Big Ten Blogger Roundtable - Whiteout Edition

The blog named in honor of the gold standard of student sections - Nittany Whiteout - is our fearless host for this week's interblogging banter. NW (not to be confused with NU) will have the recap post up by Friday of this week, so be sure to visit Happy BlogValley from time to time. Away we go...

1. We're approaching week 9 now, are you pleasantly surprised or already waiting for basketball season?
Pleasantly surprised. Most of us have NU right about where we expected and are bracing for a make or break November (Minnesota, Ohio State, Michigan, Illinois). If you include the fact we FINALLY escaped non-conference play perfect for the first time in my entire life, things are pretty peachy in Purpleville.

2. Describe one specific play from this season you would alter for a different outcome if you had the chance to.
Hmmm....one game, lots of choices. The game is a no-brainer - our only loss - a 37-20 pasting at the hands of Michigan State. I would have to say, the first quarter fumble on the kickoff return by Sherrick McManis. It started a trend of giving Sparty the ball in or near our red zone and led to quick points that dug us into a17-0 hole that forced us to go pass heavy and alter the gameplan.

3. How could it (#2) possibly impact the way your season is going?
Anything I say here is in the woulda/coulda/shoulda category, but had we won the Michigan State game, we'd be in the, gulp, BCS conversations right now along with Penn State. No matter how you slice it, a 7-0 Northwestern team would likely be top 10.

4. Big Ten player you just can't stand, why?
Any player in a Hawkeye uniform. Because Hawkeyes are delusional and fancy themselves as an upper tier program, when in fact, they are mediocre at best.


5. Booing your own team (we've seen quite a lot of this across the Big Ten this season), your feelings on this.
Unacceptable. Period. Coaches are game as they are professionals, however, booing players is uncool.

Bonus Round
1. Number of beers or alcoholic drinks consumed by week 8 (or a good estimate)
Somewhere between 8-10 which is about the number of people at Ryan Field.

2. Most annoying commercial seen this season
Ro-Tel. I hear the music in my sleep. You can't watch the Big Ten Network for one minute without seeing it.

3. Your prediction for the next coaching change in the Big Ten (JoeTiller exempt).
Three weeks ago, I would've said Kirk Ferentz, but he continues to be the Phoenix and rise from the ashes. Today, however, I'm putting my money on Indiana's Bill Lynch. I never bought-in from day one and think last year's "success" was attributable to the Hep talent base.