The Big Ten Conference office announced Tuesday the 2013 Big Ten men’s and women’s outdoor track and field individual award winners. See the men and women’s superlative winners in this post.

The schedule is pretty kind to a Michigan State program coming off a disappointing 7-6 season that saw MSU lose five games by a combined 13 points. If the Spartans can win at Notre Dame on Sept. 21, they could be 8-0 when they welcome Michigan on Nov. 2.

Brady Hoke is a “Michigan Man,” so he knows how to excite and pump up the fan base. The latest proof came Monday in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Hoke, while speaking to a group of Michigan alumni, had some interesting words for a longtime rival. Let’s just say, Hoke isn’t a big fan of the Michigan-Notre Dame series coming to an end after 2014.

The official list of invites for the 2013 NBA Draft Combine is out, and it includes seven Big Ten players. There’s the obvious quintet – Trey Burke (Michigan), Tim Hardaway Jr. (Michigan), Victor Oladipo (Indiana), Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State) and Cody Zeller (Indiana) – and there’s the league’s two best senior pro prospects – Trevor Mbakwe (Minnesota) and Brandon Paul (Illinois).

Once the college football yearbooks hit the newsstand—and it has to be any day now—I expect to see six Big Ten teams in most Top 25s. And look for them to be in this order: Ohio State; Nebraska; Michigan; Wisconsin; Northwestern; Michigan State.