The quintessential Big Ten smoking room.
This is a column to check in on the rest of the football world, but since it’s 2025 in America I will beat you over the head with The Agenda, which in case you’ve forgotten is “Big Ten Superiority Unless It’s Funny.” THE AGENDA MVP: ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI The winner of Indiana-Ohio State was going […]
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It’s Monday, and I’m still trying to reconcile the fact that fucking Indiana won the B1G. The NIL era is awful. Anyway, fire away with questions. We’ll answer a bunch of them and then post the responses on Friday. And the results will be better than a Ryan Day that once-a-year bed shitting Ryan Day […]
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…y’know, as we get them. Where will Ohio State and Oregon fall? Who’s going somewhere warm, and who’s going to somewhere Detroit? Indiana is your new AP #1 for the first time. Ever. Congratulations to the Hoosiers. This is the space where we’ll update the College Football Playoff rankings and bowl pairings as they come […]
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Ten Fourteen Eighteen B1G Things The Rundown Those crazy sonsofbitches did it! They actually did it! Indiana played like a team that wanted to win, and the aggressiveness paid off. They held Ohio State to its fewest points all season, harassing Julian Sayin all night. The win basically locks the No. 1 seed for the […]
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I decided, apparently, that we’d had enough fun with Don’t Watch This; Watch That for 2025. It is officially CLOSED—you have been told What to Watch and What Not to Watch enough—so now, in honor of Championship Saturday, I expect that you will know to make the right decisions. Choose wisely, because there are a […]
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We did it! Here are the responses to some questions! What New Year’s resolution do you want your school’s coaching staff to make for 2026? – LandOfSkyBlueWatersGophers HWAHSQB: Take the triple flea flicker reverse whatever it was that they tried to run IN THE SNOW and drown it in the Boneyard Creek. Also, I hope […]
4 days ago | 0 reads
Indiana. Ohio State. The Big Ten Championship and the #1 overall CFP seed on the line. Each week, the incomparable RockyMtnBlue messages me at some point around 8pm CT on Thursday, hallucinating that he somehow owes me an apology for finishing all this work to bring y’all the weekly picks. Each week, I am nowhere […]
4 days ago | 0 reads
Here we are, the final game of the B1G season. The fans of 16 teams have had their hopes crushed, but hope remains for the fans of the final two, unbeaten teams. In this edition of WWBWWBD, the OTE “writers” will let you know their plans for the B1G Conference Championship Game. BRT: In Lincoln, […]
4 days ago | 0 reads
This is a column to check in on the rest of the football world, but since it’s 2025 in America I will beat you over the head with The Agenda, which in case you’ve forgotten is “Big Ten Superiority Unless It’s Funny.” Call me the SEC, because I took Week 13 off. THE AGENDA MVP: […]
6 days ago | 0 reads
Michigan’s bid for five in a row against Ohio State came up short, as Ryan Day and the Buckeyes got the monkey off their back with a dominant victory in Ann Arbor. Ohio State came into Saturday’s season-ending showdown against Michigan undefeated, but also somewhat untested. Aside from an early season win over Texas and […]
7 days ago | 0 reads
Happy Monday! It usually takes something weird to get me to pay attention these days, and the good thing is that there has been a ton of weird. And weird would be the perfect way to describe everything that everyone’s 2nd-favorite Bloomington Jefferson graduate (after Nick Checco, of course) has done over the past week […]
8 days ago | 1 read
Lamenting the death of the truly-enjoyable MTE. I hadn’t planned on much basketball coverage here for a couple reasons: for one, the internet is a dying place, and, for two, that’s exacerbating the steady death of Off Tackle Empire dot blogspot dot biz. BUT! Looking over the (limited) options for basketball on this last snowy […]
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Michigan State officially announced Jonathan Smith was to be relieved of his duties effective Sunday. Not long after, the rumor mill started churning Pat Fitzgerald as the candidate to replace Smith as the Spartans head coach. Because we’re a serious operation here at Off Tackle Empire, we come with instant reactions to the news! LincolnParkWildcat: […]
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Ten Fourteen Eighteen B1G Things The Rundown It’s Iowa They do it again. It’s now the 7th time they’ve beaten Nebraska in Memorial Stadium, which puts Ferentz at second in Big Ten wins at Memorial Stadium, behind Bo Pelini and ahead of Scott Frost, Mike Riley, and Matt Rhule, who all have six. At least […]
9 days ago | 0 reads
HAT! AXE! GAME! and so much more. Come join the conversation. The Morning Shows This is a deeply silly sport. Big Ten Football Schedule (1) Ohio State Buckeyes @ (15) Michigan Wolverines 11AM | FOX | Ohio State -9.5 | O/U 44.5 (5) Oregon Ducks @ Washington Huskies 2:30PM | CBS | Oregon -6.5 | O/U 51.5 wisconsin badgers @ Minnesota […]
10 days ago | 0 reads
Plus, basketball—if you so choose. Big Ten Football on Today Iowa Hawkeyes @ Nebraska Cornhuskers 11AM | CBS | Iowa -6.5 | O/U 38.5 (2) Indiana Hoosiers @ Purdue Boilermakers 6:30PM | NBC / Peacock | Indiana -28.5 | O/U 54.5 What else is on? Well, for one, I’ve told you everything you should and shouldn’t watch: But if […]
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RIVLARY! RIVALRY! RIVALRY! Now that MNWildkit is three, we’ve started to expand out our limited TV programming allowances into the educational classics—Mrs. MNW is champing at the bit for Wishbone, but for now, it’s all Magic School Bus, all the time. So shout-out to the Season 2 episode about butterflies, which is allowing me to […]
11 days ago | 0 reads
Hello? Is anybody there? Happy Thanksgiving to you, yours, and those you care about. Even the Michigan fans. This will also serve as your open thread for Thanksgiving Day’s football. Maybe basketball if I don’t have time to put up a thread for that. Who’s to say? It wasn’t ideal to learn yesterday, after we […]
12 days ago | 0 reads
College basketball on today. Like…almost too much basketball? Wha’ happen? So…Michigan might be really, really, really good. Bonesaw Invitational Players’ Era Festival, Brought to You by PIF #7 Michigan Wolverines 101, #12 Gonzaga Bulldogs 61 Genuinely, just…terrifying. Yaxel Lendeborg and the Wolverines crumpled up Graham Ike and the Bulldogs and shoved them in a locker. […]
12 days ago | 0 reads
Welcome to the last power poll of the regular season! We’re going to compare our favorite Big Ten teams to characters in movies we know and love! Some of these are going to be a little too on the nose, and others I had a little fun with. No. 1: Ohio State Buckeyes First place […]
12 days ago | 0 reads
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all enjoy the long weekend, but it is, alas, the final weekend of the regular season. For some, their teams will move on to bigger, better games, e.g., the B1G CCG, CFP, and bowl games, while for others, their teams will head home, lick their wounds, and try to […]
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MORE FEAST MORE FEAST MORE FEAST MORE FEAST You ever have that moment where you look around and wonder if it’s only you left? Yeah, me neither. Here is what I wrote yesterday—drafted on Monday night—about the Players Era Festival: Maryland Terrapins 74, UNLV Rebels 67 There were approximately 50 people in the stands for […]
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Another day in the life of the Big Ten in FEAST WEEK: Rutgers sucks, USC’s mediocre, everything else…eh. FEAST WEEK DAY 1: RECAPS Players Era Festival I’m increasingly angry about this tournament—not specifically because Michigan routed San Diego State and ran up the score, but specifically because the nature of “18 teams playing a fucking […]
14 days ago | 1 read
Before I get into the preview of the Indiana at Purdue game, I want to take a moment to wish everyone throughout the Empire a very happy Thanksgiving. I hope each and everyone of you will spend some time with family, friends, and loved ones. While our school’s sports teams clash on the field, pitch, […]
14 days ago | 0 reads
Nebraska wins a championship, Purdue stuffs Tech in a locker, and all the other news that’s fit to print. Good morning. Lots of Big Ten hoops to get to, since Rutgers—and boy do we have more on them in a second—is going to get flattened by Tennessee in about an hour. The Weekend That Was […]
15 days ago | 3 reads