The assumption was that divisions would only be for football in the Big Ten, but that didn't stop some from wondering out loud about a possible division setup for basketball as well. That won't be happening, at least according to a report by The Cedar Rapids Gazette. 

Instead expect things to stay as they are moving forward. No divisions and 18 games. 

Here's what Delany had to say on the subject to The Gazette: 

“There’s no appetite for regional divisions in basketball,” Delany said. “I think 18 games is about right. I thought this year, as enjoyable as the season was, as competitive it was and as deep as it was, I thought players were really tired at the end of the year. I thought they got some of their legs back but they played so hard and each game was a physical and an emotional challenge and people were tired.”

Delany has a point about keeping the games at 18, but with 14 teams in the conference there are some interesting and potentially contentious points to be worked out. 

For instance, how about Purdue and Indiana only playing each other once a year, like this upcoming season when they will only meet in West Lafayette? 

It's no wonder why some people think the likes of ESPN or Sports Illustrated have an agenda when it comes to certain stories. Whether it's taking down Syracuse (ESPN) or Penn State (both) there has been a perceived bias. Well, yesterday SI hinted a blockbuster, scathing report that would break things wide open in State College, PA. 

Too bad when the actual article came out on Wednesday morning all it actually did was confirm everyone's suspicions that SI has it out for Penn State. Harsh words, we know, but it's also the honest truth. 

SI decided to run a hit piece on AD Dave Joyner and football head coach Bill O'Brien,  but did so by forgetting to do something most should be learning in Journalism 101 across America - sticking to the facts. 

Instead, the piece SI put out on the article itself decided to omit THE TRUTH from the story nearly entirely and relied on conjecture and anonymous sourcing to try and piece together some grand conspiracy that Joyner, O'Brien, and PSU are putting players safety at risk all in the name of settling some score for Joyner and cutting budget costs. 

File this under the poor life choice category.... 

MSU Commit for 2013 WR Jay Harris will not be a Spartan, Instead a rapper: philly.com/philly/blogs/r…

— The B1G Time MSU (@TheB1GTimeMSU) May 14, 2013

Yep, you're reading that correctly, Jay Harris, a three- star WR recruit (according to 247sports composite) notified Michigan State coaches on Monday night two weeks ago that he will not attend MSU and is instead focusing on of all things... a rap career. You can now call him Jay DatBull.... 

I'm not sure which is more of a crap shoot, chasing a dream of playing in the NFL or getting rich from a rap career, but judging from this YouTube clip we were alerted to by our own SpartanWill, Ya... good luck with that pal. 

Were back for another dose of our Top 25 Players in the Big Ten! We last left you with No. 22 and that was Ohio State’s Carlos Hyde and today we switch back to the defensive side of the ball with one of the most athletic linebackers in the B1G.

A fellow linebacker at times overshadows him on his team, but this man has made a name for himself over the last few years in the Big Ten.

Before we get into it, let us remind you of what criteria we used to make our Top 25 list. We used things like importance to your team, overall skill at your position, records set, past performance, conference honors (coaches, media, our list too), and the good old-fashioned eye test.

With that, let’s look at one of the best linebackers in the B1G…

Last winter the Big Ten announced it would begin to ban games against FCS opponents starting in 2016, and that news was broken by Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez. Fast forward just three months and the brakes are already pumping on the notion that FCS opponents will be gone from future schedules across the Big Ten. 

Wisco AD Alvarez says "we have to be smart" about potential ban on FCS games. Says could be "lack of inventory" w/FBS foes.

— Teddy Greenstein (@TeddyGreenstein) May 14, 2013

I don't know about you, but this is a big thumbs down if true. 

Alvarez does have a small point in that there are some juggling of schedules that could make it difficult to find games at times in the first couple of seasons.

Ahh, the good old alumni talk circuit strikes again.... Every year coaches go to these invited speaking engagements and nine times out of ten at some point they put their foot in their mouths or stir up some sort of controversy. Well, today it was Brady Hoke of Michigan doing just that. 

What was his sin? Calling out Notre Dame for cancelling their rivalry series with the Wolverines. 

Hoke didn't just call them out for it though, he called them chicken for doing so. At least that's what ESPN.com's Michael Rothstein is reporting. 

Here is the direct quote:

"We have unbelievable rivalry games at Michigan," Hoke said. "The Notre Dame, that rivalry, which they're chickening out of ... they're still going to play Michigan State, they'll play Purdue; they don't want to play Michigan."

Them would be fighting words normally, however it's hard to dispute what Brady Hoke is saying as anything other than fact. It's interesting that of the three games the Irish play on an annual basis against the Big Ten they chose the best series and the most difficult opponent be the one they let go of.

Darrell Hazel has yet to coach a single game in Ross-Ade Stadium, but that hasn't stopped the enthusiasm for Purdue football under Hazel, to the tune of more season tickets sold than last season already, at least according to Mike Carmin's twitter account. 

As of Friday, #Purdue has sold 23,100 public season tickets. Sold 20,880 all of 2012.

— mike carmin (@carminjc) May 13, 2013

So, that's an improvement of 3,000 season tickets for a team that has been stuck in neutral on the field and in a vast decline in terms of attendance. 

That, no doubt, played a role in why Danny Hope was fired. Of course the 22-27 overall and 13-19 Big Ten records didn't help his cause either after four years at the helm in West Lafayette. 

For the athletic department that has to be encouraging news that saw Purdue's attendance dip from just over 50,000 in 2009 to 43,588 this past season. I don't know about you, but that'll put a dent in the 'ol pocketbook of the athletic department if I've ever seen it. 

The news coming out today also shows that Purdue fans will come out in droves to support winning football, they won't for mediocre that's for sure. 

If this momentum carries on to the field the Boilermakers may end up making it out of the bottom of the conference in attendance. Last season they ranked behind only Northwestern in average attendance figures, falling below even in-state rival Indiana's average (now that's got to hurt).