The age-old question is being asked again: Should college football have two signing periods? One in, say, July or August, and the other in February. I’d love for there to be two signing periods. Let Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads tell you why he doesn’t think two signing periods will happen.

Iowa is coming off a 4-8 season, the program’s worst since 2000—Kirk Ferentz’s second season in Iowa City. That has some fans antsy. Bryce Miller of the Des Moines Register sat down with the Hawkeyes boss to discuss a variety of topics for a program that has seen its win total fall from 11 to 8 to 7 to 4 each of the last four seasons.

The Big Ten released its 2014 Big Ten conference schedule on Thursday, incorporating Rutgers and Maryland into the family. There were some interesting scheduling quirks.

The cry for November night games seems to be gaining steam. Oh, they are coming. Could the sacrosanct Michigan-Ohio State ever be played at night? Buckeye athletic director Gene Smith is against it. Me, too. But, heck, I’m against all night games. “It’ll be noon,” Smith told reporters at the recent Big Ten meetings. “I have to be open to 3:30, but noon is my favorite time for that one.”

At the recent Big Ten athletic director meetings, the possible future bowl schedule began to come into focus as the league’s current bowl deals end after the 2013 season. It’s all about geography, Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free Press points out. The Big Ten wants to spread its brand coast-to-coast. It has been reported that the Big Ten will share tie-ins with the Gator Bowl and Music City Bowl with the ACC during a six-year agreement, playing SEC opponents in both games.

The Big Ten basketball coaches are meeting as we speak. Among the topics: Should divisions be used for basketball?

Salaries for assistant coaches have been rising across the nation. Have you seen some of the figures for SEC coordinators? Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart makes $1.2 million; LSU DC John Chavis makes $1.1 mil. Well, Ohio State is trying to keep pace.

Except for the guy living under a rock—you know who you are—we all have heard 1,000,001 times that the SEC has won the last seven national titles. Bravo! It is an awesome feat. If a Big Ten team is gonna end the skein, it figures to be Ohio State, says Stewart Mandel of SI.com as I present Friday’s edition of my weekday Big Ten links.

Who doesn’t love predictions? We all do. Well, the great Andrew Logue of the Des Moines Register ranks the Big Ten teams. He has Iowa No. 10, ahead of No. 11 Purdue and No. 12 Illinois. Who is No. 1? Do you really have to ask? Logue has Michigan No. 2 ahead of Nebraska. This is just wrong. No love for Northwestern.

It’s almost time for an unofficial national holiday: The arrival of the college football annuals. Athlon’s offers a look at its 2013 edition. And, for Iowa fans, it isn’t a pretty sight: The Hawkeyes are picked to finish last in the Legends Division. The 2013 publication pegs Iowa with a 1-7 record in the Big Ten. It also has Iowa finishing 4-8 overall, which would match last season’s overall record–the program’s worst since 2000. This isn’t good news—but, it isn’t shocking, either.

Is there a harder working writer than Mike Griffith of MLive.com? Of course not. Today, the Spartans writing machine has four talking points on Michigan State. Please read if you wanna impress your friends at the barber shop. Learn this stuff, and you’ll wow and impress your friends. The tips about the quarterbacks are pure gold, Jerry. I’ve also got more Big Ten links in today’s post.

Michigan has a lot to like about next season’s team which is in pursuit of the school’s first Big Ten title since 2004, but one glaring issues is the lack of a pass rusher. Who will it be?

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.”

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.

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.