BigTen Official Rankings

[AirForceBuck]

(Sorry if its been posted before)

Read this not to long ago and am feeling REALLY proud of my Bucks:

http://michigan.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=438362

1. Michigan
2. Ohio State
3. Iowa


Media covering the Big Ten opted this year to keep the bullseye where it always seems to rest – squarely on Michigan. In a vote revealing all the daring of positions such as "Sun Rises In East" or "Linemen Enjoy Eating," the conference scribes and broadcasters chose the Wolverines to come out on top in the Big Ten football race.

The conference revealed the top-three-only vote at the start of today's Big Ten football meetings in Chicago. In addition to tabbing Michigan as the team to beat in the conference, the media picked Ohio State second and Iowa third. Meanwhile, a Hawkeye and a Buckeye got the nods as the preseason top two players in the conference.

Iowa quarterback Drew Tate continued to ride the wave of confidence he created in last year's co-championship and near-miraculous win in the Hawkeyes' bowl game. Tate was chosen as the preseason Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.

Meanwhile, Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk will be trying for his second straight top defensive honor in the conference. The league's Defensive Player of the Year last season, Hawk has been selected to repeat in 2005.

The Big Ten meetings get cranked up this morning, with conference coaches delivering their thoughts on how their teams and the league race shape up.

Meanwhile, some confirmations regarding Michigan news have already been made. These include the following:

• Redshirt freshman fullback Roger Allison's career is over. The Lake Orion product experienced an injury in the neck/shoulder region which already put his 2005 season in doubt, but it has been determined that he'll not be able to play football any more, period. Allison had been a top candidate to grab the fullback spot vacated by Kevin Dudley.

• Sophomore Will Paul has made the move to fullback. The third-year player out of Chesterfield, Mo., had been performing on the defensive line, but will now take his 6-3, 264-pound frame into the Michigan backfield. U-M coaches had been considering the switch since spring practice.

• Sophomore quarterback Clayton Richard will not return to the team. Richard had acknowledged as much, both privately and by his entry into the baseball draft, and his roster absence simply made the news final.

Much more news will be coming out of today's session with the Big Ten coaches. U-M's Lloyd Carr is the last of the featured speakers among the coaches, to be followed by Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany.

 

[jwinslow]

SGN Free by Greg

Jim Tressel Media Day Highlights
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On utilizing Ted Ginn

"I would like to see him in the endzone with the ball, that would be the capacity. He has been our primary punt returner, he and Santonio Holmes back there. I think he will have an opportunity in kick-off returns, so that will be an increase. We graduated Mo Hall. Offensively his evolution as far as number of touches increased as the year went, and that was consistent from that standpoint during the spring. Defensively he may get a touch or two, we hope. A pass break-up or an interception. It is a long tough season, but we are excited as anyone about getting the ball in his hands."

On Santonio Holmes

"If we can get to the point that we can recognize that he is getting singled, then we need to get Santonio Holmes the ball. From a receiver standpoint he is top notch."

On Purdue missing OSU and Michigan this year

"Purdue is good. Their defense is comparable to anyone who we faced. I do not know if it is a break that we are or aren't playing them. Or if it is a break for them for who they do or do not play. I do know this the eight people that you play in the league no matter who they are, it is going to be difficult. Our eight we got lined up are all we can stand"

On the Quarterback Situation

"As we begin the season there will be an open battle. Justin Zwick if we had a game tomorrow would start. Todd Boeckman has been a guy we have talked about, our local people know that we have mentioned quit often the last couple of years who is evolving and emerging. He will be a good player. We have a youngster Roby Schoenhoft who we think will be a good player. Then as we enter week two Troy Smith gets back in the mix. We will have to see how it goes as far as the pre-season is concerned. Obviously our focus is on preparing ourselves for September 3rd. Justin and Todd will probably get the bulk of the reps, Troy and Robbie some of the reps in the pre-season, and we will just see how it goes."

Beside the LB's who will need to emerge defensively

"I think the people that have to continue to step up is the guys that you are not hearing much about, and those are the guys up front. Quinn Pitcock is probably our leader when it comes to that. Mike Kudla is another veteran guy coming back. Jay Richardson, David Patterson, Joel Penton. I would love to see that defensive front keep evolving."

 

[tones3778]

Here are the quotes from Media Day at bigten.org - some are including in the reference to sgn above.

Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel
Quotes from 2005 Big Ten Media Day

Aug. 1, 2005



On the team's outlook:
"We report on Sunday this coming year, and we are excited about the fact that we have a lot of experience back; maybe more than we had a year ago. Our guys have had a variety of experiences that I believe will serve them well this year. Based upon our winter and spring practices and the continued excellence in the classroom our guys have demonstrated, all those things are signs that we have a chance to be a good football team."

On the strength of the Big Ten Conference:
"I believe the Big Ten will be tremendously strong this year. I think that it is encouraging because if you end up being the champion, you have the chance to be as good as there is in the country. It's challenging from the standpoint that every Saturday you better be ready because it is a tremendously well-schooled league, with a lot more experience and talent back this year than there was a year ago."

On Ted Ginn's expected performance this season:
"He has been our primary punt returner. He and Santonio Holmes are back there. He will have an opportunity to be back on kickoff returns as well, so that will be an increase. Offensively, his evolution in touches increased as the year went. That was consistent from that standpoint throughout the spring. Defensively, he may get a touch or two; we hope a pass breakup or an interception. Sometimes you get excited because he can do so many things. It's a long tough season, a lot of physical practices and whatnot, but we are excited as anyone to get the ball in Teddy's hands."

On Santonio Holmes:
"We think Santonio Holmes is a great player. Early last year, he was about the only guy that was making plays for us. The people we played against saw that and put more attention on him. Some of our young guys then got a little more involved and that eased the burden off Santonio a little bit. If we can get to the point where we can recognize that he is being singled, we need to go to Santonio Holmes, because from a receiver standpoint he's topnotch." <!-- STORY AD BEGINS HERE -->
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On Ohio State's quarterback position:
"As we begin the season there will be an open battle. But as we enter week two, Troy Smith will get back into the mix. We'll just have to see how the preseason goes. Obviously, our focus is to prepare us for September 3rd. Justin (Zwick) and Todd (Boeckman) will probably get the bulk of the reps. Troy and Rob (Schoenhoft) will get some of the reps in the preseason, and we'll just see how it goes."

On Ohio State's defense:
"People are talking about our linebacker core as a hole. With A.J. Hawk coming back, Bobby Carpenter who is an exceptional player, Mike D'Andrea and Marcus Freeman, all those guys are returning with a bunch of experience. The guys that need to step up are the ones that you aren't quite hearing much about. As a unit up front, Quinn Pitcock is probably our leader, Mike Kudla, another veteran guy coming back, Jay Richardson, David Patterson and Joel Penton. I would love to see that defensive front step up."

 

[martinss01]

On Ohio State's defense:
"People are talking about our linebacker core as a hole. With A.J. Hawk coming back, Bobby Carpenter who is an exceptional player, Mike D'Andrea and Marcus Freeman, all those guys are returning with a bunch of experience. The guys that need to step up are the ones that you aren't quite hearing much about. As a unit up front, Quinn Pitcock is probably our leader, Mike Kudla, another veteran guy coming back, Jay Richardson, David Patterson and Joel Penton. I would love to see that defensive front step up."

interesting to see schlegal not mentioned in the lb core list. if i had the option, id medical redshirt d'andrea and not schlegal for next season. but thats just me.

 

[FookMichiganTGJ]

• Redshirt freshman fullback Roger Allison's career is over. The Lake Orion product experienced an injury in the neck/shoulder region which already put his 2005 season in doubt, but it has been determined that he'll not be able to play football any more, period. Allison had been a top candidate to grab the fullback spot vacated by Kevin Dudley.

yes sadly roger is deffinatley done.his cousin told me that there was something like a 40% chance of him dying during so he did not take the risk. I would have loved to see him play against his brother ryan who is going into michigan state this year to play reciever

 

[osustamm]

i though Schoenhoft was going to be grey-shirted this year? Why not when you got the other 3 in front of him? If he is grey shirted he's not allowed to practice is he?

just checking...

 

[osugrad21]

i though Schoenhoft was going to be grey-shirted this year? Why not when you got the other 3 in front of him? If he is grey shirted he's not allowed to practice is he?

just checking...

I don't remember ever reading anything about Schoenhoft doing anything besides redshirting.

 

[Golferdow01]

i though Schoenhoft was going to be grey-shirted this year? Why not when you got the other 3 in front of him? If he is grey shirted he's not allowed to practice is he?

just checking...

I never heard this either...where you hear this from?

 

[gstock05]

Probably from the previous thoughts that Schoenhoft was a "work in progress."
I've disagreed, but I think the question now is if he is redshirted. Troy and Justin both have this year and then 2006 left for eligibility. Do you want Boekman and Schoenhoft even with each other in terms of eligibility? Or would you rather have Boekman as a Junior competing with Schoenhoft.

 

[jwinslow]

schoenhoft is a great talent, but he's not gonna play this year. He will redshirt. Boeckman has run out of shirts to wear (donning gray and red the past two years), so he will distance himself by one year this year.

You don't grayshirt an elite11 QB. Boeckman is the only QB on our roster without that honor in HS, but he wasn't an elite11 stud.

 

[osugrad21]

Do you want Boekman and Schoenhoft even with each other in terms of eligibility? Or would you rather have Boekman as a Junior competing with Schoenhoft.

Robbie redshirts this year...no doubt.

 

[zincfinger]

I don't know whether this was mentioned on another thread, but I heard it on the BuckNuts Radio Hour, and then read it today.

Which school has better players, Ohio State or Michigan? Michigan.

"If you lined them up and had them run 40-yard dashes and took them into the weight room and had them bench press and power clean, yeah, they are better than Ohio State. Markedly better. The Michigan kids have more talent, but the Ohio State kids played harder.

"And to me, that's a microcosm of the two programs."

Considering the two teams position-by-position, and year-by-year, I can't conceive of how someone could come to this conclusion. "Markedly" more talented? I'm mildly curious who this anonymous coach was. If I had to guess, I'd go with Tiller. Maybe Walker or Alvarez (or perhaps more likely a truly anonymous assistant coach), but Tiller would be my pick amond head coaches. Any thoughts?

 

[JXC]

I think scUM probably has an easier time recruiting, and therefore may get a slightly better product coming into their school...slightly. BUT by the time they leave as Seniors...the players that come out of Ohio State end up surpassing those players at scUM. And maybe part of that has to do with how hard they play, how they learn to play as a team, and the coaching staff at tOSU.