The quintessential Big Ten smoking room.
Dear God, how many B1G West teams can play in one World Cup? Thus continues my sure-to-be-ill-fated attempt to write Big Ten-centric guides to all 48 teams in the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. If you’d like to know how to watch these games, as well as whether you should watch them, I’ve already covered and solved all the […]
Cheap shots, daddy’s money, a loud American, plus quiet competence…YOU TELL ME WHICH BIG TEN TEAMS YOU THOUGHT OF. Thus continues my sure-to-be-ill-fated attempt to write Big Ten-centric guides to all 48 teams in the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. If you’d like to know how to watch these games, as well as whether you should watch them, I’ve […]
A horseshoe wild enough to make Kirk Cousins use a naughty word! A long, long time ago, I promised that, in lieu of starting B1G 2026—The Last One Ever?(!)—until, give or take, the Fourth of July, we would be doing drop-in updates on the various teams of the Big Ten: any big transfers, important news, […]
It’s a matchup of 2010s-era wisconsin vs. 2000s-era Rutgers! What does that mean? READ DOWN! Thus begins my sure-to-be-ill-fated attempt to write Big Ten-centric guides to all 48 teams in the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. If you’d like to know how to watch these games, as well as whether you should watch them, I’ve […]
Can you ethically watch the World Cup? You already watch college football, so… You may have heard a soccer tournament is about to happen. It was news to me, but there you go. The World Cup starts today, and one of the questions I get constantly—don’t fact check that—as the premier college football Big Ten […]
Courtesy of Kyle Whittingham, author of How to Cook Your Horse: 25 Recipes You’ll Be Glued to, from Appaloosatizer to Mane Course A long, long time ago, I promised that, in lieu of starting B1G 2026—The Last One Ever?(!)—until, give or take, the Fourth of July, we would be doing drop-in updates on the various […]
Route 1 is both my approach to this article AND a major thoroughfare in College Park, Maryland! A long, long time ago, I promised that, in lieu of starting B1G 2026—The Last One Ever?(!)—until, give or take, the Fourth of July, we would be doing drop-in updates on the various teams of the Big Ten: […]
9-3. Rinse, repeat. A long, long time ago, I promised that, in lieu of starting B1G 2026—The Last One Ever?(!)—until, give or take, the Fourth of July, we would be doing drop-in updates on the various teams of the Big Ten: any big transfers, important news, or anything else. But to sweeten—or savory—the pot, I […]
How do you follow up 16-0? With a big-ass pork tenderloin, of course. A long, long time ago, I promised that, in lieu of starting B1G 2026—The Last One Ever?(!)—until, give or take, the Fourth of July, we would be doing drop-in updates on the various teams of the Big Ten: any big transfers, important […]
Orange. Blue. Horseshoe. We’re working on something here. A long, long time ago*, I promised that, in lieu of starting B1G 2026—The Last One Ever?(!)—until, give or take, the Fourth of July, we would be doing drop-in updates on the various teams of the Big Ten: any big transfers, important news, or anything else.* I […]
Is it weird that I feel…left out? The SEC is going through it right now. It’s SEC spring meetings, and just headline after headline has you wondering if we’re not watching a crack-up happen in real time. There’s Jon Sumrall, formerly of Tulane and Florida simultaneously, Tulane before that, and now just Florida, talking about […]
Please: at LEAST a 24-team College Football Playoff. But might we make a recommendation? Dear Commissioner Pettiti, Hi. MNWildcat here. Thanks for putting your thumb on the scale earlier this week to prevent SBNation from being sold to the Murdochs along with Vox. I know you’re too humble and good-looking a genius to take any […]
How will teams balance depth and talent in the NIL era? Player compensation provides athletes a real choice to delaying their entry into the NFL. Surprisingly there isn’t a lot of multi-year information available, but references were all similar to those in this chart. It still generally holds true that a player not projected to […]
Not for that reason, though. Teaching is tiring enough as it is—at baseline, I’m annoyed, frustrated, and underpaid. Happy Finals Week. Students don’t read, can’t write, and yet Michigan State’s admission rates aren’t getting any better. (This is a Big Ten blog, remember.) Use of artificial intelligence abounds, and some Big Ten institutions are just […]
Private equity? Advertising? Also see: NCAAF Roster Management – Part 1. Quick Takes NCAAF Roster Management – Part 2. NIL and Shared Revenue Structure NCAAF Roster Management – Part 3. Program Revenue Private Equity Partnership At the time of writing this [ed. note: my bad], the B1G private equity partnership with 3 firms appears dead. […]
Financing isn’t just an issue for G6 (few of which will keep pace), the power conferences are facing rapidly increasing costs. Also see: Program reserves were wiped out during Covid as most had to look to the University for assistance, and pay back the University the following years. Coaching staff cost has skyrocketed. It isn’t […]
We’re at the front end of the new NCAAF landscape with paid athletes, program GMs, and program managed NIL collectives. Programs have been adapting quickly to the new challenges of the additional NCAA and court requirements, but a new structure has taken form. Also see NCAAF Roster Management – Part 1. Quick Takes Note: this […]
It’s Fernando Mendoza and…who? Good morning. We’ll be back to talk about horseshoes and NIL as soon as I can get out from under this mountain of grading and this new book of mine. Exciting times in the MNW household. Tonight, I’m told, begins the NFL Draft. People really care about this. So let’s tell […]
A word on the future of Off Tackle Empire, a couple hundred words on the Big Ten and how Iowa are dirty cheaters, and then 1,000 more on a delicious sandwich. We have run over 10,000 posts here at Off Tackle Empire dot blogspot dot biz, soon to be acquired and saddled with tons and […]
Michigan spent most of this season playing its game – and playing it well. Blessed with an abundance of talent, size, playmaking ability and depth, the Wolverines like to open it up on offense. And when Michigan gets rolling, it can be hard to handle. Michigan not only won a program-best 37 games this season, […]
How do you distribute NIL and shared revenue funds in a modern NCAA Football roster? Note: this is the first in a four-part series from longtime OTE reader and commenter ProveIt on roster management, revenue sharing, and NIL distribution in our new era of college football. One of these will run every couple days for […]
The Big Ten now holds the national championships in men’s and women’s basketball, as well as football and probably all of hockey, too. In a whistle-marred game, Michigan shot 21/55 from the field and 2/15 from deep, but did just enough as UConn hit just 9 of their 33 threes, part of a putrid 31% […]
It was clear early in the season that this Michigan team was different. The Wolverines have had plenty of good teams in recent years. Over the past fifteen seasons, they’ve reached the Sweet Sixteen nine times, advanced to two Final Fours (2013 and 2018) and captured multiple Big Ten titles. But this team, with its […]
Plus: A Crown of Thorns, with no hope of resurrection for the Big Ten in Las Vegas The Crown: Updates Don’t lie to me, these are what you’re here for. The Games That Were (April 1-2) Oklahoma Sooners 90, Colorado Buffaloes 86 (OT) Baylor Bears 67, Minnesota Golden Gophers 48 At halftime I sent the […]
When Dusty May was introduced as Michigan’s new head coach two years ago, he was asked what the Wolverines would look like under his watch. “Our goal is to be enjoyable to watch,” May said. “We want to win championships, but we also want to put fans in the seats and be easy on the […]