Hey guys if you want to see a website ranking of which school's football coach is currently on the hottest seat, click here.  Look at where they put Danny Boy.  It also shows the salaries of each coach in division 1 football (Football Bowl Subdvision).  Now I know this shouldn't be a barometer of what Morgan Burke should do with Hope.  But I think it's interesting that his stock is rising (or declining) more rapidly.

If you want to read what he says about the whole conference read it here.

Here's what Mr. Reilly said about Purdue

PURDUE

It's hard to hate Purdue. You get to watch the little train that runs around. You get to watch the Boilermaker mascot get in fights. And you get to watch Purdue throw the football like crazy and still lose 56-35. Great fun.

As of now, I'd be ecstatic that we can get 35 points per game again while "throwing the football like crazy".  But Reilly beats the drum (pun intended) about us pretty much being mediocre.

I know this is off topic from the anti Jim Burr slaughter fest but this was something that popped into my mind.  I'm a big fan of the college sports atmosphere and the various cheers that each school comes up with.  I think it's more of the fact that when EVERYBODY participates in a cheer the whole arena and electricity is much more hostile. Not that I think Mackey isn't hostile, but I do think it's cool that there is a nice connect between fans (students, alumni, and sub-alums) where they say one phrase and another fan can finish the phrase.  From Penn State (We are Penn State), to OSU (OH-IO), to MSU (Go Green, Go White) to  Illinois  (ILL-INI; my gf, ex gf was an Illini fan, I thought the cheer was cool and I still do) to Missouri (MIZ-ZOU) to Kansas ("Rock Chalk Jayhawk, KU")... I think it adds a special "goosebump" factor to the game.  I look at Purdue and I feel like all our cheers are clapping cheers and it's Paint Crew dominated ("Boiler up! clap clap", "Let's go Boilers" clap clap, clap clap clap).  It just feels like it has  a very high school sense to it and the whole crowd doesn't really get into it. I think to add some mystique to your university and program, you need something a phrase that connects fans together like the afore mentioned. After the jump here are some cheers that I think that would work wonderfully at Purdue.

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"Purdue fans don't like to hear my skepticism about their team either, but the fact is the Boilermakers' four Big Ten wins have come against Michigan, Northwestern, Penn State and Iowa. I'm not saying Purdue's not good, I'm just suggesting we hold off planning their parade just yet. The Boilermakers have a big week ahead of them. They play at Minnesota on Wednesday in a huge game for the Gophers, and then they travel to West Virginia on Saturday. We'll know a lot more about how good they are after that."

- Page 3 of Seth Davis' "Hoop Thoughts" published Monday January 10, 2011 1:10PM ; Updated: Monday January 10, 2011 2:21PM

He hears us.  I actually agree a little bit with Mr. Davis as well, "we've beaten the teams we're supposed to beat".  And while it won't change the fact that I think we can go far come March (with the right matchups of course).  I would like to see how our Boilers have fared since playing Va Tech on the road (I know Valpo right now is technically our better road win but Seth doesn't know that).  Let's see what we can do...

"To your call once more we rally...."

Wyoming Joe talking about his fears for IU and Purdue being in the Big Ten East with OSU, UM, MSU and PSU in the Indy Star.  Honestly I feel like this may be sour grapes from the former Boiler coach, but you must admit facing those (historically) 3 big teams each year would be a battle.  However looking back at last year's record against the proposed teams we went 3-1 (didn't play Penn State last year), so it's not like we can't beat the teams.  There is also talk of increasing the number of conference games to 9.  Who knows?  I just wanted to pass this on to Boiler faithful as well as get initial thoughts. 

P.S. Also not to mention during basketball season (slightly less significant) being in the same division with Sparty, OSU and IU (if and when they eventually turn it around) will lead to some tough battles securing the one spot in the BTT.

Per Mr. Kramer

"Kramer said the Boilermakers will have a bit of a chip on their shoulder as they enter this week's Big Ten tournament, facing either No. 7 seed Northwestern or No. 10 seed Indiana in Friday's quarterfinal in Conseco Fieldhouse. 

'We're not stupid," Kramer said. "We watch ESPN. You see the things they say about the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. They're not giving us any respect since Rob went down.If we go on and win games, they can't give us that (lower) seed. If we go out and win games, everything will take care of itself."

This is the steely resolve that I like to see... plenty of work to do guys... get it done

So Ivan Maisel, Mark Schlabach , and Pat Forde did a mock draft to have 4 10-team "power conferences".  Then have the champions of those conferences play a "final four" to find the national champion.  We didn't make th top 40 however ... OSU, PSU, UM, Iowa, Wisc, and MSU did make the list.... here is the link. I hope to hear your feedback soon

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4375901