Hear ye! Hear ye! The honorable host of this blog has called the Big Ten Bloggers to order and requested their presence to answer questions of his bidding. Watch the google feed on the sidebar to keep up to date with their responses. Next week I'll compile their answers into a single post with lots of links and stuff. Here are the questions with my take from the Penn State perspective.

I love spring. Flowers blooming. Birds chirping. Bones breaking. ACL's tearing. List the injuries your team sustained and describe their impact on 2008.

The loss of Sean Lee is devastating to our team. Any time you lose an All-American player that probably would have been on the short lists for the Lombardi, Bednarik, and Butkus awards it's a big loss. But the deeper impact to the Nittany Lions is that Sean Lee was the heart and soul of the defense. He was leader on a defense that features a lot of underclassmen. Thanks to decent recruiting in recent years we'll find a fast young stud to plug in without a problem, but nobody knows who is going to keep everyone focused on the field when things start to go bad.

Other than Lee, Penn State escaped the spring in pretty good health. A.J. Wallace lost some teeth while hot dogging it in one-on-one drills and not strapping his chin strap. He'll be fine after a few thousand dollars of dental surgery. Let that be a lesson to you young players out there. Jared Odrick is back from his broken ankle, and Jerome Hayes indicates he'll be recovered from his ACL tear in time for the season. So we came out in pretty good shape.

Break down the major position battles going on with your offense.

We're fortunate in that we only have to replace two starters, Anthony Morelli and Rodney Kinlaw. Junior Daryll Clark and Sophomore Pat Devlin are fighting it out for the quarterback position. Neither guy stepped up and claimed the job hands down during the spring, but both guys are looking very good. Clark is one of them there dual threat quarterbacks all the kids are raving about these days. Devlin is more of a traditional drop back passer, but he has good mobility and Penn State likes to use him in the rolling pockets as we saw in the Blue White game. Nittany Nation is pretty evenly split as everyone is taking sides in this battle, but personally I think we'll see both of them play and we'll be ok with either guy.

Replacing Rodney Kinlaw seemed a forgone conclusion after he looked impressive last season in rushing for over 500 yards as a freshman. But another redshirt freshman broke onto the scene this year with some electrifying runs during the spring scrimmage games. Stephfon Green is lightning in cleats, and he's going to get a lot of carries this year and take a lot of teams by surprise. Don't be surprised if Paterno keeps him under wraps until the Illinois game in week 5.

The other interesting position battle happened at right guard. Mike Lucian played well there last year, but true freshman Stefen Wisniewski got considerable playing time. This spring Wisniewski played so well the coaches couldn't ignore him any longer. The ever shady program "observers" say Wiz is the most fundamentally sound lineman on the team. The first team spot was given to Wiz, and Lucian has been moved to center to back up A.Q. Shipley.

You knew this was coming. Break down the major position battles on defense.

On paper you look at the starters you lost and think all we have to do is replace Dan Connor, Justin King, and the injured Sean Lee. But truthfully there are position battles going on all over the defense due to the coaches shuffling players around.

The defensive line features eight guys at defensive tackle that are probably good enough to start for any team in the Big Ten. Odrick, Ogbu, Koroma, Okoli, Still, and McEowen make a great rotation. If Chris Baker and Phil Taylor come back it's going to be sick. Penn State rotates their defensive linemen so these guys will all see playing time. We'll have fresh bodies in the middle the entire game.

We never really settled on a replacement for Paul Posluzney last year. After Dan Connor moved inside the vacated outside spot was a platoon of Navorro Bowman, Josh Hull, and Tyrell Sales. Bowman was held out of spring practice due to his legal issues. So it looked like our linebackers were going to be Lee, Hull, and Sales with Hull in the middle. Then Lee went down so we have another void to fill. The first team linebackers in the spring game were Hull, Sales, and Bani Gbadyu. But sophomore Chris Colasanti is too good to keep off the field. He's been pushing Josh Hull for playing time in the middle and may beat him out before the season is over. And if Bowman comes back he's going to push both Sales and Gbadyu, so the linebacker situation is still far from settled.

In the backfield we're pretty thin at corner with Justin King leaving and Knowledge Timmons on suspension. So this spring the coaches moved Tony Davis back to cornerback where he played in 2006 leaving the free safety spot to Mark Rubin. A.J. Wallace has one corner spot locked down, but Davis and Lydell Sargeant are going to fight for the other one. The loser will probably get put in the nickel slot, which is a very significant role in the Penn State defense as more teams go to the spread offense.

Who are the unknown kids on your team that will be household names come December?

It's getting harder to keep running back Stephfon Green under wraps. He's been running with the second team all through the spring and breaking off 40 and 50 yard runs against the first team defense. He gives Penn State the outside running threat we've been lacking the past few years. Royster is still the main man, but Green is going to get 10-15 carries per game.

If the Blue-White game is any indication then freshman tight end Andrew Szczerba is going to be a significant part of the offense. He's 6'7" tall and has great hands. He's got the speed to break down the seam and he can go up and pull down the ball.

On defense I'm looking for Chris Colasanti to have a breakout year. It seems like our great linebackers all breakout in their sophomore year. See Poz, Connor, and Lee. Colasanti broke into the two deep rotation toward the end of last year as a true freshman including seeing significant playing time against Ohio State.

How would you describe the general mood around your program? Are you gearing up the tailgate party for a conference title run or do you get the impression there are going to be a lot of empty seats in your stadium this year?

There is a wide range of emotions surrounding our fan base right now. Some believe we're a pathetic program and will continue to be that way until Joe leaves. They want a national championship and they want it now. Others think life is just Peachy Paterno and they are content to win eight or nine games and go to nice bowl games every year. But overall the mood for 2008 is pretty optimistic. We're returning a lot of players and we have a lot of young talent getting better. We think this is the year we'll end the streak against Michigan, but the way Ohio State completely dismantled us in Happy Valley last year has really demoralized us. We're pretty certain we're a few years away from being competitive with them. We think we have a chance to be the second best team in the league, but almost nobody thinks we stand a chance against Ohio State. The readers can correct me if I'm wrong.

Spring practice is almost wrapped up. It's a time of spring games, shuffling depth charts, devastating injuries, and intriguing position battles. So what better time to talk about Joe's contract, our legal troubles, and fictional conference rivalries? I'll admit these are not my favorite questions to address, so my apologies to Nittany Whiteout if my tone sounds a little annoyed. It's nothing personal and BSD thanks him for putting this together. I'm just getting a little burnt out on talking about this stuff. Here is the list of usual suspects.

Nittany Whiteout
The Nittany Line
There Is No Name On My Jersey
William F. Yurasko
Tangled Up In White And Blue
The Big Eleventh
The Nittany Notebook
Run Up The Score

The announcement Wednesday is that contract talks are on hold until the conclusion of this season, and that Joe might not even need a contract to coach, how do you see this saga ending? Is this the final year for Joe Paterno?

The story ends when Joe says it's over. He and Spanier went head-to-head and Joe won. He played his trump card when he publicly stated he didn't need a contract to keep coaching. He was basically daring Spanier to fire him, and Spanier had neither the support or balls to do it. He had no choice but to give Joe a vote of confidence for the sake of the Penn State Football Empire.

All of that said, I'm not sure how long Joe is going to keep going. For months I've held the line that 2008 will be his last year. Now I'm not so sure. The old coot is just adamant in his insistence to coach another three or four years. But honestly I'm starting to believe Joe doesn't really know how long he wants to coach. I think more than anything he just wants to have one more big year where he wins the Big Ten and competes for a national championship. But who knows, if he does that and feels like he could come back and do it again next year he may elect to do that too. I think ultimately Joe is looking at it on a year-to-year basis. If he likes the look of the team next year he'll come back. But I don't think he wants to go through another three year rebuilding process. So in that sense I believe Graham Spanier when he says he will sit down with Joe and Curley at the end of every season to discuss the future of the program.

Joe will clearly not been on the sidelines in 10 years time. Whether he is awarded another extension or is forced out against his will, a new face will inevitably be on the sidelines for the Lions in the years to come. Which candidates would top the list when it comes to a coaching search? Should it be an in-house hire or should we start off with a blank slate?

To quote a phrase from Joe, I'm not trying to be a smart alec here, but I hate this question. Galen tried to corner me into naming a favorite candidate over a beer at a tailgate party last year. I'll tell you what I told him back then. I really don't think about it because it's something that hasn't happened yet and I have no control over it.

My hope is that they just conduct a national search to find the best guy. I used to be a big Tom Bradley fan and really hoped they give it to him. But I've backed off on that somewhat. I would like to see them bring in a fresh set of eyes that will do things a little differently. I'm worried that all Bradley has ever known was the Joe Paterno way of doing things. At the end of the day I hope we just land an innovative guy with a charismatic personality and a lot of integrity. If I get that I'll be happy.

It almost seems as if we find another athlete in trouble with the law each morning when we read the newspaper. What has gone wrong with the once pristine image of the Penn State program?

Ugh. Are we going to get to a football question here? I'm starting to understand how Joe feels in his press conferences.

What's gone wrong with the Penn State football program is technology. The internet age has completely changed the way we gather our sports information. In the old days when a football player got in trouble the police called Paterno who took them home and ran their asses off the next day. Nowadays when a player gets in trouble there is someone there with a cell phone to take a picture. Then they go home and fire up their laptop. In a matter of minutes they are telling a thousand people on the message boards about a fight they just witnessed or heard about. Or they are telling their facebook group of 3000 people they just heard in English class that player X was pulled over for DUI. The local sports reporters cruise these message boards and blogs on a daily basis looking for a scoop. They read this stuff and use their access to start asking questions. Next thing you know it's all in the papers. Then it's on the ESPN ticker. This is all stuff that didn't happen 20 years ago, but you're fooling yourself if you think football players never drank and got in fights back then.

After 14 years in the Big Ten, Penn has not dominated the conference in football as most presumed when we joined winning only 2 Big Ten titles in that span. In 1994, Joe Paterno's undefeated Nittany Lions were also backstabbed by its Big Ten brethren when most conference members voted for Nebraska instead of Penn State. Is the Big Ten the right home for Penn State? Or would Joe Paterno's dream of an all-eastern conference be a much more ideal conference for the Nittany Lions?

Would an all eastern conference of Penn State, Pitt, Syracuse, Boston College, Rutgers, Temple, West Virginia, and Maryland be a better fit for Penn State? Absolutely. Unfortunately Pitt, Syracuse, and Boston College wanted to stay in the Big East basketball league and gave us the finger. Now we're in the Big Ten playing in prime time on Saturday nights and the Big East is playing their biggest games on Thursday nights. I think that tells you everything you need to know. So looking at our situation now I think we've earned the right to give those schools the finger and let them think about what could have been. At this point I wouldn't give up our spot in the Big Ten for anything.

With the lack of our traditional rivals in the Big Ten conference, and our unwillingness to reschedule any of them in any consistent manner, which teams are emerging as Penn State's chief rivals in the Big Ten? (USC-Notre Dame proves that rivalries aren't all about geographic significance.)

You know, it's kind of pathetic how we do this to ourselves. We're like the pimple-faced Star Trek nerd that can't get a prom date. Will you go to the prom with me? Will you be my rival? Please hate me.

The sad fact is that the other teams of the Big Ten don't care about us. We can say Michigan and Ohio State are our biggest rivals, but neither of them feel the same way. Michigan has beaten us like 26 times in a row and Ohio State only loses to us when we are really really good and manage to get them at home. We're a nice feather in their caps when they beat us, but the fact is we're just another team on the schedule to them, and the same goes for every other team. If we left the conference tomorrow I don't think there would be any kind of remorse on their part.

Bonus Question from WFY: Are you going to the Blue-White Game?

Yes. We're a little slow in getting organized so I think it's going to be pretty low key.

Wake up, people. We're going to breathe some life into this offseason with a special spring practice edition of the Blue-White Roundtable. Here is the list of bloggers taking part in the BWR.

The Nittany Line
There Is No Name On My Jersey
William F. Yurasko
Tangled Up In White and Blue
The Big Eleventh
The Nittany Notebook
Run Up The Score
Nittany Whiteout

Holy crap. I remember back in the day when there were, like, three Penn State blogs. Now we're spreading faster than mice in heat. This is crazy, but I love it. Let's get to the questions.

Let's start with the ugly news. Chris Baker, Chris Bell, Phil Taylor, Knowledge Timmons, and Navorro Bowman are all sitting out the spring practice sessions. What impact will this have on the 2008 season?

These guys are all good enough to start on probably 95% of all Div I teams, so if they aren't back for 2008 it's going to hurt. Just sitting out the spring is really going to hurt all of these guys as well as the team. There is no pressure to put in and practice a weekly gameplan in the spring, so the coaches can take the time to coach technique and really make these guys into better football players. Now they aren't getting that coaching, so yeah, it hurts us. But on the positive side a lot of other young guys are getting good reps in their place. So maybe overall this will make us a stronger team down the road.

Would you move Sean Lee to middle linebacker like Paul Posluszny in 2006 and Dan Connor in 2007?

I would not. I think Chris Colasanti is good enough to play right now, and he's built like a middle linebacker. So I would give the spot in the middle to him. He's too good to keep off the field. Besides, Lee isn't used to playing in the middle. It's a new set of assignments. It's a new set of angles. And you have to learn how to weave and power your way through a lot more traffic. Dan Connor was a natural for the position, but Paul Posluszny had a tough time adjusting to the middle. So I would leave Lee right where he is.

If Lee stays on the outside, who would you start at the other outside linebacker assuming Bowman is out of the picture?

I have to figure Sales is the front runner for the spot. But last year when Sales and Bowman were both injured Josh Hull got in there and I thought did a fine job. It's hard to believe, but even with the stable of young stud linebacker talent on this team we may end up starting a walk-on on opening day.

Which position on the field is our weakest link?

I'm really frightened about our situation at cornerback. I was really hoping Justin King would come back for his senior year. That ship has sailed, so now we have A.J. Wallace and Lydell Sargeant. Wallace has the physical tools to be great, but he has a tough time maintaining his concentration sometimes. I think Sargeant is better suited to be a safety or running back than a cornerback. He played ok last year, but there were times he got spun around and looked lost. Behind these guys we have Knowledge Timmons, who can't seem to stay out of the doghouse, Devin Fentress, who nobody really knows anything about, and Willie Harriott, who at 5'8" tall now takes over the moniker of shortest man on the team now that Brendan Perretta is gone. (Not including Kevin Kelly who at 5'6" is only slightly taller than Lavar Arrington's vertical leap.)

Who is your pony in the quarterback contro...uh, competition?

I really don't have one at this point. I just want to see the guy that gives us the best chance to win, but I want both guys to get a shot at it. In the end I think Clark will start on opening day, but I won't be surprised if Devlin gets a series or two. The good news is I'm pretty comfortable with either one of these guys getting the bulk of the snaps.

I've been saying I would like to see a two quarterback system. We rotate players in and out at just about every other position. Why not quarterback too? I would like to see Clark start the game, and then bring in Devlin in the second quarter. Whichever one moves the offense more efficiently should play the second half. If it becomes apparent as the season goes on that one guy is clearly better than the other then you have your guy.

Name three players that absolutely have to step up their performance this spring?

Derek Moye - With Derrick Williams, Deon Butler, and Jordan Norwood all in their final year and Chris Bell with one foot standing outside of the program it's important that Moye get himself ready to be a #1 receiver in 2009.

Willie Harriott - He's already got two strikes against him and he's lucky to even still have a spot on this roster. Knowledge Timmons is sitting things out so this is Harriotts chance to shine in front of the coaches and get himself back in Joe's good graces. We have no depth after Wallace and Sargeant so it's imperative that Harriott keep his nose clean and make a significant contribution.

Nick Sukay - He's most likely going to be #2 on the depth chart at Hero behind Anthony Scirrotto. He's not only going to be called upon to start in 2009, with Davis, Rubin, and Sargeant all graduating he's going to be called upon to be a leader in the defensive backfield. It's essential that he have a productive spring to learn the defense and become a dominating force over the middle.

Lightning Round

Who is your pick to win the Red Worrell award given to the offensive player that shows the most improvement during spring practice?

Josh Marks

Who is your pick for the Jim O'Hora award given to the defensive player that shows the most improvement?

Josh Hull

Your 2008 team captains are...?

A.Q. Shipley, Sean Lee, and Deon Butler.

Roundtables galore this week! Welcome to a special signing day edition of the Big Ten Bloggers roundtable hosted by Dave of Maize n Brew. Check with him on Monday for a roundup of everyone's answers.

1. As a general question, evaluate your recruiting class. Is it more or less what you expected, were you pleasantly surprised or horribly, horribly disappointed? Were your team's needs adequately addressed or will you be starting a two star running back at center next year?

Penn State didn't have many scholarships to play with this year. Through much of the recruiting season it looked like we were probably going to end up with around 12 new players. As is usually the case a few seniors decided they weren't going to come back next year and it ticked up to about 15-17 scholarships available. But Penn State only signed 14 players (so far), so right off the bat you have to wonder why we're letting scholarships go to waste in a year with an already small class. But I guess this is better than locking up less than average talent for the next four years.

Overall it was a good class, but not a great class. I called it a meat and potatoes class in my analysis. It's heavy on linemen and linebackers. They are the types of players that really win the games for you, but they don't bring in the flashy signing day report cards the recruiting sites like to give out.

Penn State more than adequately filled their need at linebacker. We got a good running back and a good wide receiver which were both big needs for us, but truthfully we needed another of each to really fill our needs. The offensive tackles we signed weren't exactly big names, but then it's hard to evaluate offensive linemen. So overall we did ok, but we came up short in some areas.

2. Who were the big catches in your recruiting class? Name two players matriculating to your school whose existence everyone else in the Big Ten will curse for the next four years.

Remember the name D'Anton Lynn. It's French for "Of Anton". He was a four star defensive back for Celina, Tx that was recruited by Oklahoma, Southern Cal, Ohio State, and Florida. He took his team to the state title and played with a broken shoulder blade. The kid is tough, and he's going to be laying the wood to all of your wide receivers. Penn State has to figure out if they are going to play him at safety or cornerback. With Justin King leaving for the NFL and Knowledge Timmons and Willie Harriot working their way out of the dog house he may see the field pretty early.

At linebacker Mike Mauti will probably be making all the award show rounds in a few years as the next great Penn State linebacker. Being from Louisiana he kind of flew under the radar, but everyone who has seen this kid play says he's the real deal. The coaches from the US Army AA game raved about him.

3. You can't win them all. Maybe some slick talking carpetbagger schmoozed his way into your living room, sold you a set of ginzu knives made out of tin foil, and walked off with your wife and your star recruit. Perhaps an in-state lock who grew up with [Insert University Here] posters on his wall and your coach's face tattooed on his arm decided to go elsewhere for reasons no one seems to understand? Did your recruiting class lose someone big on signing day, who was it, and was your school able to yoink someone else to cover his loss?

Obviously losing Mike Shaw to Michigan on signing day hurt, but the more I think about it the more I think we won't miss him too badly. With Royster, Green, Carter, and Beachum we have a good group of backs with plenty of eligibility.

The fish I really wish we hadn't let get away was Deion Walker. He would have been perfect for us and probably could have played right away. Somehow Charlie Weis hypnotized him by jiggling his fat chins and convinced him to go to Notre Dame.  We got A.J. Price who should be a fine wide receiver, but we needed two, and we never found one to replace Walker.

4. There's been a spirited debate about this whole "Coaches' Code" among the members of the Big Ten coaching fraternity. Do you believe this exists or is it a line being floated by the guys who couldn't keep their recruiting classes together? Bonus points for declaring your coach a poacher or a poachee in creative fashion!

Geez, Dave. Are you trying to bait me into poking the MGoBlog minions again? Things were just getting back to normal around here.

I said it before so I'll say it again. I had heard about a coaches' agreement long before Joe Tiller blabbed it last week. It was said by someone with major ties to the program and recruiting scene. This wasn't just your regular schmuck claiming insider ties either. This was a person who gets paid for this stuff. I don't think it's that hard to imagine that the coaches of a league would get together and make a pact like that. It makes all of their lives easier if they know once a kid verbals to them they don't have to worry about other schools putting the full court press on them. But it takes restraint to not go after the other guy's kids. But as new faces come into the conference it's easy to see that holding together a pact like that would get harder and harder.

Maybe it exists and maybe it doesn't. Brian pointed out several instances where kids switched their commitment between Big Ten schools. But not every case is unethical if the kid is genuinely having second thoughts. But it's rare to see a kid jump from one Big Ten school to another, and all the cases Brian brought up are pretty recent. So maybe there was a pact at one time which the old timers like Tiller and Paterno are honoring while newer coaches like Zook and Rodriguez have no intention of tying their own hands.

5. Finally, who's the slickest, smoovest, most Billy Dee Williamsesque recruiter in the Big Ten? Who's the worst, most incompetent, "trip over the flat tire on his Yugo" recruiter in the Big Ten?

It has to be Ron Zook. They went from being the laughing stock of the conference with some of the worst facilities in the country to suddenly pulling in top ten recruiting classes over night. He's a salesman, that's fo' sho'. Fortunately for the rest of the Big Ten he can't coach x's and o's worth a lick.

Check the oil. Kick the tires. Clean off the windshield. We're pulling the Blue White Roundtable out of the garage and taking it for a spin. In honor of signing day yours truly put together some questions for the group. Take note we've added Tangled Up In White and Blue and The Big Eleventh to the group because those guys kick ass. Here is the group.

Run Up The Score
The Nittany Line
There Is No Name On My Jersey
William F. Yurasko
The Nittany Notebook
The Big Eleventh
Tangled Up In White and Blue

How well did Penn State address their needs with this recruiting class?

Meh. We hit a home run with the linebackers Mauti, Zordich, and Yancich. But other than that we came up short in just about everything else. Our big needs were quarterback, running backs (2), wide receivers (2), offensive tackles (2), linebacker (3), and defensive backs (2 or 3). We had two running backs until Michigan sto...I mean, lured one away. If we don't get Terrelle Pryor that will be two years in a row we didn't bring in a quarterback. And we only got one defensive back, though he's going to be a great one.

We filled the spots at OT and on the DL, but I'm not overly impressed with who we got. They may turn into capable starters someday, but none of them are going to make immediate impacts.

Who was the big fish that got away? The kid you really really wish we had landed?

Everyone is turning their attention on Mike Shaw, but I really wished we had landed Deion Walker. Butler, Williams, and Norwood are in their final year. I don't have much confidence in Chris Bell yet and Derek Moye is an unknown. So we really needed two big time receivers in this class. A.J. Price looks good, but I really wanted Walker. And losing him to Notre Dame just sucks.

You're NCAA President Miles Brand. Take a break from counting your BCS cash for a minute. What would you do to improve the recruiting process?

It's time to have an early signing date. Last year over 200 kids committed to a school and later decommitted. It's crazy with how these kids are being harassed by recruiters. Their cell phone bills are going through the roof. A lot of them commit early thinking it will get everyone off their backs, but sometimes it just makes it worse. Give kids a chance to sign an early letter of intent on August 1. After a kid signs coaches are no longer allowed to contact them. But allow them to contact other coaches if they have second thoughts. If they want to reopen their recruiting they must express their wishes in writing to the school they verballed to and the NCAA.

Now you're Joe Paterno. So I guess prepare to dodge the question. What would you change about Penn State's recruiting strategy?

If I'm Joe Paterno I need to get my butt on a plane and go visit these kids. We just plain got out hustled this year. In the past two years Joe has visited one recruit in house. One. That isn't going to cut it. Not when Weis, Tressel, Rodriguez, and Wannstedt are regular fixtures at these kids' schools. When the head coach makes a special trip to come to your house to meet you that says something. Our coach refuses to leave State College. Some days he doesn't even come into the office.

Lightning Round

Where will Terrelle Pryor go to school? Or should he just live off the hype for the next few years and directly enter the NFL draft in 2010?

Ohio State. But Dad want's PSU.

Which member of this class stands the best chance to make an immediate impact?

Brandon Beachum. With the injury prone Evan Royster and redshirt freshman Stephfon Green in front of him he has a good chance to play right away.

This is going to be the last Blue-White Roundtable you're going to see for a while. It'll be back for next season and we reserve the right to break it out on special occasions during the off season like letter of intent day and the Blue-White game. But it's just too hard to organize to keep going through the off season. So let's not make this harder than it is. It's not you, it's us. We can still be friends and stuff. Maybe we'll call you sometime.

Run Up The Score
There Is No Name On My Jersey
The Nittany Line
The Nittany Notebook
William F. Yurasko

Let's start off with a positive note. When you look back on the 2007 season five or ten years from now, what will be your fondest memory? It doesn't necessarily have to be Penn State related.

Even though the team was disappointing I still had a great time. Without a doubt my fondest memory will be making the last minute road trip out to Ann Arbor. It was my first away game ever so it will always be memorable for that reason. PSUncle and I had a great time even though the team lost. Now I can cross "Seeing a game at the Big House" off my list of things to do before I die.

What should the Big Ten conference consider as its highest priority this off season?

They need to tighten up the officiating. Some Michigan or Ohio State flamer will come in here calling me a Penn State whiner, but I saw plenty of Buckeyes and Boilermakers complaining about the officiating this season so it's not just us anymore. The Stephen Pamon gambling scandal has the potential to call the ethics of the officials into question if it goes deeper.

Priority number 1.a. would be resolving the differences between the Big Ten Network and Comcast. I've personally made the switch to another carrier that provides the network and I can tell you I love it. Getting the channel into every home in America would elevate our conference to a whole new level.

Clark or Devlin? Whose camp are you in and why?

I'm going to cop out and say right now I don't have a pony in this race. At one time I thought Devlin was our best chance for success. Everyone says he has the physical tools to be a big time passing quarterback. But from what I've heard and what I've seen of Daryll Clark he may have that "it" factor. He certainly looked like it in the Alamo Bowl. So now I'm anxious to see what he can do too. It's going to be a topic of a lot of heated debate over the coming months, but I think Penn State will be ok with either one of these guys. I'm glad we have both of them.

Which position not including quarterback is your biggest concern looking ahead to 2008?

Right now I would say free safety. The results of the Tony Davis experiment are inconclusive since he was injured for much of the year and didn't play. Due to Spencer Ridenhour's transfer we were forced to play Mark Rubin a lot. He did ok, but he's not a very instinctive player. Can anyone remember him breaking up a pass? I can't. But I can remember him making a lot of tackles. I just don't think he gives the type of impact player we need at safety. If these guys get injured or can't get the job done we may have to look at using a couple of redshirt freshmen in Nick Sukay or Chaz Powell.

If Justin King goes pro I change my answer to cornerback.

Lightning Round

Who is the early favorite to win the Big Ten in 2008?

I guess you have to figure everyone will say Ohio State is the favorite. Illinois and Penn State are going to make a run though.

How many Fulmer Cup points for Penn State this summer?

I think it will be much lower. Paterno is going to weed out some bad apples and we'll be hearing about some players being released from their scholarships before April rolls around. I think Lee, Shipley, Williams, Butler, Clark, and Evans will provide a lot more leadership than Morelli, Connor, and Golden ever did. I'll put the over/under at 10. We'll have one fight and one or two underage drinking charges.

Now that the offseason has begun, what will you keep your mind occupied with until fall practice?

Well, we have three more weeks of the NFL playoffs. I just have to survive a few weeks after the Super Bowl until February 17 when Nascar kicks off in Daytona. Then my Sundays will be tied up until September. Of course the men's basketball team is looking like they may make that time between football and racing easier to handle.

Welcome to what may possibly be the next-to-last Blue-White Roundtable for a while. We may do one after the bowl game, but then we're going to hang it up. We'll break it out once in a while during the offseason and we'll get it going full tilt again next year, but honestly it's a pain to do this in the offseason. There's just nothing to talk about so we end up talking about beer, women, and music. And we can do that without a roundtable. So enjoy the BWR while it's here. This is a special BWR in that we each came up with a question for the group. Here it is in all it's glory. Enjoy.

WFY: Do you think any of the quarterbacks below Anthony Morelli will get any meaningful playing time on Saturday?

I hope so. This is a meaningless game. Winning it really won't make any difference in the big picture of things. Next season will be our best chance to make a run since 2005, and it may be our best chance to make a run for the next few years. So we have the opportunity to give some of next year's starters some playing time. I hope they take advantage of it.

Unfortunately they won't. Joe Paterno views the bowl game as a reward for a good season. In Joe's eyes, Morelli led the team so he deserves to play in the bowl game. He'll see all of the snaps unless they put the game away early.

TNN: Other than the quarterbacks, what players would you like to see get significant playing time in the game for preparation for 2008?

Well, other than quarterback there are only two starting positions we need to replace. One is at running back with Rodney Kinlaw leaving. I'm sure Evan Royster will get 10-15 carries as he's done all season. So I'm not worried about that.

The other key person we need to replace is Dan Connor. So I would like to see Chris Colasanti get a lot of playing time. In fact I would like to see him start for no other reason than to just let him get those jitters out of the way now so he can focus on football next year. It would give him a tremendous confidence boost going into the offseason. I think he'll be a starter at outside linebacker in the opener next year.

Other players I would like to see play a lot would be Chris Bell, A.J. Wallace, and Stephen Wisneiwski. I'm also hoping to see Andrew Quarless have a big game. He needs it.

TINNOMJ: Will Royster finish the game healthy? If not, how concerned should fans be about the RB position in '08?

You can't predict injuries. You never expect a player to get hurt. If he does get hurt I don't think it's a big concern. He had some bumps and bruises this year, but he played through them. The few times he sat he said he could have gone back in but the coaches held him out. He could have played Division I-A lacrosse if wanted to, so I'm not concerned one bit about his toughness.

BSD: Obviously a loss to Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl would be devastating for the psyche of the program going into the offseason. But is there anything good that can come out of beating a middle of the road Big XII team in a non-New Years Day bowl game? Basically, tell me why I should care about this game.

Making any bowl game is good if for nothing else than the extra three weeks of practice you get. It's like a pre-spring practice for the coaches. They get to evaluate the young talent and shuffle some guys around to see what they can do. So that in itself is a good thing.

We've all seen how this fan base reacts after a loss. They wring their hands at the coaching staff. They call for Joe's head. They call for Jay's head. They drag out our record over the past seven years and point at it and demand change. The message boards dive into their endless "Kool-aid drinkers" vs. "Realists" debates. It's ugly, but it usually only lasts for a week until we beat up Temple or Northwestern and then it goes away. If we lose this game to the Aggies that sour taste will last the entire offseason. It will also affect our preseason ranking next year. So it's important that we win this game so we don't have as many teams to jump in the polls. If we're going to make a run next year ending this season on a high note is imperative.

TNL: Will 2008 be JoePa's last year and if so will the old man bow out gracefully or will he be forced out?

I personally think it will be his last year. It may not be Joe's choice, but he will leave gracefully. He's smart enough to know he can't coach forever. And he's not going to let his last day on the job ruin his entire 40 year career and legacy.

RUTS: When Joe Paterno finally retires, how long of a leash should the next coach get?  What's the standard he'll be judged by, and does your answer depend on whether the new head coach comes from within or outside the program?

Fortunately for the next guy, Joe Paterno has been pretty average for the past decade. So that will be the standard by which he will be judged. It's not like replacing Tom Osborne or Bear Bryant, two guys who left while still at the top of their game. The next guys at Alabama and Nebraska never had a chance to live up to that. In fact both schools have gone through a few coaches since those guys left and nobody has lived up to the standard they set. So if the next Penn State coach can average nine or ten wins a year he'll be fine.

Lightning Round

Your Alamo Bowl Prediction?

Penn State wins of course. 35-13.

I literally got these questions via email from JB ten minutes ago. I pasted them into the browser and I'm going to answer them cold turkey without any thought going into them. So it's basically like every other roundtable. I'll do my part. You do yours.

Run Up The Score
There Is No Name On My Jersey
The Nittany Line
The Nittany Notebook
William F. Yurasko

PSU is lined up to play Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl.  How are you feeling about the match-up and Penn State's chances?

I didn't know what to think when I first heard about it, but after doing a little research I'm liking our chances more and more. From what I've learned they are a run heavy team which plays into our strength. And their defense is pretty shabby which means we should be able to put some points on the board. They managed wins over Texas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma State and lost to Oklahoma, Miami, Missouri, Texas Tech, and Kansas. I think I heard the opening line was Penn State favored by 5.5 points.

The BCS, fire away.

I kind of already did, but what the heck.

I'm sick of this system. I'm sick of a system that takes the best teams in the country and pairs them up with Illinois and Hawaii. Last year it was Boise State (though they did beat Oklahoma in an instant classic). Other than pairing the #1 versus #2 the BCS is worthless. If you're going to tell me we have to keep the bowl system because of its rich tradition, give me teams steeped in tradition. Don't give me Hawaii. And it bothers me that every year there's controversy about who deserves to be #2 and every year ESPN tells us controversy and chaos is good for the game. No it's not, because no matter who wins the BCS championship there will be one or two teams who feel like if they had played in that game they could have won it too. College football fans deserve a real playoff system. Not this money making system.

Will you be rooting for Tosu in order to help boost the profile of the conference or will you unmitigated hate win out?

I'll be cheering for all of the Big Ten teams. It hurts us all when Ohio State and Michigan get blown out which looks like might happen again this year. But if Ohio State is down by 30 points in the fourth quarter and they show some little kid in a Laurinaitis jersey crying in the front row, I must admit a smile will come across my face.

LIGHTNING ROUND

Are you going to the Alamo Bowl?

Alas, no. My 33 year string of not going to a bowl game is still intact. With a three year old and a four month old it's just too hard to do anything these days. I'll get to one someday though. It may be 2020 until then unless they start having bowl games in Philadelphia.

How much playing time do Devlin and Clark see?

Maybe one series for Clark if it's a blowout in either direction. If he's lucky Devlin will get a few snaps of mostly handing off the ball. The real key is these two guys getting the bulk of the first team snaps in the three weeks of practice before the Alamo Bowl.

Boy it sure is fun wrapping up your season two weeks before every other conference. While they're all talking about rivalries and conference championship games we're talking about Christmas shopping habits. It must be time for another Blue-White Roundtable. The Nittany Line has the questions this week. Go check out the other guys to see who wears the pants in their families.

Run Up The Score
There Is No Name On My Jersey
The Nittany Line
The Nittany Notebook
William F. Yurasko

It appears that Penn State is a lock for the Alamo Bowl, at this point are you ready to jump on a plane and head to San Antonio or is this game a TiVo moment while you find better things to do like clean the bathroom?

Every Penn State game is an important one to me. So whether they are playing USC in the Rose Bowl or Saint Cathrine's School of the Blind in the Depends Undergarments Toilet Bowl, I'll clear my schedule to watch it. In fact, I try to clear my schedule to watch all of the bowl games. I love bowl season. Just about every game features pretty evenly matched competition which makes for some exciting football.

The rumor mill about the vacant Michigan coaching job is just getting started - who do you think ends up the next Skunkbear's head coach?

Earlier this year Galen tried to corner me into giving my top choice for Penn State's head coach. I couldn't come up with an answer because I honestly don't think about these things. Of course, it didn't help that I was about three sheets into the wind at a tailgate party, so maybe that had something to do with it. But honestly, I almost never speculate about head coaching moves. Look back through the BSD archives and you won't see one post suggesting who our next head coach should be. I could give you a bunch of names of people I highly respect and wouldn't mind seeing run out of the tunnel.  But I don't have a favorite. I just don't think about these things.

So in a long winded way of answering the question without really giving an answer, I don't know, and I don't really care. We'll discuss it when Michigan crosses that bridge. Sorry if it seems like I'm ducking the question.

Last week we had your list of the three players that vastly exceeded your preseason expectations, I'm a pessimistic prick (my friends call me captain morale) so name me the three players you had high preseason expectations for that have totally let you down.

The top of the list is Anthony Morelli. I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed since past performance is an indication of future results, but I expected more out of him. I partially believed the Outback Bowl was his coming out party. But in fact it was the defense and Tony Hunt that won that game. This year we saw more of the same from Morelli. He didn't show any signs of progression from last year, and you could arguably say he single handledly lost two of our games.

My second biggest disappointment was Justin King. The two losses that weren't Morelli's fault were arguably King's fault. It's one thing when a player fails to progress like Morelli, but it's another thing when a player visibly regresses like King. Last year he was shutting down NFL draft picks like Ted Ginn and Robert Meachum. This year he was getting abused week in and week out. It got to the point you almost felt sorry for him the way teams were picking on him.

For my third biggest disappointment I'll say Austin Scott. Ever since he first carried the ball in 2003 he was crowned as the next Larry Johnson. We all read the glowing off season reports and we were hoping for a Larry Johnson type senior year. But it never materialized as he was plagued with fumbling problems. Then he got himself kicked off the team all together. Fortunately the disappointment in Scott was softened by the fine play of Rodney Kinlaw and Evan Royster.

Lightning Round

The BCS is a total mess right now. Who ends up in the championship game?

Let me put on my Mark May "Master of the Obvious" hat.

Pay attention mental midgets. I'm about to enlighten you with my infinite wisdom. You may have to ask Craig James to explain this to you.

Looks like West Virginia and Missouri unless the Tigers lose to the Oklahoma Sooners in which case the Buckeyes will sneak in.

Will the BCS shakeup this year finally cause coaches to start pushing for some sort of playoff (I'm looking in your direction SEC)?

God I hope so. If we end up with West Virginia playing for the National Championship with UConn as their signature win and I have to hear Lou Holtz tell us how Hawaii got hosed I think I'll kill myself.

In honor of Black Friday, are you the type of guy that a) Christmas shops early and puts a lot of thought into your gifts b) waits until the last minute and buys whatever's left on the shelf c) gets everything from E-bay & Amazon or d) has a significant other that does all the shopping for you (bonus points if that significant other reads your blog)?

My wife does the Christmas shopping. I just buy something for her when I'm out there fighting the crowd on Christmas eve. And yes, my wife reads and comments on BSD.

It's time for another Blue-White Roundtable. Run Up The Score has the questions this week and he's getting all retrospective on us. That's ok. We like to live in the past here at the Blue White Roundtable. Please check out the other guys.

Run Up The Score
There Is No Name On My Jersey
The Nittany Line
The Nittany Notebook
William F. Yurasko

It'll be a week of criticism, so let's at least start off on a positive note.  Name three players who have vastly exceeded your pre-season expectations.

Jeremy Boone - There were times last year when Jeremy Kapinos was our biggest offensive weapon. To hear our Ray Guy nominee was being replaced with a walkon was unsettling to say the least. But Boone was phenomenal averaging 42 yards per punt and helping Penn State finish fourth in the country in net punting.

Maurice Evans - I think we all knew Big Mo' was going to be great someday, but I don't think many of us expected he would be this great this year. Evans finished seventh in the country with 12.5 sacks and sixth in the country with 21.5 TFL earning First Team All Big Ten honors in just his second year.

Rodney Kinlaw - If you had told me before the season that Rodney Kinlaw was going to get 222 carries I would have said we're in trouble. If you told me he'll get over 1100 yards I would have said you're crazy. But there are his numbers. I didn't think he was durable enough to carry the load like that, but he proved me wrong. It's really a tribute to how well the offensive line has played as well.

At what point on Saturday did you think that Penn State might be in serious, serious trouble?

When we went up 24-7 there was jubilation in the comments on the open thread, but I warned everyone this was the team that came back from a 35 point deficit against Northwestern last year. I really started worrying when Michigan State came right back and scored rather easily on an eight play drive that didn't have a single third down. I predicted in the comments that PSU would go three and out, and they did. Michigan State scored again in just seven plays. We went three and out again. You can blame the defense for the loss, but if the offense had put together a few first downs on either one of those drives we probably would have won.

What is your explanation for the four consecutive passes that effectively ended Penn State's comeback attempt?  What strategy do you think the coaches were going for?

Well, I explained on Monday there was some confusion with the timeout situation on the scoreboard. So maybe the coaches thought they had less time than they really did? I don't think this is likely though. I think they probably out thought themselves. Penn State has really struggled to score touchdowns in the redzone lately. Maybe they thought they were better off taking a shot or two at the endzone from the 24. I really have no idea what they were thinking.

What are your thoughts on a contract extension for Joe Paterno?  His current contract expires after the 2008 season.  Do you think he'll head into that season with his contract status undetermined?

I think the last thing Paterno wants is a "farewell tour". So I think they will renew his contract just so he doesn't have to face questions about ;his contract and the succession plan every week. Whenever Joe does decide to retire I think it will happen very suddenly like Lloyd Carr did. Just a press conference at the end of the season. So they will renew the contract, but let's just say I don't expect Paterno to be around two years from now. 2009 is the next projected rebuilding year, and I don't expect Paterno to stick around into his 90's to rebuild this program again.

Lightning Round

Which potential bowl opponents are the best and worst possible matchups for Penn State in the Alamo or Champs Sports Bowl?

Honestly I haven't looked at it yet. I was going to break that down next week when things look a little clearer.

Who is going to sneak into the BCS Championship game?

The winner of the Big XII Championship game.

Finally, from BSD, which 2007 Penn State loss was the most difficult to swallow?

For me it was the Illinois game. The coaches finally figured out they had to open up the playbook to win. We had several opportunities to win the game. We should have won the game. But we ended up losing in what will be forever known around here as the "Morelli Meltdown".