This is certain to interest Big Ten football fans. The Omaha World-Herald did a fascinating study that displays the hometown of every Big Ten football player, from 2002-2011. Each player is listed on a map with a school-specific dot that represents his Big Ten team. For the heavy concentrated areas, the recruits are shown in clusters. Check it out. You won’t be disappointed. Hardcore Big Ten fans can also test their knowledge with the Omaha World-Herald’s Big Ten recruiting quiz.

Three-thousand-something miles later, the BTN Summer Football Tour is complete. Re-live parts of my trip below (I only went to Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Penn State this year):

Ever walk from the Michigan football locker room and onto iconic Michigan Stadium? We had the opportunity to do so during our annual BTN Football Tour earlier this month. It’s a pretty cool experience — even when there’s no gameday atmosphere whatsoever. I can’t imagine what it would be like on a fall Saturday when 100,000-plus fans are screaming their heads off waiting for the Wolverines to run out and hit the “Go Blue” banner.

Five Big Ten football teams, led by reigning co-champ Wisconsin, are ranked in the preseason Coaches’ Poll, released Thursday morning. The Badgers, fresh off a Rose Bowl berth, come in at No. 10, followed by Nebraska (11), Ohio State (16), Michigan State (17) and Penn State (25). Oklahoma lands at No. 1, with Alabama, Oregon, LSU and Florida State rounding out the top 5.

Once Nebraska was invited to join the Big Ten, we knew the conference would receive a new logo and our studio would undergo a serious makeover. The former was a very public thing, while the latter was something Big Ten fans would have no clue about — unless they took a tour of BTN’s studio. Good thing for social media. Recently, I’ve tweeted shots of all the cosmetic changes around BTN, hoping to give the fans an inside look.

We knew Terrelle Pryor would miss the first five games of the 2011 season, including the Big Ten opener against Michigan State, but now that the star quarterback has left Ohio State, the Leaders Division has become a bit more interesting.

The Big Ten Network, recently rebranded as BTN, is about to enter its fifth year of bringing you the greatest in Big Ten athletics. Before we enter our fifth year, I wanted to take a look back at the Big Ten’s best football and basketball players during the BTN era, according to the conference’s end-of-the-year accolades, and consider who’s the best of the best.

Ed DeChellis had been at Penn State since 2003, and on more than one occasion, it seemed as though he might be on his way out. Ironically, he’s leaving his alma mater at a time when it wasn’t expected at all — and on his own terms.