Articles by: Stix Symmonds

Twitter has been alight for two days with jokes about Manti Te’o. Newspapers can’t possibly run print fast enough to keep up with the constantly unfolding stories flooding the internet about the dead girlfriend that never was. We’re shocked and awed. We’re amused and saddened. Another hero has fallen, more [...]

It’s not every day that you’d look at a 2-5 bowl record for a conference and declare any measure of redemption. You might consider making an exception this year where the Big Ten is concerned. Considering what they were up against, 2-5 isn’t bad. In fact, it might have been [...]

Maryland President Wallace D. Loh was honest during the press conference to announce his school’s move to the Big Ten. The first (and foremost) reason he gave for joining the Big Ten Conference was financial stability. Big shocker! His honesty is refreshing. It’s also important. Hiding from this fact would [...]

ESPN is reporting that Maryland’s Board of Regents has unanimously voted to accept an invitation to join the Big Ten conference. An official announcement is expected later this afternoon (Monday). In addition to Maryland’s departure from the ACC, Rutgers is expected to also announce their departure from the Big East [...]

The last time I addressed this topic, I laid out the problem at the core of the current system and showed why there is a definite need for some kind of playoff. Now it’s time to take it a step farther. Why does the proposed playoff actually feed into the [...]

The conference expansion issue is dead isn’t it? The “dominoes” have fallen and the world didn’t end. Except, now Notre Dame has joined the ACC in every sport except football and hockey and the whole subject is coming around again. Maybe it isn’t all over. Maybe it isn’t even close [...]

This is the final weekend before the official start of the Big Ten conference season. It’s one last chance for teams to shore up deficiencies and tune up their program before the chase for the Rose Bowl starts in earnest. Last week, the conference went 10-2. Unfortunately, once again the [...]

Last week was a little rough on the B1G. While Northwestern got a nice win over Vanderbilt, Purdue played Notre Dame awfully tough and both Minnesota and Indiana snagged lopsided wins, the rest of the league only caught black eyes. Penn State blew four field goal attempts in a one-point [...]

Notre Dame has announced that it will join the ACC for all sports except football and hockey when it leaves the Big East. The Irish will remain Independent in football – for now – but will play five ACC opponents annually and will play each ACC school at least once [...]

Another great weekend of football is behind us and we’re starting to get a slightly clearer picture of what’s going on around the nation. Once again this week, there were some surprises and some confirmations. I’ve got a few thoughts about what transpired over the weekend. The Big 12 should [...]