Penn State’s roster will be limited to 65 scholarship players — other schools are allowed 85 — for four years beginning in 2014. Here’s how Bill O’Brien plans to cope. “This is really a six-year sanction,” Bill O’Brien said during a caravan stop. “We have until 2014 to get down to 65 scholarships. We’re at 65 in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and we’re already at 65, probably, in August of 2013. So it’s not just a four-year sanction.”

The Big Ten put a bow on spring practice last Saturday, but many questions still loom as the schools enter the offseason.

April 28 was the deadline for underclassmen to enter the NBA Draft, so the draft pool is now set. The big day comes June 27, but before that comes the draft lottery on May 21.

If you are tired of the current lineup of Big Ten bowl games, fear not as change may be coming, according to Commissioner Jim Delany. The Big Ten will remain tethered to the Rose Bowl, Capital One and Outback Bowls. But, changes could ensue beyond that trio of games.

The 2013 NFL draft wasn’t kind to the Big Ten. Just 22 players were selected—the fewest since 1994. Just one pick came in the first round, as the selection of Wisconsin center Travis Frederick No. 31 overall by the Cowboys was considered to be a massive reach by anyone with Internet access and a mock draft. But, fear not: The 2014 NFL draft should be much more fruitful for the Big Ten. Check out this way, way, WAY early mock draft from SI.com.

Nebraska offensive coordinator Tim Beck has the keys to one of the top offenses in the Big Ten—if not the country. He knows it.

A few days have passed, but the new Big Ten divisional alignment still has some buzzing. Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World Herald weighs in on the new division splits here. Like everyone else with a pulse, Barfknecht thinks the East will be stronger than the West. And he applies the “60,000-seat Stadium Syndrome” as more proof.

The Big Ten put a wrap on spring football last weekend, with Iowa and Minnesota playing the final spring games in the conference. Now, the long offseason begins. But, honestly, this is when players get better—not from September to December.

Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football as league MVP last year as a sophomore. Now, he has improved and could be better than ever—and a legit Heisman contender. “If Braxton was a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10 when we got here, he finished (last) season around a four,” Buckeye offensive coordinator Tom Herman told Ozone.net. “By the end of spring ball he was around a six, but the cool thing with him is he could be about a 12.”

The announcement of the new divisions created a buzz across the Big Ten landscape. Leaders and Legends are gone. East and West are in. And a nine-game Big Ten schedule is coming in 2016. Here are 13 observations about the new arrangements.

It was a busy weekend in the Big Ten. A REALLY busy weekend, with the NFL Draft as well as the big announcement of a new divisional alignment and a nine-game schedule for the venerable Big Ten. So much to cover in daily links. Let’s start with a view on the conference’s new configuration from a few Big Ten ports-of-call.

The Big Ten had just 22 players picked in the 2013 draft, but many others recently signed free-agent deals. And there are some good players. Here is an All-Undrafted Big Ten football team, with the team that each player signed with in brackets.

Iowa had a lot of work to do in spring drills coming off a 4-8 season that was the program’s worst since 2000. The offense, which struggled mightily last season and had just seven touchdown passes, may have turned a corner this spring under second-year coordinator Greg Davis. No doubt, the offense looked good in the spring game. The defense also may have found a playmaker up front.

It’s official: Adreian Payne is returning to Michigan State for his senior year, stamping the Spartans as the Big Ten favorite and top national title contender next season. Payne struggled with the decision, waiting until the final day (April 28) to render a choice. He was projected by many to be a first-round draft choice. Payne will return to a roster that welcomes back all of its key components, save for departed senior big man Derrick Nix.

The Big Ten had just seven players selected through the first three rounds of the NFL draft. The league almost equaled that total with five picks in the fourth round. And so it went on the final day of the draft, when rounds four through seven were conducted on what was a big day for the Big Ten with 15 picks. The headline pick was Michigan’s Denard Robinson, who went with the second pick of the fifth round (135th overall). Four other Big Ten players were selected before him today, but Robinson was the big name many had been waiting to hear.