BEST QUOTES   BACK TO THE MAC … "Ellen wanted me to get out of the house. I mean, how often can you cut the grass?" … Jim Tressel, Akron's new VP of strategic engagement, a position created just for him (really). The NCAA’s 5-year, show-cause sanction after TattooGate prohibits Tressel from having any direct involvement with UAkron’s athletic department.  More details here. … ESPN, 2-3-12
News
 COACHES    Buckeye assistants highest paid in school history    Ohio State hired a world-class coaching staff for a world-class price tag.   Columbus Dispatch, 1-13-12
 
 GENDER    Study: Women in Intercollegiate Sport   Here are highlights of the thirty-five year update to the Acosta and Carpenter longitudinal, national study.   Acosta/Carpenter, Jan. 2012
 
 $ BOOST    Wanted at State U: More Foreign Students   Clips eFLASH   In the past couple of years there has been an amazing increase in the number of foreign students at American universities.   Why? Well, money is the first of many reasons.   New York Times, 2-5-12
 
 2nd CHANCE    Jim Tressel taking job at Akron ... With his wife scooting him out of the house, he’s taking on a position as “VP of Strategic Engagement.” … ESPN.com, 2-2-12
 
 ACADEMICS    Another case of cheating, er, "misreporting" on US News college rankings   Clips eFLASH   The latest case of college rankings fraud, er, misreporting, comes from Claremont McKenna College in California.   New York Times, 2-1-12
 
 BRANDING    Big Ten reassess division names   Legends and Leaders will remain through the 2012 football season because survey says many Big Ten fans seem to want it that way.    ESPN.com, 2-3-12
 
 ARMS RACE    Big South Carolina football upgrades on tap   New video board and tailgating area coming.   The Post and Courier, 1-24-12
 
 ROUNDBALL    Nine tips on buying a hardwood gym floor   Maple is the way to go, with oak a distant second. Athletic Business, Jan. 2012
 
 RECRUITING    The Commitment Project: studying recruits, college football edition   Recruits seek the best situation as coaches seek the best class. When those goals align, a commitment happens. When a better deal comes along, sometimes a decommitment happens.   SI.com, 1-20-12
 
 ROUNDBALL    A How-To Guide for Moving the Basketball Season   The push for one-semester sports is yielding some creative ideas.   ncaa.org, 2-1-12
 
 FACILITIES    New Gym to add excitement for UT Arlington     UTA replaces old gym with new, spacious version.   Star-Telegram, 1-25-12
 
 NCAA    News not fit to print   An NCAA response to a New York Times reporter.   ncaa.org, 2-3-12
 
 ACADEMICS     They mean business   Wake Forest recruits ex-athletes to its management master’s program   NCAA.org, 1-24-12
 
 FRONT PORCH    College Sports as Product Differentiation   Clips Guest Commentary   Is there is no truth to the dual common notions about big-time college athletics?... that their behemoth existence is detrimental to the university's mission of education and scholarship; and that their prominence in university life is new.   By Andrei S. Markovits, Huffington Post, 1-30-12
 
 ROUNDBALL    College hoops ready to take center stage   Forde’s Forty floats into a frenetic February.   Yahoo! Sports, 1-31-12
 
 FB    NCAA football attendance reaches new heights again   Almost 50 million fans attended D1-2-3 games in 2011.   NCAA.org, 1-26-12
 
 MEDIA    Uncivil: How Paul Finebaum Keeps The SEC’s Dixie Aroused   Clips Guest Commentary   With deft and crafty steerage, Finebaum and his merry pranksters build a raucous, entertaining and/or irreverent radio show every day.   Jack Dickey, Deadspin, 1-9-12
 
 RECRUITING    NCAA to police football recruiting more -- with an actual cop   A 6-foot-3 former homicide cop, plus a Marine and NFL veteran has been hired as the NCAA’s director of enforcement for football.   CBSSports.com, 1-30-12
 
 TOP SCHOOLS    Applications at Elite US Colleges Slowing   Columbia, Penn, and MIT application rates slow while Duke, Stanford and Georgetown are on the rise. Bloomberg Businessweek, 1-18-12
 
 DISLIKES    The Top 10 Most Annoying Colleges in America   Here’s one man’s list.   Bleacher Report, 1-26-12
 
 JoePa    Penn State bids farewell to Joe Paterno   Clips Eyewitness Report   Our Clips intern was all eyes and ears for the gloomy—and joyous—farewell.   Todd Lindenmuth, Clips Assistant Editor, 1-26-12
 
 JoePa    Joe Paterno and State College   Clips Guest Commentary   He was of Penn State. But of State College.   Mike Poorman, StateCollege.com, 1-27-12
 
 COACHES    Schiano's decision to leave Rutgers latest example of what's wrong with college football   In a word, what’s wrong is “vultures.”   Sporting News, 1-26-12
 
 HOOPS    Low attendance forces Duke Athletics to sell student seats    This season, about 650 undergrads have attended each game, 150 fewer than in 2008-09.  Surplus general admission tickets in the student section are now being sold on a regular basis.   Duke Chronicle, 1-24-12
 
 REALIGNMENT    Further Big 12 Expansion Is 'Very Possible'   League sources say the addition of at least one new member—likely the U of Louisville—is "very possible."  Chronicle of Higher Education 1-25-12
 
 JoePa    Joe Paterno and The Interview: One Coach, 22 Years, 581 Questions   This is Mike Poorman’s second in a series of columns chronicling the impact of Joe Paterno at Penn State.   StateCollege.com, 1-25-12
 
 JoePa    The Paterno Class    This week, Mike Poorman is writing a series of columns chronicling the impact of Joe Paterno at Penn State. This is the third installment, tomorrow’s will be “Joe Paterno & State College”  StateCollege.com, 1-26-12
 
 JoePa    Joe Paterno and The Penn State Student   Joe may not have given the media much access. But when it came to the students on the University Park campus, and all around town, Paterno was perpetually approachable.   StateCollege.com, 1-23-12
 
 REFORM    Collegiate Athletics Reform: Up to the courts?   Clips Guest Commentary   Our guest author points out that there has been no action by the Legislative and Executive branches of the federal government, leaving it up to the courts to resolve reform related issues.    Frank G. Splitt, 01-27-12