College Confidential

Missouri gov likes Big Ten idea

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon just gave a little more momentum to the Missouri-to-the-Big-Ten rumors.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Nixon, a Missouri grad, endorsed the move and offered some interesting opinions of current Big 12 member institutions.

"I'm not going to say anything bad about the Big 12, but when you compare Oklahoma State to Northwestern, when you compare Texas Tech to Wisconsin, I mean, you begin looking at educational possibilities that are worth looking at," Nixon told the AP.

"If a significant conference with a long history of academic and athletic excellence talks about you joining them, you shouldn't just say, 'We're from the old Big 8 and I remember when ... If they want to talk, we should talk, and we should listen."

-- Chuck Carlton

Big Ten seeking No. 12

The Big Ten, which valued a brand name more than numerical accuracy, has decided that 11 isn't enough.

The conference announced today, in a three-paragraph statement that has all the readability of a Senate bill, that it will be seeking a 12th member. The bottom line is the bottom line, as Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports notes: a nice $5 million payday from a title game.

Already speculation has grown, with the Big 12, along with the Big East, potential candidates for a raid. And Notre Dame remains the Big Ten's Holy Grail, as enticing as it is unobtainable. Already Missouri has issued a statement indicating a willingness to listen.

Even more radical speculation has mentioned Nebraska and even Texas as possibilities to join Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State. Stay tuned. It will be an interesting next 12-18 months.

-- Chuck Carlton

Wolverine trust broken?

Offensive lineman Justin Boren says he’s left the Michigan football team because the program’s “family values have eroded.”

The 6-foot-3, 310-pound Boren would have been one of two returning starters on the offensive line next season and the Wolverines’ most experienced lineman. The junior-to-be started every game last season, either at center or left guard.

Boren left the team Monday. On Wednesday he released a statement saying in part: “Michigan football was a family, built on mutual respect and support for each other from (former) Coach (Lloyd) Carr on down. We knew it took the entire family, a team effort, and we all worked together.

“I have great trouble accepting that those family values have eroded in just a few months. “ ... That I am unable to perform under these circumstances at the level I expect of myself, and my teammates and Michigan fans deserve, is why I have made the decision to leave.”

Boren told reporters after Michigan’s first spring practice 10 days ago that adapting to new coach Rich Rodriguez’s no-huddle spread offense was physically challenging. He mentioned the difficulty the offensive linemen had constantly running to the line of scrimmage.

-- The Associated Press

Big Ten(leven) is the Big Average

The Big Ten Conference has 10 of its 11 teams bowl-eligible. Nine of those teams have three or more losses. Ohio State's loss to Illinois at least spares us another championship game flop. Had the Buckeyes gone undefeated and faced LSU in the national title game, the Big Ten would have experienced another behind-the-woodshed whoopin' by a Southeastern Conference team.

As it is, there are gonna be some truly mediocre Big Ten teams bowling this season.

-- Wendell Barnhouse