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The Big Ten hands out awards for practically everything at the end of the regular season, but the league lacks a comeback player of the year honor. If it did, Illinois' Corey Lewis would be the obvious choice. Most probably didn't notice Lewis ...

Earlier this week, I asked you to identify the Big Ten's strongest position group. Not surprisingly, running back ran away from the competition with 53 percent of the vote. Can't blame you there. The Big Ten returns its top three running backs fro...

Tim Beckman's first pivotal recruiting venture at Illinois didn't take place in a living room or at a camp for prep players. It happened at a California hotel in late December. His targets already wore the Orange and Blue. The group gathered befor...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- After the 2011 season, Illinois center Graham Pocic sat down with his linemate, Jeff Allen, to compile a highlight tape for Allen to show NFL talent evaluators. It sounded like a fun exercise. And for a little while, it was. ...

The postseason position rankings march on with the offensive lines. No position group is evaluated more as a collective unit, and the Big Ten had a mix of strong offensive lines and shaky ones. There were some individual standouts, such as Michigan c...

The North team recorded a 23-13 win against the South in Saturday's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., and several Big Ten players contributed to the victory. Big Ten players factored in all the scoring for the North squad. Wisconsin quarterback Russell...

It's Senior Bowl week, and the semi-creepy weigh-in took place earlier today in Mobile, Ala. Both teams are currently going through their first practice session, and colleague Todd McShay has previewed what should be an interesting week leading up...

My apologies for posting this a bit late, but the initial invitations list is out for the 2012 NFL scouting combine, which takes place next month in Indianapolis. This list does not include the five Big Ten juniors who have declared for the draft. ...

A lunch links shout-out to my local Division III team, North Park, which is 3-0 for the first time since 2005. Kudos to coach Scott Pethel and the Vikings! Coaches Bo Pelini and Bret Bielema take different approaches to the Nebraska-Wisconsin hoo...

Illinois set team records for points scored (423) and points per game (32.5) in Paul Petrino's first season as offensive coordinator. Here's the scary part: Petrino thinks the unit can be even better this fall. Quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase is...

Illinois and Penn State hit the practice field today. RIP, Bubba Smith. Michigan State great Bubba Smith was a trailblazer in football, Drew Sharp writes in the Detroit Free Press. Smith gave State some swagger, Lynn Henning writes in The Detroit...

The Big Ten on Thursday announced its list of players appearing at preseason media days, which will be held July 28-29 in Chicago. This announcement is probably bigger for media types than fans, but it gives an idea of who teams view as leaders an...

You've got to explain this planking thing to me. Nebraska players are doing it. Illinois tackle Jeff Allen is doing it. What am I missing here? Bret Bielema discusses Wisconsin's courtship of Russell Wilson here and here. Wisconsin boosted its...

My apologies for posting these a day late -- blame it on Russell Wilson -- but it's time to break down the Big Ten offensive linemen entering the 2011 season. Rather than list the top 10 across the three position groups, I've decided to go a diffe...

The preseason position rankings march on with the offensive lines. Team rankings are below, and we'll take a look at the individual rankings for tackles, centers and guards early next week. Looking at the league landscape, offensive line could be ...

Earlier today, my colleague Edward Aschoff from the SEC blog took a look at three potential dark horse teams in that league for the 2011 season. At the risk of playing catchup to the SEC -- something Big Ten folks hate to do -- I think it's a good...