Michigan - Michigan State projected as season finale

Interesting post in the LSJ. Looks like as the Big Ten expands to 12, the big year-end games for Big Ten football will be Michigan State-Michigan, Ohio State-Penn State, and Nebraska-Iowa. Alas, Ohio State-Michigan will fall by the wayside. And, with Iowa and Wisconsin SPLIT in a new divisional structure, that is a hint at a possible North-South divisional alignment:

NORTH
Indiana
Michigan
Michigan State
Minnesota
Northwestern
Wisconsin

SOUTH
Illinois
Iowa
Nebraska
Ohio State
Penn State
Purdue

And, my God everyone is high on William Gholston as the next speed rusher for the Big Green. My oh my we need one desperately... put some heat on opposing QBs to help out our secondary and cause some turnovers.

And you all noticed now that the Big 10 has twelve teams, and the Big 12 has ten teams. Any chance on swapping names?

ES loves New Holland Brewery

Back to the hoppy guys. Here's another. While the service at New Holland Brewery in Holland SUCKED, the beer - well you can rave about it, incluing an amazing "Hopquila" shot... I tried the 10.5% Dragon's Milk Ale, which had more of a strong stoudt-like feel, and complex oaky flavors. Below, I picked up the 4-pack of the Imperial Pale Ale, a 9.5% doozy which blows the pants off its distributed Mad Hatter. Imperial IPA compares nicely to Bell's Hopslam or Short's Huma-Lupa-Licious. Nothing like a nice IPA before heading to the beach on a 85-degree day.

OPENING KICKOFF
The ES plans to be in the stands this Thursday for CMU's opening tilt against Hampton Univ. Poor, Hampton, they'll probably lose by 50 points. Then, the ES heads home for Saturday's home opener, another dripping contest vs. Western Michigan. MSU is favored by 22 vs Western.

Where's the ES?

The Enlightened Spartan has entered a semi-retirement mode from the now maxi-saturated blogosphere. It was way back at the dot-com bust that the ES started the first Big Ten football fan website (pre-"blog"), soon followed by the first college football podcast in the nation. But now, in 2010, every brother's sister's blog in America is chiming in. So many opinions on the Spartans, mostly uninformed or dumb. Sigh.

So what's happened? The ES has moved on to teach in the Sport Management program at CMU while he finishes his PhD dissertation. That's a lot of work, Spartan fans. It has been a wild ride the past 10 years, and no doubt you should watch for the occasional ES fire after a loss here or win there. But, for the most part, we shall be in semi-retirement, which should please the biggest asshole blogger in the land: and you know who you AAre.

Enjoy the message board... we'll enhance that more prominently shortly.

Michigan State favored by 21 over Western Michigan

Our Big Green Touchdown Machine opens up as a 21 point favorite at home over Western Michigan on opening weekend.... 3 weeks away! Ohio State is a 29-pt fave over Marshall; Northwestern is favored by 3 at Vanderbilt in the "Brainy Bowl." Wisky is favored by 20 at UNLV. Michigan is favored by a field goal at home over UConn. And, Nebraska is favored by 37 at home over Western Kentucky.

Big Ten Underdogs? Notre Dame opens the season as a 10 1/2 point home fave over Purdue. Illinois is 13-pt 'dog at Missouri. As a nice preview to Minnesota's season, they open on the road as a 5 1/2 point underdog at Middle Tennessee State.

On Tap... Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA

Wow, you want a good beer? Picked this hoppy fella up at Goodrich's Shop Rite. Yummy.

Big Ten football title game in 2011; 9-game schedule? MSU report

Yes, the Big Ten will have a football championship game in December 2011, with the addition of Nebraska to the conference schedule. Where will it be? ES sez either Lambeau Field (Milwaukee), Soldier Field (Chicago), Lucas Oil Field (Indianapolis), or Ford Field (Detroit)... Early nod goes to Ford Field because it is INDOORS and is by far the nicest football facility in the Midwest, if not the country. Though, seeing a Big Ten title game outdoors in December would be sensational - imagine MSU vs Nebraska, playing for the Big Ten title, in a blizzard in Chicago or Lambeau. Yes, I'd buy that ticket!

But, maybe bigger news is a consensus of a need to move to a 9-game conference schedule. That is EXCELLENT. The more Big Ten-scheduled games, the better, and that will help to drop pathetic scheduling of D1-AA teams such as Montana State, Northern Colorado, Youngstown State, and the like.

Other news? Expansion is STILL in play... and the ES wouldn't be surprised to still see Pittsburgh, Missouri, and/or Notre Dame added in the next year and move up to a 14-member conference.

As for Michigan State: Coaching staff very high on Mike Sadler as a future punter or kickoff guy for Michigan State - reports are that he has an amazing leg.

On defense: "We have four starters back. We also have young players like Max Bullough and William Gholston, who I think are going to play for us. You take those two guys and try to implement defenses that allowed us to have four linebackers on the field. Certainly 3-4 lends to that."

And on offense, the Doctor mentions that the passing game is the strength: "When you look at us as an offense, positions of strength would be quarterback, wide receiver and tight end"... and, at RB there were "outstanding spring practices and are really poised for a great year. So it should give us a great combination in terms of running and throwing the football, which I think you have to have great balance as an offense to be truly successful."

ES predicts Michigan State #4 finish

How the ES predicts the Big Ten 2010 football race:

1. Ohio State (8-0)
2. Iowa (7-1)
3. Penn State (6-2)
4. Michigan State (5-3)
4. Wisconsin (5-3)
6. Northwestern (4-4)
7. Michigan (3-5)
7. Purdue (3-5)
9. Indiana (2-6)
10. Illinois (1-7)
11. Minnesota (0-8)