Kudos to the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences for the creation of their football series that is scheduled to begin in 2017.

The format is simple: 24 teams (12 from each conference) will play each other every season. The agreement includes all sports, but football will make the biggest splash. It could evolve into something similar to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in college basketball, but a challenge such as this on the gridiron will much more fascinating, especially from Ohio State's perspective.

Reportedly, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith is already concerned about the scheduling aspect of Wednesday's announcement.

Smith does not want the Buckeyes to play more than one "difficult" non-conference game in a season. Beginning in 2016, and again in 2017, OSU starts a series with Oklahoma. Ideally, Smith would like the football team to land a Pac-12 creampuff in 2017 to offset the mammoth game against the Sooners.

Be careful what you wish for Gene. Schedules are set years in advance, and there's no telling what team will emerge from the Pac-12 five years from now.

For example, Washington State has been a cellar-dweller for years in the Pac-12, but with Coach Mike Leach recently hired, who knows what the status of the Cougars' program will be in 2017. Likewise with Stanford. Any school scheduling the Cardinal five years ago probably thought it was securing a guaranteed win. Then Andrew Luck elevates his team to top-5 status.

The good news for OSU fans is there will be potentially one more marquee non-conference football game to circle on your calendars, starting in 2017. The bad news is winning a national championship just got a bit more difficult.

- Mark Podolski | @mpodo

The Division I football state championship game might feature a lot of people with one eye on the field and the other on a smart phone beginning this year.

Ohio's big-school state final is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. on Dec. 3, about an hour before the Big Ten championship game kicks off in Indianapolis. If Ohio State advances to the conference title game, that will leave plenty of fans at Fawcett Stadium wanting updates during the second half of the prep game.

In 2006, the start of the Ohio State-Michigan game was pushed back to 3:30 p.m. from its traditional noon start. All of the high school regional finals scheduled for 7 p.m. that night were moved up to noon or played the previous evening. It wasn't for the convenience of fans. It was because volunteers who work the games wouldn't have arrived at the game on time.

The D-I state championship game would be much more difficult to move. It is broadcast live on television, and there are two other title games that day.

Beginning in 2014, the OHSAA has a two-year contract to play all six state finals in Ohio Stadium. It should make for an exciting weekend if the Buckeyes are playing in the Big Ten title game with a BCS bowl game or national championship game berth on the line.

It could affect attendance at the high school final, though. For example, it's highly unlikely you'll ever see the NHL play its New Year's Day outdoors game at a Big Ten stadium as long as there's a chance the home football team gets picked for the Outback or Capital One Bowl, which are played in the afternoon that day.

So you could have a scenario in which casual fans have to decide between sitting in the stands in December weather while checking Ohio State on the radio or on their phones, or relaxing on the couch in front of a TV in a warm living room. The Buckeyes would provide a convenient excuse not to go.

- Howard Primer

The news of the day on Friday from the NCAA should have been cause for a party within the athlete department at Ohio State.

The NCAA notified the school it found no evidence the school failed to properly monitor its football program or evidence of a lack of institutional control.

Apparently, having its coach lie to NCAA and cover up illegal action, at least in the eyes of the NCAA, of its high-profile football players does not constitute failure to monitor or lack of institutional control.

Congrats to the Ohio State athletic department. It's obvious getting rid of Coach Jim Tressel is all it took. Terrelle Pryor leaving probably didn't hurt either.

As for the NCAA? Let's see if the governing body hammers the Buckeyes with its upcoming ruling. Friday's news probably means it won't be as bad as many thought, but who knows. The NCAA continue to confuse.

- Mark Podolsi

Part of the sham of college athletics is that vacating games somehow constitutes a penalty.

Memphis' appearance in the national title game in basketball in 2008? Didn't happen. This run by Reggie Bush? Don't know what game that clip came from.

Declaring appearances as vacant is window-dressing. If you don't want to penalize the players on the current team, then schedule the scholarship reductions and bowl bans for two years from now. That way, innocent players have time to transfer before the sanctions take effect. It also gives incoming recruits a chance to stay away.

- Howard Primer

Within minutes of the story breaking early Tuesday night, news of Terrelle Pryor was all over the Internet. By the end of the night, Pryor's name had been trending on Twitter twice, both times misspelled and in different ways.

Both say a lot about how information travels these days.

Pryor announced through his lawyer that he was leaving the Ohio State football team. I first saw it on Twitter a little after 6 p.m. via a retweet from my colleague Dominic Anselmo. The race was on for our whole department - getting a story up on our web site, digging up photos, getting a hold of writers, putting together a depth chart of the remaining quarterbacks and keeping an eye out for other developments.

We posted updates throughout the night. Chasing the story and seeing readers' reactions on our web site was exciting. Seeing Pryor's first name misspelled two ways in Twitter's trending topics wasn't. That tells me that for some people, it's more about winning the race than being right.

- Howard Primer

Kudos to Buckeye great Chris Spielman, who had the guts to call it like he sees it this week when talking about Jim Tressel and Terelle Pryor.

The ex-OSU linebacker is miffed by what he believes was special treatment by Tressel, who resigned on Monday, when handling Pryor the past three seasons.

Spielman sounded off on the matter in an interview with WBNS in Columbus.

"I think (Pryor) has played his last game," he said. "I don't know if you guys have heard this. I've heard through players, former players, that (Pryor) operated and was allowed to operate by his own set of rules. Being late to meetings. Being late to practice. Not showing up for workouts. I don't know if that's true or note true. If it is I'm so disappointed in the leaders of the team that allowed that go on, that allowed a player not to show up without either confrontation, physical or verbal first, physical if necessary."

Spielman said there was an easy solution to stop Pryor's reported set of rules.

"...If he was two seconds late for a meeting, bye, bye. That's how I would operate."

- Mark Podolski

We've had a few days to let the Auburn's 22-19 win over Oregon sink in.

Now it's time to look over the 45 games in college football history that pitted the Associated Press' top two teams against each and rank the best of the best.

It's a great list of games, so here's another Ten in the Morning:

(Note: Games listed are ones this blogger watched live, in person or on TV, or on replay.)

1. Jan. 2, 1987, Fiesta Bowl, No. 2 Penn State 14, No. 1 Miami (Fla.) 10: Enough subplots, controversy and drama to last an entire season. If you’ve never seen the re-broadcast on ESPN Classic, don’t miss it the next time it’s on.

2. Jan. 3, 2003, Fiesta Bowl, No. 2 Ohio State 31, No. 1 Miami (Fla.) 24 (2OT): Soon, it will be the 10-year anniversary of this huge upset. It's been that long?

3. Jan. 4, 2006, Rose Bowl, No. 2 Texas 41, No. 1 USC 38: Matt Leinart vs. Vince Young. The Rose Bowl. It doesn’t get much better.

4. Nov. 18, 2006, regular season, No. 1 Ohio State 41, No. 2 Michigan 39: A perfect example of the game actually exceeding the hype.

5. Nov. 13, 1993, regular season, No. 2 Notre Dame 31, No. 1 Florida State 24: A fan of Dr. Lou? This game was Lou Holtz’s last great moment as Notre Dame football coach.

6. Jan. 1, 1994, Orange Bowl, No. 1 Florida State 18, No. 2 Nebraska 16: Bobby Bowden had to sweat out his first national championship as the Cornhuskers’ last-second field-goal attempt went wide left.

7. Sept. 16, 1989, regular season, No. 1 Notre Dame 24, No. 2 Michigan 19: Raghib “The Rocket” Ismail’s finest moment at Notre Dame with two kickoff returns for touchdowns against the Wolverines.

8. Sept. 27, 1986, regular season, No. 2 Miami (Fla.) 28, No. 1 Oklahoma 16: If you’re old enough to remember Brian “The Boz” Bosworth of the Sooners, then you’re old enough to remember fans in the Orange Bowl serenading The Boz with, “Bye, bye Boz!”

9. Jan. 10, 2011, BCS national championship, No. 1 Auburn 22, No. 2 Oregon 19: For the Ducks, it will always be a game of 'what if?' For the Tigers, war eagle!

10. Oct. 19, 1985, regular season, No. 1 Iowa 12, No. 2 Michigan 10: The first ever Big Ten conference game featuring the nation’s top two teams didn’t disappoint as a last-second field won it for the Hawkeyes.

- Mark Podolski

Trying to predict where the NHL's Winter Classic outdoor hockey game will be played the following season is almost as fun as watching the game.

The past four years, it's been played in the Buffalo Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium, Wrigley Field in Chicago, Fenway Park in Boston and Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.

Where next? The logistics are as big an issue as anything.

WHEN

It's usually played on New Year's Day. In 2012, Jan. 1 is a Sunday. There is no way the NHL is going head-to-head with the NFL. Plus, it wouldn't have the option of playing at night because NBC, which televises the Classic, will be showing the last game of the NFL regular season. Jan. 2 is the holiday observed for New Year's, so that's when it will most likely face off.

WHERE

- Yankee Stadium: It hosted the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 30. The college football game would have to be played a week earlier or a week later to allow time to set up the rink.

- Michigan Stadium, Beaver Stadium, Ohio Stadium, etc.: The problem with Big Ten stadiums is that the conference is tied into five New Year's Day bowl games, which cuts into the potential audience. Even if 100,00-plus hockey die-hards show up, you would need staff to work the game. That would be a tough sell. The other problem in Columbus is that it needs a good team that people would want to see on TV. The Blue Jackets aren't cutting it.

- NFL stadiums: As long as the football team doesn't mind playing on the road in Week 17, as the Steelers did this year.

- Canadian teams: No way. NBC wants American teams in big markets or with big stars.

- Rose Bowl: It was actually tossed out as a rumored site on the Internet. I believe the stadium is booked that day. I had to include it for a laugh.

So where does it go? FedEx Field in Landover, Md., for another Sidney Crosby-Alex Ovechkin sounds like a winner. Perhaps New Meadowlands Stadium for the Devils and Rangers? Or maybe Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia for the Flyers against the Penguins or Capitals? Or Invesco Field in Denver for the Avalanche and ... somebody?

- Howard Primer