Last season was one of transition for Minnesota. Tim Brewster was out after three-and-a-half years and a 15-30 overall record (6-21 Big Ten). Jerry Kill was in, arriving after a successful three-year run at Northern Illinois that produced a 23-16 overall mark and three bowl bids.

Everyone, it seems, enjoys mock drafts. And it’s easy to see why. Not only do they create interest and offer predictions, but they often elicit passionate responses. You know the complaints and arguments: that guy’s too high, this guy’s better than that guy, etc. Well, we thought it would be fun to do a 2012 Big Ten football mock draft. How does it work? We invited a writer from all 12 Big Ten teams to conduct the six-round draft, consisting of QB, WR, RB, TE, Defensive player and K.

The latest of our Big Ten Olympic Journals is in and this time U.S. swimmer and Michigan product Davis Tarwater is back to tell us about the Opening Ceremony, bronze medals, and one big Wildcat. Tarwater is one of four Big Ten swimmers teaming up to send back journal entries as they prepare for the 2012 London Olympics.

Isn’t late July great? Football is in the air, with kickoff a little more than a month away, and all the teams – even the perennial cellar dwellers – are tied for first place. Coincidentally, when coaches descend upon media days, everyone’s very excited. The Big Ten is no exception. According to The Wall Street Journal, Big Ten coaches uttered some form of the word “excited” 43 times during Thursday’s question-and-answer session at Big Ten Media Days. See who used “excited” the most in this post.

We capped off our coverage of the two-day Big Ten Media and Kickoff Luncheon with the 90-minute TV show Big Ten Football Kickoff Luncheon Special, with Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith. It included various interviews and analysis from the event in Chicago. Watch a number of video clips from that Friday night show in this post.

Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson spoke to Friday’s Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon crowd, and you can watch his speech right here in this post. People attending the luncheon quickly turned to Twitter and applauded Robinson’s performance.