...With March Madness starting back up tonight, here are some bold predictions for the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament:

Death, Taxes, and more teams in the playoffs? Two out of three are bad. https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/march-madness-2026-cbs-sports-viewership-records-ncaa-tournament/?ftag=SNL-04-10aaa0b&ET_CID=536536&ET_RID=52482716&eid=c7d8647c6247db8d08c59fe44bc30380a147aa90b9e330

Show OBD the B1G money! 🤑 22 units (22 games played) earned by the B1G, with five Sweet 16 games coming, and at least one Elite 8 game for the winner of Iowa vs. Nebraska. That's $46 million to date and counting. $2.55 million per team over six seasons with more to come. I reiterate. Oregon not joining the Big Ten would have been gross financial negligence.

One thing that you should know (perhaps 🙃) about the teams with 16 candles. (Only eight will make a lovely light 😁) AP NewsMarch Madness: Here's one thing you need to know about ea...Florida isn’t around to defend its title anymore, but all the other top seeds in this year's NCAA Tournament are still around. And many of them are winning convincingly.

Don, thank you for a great B1G look at football in one of CFB's top two conferences. Three in a row for the B1G is nice, but in today's wired world, I'm wary of recency bias. The Power 4 conferences in 2025 all had six teams that did not win more than five games. I line these teams up in hypothetical games, and I think the SEC is the deepest conference top to bottom. The ACC and B12 have sub-basements, and I think it would be closer than most football fans, and the media think, but that the SEC's basement would be better than the B1G's. With the SEC playing nine conference games this season, we will have an apples-to-apples comparison. Indiana among the Givens and rightfully so? I still have difficulty acknowledging that football is excellent in Bloomington and suspect in Lincoln. Vice versa when it comes to basketball. (Credit to The Athletic for coming up with the comparison.) For as long as Brett Bielma is coaching Illinois, the Fighting Illini will be a tough out. If we have learned anything over the last three seasons, it's that the middle of the B1G is not inferior to the middle of the SEC. Illinois, as Don so noted, has led the way with wins over 9-3 South Carolina and this past season's win over a close to season long ranked Tennessee team in Nashville. The 8-4 Hawkeyes bowl win over 10-2 Vanderbilt in Tampa this season, put a stamp on the B1G middle not being second fiddle to the SEC, and also gave support to the B1G's 24-team playoff plan. Purdue. Unlike Right Coast teams, Maryland and Rutgers, Boilermakers fans show up and sell out the stadium, whether inebriated or not. This is the school that produced Bob Griese, Drew Brees, and Rod Woodson. I think Purdue hired the right guy in Barry Odom. Can another school located in Indiana become a power in football? I doubt it, but I think Purdue doubles its win total in 2026, from two to four, and is .500 or better beginning in 2027. Wisconsin. A year after year Rose Bowl contender with a terrific fan base and an AD who walked the walk and came with the money in 2026, after promising to invest more in the football program. The Badgers finished strong in 2025 with home upset wins over No. 23 UW and No. 21 Illinois. Yes, it was in a torrential downpour, but Wisconsin had many players on the defense out with injuries and still battled OBD to the wire in a 21-7 loss. And the game in Madison in 2024 was as close as it can get. The Wisconsin schedule in 2025 was the most difficult in the conference. In 2026, notwithstanding an opening game vs. Notre Dame in Green Bay, CBS Sports ranks Wisconsin's schedule as the easiest in the conference. One would think that the football gods would not take out Wisconsin's starting QB early in the season for the fourth year in a row. (Especially when the QB's name is Colton Joseph! 🤪) This team played solid D in 2025 with many young players getting valuable minutes. I think the Badgers bounce back in 2026 with a shot at winning eight or more games. Nebraska left the B12 because of Texas, and the way in which the conference kissed Texas's Longhorns. No school in the conference has more zealous fans, as recently evidenced by Big Red fans taking over the arena in Oklahoma City for the basketball tournament game against Vanderbilt. And also selling out the football stadium for a record attendance volleyball game. I agree that cool is not the Ruhle in Lincoln. The football head coaching firings and hirings post-Osbourne have been baffling. I look for the Cornhuskers to again finish no better than slightly over .500. (Off the wall, I can see Dan Mullen coaching this team in 2027.) I expect UCLA under Bob Chesney to be much improved. I don't believe UCLA will be an easy out. Oregon blew Chesney's team out in the first half of the first-round playoff game in Autzen, and JMU never stopped competing. I'm leaving all things Iowa and the discussion of other B1G programs in your more than capable Hawkeye hands. Thanks again, Don, and well done, Sir, well done.

Thank you, Oregonjoneses. Please keep this terrific coverage of OBD's Softball squad coming. It's good to see the conference scheduling series that has OBD in Bloomington, then playing @230 miles from the Hoosiers campus in a ballpark near Chicago. With your coverage of softball and Charles coverage of baseball, well, I'm jonesing for more of the same. 😁

I'm not certain OBD and Dan belong on this list of teams under pressure in 2026 - 10 College Football Teams Under the Most Pressure Entering Spring Practice for 2026 - Yahoo Sports

Yep, if I'm Dana, I'm leaving the hardwood for the fairway, metal woods, and the 19th hole. 😎