Stories From Around SB Nation

Here are Maize n Brew's four keys to tonight's game.

Bret Bielema sure does like being a villain. Either or that or he is simply incapable of acting like anything resembling an adult or head coach. His latest buffoonery? After an Alabama interception late in the second quarter against Arkansas, Tide offensive tackle Cam Robinson was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. It appeared Robinson was in the face of Arkansas coach Bret Bielema and a number of Razorbacks players, but a video has surfaced that makes it look like Bielema was the instigator. Bielema runs toward Robinson, gets in his face, flops and gets the flag. Then he does a big celebration on the field. Arkansas got the ball moved to the 12-yard line as a result and scored a touchdown on the drive. Check the video out and make your own judgement. Personally, I think it's just another example of Bert acting like a clown who gets paid $3.9 million a year, but YMMV.

More excellent writing from Nate Wells at SB Nation College Hockey. Make sure to give his Gophers preview a good read! When the banners slowly make their descent into the laurels that is the Mariucci Arena rafters on Saturday, ten freshmen will be present who did not take part in the history. How they fare on the Mariucci ice beginning at 7:00 p.m. CT Saturday and put their own stamp on the maroon and gold will tell a lot about a team with considerable expectations for 2015-16 both externally and on themselves.

As always, Nate delivers some excellent writing as he takes a look at what the Big Ten will look like this winter. Take a look!

Remember when we almost got stuck with this guy? The University of Maryland is likely to fire head football coach Randy Edsall by the conclusion of this weekend's game against Ohio State, according to a report from Inside Maryland Sports's Jeff Ermann. Ermann reports Maryland is prepared to pay Edsall through the rest of the season and pay the associated $2.6 million cost that would entail. Edsall signed a three-year contract extension with Maryland last June, but just a fraction – $500,000 out of $7.5 million, came guaranteed.

From the link: Bielema: "Ohio State has one game remaining with a ranked opponent. We have eight remaining against teams that are ranked." Bret Bielema is not a terrible coach. But he handles the media only marginally better than Tim Brewster ever did. That's a good thing, because I certainly enjoy laughing at his foolishness! Moving On From Colorado State Injury Report Update: Things could be better... Strolling Through Twitterland: Week 2 Some Gophers just want to watch the world burn...

Our friends as MWConnection break down some key matchups before cutting to the chase: For a team who's fans are claiming they should be in a P-5 conference, this is a big time test. Click on through to see what they think of the Gophers.

College football on a Sunday? You best believe it! Ok, so it's Purdue "football" playing Marshall but it's still college football and that's wonderful! I've linked you to the Hammer & Rails preview above, make sure to give them a read to know what you'll see today. Also, here are the particulars so you can enjoy watching this game. Yes, I said enjoy. When: 2pm CT Where: Joan C. Edwards Stadium, Huntington, West Virginia TV: Fox Sports 1 Streaming: Fox Sports Go

TCU vs. Minnesota: A Q&A with The Daily Gopher http://t.co/i0E0vH5EON pic.twitter.com/gFaySosu6B

— Frogs O' War (@FrogsOWar) September 2, 2015

Here's the other half of our Q&A with FOW!

FOW goes in depth and breaks down multiple keys for TCU. Worth a read!

FOW has fun reading into Gary Patterson's moods and why it bodes well for TCU this week. Really though, it's more of a look at Gary as a person and coach.

MNWildcat lays out what he wants to see from every Big Ten team this weekend: What I Want: 11-3. I so wanted to make the case for 12-2, but that would require two of TCU-MN, Stanford-NU, Bama-WI, and Purdue-Marshall to be semi-big upsets for the Big Ten. I think the Empire can take one of those four and make a few close, but fans of the conference would be pretty ecstatic with a 12-2 record, so long as those 2 losses weren't particularly embarrassing.

Everything you need to know about how the Badgers won't score on Saturday Well played RBR. Well played. This game may be the only time I find myself cheering for Bama.

Yea, this prediction didn't work out... The last thing may be the most surprising: I wouldn't be at all surprised if Tim Beckman shows us there's more to him than meets the eye. Whatever his problems have been the last few seasons- and there have been plenty- he has to know this is his do-or-die season, so circle the wagons, adopt an us-vs-the-world mentality, and crack open whatever other tired metaphor suits you for this type of situation. If his players are anywhere near as supportive of him as their statements about the Cvijanovic accusations imply they are, they should rise to the occasion and deliver the kind of season Beckman needs to stabilize his tenure.

Everyone hug a Purdue fan tomorrow. They need it. Really, we're almost past emotional pleas at this point. It's begging and groveling at this point. If this weren't a secular corner of the internet, I'd beg the Almighty for mercy on the team from West Lafayette. I'd pray for a just a few more wins than last year, and just a few more games that don't look like a high school team playing the Steelers. I think it would be neat if Purdue was good at football. If you don't think that is true, then you are a mean jerk. Sorry, I'm getting emotional.

Something something ADMISSIONS STANDARDS AT UW ARE TOO STRONG BECAUSE WE'RE TOO SMART something something. Thanks to Grammarly, we now have new power rankings, based on how bad the grammar of the team’s respective fan base is. These brave, intrepid souls set aside the first rule of Keeping Your Sanity On The Internet, which is NEVER READ THE COMMENTS, sifted through at least 100 takes from fans of each team, and found out how many mistakes each fan was prone to make, per 100 words.

OTE's Penn State writers aren't feeling the love from the rest of the conference's fans: Lastly, and more frustrating still, is that the same logic used to explain why Franklin won't/may not succeed at Penn State is being used to explain why Mike Riley and Paul Chryst are going to succeed at Nebraska and Wisconsin, respectively. Think about it: Chryst did not do so well at Pitt, somehow managing to grasp defeat from the claws of victory on a consistent basis (three times last season, off the top of my head). And Riley's tenure at Oregon State is highlighted by sometimes beating a highly ranked team, but never being one themselves. So like Franklin, we're ignoring what each coach did at the other school. The only difference is that for Franklin we seem to have decided he'll suck, but for Chryst and Riley we've decided they'll do just fine. Um...

OTE's Rutgers blogger is feeling the magic! It's important to note however that this post was written before the Kyle Flood...unpleasantness. For Rutgers, 2015 is best season ever. The shine of the Big Ten still hasn't worn off. Seeing the biggest teams in college football come to the banks and watching the boys from Jersey travel to some of the most storied venues in sports still has a newness and excitement that is simply intoxicating. When combined with fine beer, it makes for a great Saturday afternoon. The fact that we were able to compete in year 1 of the Big Ten was wonderful. Now, it's time to sustain that success. Losing one of the best Rutgers quarterbacks in a century (holy shit I just said that non-ironically) is a big hit, but the team has the talent, depth and leadership (Barchi willing!) to make some noise in 2015. Run through the non-con. Make a bowl. Beat the goddamn team from Pennsylvania. Maybe...just, maybe, it all comes together.

OTE's Maryland writer? Well, he's struggling to feel good about his team. Oh, Maryland. Right. Maryland is breaking in two new starters on the OL in Damian Prince at RT and Derwin Gray at LT with a possible third at center with redshirt freshman Brandon Moore. Yes, three RS Freshmen. Derwin Gray is sidelined with a shoulder injury but is expected to return in September, putting three, albeit highly rated, redshirt freshmen on the OL. Behind that? Oh, just an unsettled quarterback situation that has last year's third stringer in the lead right now in Perry Hills. Defense? Just a transition from a 3-4 to a 4-3. Wow, this was not such a positive opening statement as I would like it to be..

OTE's Nebraska writer wants to convince you that Mike Reilly will get it done in season 1: You can see that there are obviously a lot of question marks, but in a B1G West that is about as wide open as any divisional race this year, there is also opportunity. Mike Riley had a mediocre record at a school where that all but guaranteed him the next year's contract. With better resources, players, and fan support, can he take Nebraska from a good record to a great one? The Husker faithful are hoping so, but we won't find out until they play the games. At the very least, know that this will be an interesting season for Nebraska. It will also be a prime opportunity to watch fan meltdowns.

The rascals at OTE have pulled together the best in Tim Beckman video moments. Farewell, sweet prince. We shall miss your "if only 17 things had gone our way we'd only have lost by 2" thinking.

I can't do this preview justice. It's great to look at, full of information, a great read all around. I highly recommend checking out the hard work put in by the staff at FOW and get their take on their favorite team heading into the 2015 season.

You really should click through to read the whole thing, but here's some of the highlights lowlights: - The Buttscoot - Not knowing how offensive coordinators work - The Mom's Birthday mystery - Beckman math Tim Beckman, you will be missed. Well, other than the player mistreatment stuff. That was vile.

Kloos is the first undrafted player to wear the "C" for Minnesota since Judd Stevens in 2004-05.

With Minnesota taking on two MAC-tion squads in Kent State and Ohio, our friends at Hustle Belt took a moment to break down the Gophers.

Talk of the potential importance of 2015's final regular season game for both teams.

Ok, so the pitchfork on the leg kinda sucks. Otherwise? Good stuff! I suspect it's because they kept the colors and patterns pretty simple, which is probably a product of these being the regular uniforms instead of a crazy one-off. The matte black helmet is especially sharp looking.

Land Grant Holy Land breaks it down for us: It will not be easy to replace the 2014 consensus All-American's disruption and production, as Bosa totaled 55 total tackles, 21 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks. But defensive line coach Larry Johnson will throw a couple of guys into a rotation against Virginia Tech. Redshirt sophomore Tyquan Lewis, who had a monster spring, is slated to start across from Bosa, replacing the departed Steve Miller. Sophomore Jalyn Holmes, redshirt freshman Darius Slade and redshirt freshman Sam Hubbard will most likely be in a rotation, along with Lewis, at both defensive end positions. Bosa's replacements will be young, yet very talented. All of them were highly ranked recruits coming out of high school and have done nothing but gain the respect and praise of Johnson, who has sent a number of defensive linemen to the NFL. "Tyquan is having a great spring, really great spring," Johnson said to reporters back in April. "Jalyn is starting to be the player we think he can be. Sam's kinda out of nowhere, but really got a chance to be really dynamic also." Look for Lewis and Holmes to start across from each other, on the first defensive snap of the season for the Buckeyes, while the most dominant defensive lineman in the country looks on from the sidelines.

I'm turning this over to Black Heart Gold Pants... That's Drew Ott. That's a raw egg in its shell. That's said egg going into Mr. Ott's mouth and sir what are you—oh god—no that's not how you egg—oh god. Drew Ott's uncle is at fault and is a terrible person. I guess that's why he was named a Big Ten West "Player to Watch" today? Click through for the video.

ICYMI earlier today, some pretty big news... Ohio State has suspended All-America defensive end Joey Bosa, receiver Corey Smith and H-backs Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson for its opening game at Virginia Tech. In a statement released about an hour before Big Ten media days began Thursday, the Buckeyes said the players violated department of athletics policy. The defending national champions open the season Labor Day night in Blacksburg, Virginia, against the only team to beat them last season. Bosa had 13.5 sacks as a sophomore and enters his junior year as one of the top NFL prospects in college football. Marshall was second on the team in receptions as a freshman with 38 and was also the team's best punt returner. Wilson and Smith combined for 41 catches for 555 yards. When asked about this at Big Ten Media Days, Urban Meyer said he'd known about it for a while, agreed with the punishment, and no other details were being released.

The RB from who didn't qualify at Sconnie. https://t.co/XjbFnzJJiw

— marcmorehouse (@marcmorehouse) July 30, 2015

I suppose that irate Badger fans of the world can take solace in making lame "N stands for Knowledge" jokes while they cry in their beer. Seriously though, kind of a big deal. One B1G West opponent got weaker while the other got stronger.