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The SEC has long been known as a place where defense rules in college football. Maybe some of that had to do with the league's generally minimal focus on offense for so many years, but we can debate that in another entry. Regardless, its defensive credibility is rock solid.

But in recent years, a steady influx of offensive changes from coaches to schemes has balanced the league and made it all the more dangerous.

But, as noted at the Daily Texan, there's also been a barely noticed flow of defensive coaching talent away from the SEC. Former Auburn star defensive coordinators Gene Chizik and Will Muschamp have made their way to the Big 12. Chizik was Texas' defensive coordinator before being hired as the head coach at Iowa State. Muschamp, meanwhile, is Texas' new D.C.

Elsewhere, former Alabama defensive coordinator Joe Kines is now the D.C. at Texas A&M. Chances are, those three have been adequately replaced, but their departure and the SEC's changing offensive makeup seems to indicate a change from the All D, No O days of SEC past. I doubt wide open offensive football with not much defense like on display in the WAC ever finds a home in the SEC. OK, severely doubt it. But it is interesting to note a modest departure of defensive coaching talent as a steady wave of offensive coaching talent moves in.

Related: I wonder if this perks up the state of defense in the suddenly wide-open, quarterback loaded Big 12?

(Via: Football Rumor Mill)

The Iowa-Iowa State rivalry may not be the sexiest intrastate rivalry in college football, but in Iowa, it's a sharp sword that slices the state in two. Even though the modern series is only 31 years old, the game is still one of the biggest events in Iowa year in and year out. Whether it's at Kinnick or Jack Trice, the stadium is always filled to the spilling point, and most of the rest of the state watches on TV.

Or at least they used to.

This year's Hawkeye-Cyclone game will be airing on the Big Ten Network, which still isn't available on many of Iowa's biggest cable systems. Comcast, the first major cable provider to sign with the BTN, barely has any subscribers in Iowa. A number of the state's smaller companies have signed on, but Mediacom, the state's largest provider, is still in negotiations with the network.

In its first year the games which aired on BTN provided plenty of memorable moments (like the notorious Appalachian State game) but relatively few of them were games with this degree of desirability. It's a brilliant move by the Big Ten Network to grab this game, which should put some pressure on Mediacom to get on board. I'm not sure how many Iowans would dump cable for satellite just for this game, but it's a good bet that you wouldn't want to be a Mediacom customer service rep if a deal doesn't get done before kickoff.

I no longer live in Iowa but I'm still in Big Ten country and I think it's past time for all sides to give a little and get a deal done. I can live without seeing my Hawkeyes take on Maine or Florida International (two other Iowa games that will air on BTN) but if I can't see Iowa-Iowa State? A pox on both their houses.

FanHouse is counting down the ten best, ten worst, and ten weirdest moments in Big Ten football history.

ABOVE: Iowa State University's Jack Trice Stadium is the only Football Bowl Subdivision stadium named after an African-American.

It might have been an unfortunate accident of the sort which happened in the early days of football, before the players took the field in modern-day suits of armor.

It might have been an ugly, racially motivated attack which went further than its perpetrators intended.

It might have been a murder.

After 85 years, it's almost impossible to say just what happened on October 6, 1923, in Minneapolis. What is beyond dispute is that Jack Trice, the first African-American athlete at Iowa State, was trampled by at least three Minnesota players while executing a roll block. Though he did not appear seriously injured at the time, Trice suffered severe internal injuries and died two days later.

At the time, Trice's teammates and friends didn't think the trampling was intentional. Minnesota fans weren't so sure. They began chanting "We're sorry, Ames!" shortly after the play. (In the Midwest, it's common to refer to universities by their locations instead of their names.) When you look at what life was like for an African-American college athlete in the 1920s, you can't help but be a little suspicious.

The Big 12's annual meetings are currently taking place in Colorado Springs and league commissioner Dan Beebe has a lot on his plate. But one agenda item that he is pushing strongly is a fifth year of eligibility for football players. He hopes the proposed change will get some attention from the NCAA rules committee.

The proposal for a fifth year of eligibility would eliminate redshirting, instead giving college football players five years to compete on the field. Under current rules, players have a five-year window in which to complete four years of playing time. This isn't the first time this change has come up, but opponents have argued that eligibility rules need to standard across sports. Big 12 commissioner Beebe, disagrees.

Beebe, however, said he thinks football should be seen as unique because it has a high rate of redshirts and injuries.

"Injuries happen and coaches have players who could contribute, but they don't want to play someone on a limited basis and burn a redshirt year," Beebe said. "And you have kids during their redshirt year who are getting the heck beat out of them in practice every day with no hope of playing."

The rule change would certainly eliminate the need for coaches to agonize about redshirting decisions. In addition, it would seemingly end the need for athletes and schools to file medical hardships in the wake of injuries. Lastly, given that the average college football player takes around 4.7 years to graduate, the five-year eligibility window could help improve graduation rates.

Last summer, the Iowa State athletic department approved a life skills assistant position for Baptist pastor Kevin Lykins. While the approval process wasn't always a smooth ride, the relationship recently survived the completion of an end-of-school-year assessment of Lykins' performance.

"We came forward and were forthright about here's what it is and here's what his background is," [athletic director Jamie] Pollard said. "We laid all our cards on the table, and for that, there was a lot of initial criticism.

"But we worked our way through it."

While the initial debate over the addition of Lykins included a faculty petition against the move, as well as criticism from a number of media outlets, we're just now finding out how intense the situation was.

Pollard says his house was vandalized on three occasions during the time in which school officials were considering Lykins' appointment.

He said he decided not to file a police report.

Pollard said someone ripped landscaping apart and tossed the remains into the neighbor's yard. He also said he found garbage dumped in his front yard.

"I'm assuming it was because of this issue," Pollard said. "I can't prove that, but I assume it was."

Pollard remains committed to the idea of a life skills assistant and believes that Lykins' presence has benefited the university. At the end of the day, I suppose that's all that matters.

You know it's a long off-season in college football, when even the coaches get involved in the tomfoolery and shenanigans. But then again, why should the players have all the fun? At Iowa State, defensive graduate assistant Floyd Howard White was arrested and charged with drunken driving and criminal trespassing causing damage of over $200.

The story seems a bit confusing as White was apparently attempting to bust his car out of an impound lot.

"Court documents say White was arrested after an officer stopped to talk with him as he was walking along a gravel road near Butch's Towing impound lot. The officer noticed the steel gate blocking the entrance was lying on the ground. The documents say the officer located White's car and noticed damage to the front end. White was released without posting bond and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for May 19."

Unfortunately, the article doesn't bother to explain how White's car wound up impounded in the first place. It's also not clear why White didn't actually complete the heist by driving out of the impound lot given that he'd already driven into and through the gated entrance.

On the bright side, pictures of the incident have yet to appear on the web, and somewhere Larry Eustachy grumbles.

In 2007, with some help from their fans, Iowa State decided upon a new logo and new uniforms for their football team. On Monday the school released images of planned changes to Jack Trice Stadium which will reflect the updated look.

"Several of Iowa State's athletics facilities, including Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum, will have a new look for the 2008-09 season. In October 2007, the Iowa State Athletics Department unveiled a new primary mark for its 18-sport intercollegiate athletics program and Cyclone faithful will begin to notice the new mark taking shape in the coming months in preparation for next season.

One of the first visual elements released by the Athletics Department includes artwork of the new-look Jack Trice Stadium and Hilton Coliseum. Fans will be able to see the new fieldwork, live and in person, when the Cyclones kickoff on Thursday, Aug. 28 against South Dakota State."

A larger version of the stadium image can be seen here and can be contrasted with the older version here. Overall, while I don't really have anything against the current logo, I have to admit that I sort of miss the previous "Cy" incarnation already. As has previously been mentioned, I'm not alone in these feelings.

via Clone Chronicles

We've all heard of the lonesome kicker, but Iowa State is practicing this spring with an invisible kicker. The Cyclones are awaiting the arrival of two incoming freshman, who will battle it out for the starting kicking job come August. In the meantime, special teams practice is sort of odd according to head coach Gene Chizik.

That's a little difficult right now," coach Gene Chizik said of spring practices. "Because kicking is such a timing issue, with extra points and field goals. The kicking issues will obviously be addressed by someone who is not here right now."

"But again, it's a little bit difficult not having a kicker, knowing exactly where he'll kick it. We'll know all those things when they get here, but we're doing the best we can right now, just from a common sense perspective of what we can do without them."

I've had this happen in NCAA Football on my PlayStation, but you'd think Chizik and the Cyclones could at least find someone on the intramural soccer fields to line up at kicker for the spring. If not, they could also recruit special teamers via the classified ads a la Mike Leach at Texas Tech.

We've covered the notion that Big 12 coaches are hoping for a physical showing on the gridiron this spring. Part of the physicality on the field comes from hardwork off the field, often times in the weight room. Iowa State is one Big 12 team that has dedicated itself to a new off-season conditioning program. Apparently, the results are just beginning to show for the Cyclones.

· A year ago, there were two players who could power clean more than 300 pounds. Now there are 21.

· Iowa State's program used to have just one 500-pound squatter. Now, there are 13.

· The Cyclones had 11 bench presses of 315 pounds or more. They've recorded 33 this spring.

Second year Cyclones head coach – a man not known for his sense of humor – credits the changes to ISU's director of strength and conditioning Ken Sheppard.

"These are the things in my opinion that give you confidence to be a better football player," Chizik said. "Those are the things explosion-wise that help you become a better player.

"I think coach Sheppard did a great job."

It's unclear whether the off-season work will translate to on-field success, but the Cyclones need all the help they can get. Certainly becoming bigger, stronger, and faster can only aid their attempt to rise out of the Big 12 North cellar. And who knows, maybe next year they can break out the baby oil come team poster time.

Spring practice has always been a time of offensive and defensive scheme installation, fundamentals and player evaluations. But this year's spring practice also has Big 12 coaches channeling their inner Olivia Newton John. That's right, it seems everyone in the conference is getting physical.

At Texas, it has been new defensive coordinator Will Muschamp who has the Longhorns playing tougher.

"We've had the most physical practices we've ever had," [head coache Mack] Brown said. "We were more physical last spring, but this spring we've just continued. Obviously, Will's come in with some new defensive thoughts and we're working on those."

The players seem to be catching on:

"Every day, we're hitting, no matter where we are," cornerback Deon Beasley said. "Inside the bubble, outside, we're hitting. I think it's good for us to get some contact and for us to show that we're not only a fast team, but we're a physical one as well."

Nebraska's new head coach Bo Pelini also wanted the Huskers focusing on physical football.

Pelini labeled last year's defensive performance "irrelevant" and said he hasn't watched any of the tape from last year. He'll spend some time trying figure out what talent he has, and "tweaking" the scheme to the players. It will also be more physical.

"We're not gonna be out there playing tag, I promise you that," Pelini said.