Author Archives: Graham Couch

If the Big Ten chooses to partner with Ford Field’s new bowl game, it’s behaving like a bully. And not an intelligent one. Ford Field execs notified Little Caesars Pizza Bowl CEO Ken Hoffman months ago that they were creating … Continue reading →

Michigan, Ohio State, Nebraska and Western Michigan on the road in the same year? Michigan State may never have seen a more daunting road slate in one season. I told colleague Joe Rexrode it’d write an entire blog post including … Continue reading →

CHICAGO — Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany and Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis were both available for interviews Wednesday morning, as the league’s ADs meetings wrapped up. Some of the topics were repetitive from Tuesday’s discussions, but both had … Continue reading →

CHICAGO — The Big Ten’s athletic directors meetings have turned into an organized annual media event here in Chicago. Partly because of the news that’s emerged in recent years and because, when it’s not organized, reporters tend to ambush unsuspecting … Continue reading →

It’s almost always the lie more than the deed, that gets one in trouble. Coaches and politicians especially. Ask Jim Tressel. Or Bill Clinton. Rutgers University and new basketball coach Eddie Jordan are making this point again, though some of … Continue reading →

Michigan State and Tom Izzo are feeling a bit how Kentucky must every year in these times — unsure of half of its roster a year down the line. The only difference, Kentucky somehow knows its going to land most … Continue reading →

The question has been posed on Twitter and discussed among writers who cover Michigan State, after Adreian Payne made his decision to return for his senior season at MSU: Who would the Spartans be better with next season, Payne or … Continue reading →

Mark Hollis joined me, Jack Ebling and Terry Denbow Tuesday afternoon on The Drive with Jack on 730-AM in Lansing, during our weekly hour-long “At Issue” segment, this time tackling the future of the Big Ten. Michigan State’s athletic director … Continue reading →

I thought all along Adreian Payne wanted to stay at Michigan State. But I also thought he was leaving. MSU might have been where he was most comfortable, his teammates and coaches his closest thing to family. But the NBA … Continue reading →

That’s what I was told Wednesday night by Joe Henricksen, publisher of the City/Suburban Hoops Report for the Chicago Sun-Times. Probably never a star, but someone who “knows who he is” and “is still climbing as a player.” Ellis, a … Continue reading →