Honors won, lost and under consideration

A pair of interesting tidbits today:

1. Ohio State coach Jim Tressel is among 10 finalists announced Tuesday for the Football Bowl Subdivision Liberty Mutual coach of the year award.

2. James Laurinaitis didn’t repeat this year as Butkus Award winner as the nation’s top linebacker. Wake Forest senior Aaron Curry won the award instead.

The accolade for Tressel is a bit of a surprise. Tressel is certainly a good coach, but I’d have a feeling most fans would feel Ohio State underachieved this year. I suppose the relatively smooth transition from Todd Boeckman to Terrelle Pryor may have had something to do with it.

Speaking of accolades, former Ohio State coach John Cooper joined Lou Holtz as coaches honored in the College Football Hall of Fame. Cooper is the only coach to win a Rose Bowl with a Pac-10 school (Arizona State) and a Big Ten school.

They were joined by players Billy Cannon of LSU, Troy Aikman of UCLA, Thurman Thomas of Oklahoma State, Don McPherson of Syracuse, Jim Dombrowski of Virginia, Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern, Wilber Marshall of Florida, Jay Novacek of Wyoming, Dave Parks of Texas Tech, Randall McDaniel of Arizona State, Ron Simmons of Florida State, Rueben Mayes of Washington State and Arnold Tucker of Army.

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