Big Ten links: Could Indiana's Yogi Ferrell make a run at MVP?

How good is Indiana's Yogi Ferrell? The senior continues to author a brilliant end to his sterling career. We saw more of his brilliance last night. If Indiana wins the Big Ten, could he be the league's Player of the Year over Michigan State?s Denzel Valentine? Hey, it?s just food for thought.

Here is Valentine's stat page. And here is is Ferrell's stat page. And yes, yes, before you fire your emails and comments at me, here are the stats for Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff. What I'm suggesting is this: There is value in putting up really good numbers and there is also value in leading a team to a title. Voters know that.

***

This is interesting: The great Chip Scoggins of the Minneapolis Star Tribune thinks Minnesota will need damage control after Jerry Kill?s unhappy departure. It?s just too bad the parties couldn?t have worked something out. Couldn?t something have been done to make this marriage work?

***

Will Tom Izzo get elected to the Hall of Fame? He isn?t worried about it, according to Mlive.com. He has to be a lock, right? Seven Final Fours! One national title. What a resume.

In a little over a month, Izzo will find out if he will receive the ultimate honor for a basketball coach: induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Until he finds that out, on April 4, there's got plenty to keep himself occupied — most notably, Michigan State's national title run.

"I don't lose sleep over it," Izzo said this week. "They say if it happens, then I think you lose sleep over it."

Izzo was named one of 14 finalists earlier this month for the Hall of Fame's 2016 class.

***

New Rutgers coach Chris Ash hasn?t reached out to former RU coach Kyle Flood. Should he? I don?t think so. Got to turn the page.

"Kyle is a great guy," Ash told Steve Politi of NJ Advance Media. "I don't know him, but I've met him on the recruiting trails and shaken his hands in schools and things like that. I had nice conversations with him.

"I didn't really feel like there was a need to have a conversation about what's happened here and why. I'm not really concerned about what's happened in the past. I'm coming to do business the way I think it needs to be done.

"If there are things that have been done here that I like, I'll keep it," he said. "If things are not what I like, then I'm blowing it up and moving on. That's just the way we're doing it."

***

Linebacker U? Honestly, Penn State has been more like Defensive Line U in recent years. Check out some of the studs the school has produced of late in this slideshow.

***

We knew Ohio State had a lot of talent last year. But check this out: A GM has told Cleveland.com that the Buckeye draft class is one of the best in 20 years.

Between 1990 and 1993, Miami produced 35 draft picks (in what was a longer draft). Ohio State should have 14 players drafted in April, with maybe as many as six in the first round.

"I can't remember a class this deep of potential draft picks since I started way back in the early '90s, when I used to go down to Miami of Florida and they'd have 16 or 17 guys that you'd have to evaluate who were going to be very good football players," Vikings GM Rick Spielman told cleveland.com this week. "This is by far one of the deepest classes I've been able to evaluate at all positions across the board."

Again, how did Ohio State last fall lose AT home to Michigan State, which had a BACKUP quarterback? Anyway ?

***

After winning at Iowa, don?t you think Wisconsin may be the second-best team in the Big Ten? I do. Sorry, Indiana and Maryland.

***

Spring ball is well underway at Northwestern. And InsideNU.com has depth chart projections.

What?s important to note here are the wideouts. This program is desperate for some difference makers. Austin Carr, Flynn Nagel and Solomon Vault are listed as the starters. Sounds about right. Vault, a former running back, needs to impact.

***

When something happens at Nebraska, I like to get a take from the great Tom Shatel of Omaha.com. So, here is what he thinks about the hiring of John Parrella and Billy Devaney. Personally, I think the hires are boffo. Parrella is school legend who knows how to sell the place; Devaney brings an NFL eye to the school.

Parrella never has coached at the FBS level; Devaney never has worked in college football. Devaney?s arrival as a personnel man is interesting. What Devaney will do is an interesting question. The way Mike Riley described it to Shatel, he?ll be a consultant/troubleshooter for the entire program. Everything from ?how we practice, call plays to special projects.?

?For instance, I don?t think we did a good job at all last year with 11 a.m. kickoffs,? Riley said. ?He might be able to help us on ideas to improve that.

?He can help me with roster evaluation, depth chart and bigger-scope stuff, oversee the evaluation and recruiting of players, how we do it, the whole process. He?s a big-time consultant.?

These days, it?s all about showing recruits something they haven?t seen before. That?s the method to Jim Harbaugh?s madness. There?s that name again.

***

Purdue is beginning the search for a new A.D. Chairman of the Board of Trustees Mike Berghoff is leading the search. Gold & Black Illustrated has a Q&A with him.

***

Email Tom Dienhart using the form below.

And if you want to leave a comment on this post, use the box below. All comments need to be approved by a moderator.