Big Ten mailbag Part I

Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg

It’s a bit of a slow week around the blog and you guys have a ton of questions (well done, folks), so this will be the first of two Tuesday mailbags. Let’s get it going.

John from Austin, Texas, writes: Adam, First off, congrats on a great year with the blog! Its been a pleasure having someone cover the Big 10 as well as you do. My question is: What the heck is keeping Mike Locksley at Illinois? His name was mentioned for a few of the higher profile head coach jobs this season, but never seemed to get past the first interview. I can understand why he might be shy about an SEC job, but what else is keeping him from going to the next level?

Adam Rittenberg: Thanks for the kind words, John. Locksley is definitely holding out for a BCS-conference head-coaching position, ideally on the East Coast near his recruiting hub of Washington, D.C. He did talk with Clemson but didn’t have a great chance to get that job. Other than Clemson, I’m not sure how many other schools have interviewed him, though it wouldn’t surprise me if Syracuse has made contact. Locks gets paid well at Illinois and has no need to leave for a non-BCS job if he doesn’t want one. He’ll be a frontrunner for the Maryland job whenever Ralph Friedgen moves on, and he should get a close look for Syracuse. Locksley definitely has the personality and recruiting clout to succeed as a head coach on the highest level.

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Rob from Philadelphia writes: I’ve been reading the national media since Oregon State lost and (most likely) gave USC a Pac10 championship and a Rose Bowl birth. Most people of the opinion that it’s very unfortunate that USC is resigned to destroying Penn State. Some USC players are acting like they’ve already won the game. Defense aside, what is the basis for the Trojan’s status as a national media darling this year?

Adam Rittenberg: The national media loves teams that dominate November and win bowl games, and USC does both. After watching the USC-Notre Dame game on Saturday night, I’ll admit I bought into the hype quite a bit as well. The Trojans’ defense is merciless, and it will be tough for Penn State to score points. That said, USC’s offense is nothing special, and this team falls short of previous editions with Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush. Penn State has a strong bowl record and doesn’t seem like the type of team to play itself out of a game. I’ll have a hard time picking against USC, but it won’t be a rout.

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Ian from Hartford, Conn., writes: It’s not necessarily big ten related, but who would play in the national championship game should OU get knocked off by Missouri this weekend. Texas is still ahead of USC in the BCS, but would they take a team that didnt win their conference? If USC does get bumped out of the Rose Bowl in favor of the title game, does Oregon State take their spot or another BCS team maybe OU or Texas?

Adam Rittenberg: If Missouri wins, I’d expect Texas to get the nod and play the winner of the SEC championship game in Miami on Jan. 8. USC might get bumped to No. 2, but the Trojans really lack quality wins, while Texas has beaten Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Missouri. Texas absolutely deserves to go over the Trojans, who needed a marquee win down the stretch and couldn’t get one because of the competition. Should USC jump into the title game, the Rose Bowl likely would take a team not from the Pac-10 (Texas would be my guess). USC, of course, also has to take care of business against UCLA.

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Javon Ringer: Ready to Start Practicing The Pose?

If voters had their way, the Heisman would be awarded to the best player whose team plays for the National Championship title. Forget who is the best player in college football—even though that is the stated mission of the Heisman Trust—a BCS title contender’s best player has now become a prerequisite to winning the Heisman.

Take a look at the last Heisman winners since the inception of the BCS Series.

Tim Tebow, Troy Smith, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Jason White, Carson Palmer, Eric Crouch, Chris Weinke, and Ron Dayne were all Heisman winners who, with the exception of Tebow, played in BCS Bowls the year they won, and only Palmer and Dayne didn’t play in the title game—they played in the Orange Bowl and Rose Bowl, respectively.

It looks like so far, the voters have had their way.

While no one is saying the Heisman winners didn’t deserve their hardware, there seems to a growing consensus that unless your team is bowling in January, you cannot possibly be the best player in college football.

It took Superman, aka Tim Tebow, to change that current trend.

So what are Javon Ringer’s chances of being crowned Mr. December?

While Michigan State is no slouch, and in fact, a rapidly-rising Big Ten team, they aren’t expected to be in a BCS Bowl come this January. Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin have a more probable date in Pasadena, not Sparty.

Does that diminish Ringer’s chances? Maybe.

It’s up to him to put up such un-earthling stats that the voters have no choice but to vote for him. Marshall Faulk did just that, but unfortunately, was a victim of playing at San Diego State, while the U’s Gino Torretta was gobbling up all of the East Coast/Midwest votes.

Lucky for Ringer, he plays east of the Mississippi.

Time to grease those wheels, feed those O-linemen some more carbs, and run due north. In short, keep doing what he’s doing.

So what’s the big deal about Ringer, anyway, except for the very cool name?

In just four games, he has racked up 699 yards in rushing and 11 touchdowns. He’s on a projected season total of 2,097 yards and 33 touchdowns. Let that sink in a bit.

Against Florida Atlantic—the Sun Belt champ—he carried 43 times for 282 yards and a 6.6 ypc average. A week later, against Notre Dame, he rushed 5.2 ypc on 39 carries for 201 yards, with a long of 62 yards.

More eye-popping stats:

• He’s No. 2 on the rushing leaders list, less than five yards behind UConn’s Donald Brown.
• He’s averaging over 234 all purpose yards per game.
• He’s No. 3 on the all-purpose yardage leaders for 2008.
• Ringer is No. 3 on yards from scrimmage, at 184 yards per game.
• He averages over 4.8 ypc and 174 ypg.

Ringer has such speed and athleticism, no one may be able to stop him once he gets past the tackles. He’s a 5′9″, 202-pound bruiser, and the perfect size for NFL scouts to drool over. Solid, and unassuming.

A team player.

“Hopefully with the way we’ve been running the ball,” Ringer told The Free Press, “people will start to stack the box and kinda forget about our passing game, and that will just help us to win.”

Well said, young Jedi. You have been taught well. Open up the passing game when they stack the box.

A player who isn’t a diva? A player who wants his team to win above his own personal gain? A big-time running back from Michigan State? A swell guy?

Yeah.

Sparty got some wheels now. Now don’t look back, kid. Run, Ringer, run.

Then you can strike the pose.

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