Big Ten Football: The Week That Has Been, 3/31/12-4/6/12

This is the weekly recap of all the best goings-on at the Big Ten Blog. 

Big Ten Q&A: Ohio State as Season Spoilers?: The first mailbag of the year is here. As always, I'm taking questions either in my B/R Inbox, on Twitter at @Adam_Jacobi or at [e-mail].

Big Ten Wrong to Oppose 6-6 Bowl Eligibility: Whatever Jim Delany's going for with his desire to see 6-6 teams out of bowl contention, it's not particularly favorable for the Big Ten.

Kenny Demens Pulls April Fool's Prank: OK, Demens, that's good. All the best pranks are the ones rooted in credibility.

Devon Smith Might Have An Excuse In Drug Raid Incident: Devon Smith still hasn't been suspended—he's started missing practice, but with a leg injury—but something Jack Crawford's lawyer said might explain why Smith hasn't been punished.

Former Gopher LB Gary Tinsley Passes Away: Awful news today as Gary Tinsley, one of the leaders of the Minnesota defense over the last two years, died this morning.

Joe Paterno Firing Details Released: Nothing earth-shattering from this ESPN OTL report, but it doesn't make the Penn State Board of Trustees look very good in PSU fans' eyes.

Ranking the Big Ten Running Backs: Montee Ball is a no-brainer for the top of the list, but really, any of the top five are in serious contention for first-team All-Big Ten in 2012. Seems insane that at least one of them necessarily won't even make second-string all-conference—unless there's a tie. Ugh, ties.

Whatever Happened to Ki-Jana Carter?: Ki-Jana Carter was that dude. He's doing well in his actual life now, but man, if his legs had cooperated in the NFL...