We have reached the 105 day countdown mark until Penn State kicks off the 2008 football season against Coastal Carolina. And to commemorate, we will be running the Toughest Venues series for the next 11 days.

NittanyWhiteOut.com has compiled and ranked the toughest venues to play at in the Big Ten. There are a few basic ground rules:

• The data compiled is only based on the last 5 seasons (2007-2003).
• The win/loss factor is only one part of a much larger equation. Like the BCS, we are highly subjective and oftentimes make no numerical sense, but we will try our best to make our case.
• Neutral site games, and bowl games are not included. Though neutral site games can fall into the away column, does an Illinois game in Missouri, or a Wisconsin game in Green Bay really count as an away game? Bowl games are excluded because of the prolonged time available to teams to prepare for these games.

Before we begin with our easiest Big Ten venue, below is a table of data we collected that aided us in making our decision. But as I mentioned above, not everything is based on the win/loss numbers.

The overall ranking will be based upon points awarded in 5 categories. The points will be based out of 11 with 11 being the highest, and 1 the lowest.

ATTENDANCE:

It is no coincidence that the 4 most successful Big Ten programs over the last half-decade is also the ones with the highest attendance. But then we have to ask, is the football team good because of the number of fans in the stands or are the number of fans in the stands the result of the football team doing well? We believe it is the former because even during the waning years of some football programs, the fans continue to flock to the stadiums making their presence known. And you simply can’t talk about the Big Ten conference and ignore the fact that as a conference we are a mainstay in the top 25 most attended stadiums in the nation. 3 of the 5 largest stadiums belong to the Big Ten with Michigan carrying the banner for the largest stadium in the nation.

TRADITION/HISTORY:

How is it that a team down in the fourth suddenly get the lift to march down the field on its very last play when it was unable to do so for the previous 3 quarters? You can’t deny the influence a Jesus mural on the exterior of the library, or the words of a legendary coach, or the simply aura that surrounds some of the venues in the Big Ten has on the home team.

FANS:

This is the big one. With passion running rampant in the Big Ten. Who exactly has the best fans in the conference? From Jump Around at Wisconsin, to the White Out at Penn State, students have definitely made their mark and changed the culture of college football in the Big Ten. This category will most surely be the most criticized one, but it isn’t hard to pinpoint the most intimidating fans in the Big Ten.

VENUE:

The fans can hoot and holler as loud as they want, but if the venue is simply not built to hold noise, it barely makes a difference. Then there are those stadiums that are built to intimidate. Even with less fans, they can amplify a crowd of hundreds into one of thousands.

WIN/LOSS RECORD:

The home win/loss record is indicative of how well a team plays at home, but we have also added the record against ranked teams in each particular venue. Some venues can be defined as simply a graveyard for ranked teams, while others are highly successful against all other competition except ranked opponents.

So without further ado we begin with the easiest venue in the Big Ten…

RECRUITING STORYLINE

Darrell Givens originally committed to the Buckeyes on April 19th at the Ohio State spring game.

“Yes, I did commit to Ohio State today,” Givens admitted. “It just felt like the right place for me and I just fell in love with Ohio State.”

“I told all the coaches today that I wanted to be a Buckeye,” Givens said. “I spoke to Jim Tressel and also to coach [Taver] Johnson, coach [Luke] Fickell and coach [Darrell] Hazell. I’m very happy to be a Buckeye.”

But just this past weekend, the top 10 cornerback from Lackey High School, MD attended Penn State’s State College NIKE camp and switched his verbal to the Lions on the spot. His high school teammate, Malcolm Willis already committed to the Lions in late April.

A top 10 recruit in his cornerback position, Givens was holding offers from at least 16 major programs:

COLLEGE CHOICES	INTEREST	OFFER	VISIT	RECRUITED BY
Penn State (solid verbal)	COMMITTED (5/10/2008)		None
Pittsburgh	None		None	Bryan Bossard
Rutgers	None		None
Tennessee	None		None
Virginia	None		None
Virginia Tech	None		None
Boston College	None		None	Ryan Day
Florida	None		None
Illinois	None		None
Maryland	None		None
Miami	None		None
Michigan	None		None
North Carolina	None		None
Ohio State	Decommitted (4/19/2008)		None
Oklahoma	None		None
Oregon	None		None

Darrell Givens

Overjoyed. Everytime we get a verbal from a highly rated player, thats reason to celebrate. I know the arguments against using stars from recruiting services as an indication of talent. But I would prefer 20 four to five star recruits over just a couple any day of the year. When you stockpile highly ranked recruits like Ohio State and USC does, the odds of finding those breakout stars are higher than if you risk recruiting only a few each year.

But there is cause for concern with recruits like Givens. Not that there is anything wrong with 18 year old kids changing their minds. But Givens’ willingness to commit on the spot at Ohio State in April and now to Penn State at the NIKE camp should be worrying to Lion fans considering Givens has a trip down to Miami scheduled.

So lets not officially count this one yet. Buckeye fans are still scratching their collective heads over Givens ‘ decision, lets just hope Lion fans won’t suffer the same fate.

The slow blogging this past weekend was due to the fact that I was out celebrating my birthday. But I feel like I could have still written some interesting posts drunk.

While I was gone:

Penn State’s dominating mens volleyball team faces the Buckeyes of Ohio State out in California for the national semifinals.

How can I call them dominating? Well this year’s squad holds a 28-1 record with their only loss to George Mason early in the year. They eventually redeemed themselves by sweeping George Mason in their second meeting for the EIVA championship.

Penn State should have no trouble with the Buckeyes in this match up. They have met twice this year with a 3 game sweep in Columbus and a 4 game victory in University Park. But lets hope history does not repeat itself.

2 years ago, the anteaters of UC-Irvine was in the exact same position Penn State finds itself in this year. They were the #1 seed filled with All-Americans yet they were upset by the #4 seeded Nittany Lions at Rec Hall. This year, Penn State finds itself in the exact same position except it is the Lions that have to travel across the country to bring back its second national championship.

If they manage to avoid the upsets, Penn State will become only the second school to win the men’s and the women’s volleyball championship in succession. Stanford being the first.

So if there are Lion fans out there in the Los Angeles region, head on out to UC Irvine this Thursday and root for the Blue and White at 6 pm.

Ticket Information

All Tickets are sold through the Bren Events Center Ticket Office by calling (949) 824-5000 or
Box Office Hours
Monday-Friday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Ticket Prices
All-Session Adult Pass - $25
All-Session Youth/Student Pass - $18

Single Session Tickets will only be available to purchase beginning April 28.
Please note there is no guarantee that any single session tickets will be available.

Adult Single Session Pass - $15
Youth/Student Single Session Pass - $10
$1.50 service charge per ticket.

(session one - Thursday, May 1st and session two - Saturday, May 3rd)

Do we need a recount?

There are five captains for this season’s football team.

Yes. Five.

This either means there aren’t true ‘leaders’ on this years squad to pinpoint an individual offensive and defensive captain, OR there are so many playmakers and leaders that they couldn’t settle on just 3 captains. I’m hoping for the latter, but with all the off-the-field issues with the law, I can’t help but think its reason number 1.

But in addition to our sideline captain, Sean Lee (LB), Gaines (DE) and Scirrotto (S) were selected defensive captains and Shipley (C) and Williams (WR) were chosen as the offensive leaders. It was interesting to see Scirrotto on that list seeing as he was in Joe’s doghouse, but I guess Joe realizes there are worst crimes out there.

Count 5 for the NFL

Linebacker Dan Connor slips to the third round when he was selected by the Carolina Panthers as the 74th overall pick.

Cornerback Justin King was selected as the 101st overall pick in the fourth round.

Wide receiver Terrell Golden was signed as a free agent to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Fullback Matt Hahn was signed as a free agent to the Oakland Raiders.

And most amazing of all, Anthony Morelli was signed as a free agent to the Arizona Cardinals.

…more on the NFL draft through Blue and White tinted glasses tomorrow later this week.

bigtencoaches

Remember the Rich Rod is a Liar and a Snake series? You don’t? Heres a quick recap.

“Rich Rod’s staff stole more de-commits by themselves than the entire conferences of the SEC, Big East, Big 12 and Pac 10. He can rest assured that the entire conference of the ACC with its 2 divisions have the same de-commits stolen as the great institution of Michigan.”

Apparently Brian at Mgoblog attempted to justify Rich Rod’s suspect recruiting techniques by… drumroll please… blaming the recruit!

“Which, like… of course. Roy Roundtree is perfectly capable of making sound decisions like “not going to Purdue.” He has free will.”

Yes, he does. But the question isn’t whether these kids are capable of making sound decisions, what are the odds of Roundtree even considering switching if Michigan decided to back off after his verbal to Purdue.

But hey, everyone does it Brian argues.

Every coach in the Big Ten has, at one time or another, attempted to poach some other Big Ten school’s “commitment.”

Granted we have had one or two instances every few years in which one Big Ten school poached or attempted to steal another recruit from a fellow conference member. Which by the way, despite what those at Mgoblog says, IS a lot worst than stealing from out of conference teams.

“Stealing recruits from your fellow brethren is like shitting where you sleep. You are not only going to be playing with one another, but there are galas, conferences, conventions and even meetings that will thrust you among your fellow conference peers and Rich Rod has not experienced that as of now. Think he’ll be sitting side by side with Tiller, Tressel or Paterno anytime soon? At the rate he’s going, they’ll have to bring in a kid’s table just so he can sit by himself during Media Day.”

But no one has done it at the rate Rich Rod is going. But hey, Michigan just wants to beat Ohio State at this point so who can blame them. But common, blaming the recruits for switching their commitments? You can do better. Sure, Rich Rod continuing pressure on Roundtree even after his verbal to Purdue had absolutely nothing to do with his decommitment.

So any takers for Rich Rod’s roommate at the Big Ten media conference in Chicago? Joe, Tiller and Tressel rather sleep in a cardboard box.