Some Tuesday linkage

◊ Here's a couple of links to note this week.

Penn State...

Interesting news on Jerome Hayes, via FOS (Scout.com):

"[Jerome] Hayes plans on petitioning the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility."

I don't think he qualifies under the rules. But we can always hope for the exception.

In the blogosphere...

• Was Terrelle Pryor secretly hurt during the Fiesta Bowl? I don't care, but Eleven Warriors does.

"Shortly after the Fiesta Bowl loss to Texas, rumors began sprouting up about Pryor possibly having an injured shoulder for the game. After all, how else to explain the all of the ducks and the times he ran out of bounds early to avoid contact."

• BSD gave us an early look into Penn State's roster/scholarship situation for 2009 and '10. Great read.

"We have 16 kids that can't come back. But we're already over the 85 scholarship limit by three or four. We'll undoubtedly lose a few kids between now and August due to transfers or, God forbid, dismissals. And keep in mind the staff always has the option of oversigning in the next class and hoping to shed a few next spring too."

• Buck Bravo breaks down the Big Ten recruiting classes with some nifty charts. Gotta love charts.

"What has been frequently overlooked is the average quality of incoming classes. Class rankings typically weigh both quantity and quality of recruits."

• A Bleacher Report story looked at the integration of the spread offense in recent years. Apparently, they didn't watch college football prior to 2000. Otherwise, they'd know plenty of teams ran the spread. But, who cares about history or research.

"The few powerhouses that don't run it are USC and Ohio State, at least not yet. Other powers such as Texas and Florida run pure spread attacks, while other teams like Oklahoma and Penn State run hybrid offenses with some spread principles... Other teams have adapted either the spread or at least a form of it. Most notably this year is Penn State's Spread HD, featuring underrated back Evan Royster and three talented senior wideouts... The spread came in to the 2000s as a gimmicky-type offense. But as the end of the decade nears, it has become one of the most revolutionary systems in the history of college football."

In the national media...

• Mark Schlabach has his revised top 25 rankings. Penn State jumped from No. 11 to No. 9.

"9. Penn State Nittany Lions The Nittany Lions expect to return only 11 starters from the team that lost to USC in the Rose Bowl, but quarterback Daryll Clark and tailback Evan Royster will give them a chance to compete for the Big Ten championship in 2009. Three very good offensive linemen, including All-Big Ten center A.Q. Shipley, will have to be replaced. So will standout receivers Derrick Williams, Deon Butler and Jordan Norwood. Coach Joe Paterno probably isn't counting on incoming freshmen Justin Brown and Shawney Kersey to help right away, but they might have to play immediately. Losing All-Big Ten defensive end Aaron Maybin to the NFL draft will hurt the defense, but linebacker Sean Lee will return from a knee injury that caused him to miss all of last season."

• Pete Fiutak took a shot at college recruiting, including the idea that negative recruiting, particularly against a coach's age, doesn't always work. "

5. Are the coaches going to be around? … The prospects don’t seem to care... The odds are overwhelming that more than half of the current head coaches won’t be at their current schools five years from now, when this year’s recruiting class is set to graduate. Of course, there are always some shockers in the mix, no one ever thought the tremendous Penn State recruiting class of 2005 was going to finish its career with Joe Paterno at the helm."

• Dave Curtis voiced many fans' sentiment that the bowl system is becoming just plain gluttonous with 34 games set for 2009-10. But he's hopeful the economy can help...

"The trickle down to college football is inevitable. How long can GMAC continue to sponsor a game featuring Conference USA and MAC teams in Mobile, Ala.? How valuable is Citi's investment in the Rose Bowl in this sort of market? What about hotels (Gaylord, Sheraton), auto-related companies (Meineke, AutoZone) and other financial institutions (Capital One, San Diego County Credit Union)? ... The interest in even the most insignificant bowl games isn't dying. So, for now, our only hope for a contracted bowl season might be a poorer economy. Come on, recession. Don't let us down."

That's the spirit. Let's hope the economy completely bottoms out! Yay America!

• And remember, tomorrow morning I'll have the Big Ten Bloggers Roundtable wrap up post.