Big Ten Football Morning Coffee: Barry Alvarez Is a Committee Man

Rise and shine, friends. Here's what's going down in the Big Ten today.

Wisconsin AD and former coach Barry Alvarez says a selection committee should be in charge of selecting the four BCS playoff teams, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Hey, it works for college basketball. No, seriously, it does.

The basketball committee works within certain guidelines, its selections are eminently reasonable and nobody comes away from a tournament thinking it was all a sham in the first place. It's a functioning system. It's OK to admit that.

Penn State fans shouldn't look at Ohio as just another MACrifice, warns Greg Pickel at the Patriot-News. It's also worth pointing out that Ohio's been to three straight bowl games, and that's something that half the Big Ten (including Michigan) can't claim. 

Former Ohio State quarterback Bill Mrukowski, who led the Buckeyes to an 8-0-1 record in 1961, died at 70 late Monday night, according to BuckeyeXtra.com. Incidentally, in one of the strangest historical aspects of Ohio State football, that team didn't go to a bowl game after the school declined to send its team to Pasadena.

Nine Big Ten players, including Michigan safety Jordan Kovacs, are among the 42 players named to the Lott IMPACT Award watch list, according to AnnArbor.com.

Two things: First, nine actually seems low for the Big Ten this year. Second, there are going to be a ton of these watch lists coming out over the next few months, and I'm not sure what purpose they serve other than free advertising for the awards anymore. Whatever.