by Kevin Trahan (@k_trahan)
There wasn't much going on in the Northwestern sports world yesterday, but there was plenty going on in college football and the Big Ten. InsideNU has you covered from the best stories of the day.
Land of Lincoln Rivalry
The ESPN Big Ten Blog did a "take two" piece on the Northwestern-Illinois rivalry yesterday, debating which team would finish with a better record in 2012. Brian Bennett argued for Northwestern, claiming that Illinois would struggle on offense, while Kain Colter and the Wildcats have the potential to be explosive. However, Bennett predicted both teams to finish 6-6 or 7-5, so it wasn't all good news for NU fans.
Rittenberg picked Illinois, saying he's skeptical of the NU defense and thinks the Illinois defense can help the Illini to a better record — granted, he has Illinois finishing 7-5 to NU's 6-6. It's early and preseason predictions are really just for fun at this point, but it's safe to say expectations aren't too high for "The State of Illinois's Big Ten Teams" in 2012.
Rovell moves to ESPN
Medill alumn Darren Rovell announced via his Twitter feed that he would be leaving CNBC to return to ESPN and that he would also be doing business reporting for ABC News. Rovell was a sports business reporter for CNBC and hosted his own show.
Rovell is a controversial figure in the sports media world and is known for his Twitter account — he regularly tweets interesting sports business figures — and creating his own "rules" of Twitter. It will be interesting to see how ESPN utilizes him, both on TV and on the Internet.
Sandusky Trial
The Jerry Sandusky trial is entering its final days as the proceedings have wrapped up and the jury is deliberating. Sandusky ended up not testifying, though reporters at the trial said there was a chance he would. Thursday, Sandusky's adopted son, Matt, announced for the first time that he had been abused by his adoptive father. Here's the statement from a CBS report:
"During the trial, Matt Sandusky contacted us and requested our advice and assistance in arranging a meeting with prosecutors to disclose for the first time in this case that he is a victim of Jerry Sandusky's abuse," (Matt's lawyers) Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici wrote in a statement. "At Matt's request, we immediately arranged a meeting between him and the prosecutors and investigators.
"This has been an extremely painful experience for Matt and he has asked us to convey his request that the media respect his privacy. There will be no further comment."
Don't Mess with Texas (Tech)
It's no secret that the Big 12 isn't too thrilled with the Longhorn Network and all the money, visibility and recruiting advantages it brings for Texas. However, Texas Tech has taken that hatred to the next level and could reportedly cancel a game against Texas State if that game is played on the Longhorn network.
Texas State is the host — yes, a WAC team is hosting a Big 12 team — so it gets to pick where the game will be broadcast. Considering Texas Tech is so adamantly against the game being on the Longhorn Network, it's likely the WAC will pick a different station and this will not be a big issue. However, it's interesting that Texas Tech is willing to potentially pay a large buyout and play only 11 games just to make a statement against the Longhorn Network.
[Note: Chip Brown of OrangeBloods.com just tweeted that the Longhorn Network won't pursue the game.]