Football's Late Night Ramblings: All-Conference Selections, Luke Fickell and MNF

Drew Thurman (12:37 am)

1) The Big Ten Announced the 2010 All-Conference Teams, and the Buckeyes made a strong showing as you would expect. Dan Herron, Dane Sanzenbacher, Mike Adams, Cameron Heyward, Ross Homan, Brian Rolle, Chimdi Chekwa and Jermale Hines made the All-Conference First Team according to the coaches. Mike Brewster and Justin Boren made the Second Team.

The media, on the other hand, voted Dane Sanzenbacher, Mike Brewster, Justin Boren, Mike Adams, Cameron Heyward, Brian Rolle and Chimdi Chekwa to the First Team. The Buckeyes on Second Team were Devin Barclay, Ross Homan and Jermale Hines. Terrelle Pryor, DeVier Posey and John Simon would appear on the Honorable Mention on both lists.

I was surprised to see the heavy respect for a guy like Mike Adams who appeared on the First Team on both lists (and deserved it), while Terrelle Pryor got no love from the coaches or the media.

Pryor was the named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and had a great year even though he will fall short of winning the Heisman as many expected. Behind Denard Robinson, he was easily the conference's most dominant player, and it's really a robbery he didn't appear on either list. Instead the media darlings, Scott Tolzien and Dan Persa, grabbed the honors ahead of him.

What a joke! Unfortunately, Pryor is a victim of the high expectations placed on him, and there hasn't been near the respect for the season he put together as there should be. Judging by Pryor's latest Tweet, he didn't appreciate the lack of respect either!

2) As for the Coach of the Year honors, the media voted Mark Dantonio as expected. It's hard to argue with Dantonio getting the award, but I still feel for Tressel. There always seems to be some surprise success story that helps lift a coach to grab the honors, while all Tressel has done is dominate the conference for a decade. I think it's becoming abundantly clear that he could go his whole tenure at OSU without getting Coach of the Year.

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3) Keep your eyes and ears open to what is going on with the Indiana job. There are rumors going around that Luke Fickell could be a serious candidate for the job. While I expect IU to make a run at some of the hotter names with head coaching experience, for example Brady Hoke (San Diego State), Randy Edsall (UConn) and Jerry Kill (Northern Illinois), don't count out Fickell if they are unable to sway any of these other guys to head to Bloomington.

Fickell was recently named National Assistant Coach of the Year and has started to become a more sought after commodity the last couple of years. While many believe he could be the guy to follow Tressel, most think he needs to go and prove himself as a head coach first. I think that opportunity will be coming very soon, whether at Indiana or elsewhere. 

4) Monday Night Football was chalked full of former Buckeyes. While it was an ugly game between two 3-7 teams in the 49ers and the Cardinals, it was at least entertaining, thanks to some Buckeye alumni. Troy Smith had an alright game throwing for 129 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but he continues to prove himself as a winner as he has won three games in four starts.

The 49ers also featured Teddy Ginn at wideout and on special teams, who looked as sharp as I have seen him all year long and Nate Clements on defense. Beanie Wells got the start at running back for the Cardinals, who I'm not sure could beat a good college team right now. Beanie only got five carries but did have a huge 43-yard reception, which was by far the biggest play they made all night.

5) Finally, TCU has accepted an invitation to join the Big East. The move makes little sense geographically, but being part of an automatic BCS qualifying conference with more exposure was too much to pass up for the Horned Frogs. Thanks BCS for screwing up college football yet again! Instead of a new rivalry brewing in the Mountain West between TCU and Boise State, we will watch TCU jump into a conference that it will have little in common with.

Sure there will be some good games, but I think the Mountain West could have been something special. Had Utah, BYU and TCU all stayed, with Boise jumping into the mix, the conference would have been much stronger than the Big East. Maybe even the ACC. Instead schools are leaving because of the money-hungry system driven by the BCS, which ruins the potential for backyard rivalries. Money is driving college football, not what is best for fans!