Hlas column: Madison madness adds to the nuttiest Big Ten football offseason

Someone, please tell Nebraska this isn't a typical Big Ten football off-season.

For starters, the last time Michigan and Ohio State broke in new head coaches in the same season was 1897.

That thing at Ohio State? Those kinds of scandals don't rock the Big Ten any old year. The probability of OSU doing some serious NCAA probation penance still rocks the league's collective mind.

Monday's news wasn't on that sort of level, but it's still what I would call wildly unusual. In the last week of June, the league's most recent Rose Bowl representative added a new starting quarterback to its team.

Russell Wilson has left his job playing second base for the Asheville Tourists of the South Atlantic League, and is headed to Madison to “compete” for the Wisconsin Badgers' quarterback job.

Sophomore-to-be Jon Budmayr was Wisconsin's No. 1 quarterback coming out of spring drills. But he has thrown just 10 more passes as a Badger than Wilson.

Wilson has thrown a few passes, overall. He averaged 40 per game last season. He has passed for 76 touchdowns and 8,545 yards, and has rushed for 17 TDs and 1,089 yards.

That was in three seasons at North Carolina State, where he graduated in four years with a season of eligibility remaining. Which, under NCAA rules, left him free to transfer anywhere he wanted without sitting out a season.

“Russell will come in and compete for the starting quarterback position,” Wisconsin Coach Bret Bielema said in a prepared statement. “This is an unusual situation, especially for a program that prides itself on developing players throughout their careers, as we do here at Wisconsin. However, this is a special situation and Russell is the type of player and person that fits very well with our team.”

That's because he is, you know, really good.

There's no hidden agenda here. Wisconsin, a team already projected to be one of the best in the conference again this year, nonetheless had serious insecurity at quarterback. Wilson was available. Bielema offered him a high-profile place to play his final season.

Suddenly, many are predicting the moon and the stars for the Badgers in 2011, or at least something better than a Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas berth.

It's pretty hard for a fan base not to be excited about having a player who owns the NCAA record for most consecutive passes without an interception (379), or who was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference quarterback as a freshman, or whose N.C. State team won nine games last year and gave West Virginia a 23-7 smackdown in the Champs Sports Bowl.

Wilson completed 28 of 45 passes for 275 yards and two TDs in that game, with nary a pick.

The Wolfpack had a mediocre running game. Wisconsin runs the ball effectively, to say the least. It would appear the Badgers now have quite the arsenal on offense.

But for a collegian to come into an August camp cold when it comes to knowing an offense, his teammates, and the competition, it's asking a lot for him to be a cut above the Big Ten's norm in October and November. No matter what he's already accomplished in a BCS conference.

That said, if you're Ohio State, Penn State and the rest of the Leaders Division, you're not a bit happy to see Bielema go from a completely inexperienced quarterback to Wilson.

Wilson's first Big Ten game will be Oct. 1 in Madison. The opponent is Nebraska. In prime-time. Both teams should have swept their four nonconference games leading up to those bright lights in Madtown. The cheapest ticket for that game on StubHub Monday afternoon was a student seat for $204.

Cornhusker fans, this isn't how it usually works in your new league. Opposing quarterbacks are usually on their teams' rosters before June 27.

Also, Michigan and Ohio State don't break in new head coaches in the same year. And, the league's superpowers typically are toppled by SEC teams in January bowls, not by tattoo parlors.

What kind of cockamamie conference did you join, anyway?