(Kawann Short may be 1st B1G player drafted - just not in 1st round)

As the nation tunes in to the 1st round of the NFL Draft in just a few days, those of us in Big Ten country will be glued to our TV's, hoping our respective teams get the player we want - but we'll also be keeping an eye on our favorite college team to see where those players get selected. Well, don't hold your breath for that to happen on Thursday night at all. 

The Big Ten is likely to get skunked in the 1st round of the draft, something that hasn't happened since well before what you and I know as the NFL existed, as in it hasn't happened since 1953 (nearly 20 years before the AFL-NFL merger). You know, basically before any of us that are reading this or writing this were born or likely a glimmer in our parents or grandparents eyes.

Should this give us cause for concern as Big Ten fans or is there another reason for this? Well, it's a lot more of the latter if you ask us. First off Taylor Lewan of Michigan coming back for his senior year made sure that a sure-fire 1st rounder will wait another year to hear his name called and he'll likely be a top 10 pick in the 2014 NFL draft barring anything crazy happening.

Well we all expected it, and we got it: The defense outplayed the offense in another spring game.  With a 1:48 left in the second quarter the White defense had outscored both offenses 14-3. Chris Laneaux had a 25 yard interception return for a touchdown (thrown by O’connor) and Kyler Elsworth recovered a fumble and took it back 41 yards to the house. But the Green team was quick to respond giving us our first offensive touchdown of the game, a 22 yard pass from Connor Cook to DeAnthony Arnett. Surely Spartan fans loved that hook-up as many have been calling for Cook and Arnett both to see more time on the field. That score took us into the half wondering if it was a sign of things to come or was it going to be the lone passing touchdown of the day?

Apparently the teams wanted to keep us guessing as the only score in the 3^rd quarter came on a Nick Hill 7 yard run. With 4:32 left in the game a name that has been popping up all spring popped up again when AJ Troup took a short pass from Andrew Maxwell 46 yards to the house. Some may say the defenders took a bad angle and that is why Troup scored, but regardless the walk-on got his name out there again! Kevin Muma and Kevin Cronin both had a 30 yard field goal’s and the game ended with the white team winning 24-17.

But what can we take from this? Were any key position battles answered? Who stepped up and made a name for themselves today if anyone?

In a move that could be one of the worst kept secrets of all-time, the Big Ten presidents are expected to vote in approval of moving to a nine-game conference schedule for football starting in 2016 according to Jeremy Fowler of CBSSports.com in a conversation with Wisconsin AD Barry Alvarez. 

We've talked ad nauseum about the difficulties of going to a nine-game schedule and that is part of the reason behind the move being pushed off until 2016. AD's and coaches need time to work out contract details and figure out buy-outs if need be. None of this should really surprise you and frankly the news out of this report has more to do with the vote taking place as soon as next week, but as late as the spring meetings in mid-May. 

The move happening in 2016 will also allow new members Rutgers and Maryland a nice cushion to figure out a bit what they're needs could be as they play Big Ten football - a clear step up from the levels they've played in in the Big East (American Athletic Conference now) and the ACC. 

Along with an emphasis on tougher non-conference scheduling the extra conference game should help a lot of the teams at the top have an increased chance of making the new playoffs and the rotating bowl games in the new structure. 

Penn State in 2012-13 could easily be the poster child for how individual talent can take you only so far in the game of basketball and in the world of Big Ten basketball as they placed two scorers in the top 6 of the Big Ten scoring rankings, but managed to win only two games in Big Ten play. 

The Big Ten season was interesting as they lost 14 straight games to open conference play, yet were not nearly as bad as that record indicated. PSU lost a lot of close games and were also blown out in a lot as well, but as the season grinded on you got the feeling it was only a matter of time before they broke through. 

Well, a big time breakthrough came in the late games against Michigan as they nearly won in Ann Arbor and took out the Top 5 ranked Wolverines at home - as the Bryce Jordan Center is quickly becoming a place a lot of the Big Ten hates to play. If it weren't for a buzzer beater by Traevon Jackson the Nittany Lions would've held two wins over top half programs. 

Either way things are amazingly looking up moving forward, but 2012-13 is riddled with "what might've been" moments.

Facebook and Twitter have become the biggest tools for recruits and recruiters to win the game on the recruiting trail and now more than ever the kids who have committed have become the best instruments of recruiting out there. What better way to get that done than to have the kids talking to each other via social media, right?

It appears that Ohio State's 2014 class has taken things a step further, creating their own website - a website that will allow the general public, and thus other recruits, to see their journey from commitment to signing day.  The site is called 2014bucks.com and is created by the parents of Damon Webb, the first verbally committed prospect to Ohio State in the class. 

No doubt this could be something we see pop up more and more as kids themselves become the face of recruiting, more so than coaches themselves. What's more likely to get you to come to a school? Coaches or peer pressure from people you know and get along with? 

If you've ever made the choice to go to college most likely one of the more important aspects was who you knew would be going and what your friends were doing. So, the same would hold true, in fact if not more so, with recruiting in football. 

Having experience in some small recruiting circles there's no denying these guys talk all the time and a lot of them take social media seriously - it's a different world view than a lot of people who didn't grow up with Facebook as part of their everyday existence. 

One of the interesting aspects of this is it has zero influence from the coaching staff at all, their participation would be a violation of NCAA rules. So, congrats to Webb and his family for coming up with something that no one else has done to date. 

It also begs the question of if this will become the wave of the future? Only time will tell, but Urban Meyer is clearly getting ahead of the game - without even being involved. This guy is just unstoppable!

(photo courtesy @umichbball)

Michigan fans and fans of a strong Big Ten conference in 2013-14 can breathe a sigh of relief today as both Mitch McGary and Glenn Robinson III will stay at the UofM and not declare for the NBA draft. 

Most draft analysts had the freshmen duo as 1st round prospects, but both saw the draw of playing and continuing to progress at Michigan as the right choices for themselves. That was a point Robinson III made clear in his statement of returning. 

"We made our decisions independently, but we have been like brothers since day one so that impacted it a little bit."

McGary sited having fun learning and playing the game at a great university as his reason for returning too. 

Of course coach Beilein was 100% behind the players with whatever choice they were going to make, saying they wanted what was best for each player but that the ultimate decision rested with McGary and Robinson. 

So, why return if you are going to be a 1st round draft pick? Robinson sited the family atmosphere of the team as a big reason, going as far to say that because of his teammates and coaching staff he couldn't see himself leaving the program.

Michigan will lose two big pieces in Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway, Jr. next season, but with another great recruiting class coming on board this team may not miss a beat. Today's news is just another reason to like this team's chances moving forward.

ESPN’s College GameDay’s Spring Bus Tour made a stop in East Lansing today to check in with the MSU football team. For those of you unaware of the perks that come along with this Spring Bus Tour, there was/is still a live blog coming from those at ESPN and updating constantly about the visit. Unfortunately (I’m joking) many of those updates are coming from Chantel Jennings, who is a reporter for WolverineNation through ESPN. She has been able to show some pretty cool pictures and information that the normal fan would never get the chance to see, check out the new banners:

"Team" Banner with former captains Greg Jones and Kirk Cousins.