Big Ten Board (Beta)

1. Steve, do you think BOB will be a mainstay at PSU? If not, what's your bet on how long he lasts?

2. How much of an impact will Brady Hoke's first full recruiting class make at UM?

3. Tim Beckman-- Will he be an improvement over Zook or vice versa? In what ways, I.E. recruiting, playcalling, assistant hiring, training, etc.?

Evan Spencer... I think with Meters help, this kid is going to shoot out of the gates too.. what's your take on him? Fresh last year.. little playing time but maybe best catch I seen all year..

Next commit? Wow, they have some early offers out there. They are starting with 14 available spots and will probably end up signing 18-20 when all is said and done. I think if they decide to offer some guys they can have 9 or more verbaled by the start of the season.

I don't sense them waiting around. I honestly don't have a feel for who would be the next commit.

My NCAA favorite? If we could get a Final Four with Kentucky, Syracuse, OSU and whoever survives the Big 12 (Missouri, Kansas or Baylor), that would be a great 4-team event.

Syracuse plays that zone that you have to find spaces to exploit. Michigan went zone last week and it took them a while to adapt to that.

Kentucky is just abusing people in the SEC. Their youth has cost them the last 2 years in the tourney. But they seem to be the team to beat. I heard that some think they have 5-6 pros on their team.

1. I met him last week in Indy at the media day and was very impressed with him. He is a serious guy. His players swear by him as well. I think he will do a good job there. The key will be to get top players from PA and the Mid-Atlantic area to go there and fit his system. I think he's there at least 4-5 years and more if he can win a division title in that stretch. Not going to be easy, though.

2. They got a great class. They got help on the DL with Pipkins and Wormley, at LB with Bolden and Ringer and the OL with Kalis and Magnuson. Those were areas they needed to fortify. If all of those guys come through in the next 2-3 years, they should be in the mix in their division.

3. Beckman will be an improvement. His first recruiting class was not all that well received. The key will be to get Chicagoland's best to go to Champaign. They should have a better advantage there, but they really don't. It's like 2.5-3 hours down to Champaign. It's not real close by. Kids can easily go other places (Wisconsin, Iowa, Purdue, MSU etc.) and it's not that much farther. If they can get their share of top players out of there, they will be fine.