On Iowa Daily Briefing 5.3.12 -- Bowlsby and the Big 12

Bob Bowlsby to Big 12 commissioner makes sense. Let's roll his resume.

He was the athletics director at the University of Northern Iowa from 1984 to 1991, where he hired Eldon Miller and Earle Bruce (not all that glitters is gold) and staged a men's basketball game in the UNI-Dome against the Iowa Hawkeyes that drew a crazy 22,797 fans. (Panthers won, I was a student in the crowd.)

Bowlsby served as Iowa's AD from 1991 through 2006, where he hired Kirk Ferentz and Steve Alford (not all that glitters is gold) and spearheaded the major renovation project at Kinnick Stadium (nearly $90 mill), among other endeavors. He left for Stanford in 2006, seeking a new challenge.

The Bowlsby-Bob Stoops thingie has reached mythical proportions. Who knows what happened. My theory is, yes, Stoops was interested in coming back to coach his alma mater. Maybe the search committee soured him. I don't know that. Then, Oklahoma got heavily involved and that made a lot of sense, both with the tradition and the financials.

The Tom Davis thingie remains a clear misstep. I don't remember anyone -- ANYONE -- standing up and saying that Alford was a bad idea. It clearly didn't work. Not all that glitters is gold. Sometimes, you go the hard road to figure that out.

Bowlsby also worked as a national leader on various NCAA committees that required an enormous commitment. Most notably, he served as chairman of the NCAA wrestling committee and also spent five years on the NCAA men's basketball committee, including two years as chairman in 2003-04 and 2004-05.

Bowlsby takes control of the situation, no matter what it might be. The Big 12 situation is nutty, to say the least. Bowlsby's football acumen is unquestioned. Jim Harbaugh, two BCS bowls at Stanford. Kirk Ferentz, Kinnick renovation, '02 and '04 Big Ten titles.

Nutty Big 12, meet a football AD. Bowlsby wouldn't be Texas AD DeLoss Dodds caddie. Texas will swing a mighty big stick. Will the league allow itself to be hostage to the Burnt Orange's TV whims? I don't think that would sit well with Bowlsby.

Remember that it took nearly two years before Ferentz signed his first contract with Iowa. That was super agent Neil Cornrich vs. Bowlsby. The cover was "separation language," but who knows what it really was. That was the first time Iowa administration dealt with a real sports agent. Since, Ferentz's deal has become as favorable for a coach as any. A happy coach is a coach who goes into his 14th season at the same school.

The Big 12 also contains Oklahoma, the Texas nemesis with a lot to say. It also welcomes TCU and West Virginia this season. It needs a strong hand. That's Bowlsby.

The Big 12 is a gold mine of interesting football. Maybe a centralized network would help unlock that? TV would be job 1 for Bowlsby. No. 2 would be giving the league an air of stability.

But here we are nearly 11:30 a.m. Thursday with an offer on the table. The Big 12 needs Bowlsby more than he needs it.

LINKED IN

-- Former Iowa walk-on point guard Branden Stubbs will play for Division II Augustana (S.D.) University, the school announced.

Stubbs (6-foot-2) played in 16 games over two seasons with the Hawkeyes and was a productive walk-on and sometimes entered the game in crucial situations. He scored 26 points in two seasons but largely was asked to take care of the ball when he entered the game with Iowa.

Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery told The Gazette in March he wanted to help Stubbs earn a scholarship and get some playing time.

"Branden is a very smart player who has spent the last two years playing and practicing against some outstanding competition,” Billeter said.  “He has been well coached and brings an overall toughness along with experience to a position we did not have a great deal of depth at.”

Stubbs will compete against former Iowa point guard Anthony Tucker next year. Tucker sat out this season but will play next season with Division II Minnesota State-Moorhead, which is coached by former Iowa assistant Chad Walthall.

--- Former Iowa linebacker Tyler Nielsen was touted as one of the top sleepers by NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock, Nielsen, who went undrafted and picked the Minnesota Vikings over the Miami Dolphins and about 14 other teams, has an opportunity to start, Mayock said.

“Nielsen is very undervalued," Mayock said, according to The Viking Age. "He played through some injuries this year. If you didn't know that, you might not like him. But I think he's one of the better special teams players in this draft who ultimately might be a starting SAM (strong side) ‘backer in this league."

-- The Green Bay Packers expect fourth-round pick Mike Daniels of Iowa to re-energize the Packers' defense despite his physical limitations.

--- Big Ten teams will have the chance to play against one another earlier in the football season in 2015 and 2016, but the league still will leave the first four weeks open for non-conference games, according to ESPN. It's up to the teams to move up their games into early September.

The Big Ten should consider starting the season the fourth week of September. Every year it's a weekend wasteland as teams schedule non-conference cupcakes before entering Big Ten season. Michigan this year plays at Notre Dame that weekend but makes up for it by not playing the following week. Minnesota is the only other Big Ten school playing a BCS competitor on Sept. 22, facing Syracuse.

From 2010-2012, Big Ten opponents have scheduled just three BCS opponents (counting this year) on the final weekend before conference play. Over that three-year period, the combined records of those opponents from the previous year are 148-216.

-- Also in that ESPN story, Big Ten senior associate commissioner Mark Rudner said the

league's 2015-16 schedules will be released later this month. Iowa has six Big Ten games already earmarked: permanent non-divisional opponent Purdue and Legends Division brethren Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern. Of the other two possibilities, it's expected Iowa and Illinois will finally play again after a six-year hiatus. Iowa's other opponent likely will be either Penn State or Indiana. My guess is Penn State.