Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer, February 2, 2016

This is pretty neat: An interactive analysis of Wisconsin recruiting from 2006-2015 from Madison.com.

The map and graphs show a detailed look at Wisconsin football recruiting since 2006. On the map, each red circle represents a scholarship recruit signed by Wisconsin. The graphs show a breakdown of recruits by state, class and rating. There are more guys from California than you?d think.

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Penn State and James Franklin are in better shape for 2016 than you think, according to StateCollege.com.

Penn State?s returning players for the 2016 season have a collective 276 starts to their credit. That?s more than twice as much as experience as the sanction-weakened 2012 squad, which entered that season with just 132 starts under its collective belt.

Pennlive.com has Penn State?s numbers over the past seven seasons:

2010 - 219 career starts returning
2011 - 300 career starts returning
2012 - 132 career starts returning
2013 - 164 career starts returning
2014 - 186 career starts returning
2015 - 245 career starts returning
2016 - 276 career starts returning

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As if Signing Day wasn?t enough to satisfy your football fix, it?s also Super Bowl week. The Big Ten will be well represented in Super Bowl 50.

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Here is a nice Q&A with Rutgers A.D. Patrick Hobbs. A key question: Can RU sports improve its ethics?

Hobbs has had to confront questions about the ethical culture in Rutgers sports. Before Hobbs' arrival, Rutgers fined and suspended former football head coach Kyle Flood for violating school policy by contacting a professor to help a player get a better grade in a class. Several football players were also criminally charged in a series of off-field incidents last year.

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Ari Wasserman of Cleveland.com has four ways Michigan?s Jim Harbaugh has changed the recruiting game this past year.

From satellite camps ? to sleepovers ? to engaging rappers ? Harbaugh has pushed the envelope. And at Signing Day this year, Harbaugh will have a big gala that includes Tom Brady and Derek Jeter. Top that! Harbaugh is what those in the biz call a ?game changer.?

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Looks like Nebraska is adding a transfer QB from Tulane.

And Husker assistants Trent Bray (LBs) and Keith Williams (WRs) are getting contract extensions and fat raises. Each is considered among the program?s most valued assistants.

Omaha.com notes that Bray's new salary for the 2016 season is $300,000. In 2017, he'll receive $325,000. Bray worked on a one-year contract in 2015 and was paid $250,000. Williams will be paid $400,000 in 2016 and 2017. In 2015, Williams' salary was $275,000. Under the previous contract, he was due to make $300,000 in 2016.

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The great Mike Hlas of the Cedar Rapids Gazette says the rise of the Hawkeyes isn?t cause for celebration in Iowa?s locker room. Well, that may be true. But I think it?s a big deal and the best story of the first half of the season.

It will be a shock if Iowa doesn?t win this thing, especially when you consider the Hawkeyes have played a total of six games against toughies Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue, all of whom range from 8-2 to 6-4 record-wise in the conference. And fellow Big Ten front-runner Indiana has yet to meet any of those four clubs. Iowa?s recent win vs. Northwestern illustrated this team?s power. Jarrod Uthoff scored 19 of his 23 points in the first half. Peter Jok had 22 of his 26 in the first 9:22 of the second half. Hlas thinks two players on the same team with that kind of firepower is a rare thing in the college game. And, he?s correct.

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Ok, let?s see what Michigan State is all about in these next three games.

Starting on Saturday, the Spartans play at Michigan and at Purdue in a span of four days. They then return home for a Valentine's Day date with Indiana. It's a stretch that will give Michigan State a good glimpse of where it stands as the postseason gets closer. "There's good teams on the road, you've got to find a way to win on the road, there's no question about that," Tom Izzo told Mlive.com.

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Whatever happened to Lon Kruger?s Big Ten champion Illinois squad? Bob Asmussen of the Champaign News-Gazette gets us caught up.

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