Big Ten Preview: The First Right of Fall

By Paul Smith
paul.smith@collegeblitz.com

PORTER, IND. — It is an annual rite in the glistening glass-and-concrete canyons of Chicago's tony River North neighborhood. From Philly to Fridley, from Punxsutawney to Pella, they come, clad in black, gold, scarlet, gray, maize, blue, generic white, Spartan evergreen and just about every other mainstream rainbow color.

The Big Tenners descend upon the Hyatt Regency, dodging kitchenware or Herbalife conventioneers in every hallway, marching to the sound of America’s most memorable college fight songs.

Forward...MARCH!!! Into the Grand Ballroom.

In a searing summer full of steamy subtropical sultriness and (usually) sagging Chicago baseball fortunes, both the local and leaguewide communities are only too happy to meet and greet this most welcome sign of changing seasons. Beats back-to-school shopping any number of ways.

If you take it at face value, it is pretty much two early-week days of fun, where the football coaches manage a smile or two and store their game faces in secluded campus vaults.

If you're looking for hard news, well, credit the Ann Arbor News' Jim Carty with this classic, eye-catching description: "College football media days look a lot like 0-0 soccer games. Nothing really happens, nobody actually says anything, but it's still news."

So over 700 from every form of media imaginable join thousands of booster-clubbers in testing the venerable hotel's assembly area's tensile strengths and while the media scavenges for any imaginable piece of breaking news..."What, Jones is ineligible? What did the coaching staff say? Is that confirmed?"...the adoring public blows pre-season kisses toward the coaching staffs and selected players. While clapping along at parade attention to the riveting sounds of "Fight that team!", "The Victors," "The Falcone Fight Song," or "On Wisconsin."

The smart money, we're told, is on Michigan this fall. The combination of tried-and-true passer Chad Henne, wideout Steve Breaston, running back Mike Hart -- who came out of nowhere last year to push what some thought would be a supbar Michigan team to a share of the 2004 Big Ten title with favored Iowa, and a big offensive line...and a stunningly deep, if in places unproven defense presents a decent case.

Plus the calendar reads: Sat. Nov. 19 -- Ohio State AT Michigan. And so the media masses cast their preseason lot with the team all loyal Buckeyes call "The Gang Up North." Guess who's picked second? The sound of grinding teeth you may be hearing comes from 192 miles southeast of Ann Arbor.

The talent IS there on Michigan's defense, not many will question that. But...

"I hope, as usual, you know what you're talking about," U-M coach Lloyd Carr said, grimacing playfully at his adversaries spread across the spacious ballroom.

Carr is the latest in a long, long line of Wolverines coaches who are totally accustomed to such accolades.

"That's one of the reasons a lot of guys come to Michigan," Carr told Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press. "They want that pressure, they want to deal with those kinds of expectations. It can wear on you, but you have to understand it's part of the deal."

This year, as usual, there is enough dissent to roil the chalk-playing big city media who voted almost unanimously for Michigan.

But some of these geniacs appear to have overlooked the loss of four All-Americans and the fact that U-M also gave up 75 points in its final two games, losses at hated Ohio State and then to Texas in the Rose Bowl.

Kirk Herbstreit is one who didn't. Yes, he is a Buckeyes quarterback from the early 1990s, but also one who was outspoken about his alma mater's dealings with some of its recent off-field scandals. As loyal as he is to OSU, on Columbus' "Fan" (WBNS-AM/1460), he offers generous heaps of honesty and journalistic objectivity, as he does on ESPN's "Game Day" set with Chris Fowler and Lee Corso.

"I would rank them Ohio State, Purdue and Iowa," Herbstreit told Snyder. "The reason I say that is because you have to have a great defense to win the Big Ten Conference. When we see all these on paper, it's hard for me to say Michigan is the No. 1 team in the conference.

"The way they played at the linebacker area and in the secondary, they've not shown the ability to run (their defense) the way they're supposed to be run. Those other three should have better defenses."

Purdue has one added advantage: Because of a computerized anomaly, neither Michigan nor Ohio State appears on the Boilermakers' schedule.

"Absolutely," Boilers' coach Joe Tiller said, asked if a true Big 10 champion could be crowned without the presence of the celebrated Big Two on the schedule. "We have Michigan and Ohio State right where we want them."

He may be right, with returning quarterback Brandon Kirsch and that ever-menacing stable of receiving thoroughbreds teaming with enough of a complementary running game and solid defense to make Purdue a major consideration.

Iowa's Kirk Ferentz has muscled his way into prominence and the Hawkeyes' 2004 tie with Michigan for the Big Ten title was no accident.

The Hawkeyes return 12 key starters from the 10-2 powerhouse that dominated the league last year. Quarterback Drew Tate is one of the league's best, linebacker Chad Greenway can dominate a game. And the Hawks' recruiting year may be the Big Ten's best.

Many felt Greenway would forego his senior year, including Mel Kiper Jr., ESPN's NFL guru and candidate for pompadour of the year, who had the rangy Hawkeye hitter as a first-rounder. "I think that talk was circulated by the media," Ferentz told Lindy's Magazine contributor Marc Morehouse. "And I'm sure the agents did their share of fishing."

Maybe the league's biggest if resides in State College, Pa.

If Michael Robinson can settle in and stabilize Penn State's quarterbacking situation, the Nittany Lions may give 78-year-old Joe Paterno reason to postpone whatever secret retirement plans he may have. The Nitts had one of the nation's stingiest defenses last fall, but suffered their fourth losing season in the last six because of offensive woes.

Oh, and the presence of two of the nation's most-sought bluechips, wide receiver Derrick Williams and all-around utility man Justin King.

IF Michael Robinson...

The three most-uttered words in increasingly Happy Valley.

"You see the optimism we're carrying around?" Robinson said to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Ray Parrillo, knowing this has been a rare commodity in central Pennsylvania for the last half-decade. "They're the reasons why.

"Those guys are electric. Those guys are going to be special. I tell them all the time, 'You've got a lot to live up to. You're supposed to restore the roar.'"

Indeed. Ahhhh, August. Ninety-plus degrees outside. People ducking into air-conditioned emporiums to avoid the prairie broil. And much as baseball diehards await the pitchers-and-catchers reporting to their favorite teams' sunbelt camps, optimism is everywhere.

It wasn't really a 0-0 soccer game that unfolded in those two days, but even with Michigan seemingly annointed 2005 Big Ten champion, this could wind up being one of the most contentious seasons in recent memory.

And that IS news.