Big Ten Reading Room: OSU could make USC look like a wrist-slap, Huffington Post says Delany dropped the ball

While all is quiet on the Iowa football front after an especially turbulent winter,  Big Ten football keeps making news. Ohio State, to be specific.

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports, knowing how serious USC football's sanctions from the NCAA were pretty harsh, says the Ohio State case is worse. Which means, the penalties headed to Columbus could be whoppers. He writes:

If USC was guilty of not acting on allegations that weren't made until after a player's career was over, then Ohio State faces the more significant problem of not fully acting on allegations made while a player's career was still active. Plus there are more players than just (Terrelle) Pryor involved.

This is on Gene Smith. And it's on school president E. Gordon Gee and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, both of whom rubber stamped the investigation that even those uninitiated in NCAA procedure knew was ridiculous. Gee and Delany have no excuse for playing along with such a whitewash.

SportsbyBrooks.com reported Pryor deposited checks given to him by Columbus memorabilia dealer Dennis Talbott. Wetzel wrote:

The checks would be more than just proof that Pryor, who left the program on Tuesday, was accepting compensation for signing memorabilia, which is a violation of NCAA rules.

It could be the smoking gun that proves Ohio State's 11-day investigation last December into Pryor and his teammates profiting off memorabilia sales was nothing but a shallow show designed to sweep the scandal under the rug and get the players back on the field for the upcoming Sugar Bowl.

It's the proof that the school, and its highest leaders, not only failed to monitor the behavior of its star athletes, but even when tipped off by federal authorities of a major scandal, failed to find out what was actually going on.

As I keep reminding people who want to make Pryor the scapegoat, had Ohio State Jim Tressel reported what he knew about Pryor and some teammates and acted accordingly with suspensions, this would have gone away. Pryor broke rules. But he isn't the one that has OSU headed to NCAA jail. That's on the big boys who make the big money.

While it's easy to understand why Delany steered the Big Ten football title-game to Indianapolis through 2015, Jon Kerr of Huffington Post says the commissioner made the wrong move in not rotating the sites of the game. An excerpt:

It didn't sound like the decision of a visionary. I didn't sound like Jim Delany. ...

If I were a holder of Hewlett-Packard stock, I'd be most pleased with his reasoning. It's what you would expect from a corporate communications manager. But I expect more from Delany. The Big Ten football championship games will be the first ever played, the culmination to one of the most historic periods in the conference's history. They have a network that is beamed into tens of millions of homes. Nebraska enters as the 12th team. Divisional play.

Why not double down on this and rotate the games? Why can't you have the 2012 game at Soldier Field? Have the 2013 at Ford Field in Detroit, then 2014 at Lambeau Field, rotate indoor and outdoor. The cultural interest in these games would far surpass what you will have in Indianapolis. How fun would it be for fans to travel to a different site each year? That would do more for "fan comfort" than the static, controlled environment of the new Hoosier Dome (Michigan! Penn State! The Rose Bowl at stake! Welcome to Lucas Oil Stadium. Leave your socks in the car!)

Quarterback Russell Wilson, formerly of North Carolina State, is a free agent with appeal. He was a two-time All-ACC pick who can run and throw. Which, Tom Oates of Madison.com writes, makes him just what the doctor ordered at Wisconsin should he transfer there. Wilson has one year of eligibility left and can play right away under NCAA rules because he has graduated. It sounds like it's Auburn or the Badgers for Wilson.

Oates writes:

UW is looking to replace steady Scott Tolzien after sharing the Big Ten title and playing in the Rose Bowl. Sophomore Jon Budmayr was the starter in the spring, but his performance was uneven at best and he appeared to win the job by default.

Two things might be in UW's favor with Wilson: The Badgers suffered fewer personnel losses than Auburn and they run a pro-style offense compared to Auburn's hurry-up spread. If Wilson envisions an NFL future for himself, UW might be his best bet.