Articles

It doesn't appear that too many Big Ten teams are going to light the college hoops world on fire this season.  However, more than likely this will only be a temporary slump.  With the level of coaching talent roaming the sidelines in the league, its teams are sure to be competing for national championships again sooner rather than later.

1) Tom Izzo - Michigan State

Heading into this Saturday it seemed like the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were well on their way to a seventh victory and a berth in either the Gator or Sun Bowl. All they had to do was beat Syracuse, playing for a recently dismissed head coach in Greg Robinson and dead last in the Big East. But while the Orange haven't played particularly well this season, you can't accuse this team of quitting. What ensued was one of the more stunning results of the day, with Syracuse stunning the Irish 24-23 on a late touchdown pass. Where do the Irish go from here?

Well Billy and I are back with three more big games to preview on "Rivalry Week", and the three games in this piece all have conference title implications. One of those game will have a direct impact on the national title hunt, while another is a rivalry marked by its hatred spiced up by a possible BCS berth on the line. The third game features the nation's largest rivalry trophy that can be carried (the Fremont Cannon between UNLV and Nevada has them beat) along with the stakes of a Rose Bowl berth.

Cheerleader of the Day

Thanks to our friends over at Icon Sports Media, CHN has access to thousands of great college & NBA basketball photos.  Each day, along with our daily Big Picture, we'll be featuring a Cheerleader (or Dancer) of the Day. In September & October, we'll be rolling out some girls of the gridiron.

Big Ten Player Grades

SURPRISE TEAMS

CHN writers were asked a simple question: What team will be this year’s big surprise? Here’s what our guys had to say.. let us know who you would choose below:

This is the fourth of six annual fantasy stats projections of BCS conference starters. The lineups are based on the Starting Fives series of articles released two weeks ago, along with a couple of changes due to recent developments.

BIG TEN FIVE-YEAR STANDINGS

This ranking tries to answer a simple question: Who has been the best team in the Big Ten over the last five years?

Unlike the NBA, where most starting lineups are set in stone weeks before the season, NCAA starting fives are highly unsettled and constantly in flux. Going through the BCS leagues this week, I'll be projecting the starting fives for each team. Also included is the team's most important bench option, and some notes on other possible lineups.