Michigan Cheated – How the Rest of the B1G Did Too

Photo: Sports Illustrated

The Big Ten has a cheating problem; but who doesn’t?

If I have to hear the name Connor Stalions one more time I’m going to go full Vincent van Gogh. Yes, the entire saga is hilarious. He’s a total dork who is obsessed with Michigan football to potentially unhealthy levels. Each day the evidence continues to pile up that he went all out to help Jim Harbaugh and his coaching staff cheat.

My question is…who isn’t cheating?

If you’re involved in big money sports, with your and others jobs and livelihoods on the line, of course you’re going to gain whatever competitive edge you can get to win. Michigan definitely went overboard with it, but there’s a lot of glass houses throwing stones in this whole scenario.

So, how could each team in the B1G have maybe “bent the rules” to find any type of advantage they could?

Illinois – Brett Bielema showed Iowa recruits his tattoo to get them to de-commit from the Hawkeyes and come to Champaign.

Indiana – made empty promises to players in the transfer portal that if they came to Bloomington they’d automatically get a spot on Shark Tank.

Iowa – confirmed fair and balanced decision making on playing time; denounced nepotism in all its forms.

Maryland – claimed that there is more to the state than crab cakes and football.

Michigan State – forged documents into showing Sparty the Spartan has never taken PEDs.

Minnesota – assured us all that PJ Fleck definitely isn’t a cult leader.

Nebraska – wondered aloud why the other 132 D1 football coaches don’t wear very cool smocks.

Northwestern – continued to swear, under oath, that they are Chicago’s Big Ten team, despite four other conference team’s alumni being in the top 10 in Chicago’s population.

Ohio State – Ryan Day persisted in his vow that he doesn’t color his hair and beard.

Penn State – promised their fanbase that it’s totally normal for a giant cat to be completely naked other than wearing a tie.

Purdue – leaked text messages from Ryan Day asking Coach K about his hair care routine.

Rutgers – “would be a real shame if you didn’t let the Knights cover here…”

Wisconsin – shut down any investigations that they’re working in an underground lab on another batch of high-motored athletic freaks using a certain family’s genes.

It’s really that simple, everyone cheats. It’s a widespread misdemeanor that is prevalent in big time college sports. Anyone with a few minutes and access to Google could find out all of the above-mentioned elusiveness of NCAA bylaws.

Sunday State of Mind: February 20th-February 26th

Photo: Wallpaper Crafter

We’re writing about anything other than another dumbass Jake Paul fight in this week’s SSM.

Manny Machado, got himself the bag
Eleven for 350, waive all those green flags
Staying with the Padres, not going anywhere
Sending him a DM now to ask if he will share

Crazy week in basketball, college and the pros
Sixers and the Celtics is the first place that we’ll go
Jayson Tatum hit a dagger with 1.3 left
Embiid’s shot went in, but late, 70 foot heft

Earlier this week, Kings and Clippers scored a bunch
Went to two OTs, almost played ’til brunch
Three hundred fifty-one points were scored between the two
Kings won in a thriller, Clippers were subdued

In the college game, Iowa just did it all
Huge comeback for both teams, hero basketball
The men came back from 13 with 1:34 left
Caitlin Clark a buzzer beater, Indiana effed

Sunday State of Mind: March 14th-March 20th

We made it, folks. Not just to another Sunday State of Mind, but to March Madness. We dedicate the latest edition of SSM to college basketball’s annual tournament.

Only place to start, the St. Peter’s Peacocks
Fifteen seed came to play, major rising stock
Beat second seed Kentucky, and then Murray State
A classic Cinderella, what makes March Madness great

A big name eleven seed making a little noise
Juwan Howard and Michigan, showing some Madness poise
A bad regular season, turning it on at the right time
Seems like only yesterday, the open hand slap crime

It happens every year, dreaded 12-5 upset
This time around Iowa and UConn won’t forget
New Mexico ended UConn, Richmond nipped the Hawks
That’s why when doing your bracket you just can’t go chalk

Hate it or love it, The Dukies still alive
Coach K beat Coach Izzo, the Blue Devils survive
This retirement tour does just not seem to end
With every win Coach K’s career extends

Calvin Ridley Even Tweets Like a Bettor

The house always wins.

Some wild news dropped late Monday from the NFL; the league released a memo in which they announced a minimum yearlong suspension for Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley for betting on games last season.

Ridley had been on leave from the team while the alleged betting took place, so there’s not a whole lot in terms of him receiving inside information or having any distinct advantage. Even still, this is a huge no no for an active player to bet on a game in any league. We all know how Pete Rose has been blackballed from the baseball Hall of Fame for his wagering history. Ridley, of course, is not exactly at the level Rose was, but still a major infraction.

If anyone payed an ounce of attention to Ridley’s Twitter account, we could have seen this coming. The guy tweets like all of us regular schmucks who love gambling but have no idea what we’re doing.

Everyday gamblers can feel the highs and lows of Ridley’s betslip with each tweet:


We’ve all felt this. When you’re in such a bad slump, all you can do is laugh. Show me a bettor who’s gone 0 for his last 6 and I’ll show you the human embodiment of the laughing crying emoji, usually paired with an “I mean, all you can do is laugh at this point” as a cherry on top.

If you’ve gambled for any amount of time or been around those that have, you know that everyone has their own rules. I, for example, “never” bet on my favorite teams. Additionally, if you’ve gambled for any amount of time or been around those that have, you know these rules are always broken. We all say we learn from our Ls, Calvin; but how am I supposed stay away when Iowa’s getting 5.5 at home against Michigan State?!

Gambling responsibly is key. If you choose to dabble, please do so within your means. When you’re not seeing the board as well as you’d like, walk away. You’ll feel better and your account will remain fuller. But you’ve got to have the confidence to know you’re going to be a better gambler when you decide to jump back into the pool.

According to his Twitter account, Ridley claims he only bet $1,500. Plenty of money for a lot of us, but when your career earnings are a shade over $11 million, maybe not the biggest concern. Adam Schefter reported that Ridley “placed multi-legged parlay bets involving 3, 5 and 8 games that included the Falcons to win.”

If that’s indeed the case and he walked away after doing so, vaya con dios…and never bet on the Falcons again.