1. Two things regarding Bo Pelini's recorded tirade against Nebraska athletic director Shawn Eichorst published this week by the Omaha World-Herald. 1) Is anyone surprised? It's not as if this is out of character. That's who Pelini has been when he isn't wearing his public face -- and sometimes when he is. 2) I don't think it hurts his career in the long run. He won't get tagged as a guy who can't work with anyone, because he will be fine in his next job. Pelini respects Youngstown State president Jim Tressel, and I bet Pelini will try very hard not to embarrass Tressel or make him regret this show of faith.

2. Oregon corner Ifo Ekpre-Olomu suffered a serious knee injury this week that knocked him out of the playoffs and likely all workouts leading to the 2015 NFL Draft. In case he's wondering why he returned for this season instead of turning pro, let his own words remind him why he stayed at Oregon. Here's what he told me in April: “You always think about the what-ifs….Where I am now is the best place I can be at this moment in my life…I still wanted to be a college student and still experience this last year of college that you probably won't have a chance to ever do again.”

3. All 10 Big Ten bowl teams are underdogs, but before you mock the league, remember a couple of things. Only two league teams play a bowl in the Big Ten footprint, and I'm just not sure one of them, Rutgers, will have a home-field advantage in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. Most of the others have road games: Maryland versus Stanford in the Foster Farms Bowl, Nebraska versus USC in the Qualcomm Holiday Bowl; Michigan State versus Baylor in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic; and, of course, Ohio State versus Alabama in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Bowls are not tailor-made for Big Ten teams, but we love them all the same, right?