Minnesota and Michigan discussed playing NONconference football games AGAINST EACH OTHER

OK, the Hlog has ribbed Minnesota football coach Tim Brewster for his hyper Twitter posts. He has used up a career's worth of exclamation points in just a few months.

But give Brewster credit where it's due: He apparently was willing to play a nonconferece game at Michigan in 2010, but was overruled by his athletic director.

As this post at College Football Talk explains, Michigan approached Minnesota about coming to Ann Arbor in 2010. The game wouldn't have counted in the Big Ten standings, but it at least would have been a good non-league game for both.

Michigan, which is hosting Delaware State this year and Massachusetts next, could use the credibility. No such problem exists schedule-wise at Minnesota, since the Gophers begin a two-year  home-and-home series with USC this year.

Next year's USC game is the reason Minnesota Athletic Director Joel Maturi said he had to tell Michigan no.

Said Maturi: “When you're Minnesota and you're trying to improve your program and to be successful, I'm really thankful to coach Brewster for his willingness to play a tougher schedule. Saying that, we already scheduled Southern Cal for next year. I'm not a brilliant guy, but I'm not so sure it's in the best interest of Minnesota football to play Southern Cal and Michigan in back-to-back weeks. Non-conference, so-to-speak. If we had not scheduled Southern Cal I would have been very interested.”

What this should tell you is that even the athletic directors and coaches know it's bogus that the Big Ten (and the Big 12, SEC and ACC) don't have round-robin conference schedules.

Again, good for Brewster if he was willing to tack this game on next year, and on the road at that. It's one thing to say you want to play a tough schedule. It's another to try to truly do it.