Michigan Thursday:Agrees with Alvarez's Sarcasm

Barry Alvarez was asked what he thinks the Big Ten should name the two football conferences: "Let's say you call (the divisions) Bo and Woody," he said, referring to football coaching greats Schembechler at Michigan and Hayes at Ohio State, respectively. "If I'm Ohio State, I'm saying, ‘This league's about us.' If I'm Michigan, this league's about us. I don't want to identify (them) with another school. They can call (the divisions) A and B as far as I'm concerned." I agree Barry, Bo and Woody makes the most sense. Good idea.  He wouldn't have gone for two against Minnesota either.

• Dhani Jones has designed a new bow tie to support Mott Children's Hospital.  The Bow Ties will be sold at Moe Sports Shops and Underground Printing for $55 per bow tie (his number at U of M).  He will also be at Underground Printing this weekend for those of you in A2. 

Want to hear from RR on Big Will and a change at LB?  Here are some quotes from the Detroit News:

Rodriguez said he expects to see Kenny Demens, J.B. Fitzgerald and Mark Moundros in the mix a bit more against the Hawkeyes. "Particularly if they have a good week in practice," Rodriguez said. "Kenny Demens in particular has had some real good practices and has shown some pretty good things when he's had an opportunity out there. So it looks like they've warranted the opportunity to see what they can do in the game."

Big Will:  "I think he's a better player than he was a year ago," Rodriguez said. "He'll continue to get better because I think the game is important to him.
"He still has to work on some things to be an every-down player for us and be able to help us in our base situations, and he knows that and he knows the things he has to work through. He's still a young player. He's got a good attitude and he's working to get better. There's another level he can get to, and we're hoping he can get there quickly."

• Brian at Mgoblog, tracks all the plays on offense and defense of the State game.   The defensive players that had the worst day were:  Ezeh, Banks at DE (also Black but he is a true freshman looking to hit the QB), true freshman CB's, and Cam Gordon (mostly for poor tackling).  Wrap up Cam!  Wrap up!

TV Tonight:  2 Thursday games: Kansas vs Kansas State and South Florida vs West Virgina.