Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, July 28, 2015
Let?s all say it together: The Michigan State at Ohio State game is the most anticipated in the Big Ten in 2015. And, as Kyle Austin points out, it also is the 7th-most expensive ticket in the nation, according to SeatGeek.
The average resale price of a ticket is at $341, more than double the $150 face value of tickets sold by Ohio State — the highest face value of any of the school's seven home games.
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On the subject of tickets, Michigan is about sold out for its home games. Tell me you aren?t surprised. Thanks, Jim!
The athletic department announced earlier this week that there are fewer than 4,000 tickets available for the entire 2015 season. Per U-M associate athletic director Kurt Svoboda, the only home games that are not yet sold out or down to single ticket availability are Michigan's Sept. 19 contest against UNLV and its Sept. 26 game against BYU.
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The great Lee Barfknecht of Omaha.com went to Big 12 media days last week. And, he unearthed some interesting stuff.
There was a time during the ?great expansion craze of 2010? when grouping Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota and Kansas into one division of a 16-team Big Ten was discussed at high administrative levels by members of both leagues. How wild would that have been?
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Bruce Feldman of FOX Sports has ranked non-conference schedules. And Michigan State comes in at No. 4 in the nation. Michigan is No. 8.
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Dustin Hockensmith looks at the 24 Penn State players who exceeded recruiting rankings over the last 10 years.
DT Austin Johnson was a three-star in 2012. Look at him now; TE Kyle Carter and G John Urschel had two stars.
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Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com looks at what the media has predicted so far in the SEC, ACC and Big 12.
The SEC is interesting, in that the media picked Alabama to win the West but Auburn to win the league. In a quirk of the voting conducted by the league, Alabama edged Auburn 1,405 points to 1,362 to emerge as the predicted champs of the SEC Western Division. But when asked for an overall conference champ, Auburn received 96 votes to Alabama's 80.
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A good video from CBS Sports? Chip Patterson, who discusses the basketball offseason developments in the Big Ten and what it means for Maryland, Wisconsin and Indiana heading into 2015-16. This may be the Terps? league to lose.
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Take a look at Northwestern players in the NFL. Not a bad collection of players.
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With Nate Sudfeld back from injury, will Indiana?s offense again take flight? If not, the Hoosiers figure to be in trouble.
Kevin Wilson's air-first offense had never struggled to score points until the Hoosiers lost Sudfeld to a season-ending shoulder injury at Iowa in the sixth game of the 2014 season. Backup Chris Covington was also knocked out for the year in the same game. Air Indiana became Ground Indiana. The Hoosiers completed just one touchdown pass in the final six games.
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It looks like Colin Hartman?s days as a center at Indiana may be over.
Pete DiPrimio of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel says for this the Indiana junior can thank newcomers Thomas Bryant and Max Bielfeldt. Thomas is a McDonald's All-America center bracing for instant freshman impact. Bielfeldt is a transfer forward from Michigan primed for a solid contribution. Add promising sophomore forward Emmitt Holt, plus incoming freshman forwards Juwan Morgan and O.G. Anunoby and, in an ideal world, that's more than enough for Hartman to play his natural small forward position, perhaps even guard if it comes to that.
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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. |
