Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, May 26, 2015

I usually agree with Lee Barfknecht of Omaha.com. But I don?t on this: He thinks the College Football Playoff should stay at four teams. I think it should expand to at least six-with the champ of each Power Five league getting a bid and the final bid going to a ?wild card.?

I laugh when folks argue that expanding the playoff would be too much wear and tear on the players. My retort: They have had multiple-round and multiple-team playoffs in Divisions II and III and FCS for years. How have those players managed to survive? To wit: North Dakota State played 16 games last year en route to winning the FCS title. Where was the rage and outcry about that workload?

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An early signing period for football? Most Big Ten ADs are in favor of it. The idea makes just too much sense.

But, considering ?elite? schools stand to lose the most from an early-signing period-they want to be able to flip recruits from lesser schools late in process–I have my doubts on if such a measure would pass.

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It is difficult to project which true freshmen will play right away. But I like the chances of Penn State RB Saquon Barkley.

"I want to be at least 220, 225, and I'll be stronger than I've been," he told Pennlive.com. "Just get better and better each day, from the play book, adjust myself to the style they play, and become a better player anyway.

"Anything I can do to get on the field as a freshman, that's my ultimate goal, to prove I belong there and can play with those guys."

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Steph Curry created a stir by bringing his young daughter to a postgame presser recently. (Yes, really.) Penn State?s James Franklin has done the same. His take, courtesy of David Jones of Pennlive.com.

"I don't get to see my family very often. I get done with the game and we go to the locker room. And it's not like I have sons; my girls can't be a part of that.

"So, I come out of the locker room, my girls go crazy, I haven't seen them all day. They run up, give me hugs and kisses and then what happens is, I see them for that three minutes - the walk from the locker room to the press conference. Then, after the press conference, I have to meet with recruits.

"So, basically, on game day, the only times I get with them is my walk from the locker room to the press conference. Then, I leave them again. So, they started to ask, 'Dad, can we sit with you [on the interview podium]?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, come sit with me.'"

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A sure sign that summer is here: lists. Cleveland.com has begun a countdown of the Top 50 players in the Big Ten.

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It was sad to hear of the passing of former Ohio State sports info director Steve Snapp, a good man. Bill Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer pays a nice tribute to Snapp.

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The search for Michigan?s next great quarterback continues for Jim Harbaugh. And, he?s keeping his options open.

Brendan F. Quinn of Mlive.com says at San Diego it was Josh Johnson. At Stanford it was Andrew Luck. At San Francisco it was Colin Kaepernick. Now Harbaugh is tending to a stable of quarterback for his first season in Ann Arbor. He added Iowa transfer Jake Rudock to a group including unproven returnees Shane Morris and Wilton Speight, and newcomers Alex Malzone and Zach Gentry. Perhaps Harbaugh's future quarterback is in that group. Perhaps it's 2016 recruit Brandon Peters or Houston transfer John O'Korn. Stay tuned.

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Dan Duggan of NJ.com says that if Rutgers players learned one thing during their first lap around the Big Ten, it?s that bigger is better.

At 6-foot-8, 310 pounds, left tackle Keith Lumpkin is big for any league. But the fifth-year senior said the Big Ten lived up to its reputation as a physical league. He tried to impart that message to the team's younger offensive linemen during the offseason so they'll be ready when the game starts.

"It's going to get tough and that guy in front of you is not going to care so I try to tell them at all times that you have to keep pushing yourself," Lumpkin said. "That's the biggest thing that you can take from playing in the Big Ten is that it's a very physical league. It's very physical so you have to adapt to the physicality of that league."

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Hey, look you got a haircut: Iowa QB C.J. Beathard.

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Steve Politi of NJ.com has a nice tribute to athletes who died protecting our country.

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About Tom Dienhart BTN.com senior writer Tom Dienhart is a veteran sports journalist who covers Big Ten football and men's basketball for BTN.com and BTN TV. Find him on Twitter and Facebook, read all of his work at btn.com/tomdienhart, and subscribe to his posts via RSS. Also, send questions to his weekly mailbag using the form below and read all of his previous answers in his reader mailbag section.

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