Jon Joseph

Pre-spring practice rankings from Bill Connolly's SP+ computer programming for teams ranked 1 through 138 - ESPN.com2026 college football SP+ rankings for all 138 FBS teamsThe first SP+ rankings, plus strength of schedule and résumé SP+, for the 2026 season. Eight Big Ten teams in the Top 25 - 1 Ohio State/ 2 Oregon/ 5 Indiana/ 13 USC/ 14 Michigan/ 17 Penn State/ 21 UW/ 22 Iowa

Get Your Madness On! https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/1108363/march-madness-2026-the-best-and-worst-from-thursdays-sweet-16

And for Pity's Sake, Take Off those Golden Slippers! Cig's way, or the highway. AP NewsCurt Cignetti had a welcome-to-Indiana message for transf...Curt Cignetti is not about to let the Indiana Hoosiers put flash in front of fundamentals after their first national championship.

What's the Over/Under on Laughs per Minute on the BC Bench? AP NewsBoston College hires UConn assistant Luke Murray, son of...Boston College has hired UConn assistant Luke Murray as coach of a slumping men’s basketball program that has gone 17 years without an NCAA Tournament appearance.

I hope this is a 'Tell' for tonight's basketball game. Yesterday, in the first round of the Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Michigan State defeated UConn 2 to 1. I do expect more 'points' to be scored this evening. 😁

Beware of recency bias and hubris. Leave the It Just Means More stuff to the folks in Dixie. It's B1G coast-to-coast, and the conference has a huge number of living alumni, so the media deal is financially superior to the SEC's deal, barely, when it comes to the bottom line. The SEC's broadcast deal is confined to Disney, ABC, and ESPN, but SEC football games are broadcast at times that encourage fans coast-to-coast to tune in. More folks are watching SEC football games than Big Ten games. Last year, millions of football fans tuned in at noon Eastern and 9 AM Pacific to watch Texas play Ohio State. This year, the game will kick off at 3:30 PM, or more likely 7:30 PM Eastern. There will be millions more fans watching this season's game on ABC than watched last season's game on Fox. No one markets college football like the folks at ESPN. ESPN owns and puts on the college football postseason. ESPN is the reason a 3-loss Alabama team with one of the losses to a crummy FSU team and a bad loss to Georgia in the SEC champ game played in last season's Rose Bowl. The Big Ten is having a banner year in the Men's CBB tournament. The SEC has two teams still standing, and it would be an upset if Tennessee +4.5 defeats Iowa State, and/or Alabama +10.5 defeats Michigan. Last season, with Florida winning it all, the SEC was the best at Men's basketball. Big Ten tournament wins this season over Florida, Vanderbilt, and Texas could have gone the SEC's way. All of the B1G wins have been close-run things. The B1G leads the way in Men's and Women's ice hockey, but schools located in the South and Southwest lead the way in ranked baseball and softball teams. The Big Ten more than holds its own in Track & Field, but the SEC leads the way, or at least provides the top competition. Shame on you, Mr. Reigns, for not including Oregon among the top recruiting teams in the Big Ten. But when it comes to the bottom line, which matters more today than ever, Mr. Reigns nailed it. And come 2030, the B1G's lead in money will get B1Gger. 🤑

Thank you, Charles and Bill. I had no idea the roster was available on the Forum. April Madness! Spring Game on April 25th. 😍

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: