Buckeyes coach making $3.5 million-plus

Former Illini defensive tackle Moe Gardner is a College Football Hall of Fame candidate.

The National FootballFoundation (NFF) announced Thursday the names of 77 players and seven coaches who comprise the 2010 Football Bowl Subdivision Ballot for induction into the Hall of Fame.

BCS executive director Bill Hancock said Wednesday he will respond to a question-filled letter sent to him by two U.S. Senators.

"I'm looking forward to taking a longer look at the letter. I sure do think that Congress has more important things to do, with all the issues facing our country," Hancock said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "The BCS is fair. Access is fair. Revenue is distributed fairly. And frankly, we welcome the opportunity to tell our story every chance we get."

Big Ten expansion talk could force change in South Bend

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Illinois football making a change

The letters are starting to pile up at the Peat home in suburban Phoenix. And that's a good thing.

The oldest of seven kids, Tempe Corona del Sol junior defensive tackle Todd Peat Jr. already has scholarship offers from Arizona State, Arizona, Nebraska, Wake Forest, Stanford and Northern Illinois. The 6-foot-3, 295-pounder is rated the nation's ninth-best 2011 tackle by Scout.com.

Many wondered if Ron Turner would like going back to college coaching after five years in the NFL. We'll never know. Turner spent about a week as a Stanford assistant before becoming receivers coach with the Indianapolis Colts. Maybe working under a guy he had coached, Jim Harbaugh, didn't feel right to Turner. Or maybe the idea of going back on the road to recruit wasn't something he wanted to do.

Koenning, who was hired Dec. 18 after one year at Kansas State, is slowly getting to know his players. And they are getting to know him.

"I was making a joke with a guy today, 'For some of us, playing football is like being on the interstate, dodging cars,' " Koenning said. "Some of these players, these jokers are big and fast. You've got to have a little bit of courage to be a football player. Until you see those guys out there in the line of fire and gauge your courage, you're just making assessments based on work habits, their look, their demeanor."