Beating Michigan never gets old for us Ohio State fans, but has gotten a little, um, ho-hum of late.

Then this story broke today, as Duke backup point guard Greg Paulus visited Ann Arbor for spring football practices last week. A former highly-touted prep quarterback, whose brother plays QB for North Carolina, Paulus has used all four years of his basketball eligibility for the Blue Devils. If he switches to football, he's got one year left at any school he chooses.

Is this the best spring news ever? Could be.

Since UM is down to pretty much freshman Tate Forcier at QB, a little depth would be nice. And Paulus has been the poster boy of the whiny, overly-entitled Duke basketball player. It's a beautiful marriage. I could use some good ol' fashioned hate back in the rivalry. And he's easy to hate.

The best part is this: Duke coach David Cutcliffe did ask Paulus to come try out for the Blue Devils' football team - as long as he tried out at wide receiver.

Hmmm, can't cut it at Duke? Come play for Michigan!

That's awesome. no comments

Jim Tressel is old school. He doesn't Twitter. Doesn't seem to know too much about it. I don't see him Tweeting soon. I think Tress will be just fine without joining the other coaches (Pete Carroll, RichRod, Bill Stewart, Tim Brewster and so on) who are Twittering. Wait. Shouldn't OSU Football SID Shelly Poe be doing this for him? no comments

So, which one of these guys is the better coach?

I've enjoyed the work of Tom Dienhart for years. A former Sporting News editor, Dienhart is now writing college football for Rivals.com.

But this column, smells of the "what can I write to generate hits by really pissing someone off" variety.

Dienhart lists the coaches in the Big 10 as such.

1. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
2. Rich Rodriguez, Michigan
3. Jim Tressel, Ohio State
4. Joe Paterno, Penn State
5. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
6. Ron Zook, Illinois
7. Bret Bielema, Wisconsin
8. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
9. Danny Hope, Northwestern
10. Tim Brewster, Minnesota
11. Bill Lynch, Indiana


I know, I know. Bill Lynch at #11??!?!?! OUTRAGEOUS!

You can read Dienhart's reasons by clicking the link. no comments

Maurice Clarett is our new Lane Kiffin. Two posts in three days. Hopefully it will stop soon. But when Sweater Vest took a few minutes to discuss Clarett's blog from prison with Palestra.net it seems like a good time for this subject to resurface.

SV is doing his best to put a positive spin on Clarett, but he almost seems too excited to talk about this. It's almost like the conversation went something like this:

Reporter: "Hey coach, have a few questions. What do you think about Maurice Clarett blogging from prison?"

SV: "What, no questions about the SEC? Nothing about our lack of speed in the secondary? Or on the offensive line?"

Reporter: "Nothing like that coach. Just want your thoughts on Maurice."

SV: "Sure you're not buttering me up so you ask me about losing in big games?"

Reporter: "Just Mo coach. That's it."

SV: "OK, but I'm wary." no comments

It would be easy to talk about his wasted talent, or how and where Maurice Clarett's life went astray. But when I read the latest about Clarett at ESPN.com, my first reaction was "good for him."

It seems Clarett, who struggled to pass a class at Ohio State, is now blogging from prison. Here is an excerpt from a recent entry at The Mind of Maurice Clarett:

"There’s no need to talk to a reporter these days. I am my own newspaper. I am my own editor. I am my own censor. I am able to put things into the proper context. I am able to control the content and I am educated enough to accurately express myself. I am able to distinguish to people in a unique fashion that football is just something that I do. Football is not Maurice Clarett."

The blog is interesting. There are glimpses of man on the inside reaching out. But this blog seems too organized. Too methodical. Too intelligent. I'm struggling to believe it is really him. If it is ... fine. It does prove one simple fact: you don't have to be a former sports editor or, OK, another former sports editor, to maintain an interesting blog.

The son of a bitch probably gets more traffic than we do also. Damn you Mo. no comments

Jim Tressel is so determined to catch up with the rest of the nation's best teams that Ohio State has now turned to the cheerleaders for infusion of speed. Congrats Josh Springer and good luck. Hey Phil, do think this will work? no comments

While eating lunch and scanning for anything about college football that isn't recruiting related I stumbled across this interesting post at Zombie Nation, the kind of college football blog that I prefer. Humorous, but not stupid. It also offers interesting posts. Only negative for me is it's all about Penn State. But still a great resource.

Great research and interesting to see that Phil and Tom's interests, Ohio State and West Virginia, made the cut. The Buckeyes are 25-3 at home since 2005, while the Mountaineers are 22-4. Also interesting, but not surprising, is that Boise State tops the list at 25-0.

Here are the home schedules for OSU and WVU in 2009.

Ohio State
Sept. 5
Navy

Sept. 12
USC

Sept. 26
Illinois

Oct. 10
Wisconsin

Oct. 24
Minnesota

Oct. 31
New Mexico State

Nov. 14
Iowa


West Virginia
Sept. 5
Liberty

Sept. 26
Colorado

Oct. 3
Marshall

TBA
East Carolina
Louisville
Connecticut
Pittsburgh no comments

Phil and James Laurinaitis probably have more in common than I realize. But now I know of at least one thing. Once a Buckeye always a Buckeye.

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Archie Griffin and his back-to-back Heisman Trophys are sacred to Ohio State fans. When Tim Tebow won last season many of those fans feared Superman's potential to win in 2008.

Thank you Sam Bradford. Sort of. Now Bradford is the man challenging Griffin's place in history. And let's not forget that Tebow could win it again.

However, the very reliable Heisman site, HeismanPundit.com, says there is no reason to worry.

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Well, Ohio State took it a bit on the chin from early entrants to the NFL Draft this year. While running back Beanie Wells was certainly no surprise, it was the departure of WR Brian Hartline and CB Donald Washington that was unexpected. Rumors had flown for awhile that both would be leaving this season, but it was still in kind of a "really?" sort of way.

I'll try to not judge their decisions as I'm certainly not privy to anyone's financial situation or personal history within the program. Hartline was OSU's big play guy this year at times, but struggled with consistency and was reportedly unhappy after the QB change was made from his friend Todd Boeckman. Washington was suspended for two games this year and never took back his starting job from Chimdi Chekwa, but he played frequently.

Both players were redshirt juniors, so perhaps they felt attached to the large senior class. Hartline I can somewhat understand as his draft position was unlikely to change next year. But Washington could have put another full year as a starter under his belt and likely been OSU's top corner, improving his stock from a late rounder to perhaps as high as the third round.

Oh well.

Here's the complete list of early entrants.

Did a tight end from Rice actually declare early? no comments