Last Saturday, Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema exploited a loophole in rule 3-2-5e, the new rule designed to speed up college football games.

With 23 seconds left in the half, and Wisconsin holding a tenous lead against PSU, he ordered his kickoff team to go offsides twice in a row. Since the new rule requires the clock to start rolling at the kickoff, not the moment of possession, all 23 seconds were wasted during the attempted returns and penalties.

In other words, this tactic kept JoePa’s offense off of the field.

Here’s the video:

Since offsides is only a five-yard penalty, the kicking team could theoretically do this six times before reaching the five-yard-line, and perhaps even longer than that due to the “half the distance” rules. Bielema did it twice, and wound down almost 30 seconds. Doing it six times could waste almost 3 minutes. Theoretically, then, any team within a couple of minutes of the end of a half (or game) could keep the other offense off of the field.

I’m sure they’ll change the rule, but it won’t take effect until next season. It’ll be interesting to see if it catches on. Imagine a nightmare scenario where a team is leading by less than a score with a minute or two left in the game, and uses this to run down the clock.

Couldn’t resist writing the headline.

Link.

That intermittent cacaphony of clicks you’ll hear tonight is the collective sound of millions of remote control buttons being pushed as the eastern US switches back and forth from My Name is Earl and the Office to the Thursday night ESPN game.

Like it or not, the winner of tonight’s game controls its own destiny, and (if still undefeated) will meet the winner of the OSU/UM game OSU in Glendale.

The knee jerk reaction of most fans is to complain about the Big East’s strength of schedule, and compare it to the SEC’s, for instance. It doesn’t seem fair to most that an undefeated Big East team would get a title shot ahead of a one-loss SEC team.

To counter that, others argue that just because a conference has a lot of parity, doesn’t mean that it’s the “best” or the “strongest.” The Mountain West conference has a lot of parity, as does the Sun Belt. Doesn’t make them superior. Just because Arkansas, Tennesee, Florida, LSU, and Auburn are going to beat themselves senseless this year doesn’t make the SEC the “best” conference.

Having said that, I think most reasonable people think a Tennessee or Florida would crush WVU or Louisville in a match up. However, most reasonable people thought Georgia was going to crush WVU in the Sugar Bowl earlier this year… but it didn’t happen, even though GA had the homefield advantage.

So, what say you? Who would you prefer to have the opportunity to play against lose to OSU in Glendale this January? Most likely victims candidates include West Va., Louisville, Florida, and Auburn. Give us your opinion in the comments.

Note: I know that some will point out that UM and Texas are also possibilities, but IMO would be a slap in the face of college football. Texas had their shot, as will UM. I’m not a fan of the rematch. If you don’t like the results the first time, you shouldn’t get a “do-over.” The only occasion in which I would support a do-over type of rematch is if some external factor affected the first ballgame’s outcome, like a major officiating screwup (a’la Oregon and Oklahoma earlier this year).

Columbus television stations are reporting that Prescott Burgess, linebacker for UM, may be wanted by Columbus Police.

As of this post, no specific details are available. Internet threads, however, are lighting up with a story about Burgess burglarizing a now-defunct electronics store in Columbus several years ago.

The mighty Prescott Burgess, getting knocked on his tuckus for the bajillionth time by Stan White, Jr, allowing Pittman to score the winning TD

We’ll reserve an opinion on Burgess until all the details are revealed.

It’s disturbing, though, how a lot of UM blogs and fans in these threads are already complaining about the C-bus police, generally taking the position that even if Burgess is guilty, it was a long time ago and the store no longer exists, so it shouldn’t matter. That’s kind of a dangerous way to think, but the story is young.

I say this honestly: I hope it turns out to be nothing. Like most true OSU and UM fans, I want all players on both sides to be there and healthy when the game comes around. UM’s best vs. OSU’s best – the best spectacle in the sports universe.