Big Ten links: Conference revenues, shot clock talk & much more

The numbers are in. And, the numbers are good for the Big Ten and commissioner Jim Delany, who was paid $2.1 million in base salary for 2013-14.

Jon Solomon of CBSSports.com notes that Delany's base salary left him in the neighborhood of other Power Five commissioners. The Big 12's Bob Bowlsby made $2.5 million in 2013-14 ($1.8 million in base pay), and the SEC's Mike Slive received $2.1 million (almost entirely in base pay). The ACC and Pac-12 have not yet released their 2013-14 tax returns, although their commissioners previously had salaries that exceeded $2 million.

Conference commissioner salaries have been rising for more than a decade as the media rights values for leagues exploded. Back in 2000, the ACC's John Swofford had the highest compensation package among commissioners at $436,558.

For the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2014, the Big Ten reported $338.9 million in total revenue - a 6-percent increase from 2012-13 - and $52.1 million in net assets. The 2013-14 year on the most recent tax return was the final one in which the Big Ten had 12 members before expanding to 14.

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Good podcast from Keystone Sports Network that remembers iconic Penn State radio voice Fran Fisher.

He was the legendary radio voice of the Nittany Lions and went on to serve as an administrator and ambassador for the university following his radio days. You will be missed, Fran.

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Count Ohio State?s Thad Matta among those coaches who is in favor of the new proposed 30-second shot clock.

"I've always been an advocate of the shot clock going to 30 seconds," Matta said this spring. "I would love to see that. I said that back when I first got here and we were playing Northwestern and Wisconsin and I'm like, 'Come on, I'm too impatient for this.'"

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Tom Izzo?s take on the proposed 30-second shot clock? He doesn?t think it would mean radical change. And I think he?s correct.

"I don't know if it's going to change much, to be very honest with you, it's almost like the no hand-check rule," Izzo said. "The only thing you're changing is you've got more people playing zone, which slows the game down. So I don't know if it's going to change it much, but I'd like to see it at 30."

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As Rick Brown on HawkCentral.com points out, numbers aside–football is a bottom line business for Kirk Ferentz.

Since 2009, the Hawkeyes have had 25 players selected in the NFL Draft. Only Ohio State, with 27 picks in that six-year window, has had more in the Big Ten. However, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Penn State join Ohio State and Iowa as the only Big Ten schools to have at least 21 players drafted since the 2009 season. The Hawkeyes have a 45-32 record the past six seasons, the poorest of the five. Ohio State is 67-13, though 12 of those victories in 2011 were vacated. Wisconsin was 60-21, Nebraska 57-24 and Penn State 49-27.

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Former Minnesota great Bobby Bell recently graduated at 74. Kudos. Legendary Sid Hartman writes that he was part of a great haul of talent at Minnesota in the early 1960s that made the program a power.

The Gophers went to successive Rose Bowls in 1960 and 1961, and they would have gone to a third if not for a costly roughing-the-passer penalty against Bell in the final game of the 1962 season, Hartman notes. Jerry Kill is doing his best to make Minnesota matter once again.

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Jim Harbaugh is off to Peru for his annual mission trip. Harbaugh's made this offseason trip every year since 2009.

"It's beyond rewarding; it's a chance to do something good," Harbaugh told reporters last summer. "You can pretty much help someone from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed."

Harbaugh provides assistance for the community in a variety of ways, and of course spreads the game of football. In fact, he calls it "Peruball."

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Tim Miles added a good assistant to bolster his staff when he landed former Florida assistant Rashon Burno.

?Rashon is an outstanding coach, teacher and recruiter,? said former boss Billy Donovan in a press release. ?Nebraska is getting an even better person. I will always be thankful for my time with Rashon, and I know he will be a great asset to Nebraska.?

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Rutgers A.D. Julie Hermann addressed the state of the football and men?s hoop programs.

It will be interesting to see where Hermann takes the RU athletic department, which teems with potential but needs investment. I think this school can be a big factor in the Big Ten.

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Kudos to Tom Crean for giving the boot to a couple of players who didn?t seem to be with the program.

As Gregg Doyel of IndyStar.com notes, knuckleheads are gonna knucklehead, but not on the Indiana basketball team. Not anymore. That was the message IU delivered when it kicked off its latest headline-makers, Devin Davis and Hanner Mosquera-Perea.

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