What I'm Thankful for...Big Ten Football Edition

The day after stuffing my face with good food and spending quality time with family, I decided to compile a list of the things I'm most thankful for this Big Ten season.

I'm thankful for...

-Northwestern getting an eight win season: Pat Fitzgerald is a tremendous coach and sometimes doesn't get the respect or the media coverage he and the Wildcats deserve. But Fitzgerald has done a fantastic job, leading the Wildcats to 17 wins in the past two seasons, 10 of those wins coming in Big Ten play.

-Bill Lynch's tirades: He provided me entertainment throughout the season. Especially this one against Michigan.


-Illinois's Struggles: Maybe it's because I'm a Cubs fan and I'm sick of hearing White Sox fans talk about a World Series victory from four years ago. I feel the same way with Illinois. I'm tired of hearing about your Rose Bowl berth a couple years back.

-"In Kirk We Trust": Kirk Ferentz is just an absolutely amazing coach. He has been through player troubles and the media criticism a couple years ago to lead this team to back-to-back succesful seasons (9 wins last year and 10 so far this year). Despite not having any highly touted recruits out of High School, he makes the most of what he has. He led the Hawkeyes to a 9-0 start, their best start ever in school history.

-Purdue and Danny Hope: At the beginning of the season, I didn't think Purdue would get more than two wins. But with a new coach and a lot of new players, they surprised me a lot this year. Despite struggles and losing a lot of close games, they had a pretty damn good year. They knocked off Ohio State and the future looks bright for Danny Hope and the Boilers.

-Iowa's wild and crazy season: Two consecutive blocked Field Goals against Northern Iowa, a blocked punt by Adrian Clayborn in Happy Valley, Stanzi to McNutt against Michigan State, Tyler Sash's 90+yard interception that ricocheted off of five or 6 players, a redshirt freshman QB taking Ohio State down to the wire at the "Horseshoe." It's been an incredible ride and I am so thankful that I was able to experience it.

One pick and One tweet

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Here's my pick for the lone game this week and tweet for for ya, as well.

Friday Game:
Illinois vs. Cincinnati
Game Time: 11 a.m.
Prediction: The Bearcats head into this game undefeated and poised for a BCS Bowl Berth. Defeating Ron Zook and the Illness shouldn't prove to be too difficult. Bearcats down the Illini, 30-10.


Tweet:
Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster appears to be trying to gain support for his club through twitter.

"Help the Gophers get to the Alamo Bowl...Vote for Minnesota on the Alamo Fan Poll http://bit.ly/1nLIjn"

It looks like Brewster's tweeting is working thus far. Minnesota leads the fan poll with 53% of the vote. Michigan State is behind the Gophers with 33%

Big Team on Campus Rankings

1. Ohio State
2. Iowa
3. Penn State
4. Northwestern
5. Wisconsin
6. Michigan State
7. Purdue
8. Minnesota
9. Michigan
10. Indiana
11. Illinois

The Latest Big Ten Tweets

Coaches should have more time to tweet now that their regular season's are over. Let's see who's tweeting around the Big Ten...

PSU Assistant Tom Bradley: "Nows its time to get on the road this afternoon and start recruiting"

"Wow that third quarter was awesome [Saturday]. It was a great way to end up and hopefully we can get a BCS bid"

PSU Assistant Jay Paterno: "Congrats to Penn State's 6 First Team All Big-Ten Selections. Daryll Clark becomes the First Two-Time 1st Team All Big 10 QB Since Drew Brees"

"On the road for a whirlwind day of recruiting"

Lets hand out some hardware...time for the Big Ten Awards

It's been one fantastic regular season of Big Ten football (I know it's not quite over yet, but it's close enought). It's time to hand out some awards. Who will walk away with the highest accolade given out by the media...the Football in the Heartland end of season awards!

Offensive Player of the Year - And the award goes to....Wisconsin running back John Clay. Clay ranks first in the Big Ten and 14th in the nation in rushing with 1,224 yards. His 13 touchdowns are also first in the Big Ten and put him in a tie for 14th in the country. He rushed for 100 yards or more seven times this season and had his best effort against Minnesota where he rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns.(Photo credit: athlonsports.com)

Defensive Player of the Year - I'm going to give co-players of the year for this one. It's a pair of linebackers - Iowa's Pat Angerer and Michigan State's Greg Jones. Jones recorded 140 tackles (61 solo), as well as nine sacks. The 140 tackles is good for second in the country, while his nine sacks puts him in a tie for 13th. Angerer recorded 135 tackles (good for third in the nation), along with a sack, two forced fumbles, and an interception.

Coach of the Year - No brainer here, it's gotta be Hawkeye head man Kirk Ferentz. Ferentz led Iowa to it's first ever 9-0 start, ultimately finishing the season 10-2. The squad came from behind in eight of the 10 wins. Ferentz should be the National Coach of the Year, no question about it. Iowa doesn't get the five-star recruits like Florida, USC, etc. Ferentz gets the best out of his players and it showed this season.

(Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com)

Most disappointing team - Illinois. The Illini were poised for a big season with preseason All-Big Ten QB Juice Williams at the helm, but the Illini underachieved all season long.

Here's my first-team offense and defense...

OFFENSE

QB: Daryll Clark, PSU

RB: John Clay, Wis

WR: Eric Decker, Minn

WR: Blair White, MSU

WR: Keith Smith, Pur

TE: Tony Moeaki, Iowa

K: Brett Swenson, MSU

DEFENSE

DL: Adrian Clayborn, Iowa

DL: Ryan Kerrigan, Pur

DL: Jammie Kirlew, Ind

DL: Jared Odrick, PSU

LB: Pat Angerer, Iowa

LB: Greg Jones, MSU

LB: A.J. Edds, Iowa

DB: Tyler Sash, Iowa

DB: Kurt Coleman, OSU

P: Zoltan Mesko, Mich.

Best Plays from Week 11

Week 11 Picks

South Dakota State vs. Minnesota
Prediction: Although the Gophers are Decker-less right now. They will win this game and become bowl eligible. Minnesota 27, South Dakota State 10

Indiana vs. Penn State
Prediction: The Lions may not be able to smell the roses, but they're certainly going to keep playing hard and try to make another BCS bowl. Season's over for Bill Lynch and the Hoosiers as the Lions roll, 35-7.

Michigan vs. Wisconsin
Prediction: This is a HUGE game for Rich Rod. A must-win since they play Ohio State next week. That being said, I think Bielema and Tolzien will win this one. Wolverines miss out on a bowl for the second-straight year as the Badgers jump around to the tune of a 24-14 victory.

Michigan State vs. Purdue
Prediction: I never would have thought that Purdue would be two wins away from bowl eligibility. Honestly, I think the Boilers have this one in the bag. Sparty has struggle since losing to Iowa and is coming off an easy win over a MAC opponent. I don't think they will be ready for Danny Hope and the Boilers. Purdue wins it, 21-17.

Northwestern vs. Illinois
Prediction: Northwestern is coming off a huge win at Iowa and I think they will continue to build off of that win when they head to Champaign. Pat Fitzgerald and his squad get it done for a second-straight week, beating the fighting Zooks, 17-14.

Iowa vs. Ohio State
Prediction: It's a game for all the roses. James Vandenberg is going to have to shoulder the load for the Hawkeye offense and not make mistakes. Call me biases, call me a homer, I honestly believe Iowa will win this game. It's going to be a low-scoring defensive effort and the Hawks are going to rally around their young QB. Iowa wins in a close one, 10-7.

Tweets from Around the Big Ten

Howdy everyone. Now that I've mentally recovered from Iowa's loss to Northwestern, it's once again time for some more tweeting from around the Big Ten.

From Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald: "CATS WIN!! Thanks to all the NU students and fans who made it to the game! GO CATS!!"

Purdue Coach Danny Hope: "Great job Joey Elliott, just named Big 10 Offensive Player of the Week! Finished 28-39 for 367 yards and 3 TD's in HUGE win over Michigan!!"

Indiana running back Bryan Payton (right): "It kills me how fans boo when they can't do anything close to what we do on the field every day...They should check themselves"

(Photo credit: heraldtimesonline.com)

Scott Chipman, Big Ten Assistant Commissioner of Communications: "Congrats to NU football on being named the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week after their win over IOWA"

Week 10 Picks

Northwestern vs. Iowa
Prediction: The Wildcats are tough at Kinnick and Mike Kafka is back at QB, but I still like the Hawkeyes to win this one, 31-17

Wisconsin vs. Indiana
Prediction: Indiana has blown its past two games. They won't win this one either, Badgers jump around, 35-13

Western Michigan vs. Michigan State
Prediction: Michigan State needs a game like this to get them back on track. Kirk Cousins and Blair White both have big games as Sparty rolls, 40-7

Purdue vs. Michigan
Prediction: Boilers aren't losing hope, but they will lose this game as Rich Rod rights the Wolverine ship. 30-21

Illinois vs. Minnesota
Prediction: Brewster and the Gophers will be bowl eligible after this one. Minnesota beats Illinois, 23-14

Ohio State vs. Penn State
Prediction: Daryll Clark finally wins a big game. Joe Pa and the Lions celebrate with big 27-24 victory