2005 Draft Set for August 23rd

The 2005 Big Ten Fantasy Football Draft is set for Tuesday August 23rd and 5:30 p.m.

The cut down deadline is set for 6 p.m. on Sunday August 21st. Soon after teams keeper lists are submitted, the commissioner of the League will send out the lists of protected players to the 4 coaches.

The road to Blue Ox Bowl III has begun!

QB Smith in Trouble Again; Coach Carhart Claims Ignorance

OSU looking into more trouble with Smith

Wednesday, July 20, 2005

By Todd Porter Repository sports writer

Ohio State athletics officials are looking into a possible second NCAA rules violation involving quarterback Troy Smith.

Smith attended a quarterback camp held by Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair. Smith was one of six college athletes at the charitable camp, but was the only player of the six whose university is on academic quarters rather than semesters.

If Smith missed a class to attend the camp — as is believed to be the case — he violated NCAA rules.

The Cleveland Glenville product accepted $500 from an OSU booster last year and was forced to sit out the Alamo Bowl, as well as the first game this season.

Working as a counselor at a charitable camp is within NCAA bylaws, provided Smith received written permission from OSU Athletics Director Gene Smith and not missed class. The NCAA has seven other conditions a player must meet to attend an outreach program such as a camp.

Buckeye Head Coach Jim Tressel confirmed to The Repository on Tuesday that the university is studying the situation. However, he said the school’s compliance department is not finished with its inquiry.

Attempts to reach Smith were unsuccessful. Ohio State Associate Athletics Director for NCAA Compliance Heather Lyke declined comment.

Ohio State is preparing to play its opener against Miami of Ohio without Smith. However, the Buckeyes were counting on his availability for the second game against Texas. That game could have early implications on both teams’ national title aspirations.

It is unclear if the latest violation will impact Smith’s current suspension and reinstatement. Smith is currently reinstated with conditions; those conditions are that he miss 20 percent of a season, or two games.

By itself, a violation of Article 12.5.1.1 would not be deemed serious. However, Smith’s history complicates matters.

Since this is Smith’s second violation, it could hinder his reinstatement or cost him more than just the season opener. Tressel declined to talk about the severity of Smith’s latest problem.

Article 12.5.1.1 deals with promotional activities. At the very least, Smith violated condition (d), which grants permission to attend a camp or outreach program so long as the student-athlete does not miss class, and condition (a), which requires written permission from the athletic director or designated coach to attend the camp.

Smith is allowed to be reimbursed for driving to Tennessee to attend the camp so long as the reimbursement is in line with what others would receive.

A violation of bylaw 12.5.1 is what the NCAA deems a Level 1 secondary violation. According to the NCAA, “These violations are potentially serious from a student-athlete reinstatement standpoint, but typically involve little, if any, institutional responsibility. These will be treated as Level I violations with the understanding that the violations will be processed by student-athlete reinstatement, but will be forwarded to enforcement by student-athlete reinstatement only if the institution has culpability for the violation. ...”

A secondary violation is one inadvertent in nature. Since Smith has a prior violation, it is unknown how the latest incident would be viewed.

Big Ten Changes its Bowl Lineup for 2006: Sun & Music City Out, Insight & Champs Sports In

(I know, only slightly related to fantasy football, but interesting for Big Ten football watchers nonetheless...)

The Big Ten shuffled its postseason bowl game lineup, adding some popular fan destinations in new football agreements announced Tuesday.

The league added the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando and the Insight Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., in a four-year agreement starting in 2006. The conference will drop the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, and the Music City Bowl in Nashville after this season. The status of the Motor City Bowl in Detroit is still up in the air.

The Big Ten also extended its agreement with the Capital One (Orlando), Outback (Tampa, Fla.) and Alamo (San Antonio) bowls for four more years. It already had signed an eight-year extension with the Rose Bowl through the 2013 season.

"With a heavy concentration of Big Ten alumni in the states of Arizona, California, Florida and Texas, this bowl lineup is a natural fit for the conference and should provide some great matchups on the field," Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said.

Held the final week of December, the Champs Sports Bowl will have the fourth choice of Big Ten schools for two years and the fifth choice the other two years, rotating with the Alamo Bowl. The Big Ten's opponent for the Champs Sports Bowl has not been finalized yet.

The Insight Bowl will move to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., in December 2006 and will pit the Big Ten against the Big 12.

The Big Ten currently has six tie-ins outside the Rose Bowl. A league spokesperson said the conference is exploring either an extension with the Motor City Bowl or adding a different bowl game.

Bucky's Goodgers Gear Up for Three-Peat!

The scrambling of Drew Stanton and the hard running of Little Mike Hart have produced unbridled optimism at the Goodgers first practice of 2005. "I just want to win one more," Hart said, "after that, who knows." A League title this season would be an unprecedented third Blue Ox Bowl win in a row to follow the Goodger's unprecedented repeat title last season and it's victory in the first annual Blue Ox Bowl in 2003.

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