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Even though by Lord Voldemort Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany has already shot down the idea, Penn State coach Joe Paterno still thinks the league should add a twelfth teams and a championship game. JoePa added a twist on Wednesday, saying who he doesn't want to see added to the conference: Notre Dame.

Stating the Irish have "had their chance," Paterno wants the league to look east, as in Big East. He recommends adding Syracuse, Pitt, or Rutgers to the conference. Paterno wants to see the Big Ten pick up the New York market, which would argue against Pitt. Rutgers has to like its chances in the Big East more than in in the Big Ten. As for Syracuse, well, at this point, you couldn't blame them if they decided to join Temple in the MAC. So there's no school out there that makes sense as a twelfth Big Ten Team, right?

With the recent passing of Doc "Mr. Inside" Blanchard, FanHouse takes a stab at naming the five greatest living Heisman Trophy winners

In a game that spans many eras, any task like this is exceedingly difficult and fraught with contradiction. With all the nostalgia built into the Heisman Trophy and the game of college football, we're buying into it with a less clinical, more emotional effort at ranking players. There's a bias towards the modern, towards a player being associated with the trophy and towards those that most captured peoples' imaginations.

College Football Spring Storylines 2009 looks at the key developments and big news from spring ball.

Spring. The time for rebirth and renewal. At least that is the theory. While there was only one change at head coach, there will be plenty of new in the Big East, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Half the teams have a different offensive coordinator. To say nothing of the departures of top offensive talent including quarterbacks Pat White and Mike Teel, running backs LeSean McCoy and Donald Brown, along with wide receivers Kenny Britt, Dominick Goodman and Tiquan Underwood. Defense will definitely lead the way in the conference this year.

FanHouse's lead-up to college football's signing day makes like Charles Dickens and looks at the Ghosts of Recruiting -- past, present and future. In the Ghosts of Recruiting Past we note 10 recruiting powers who have hit a dry spell

Today's kids probably have no idea Pitt and Syracuse were once incredibly powerful programs, not much different than say, a Georgia of today. Unfortunately for various reasons, several decades of change in America and the college football landscape have revealed their age. Sure, there's the movie about the late great Ernie Davis. Jim Brown is an American athletic legend and cultural icon. Pitt produced legends like Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino, Hugh Green and Mike Ditka. Oh, and that Larry Fitzgerald guy. None of that matters much right now.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Larry Fitzgerald has gone from the best wide receiver in college football at the University of Pittsburgh to the best wide receiver in pro football with the Arizona Cardinals. But could he have made it in the NFL if he had gotten his wish to play linebacker at Penn State?

Fitzgerald said this week that when he was a high school football player in Minnesota, he thought he'd play defense for Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions. A rainstorm on his official visit to Penn State caused him to alter his plans on the recruiting trip, and that altered the course of football history.

"It was a funny story of how I ended up there," Fitzgerald said. "I was always a big Penn State fan as a child. I always liked the Big Ten being from Minnesota, but the Gophers were terrible when I was trowing up. I played linebacker too and I always liked LaVar Arrington and Brandon Short and I always wanted to be a Penn State linebacker."

It is no secret that Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt prefers his offense to pound the ball with a ground attack. A lot. For the last couple of years, Pitt has had great success with that approach thanks to LeSean McCoy.

The tailback has rushed for over 2,800 yards the last two seasons. Those yards came on close to 600 carries. Given the load he has carried at Pitt, and the tread life on running backs, it was something of a surprise when McCoy announced he was coming back for another year at Pitt. Granted, the announcement came in late November with two games and a bowl game still to be played, so there was some skepticism.

Now, after a favorable report from the NFL Draft advisory board, and nearly a week of angst-ing over the choice, McCoy has decided to go pro.

FanHouse gathers around the TV to bring you insights from Bowl Season '08.

It will take an epically bad game to top the putridity of the 75th Sun Bowl. Pitt and Oregon State pillow fought their way to a 3-0 Oregon State win. This was downright colossal in disturbingly bad offensive performances.

There are games where the numbers don't tell the story. This game is not one of them. Only two drives that got into the red zone, five turnovers, eleven sacks, thirteen three-and-outs, twenty punts, and less than 500 total yards between the two teams.

Admittedly both teams were diminished on offense. Oregon State was playing without the Pac-10's Offensive Player and Freshman of the Year in running back Jacquizz Rodgers, along with Rodgers' older brother -- the second leading rusher and third in receiving. Pitt was without their starting center and left tackle on the offensive line.

Predictably, neither team was going to produce big numbers. Still, this was well below any expectations.

Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas), which pits Pittsburgh against Oregon State.

Overview/Matchup: You know that anytime you can end up with Dave Wannstedt's mustache wandering through the desert sands of Texas, well, you've had a pretty freaking good season. Actually, it would be rather unfair to dog Wanny that much -- a 9-3 record in the Big East with only Cincy and Rutgers as conference blemishes is pretty good. Oregon State, meanwhile, inexplicably beat USC only to fall to Utah the next week ... and then close out the season by losing to the in-state rival Ducks after reeling off six straight wins. In other words, this should be a nice game.

Hotels: The Camino Real El Paso is arguably the finest hotel in El Paso. The Camino's downtown location and historic décor (the former Hilton features a Tiffany glass dome over the lobby and leather wingback chairs) are of exceptionally high quality for the midrange rates. Closer to the airport, the Hyatt Place El Paso Airport offers more traditional midrange accommodation and atmosphere at similar rates to the Camino. The Hyatt's a good alternative for travelers who are worried about the stuffiness of a four-star hotel (i.e. the Camino). Budget-minded travelers should stay at the Holiday Inn Express downtown. Just blocks from the Camino and within a mile of Sun Bowl Stadium, the Holiday Inn can't be beat for convenience and price.

There was a time, not that long ago - like less than a year ago - when the Big East looked like it might become the Next Big Thing in the BCS battle. Most of that was thanks to West Virginia, but the conference ascended nonetheless.

The Mountaineers beat Georgia in the 2006 Sugar Bowl and ascended to national title contention last season. Pittsburgh stuffed those chances, but West Virginia bounced back and drilled Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl.

That win set 2008 to be a big year for the conference.

WVU returned Pat White and Noel Devine. Pittsburgh, which finished 2007 with that huge win at West Virginia, had Lesean McCoy back to anchor a solid team. South Florida, ed by QB Matt Grothe, seemed primed for a BCS run. Cincinnati and Connecticut were set to be spoilers, and so on.

What the heck happened? In terms of staying in the national picture, today was about the worst possible day for the Big East.

Coming into today's game between Pittsburgh and Rutgers, the two teams had only surpassed the 30-point mark three times combined.

The strength of the Rutgers team has been the defense by default, because the offense has almost been nonexistent. Likewise for Pitt, although their offense has been able to run the ball effectively and pass only when needed.

But only once has either defense allowed a 30-point game, when North Carolina put up 44 points on the Scarlet Knights. If anything, this was supposed to be a grind-it-out, defensive game.

However, on a day when offense has been the story around college football, these two teams have been anything but themselves.