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.

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.

Star Hawkeye O-lineman out for Cy-Hawk game this weekend. Plus other Big Ten nuggets

Iowa offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga (right, #79) will miss this weekends game at Iowa State due to a mysterious ailment or illness.

Twitter and several message boards were buzzing yesterday with rumors of the ailment. The rumors ranged from an ailment that would keep him out this week to a condition that could possibly be career-threatening.

But hold the phone, here's what we know so far. ESPN blogger Adam Rittenberg reports that he will miss the Iowa State game.

"Bryan Bulaga was hospitalized with an illness this past week and will not be available to play [Saturday]," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said in a statement. "Bryan is doing much better, has been released and will accompany the team this weekend. We expect Bryan to return to his normal activities soon."

The junior O-lineman earned second team All-Big Ten honors last season and was voted as a preseason second team all-american by Phil Steele's College Football. He is considered to be a legitimate NFL prospect and Sports Illustrated predicted Bulaga to be an All-American this season in their College Football Preview edition.

(Photo Credit: www.nationalchamps.net)


Other Big Ten nuggets...

-Mark Snyder of the Detroit Free press writes that Rich Rod and Jim Tressel will be rooting for each other this weekend
-Mike Carmin of the Indiapolis Star writes about the energy that new Boiler coach Danny Hope brings to Purdue.
-ESPN blogger Adam Rittenberg writes about the wild atmosphere the Hawkeyes will face in Ames, IA when they take on the Cyclones this weekend.
-Herb Gould of the Chicago Sun-Times writes about how Big Ten pride hangs on the shoulders of Ohio State this weekend.