Making the morning rounds.• It just kept coming up tails. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany grudgingly conceded SEC superiority Sunday, a day after his conference was outscored 138-45 in three losses to SEC schools and finished 0-5 overall. "It was a long day," Delany said. "We had a big stage and a big chance to either do well or not do well. Hats off to the guys who beat us. Nobody beat us on a fluke. The better team won in every case. … The SEC has demonstrated that they're a step ahead of everybody else."
His humble pie was served along with a plate of crow for Ohio State president Gordon Gee, who admitted he'll be "eating my portion" after TCU – one of the upstarts Gee infamously dismissed as the "Little Sisters of the Poor" in November – handled Big Ten champ Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl, 21-19. [Chicago Tribune, New York Times]
• To everything, spin, spin, spin. The Horned Frogs' triumph in Pasadena drew an 11.7 overnight rating for ESPN on Saturday, a whopping 15-percent drop from last year's game on ABC and the lowest rating for any Rose Bowl since the 2003 game between Oklahoma and Washington State. On the other hand, it was also the highest-rated non-NFL broadcast in the recorded history of cable television. (That is, since 2001.) Oklahoma's blowout win over UConn in the Orange Bowl drew a relatively meager 6.7, the fourth-best number for college football in ESPN history, but among the worst ever for a BCS game. [ESPN, Sports Media Watch]
• Nothing to see here. Traffic citations show that Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor has been stopped three times in three years while driving cars owned by a Columbus used-car lot or an employee there, though an OSU compliance official said the school was aware of two of those instances and determined that nothing improper had occurred. (The school was tipped off by an anonymous letter last summer claiming players traded autographs and other memorabilia for use of the cars, which sounds familiar.) The official was unaware of the third incident, a speeding ticket in a car owned by an employee at the lot in October 2008, and said it would be investigated.
In that case, Pryor and the employee, Aaron Kniffin, both told the Columbus Dispatch that Kniffin had allowed Pryor (then a true freshman) to drive Kniffin's 2004 GMC Denali to his home in Pennsylvania with the prospect of buying it. Per Pryor: "I wanted advice from some of my family and friends I trusted to see if it would be a good vehicle for me to maybe buy." (He didn't buy it.) Pryor was also pulled over twice in the span of about a week last spring while driving a 2009 Dodge registered to the dealership where Kniffin works. That vehicle was cleared by Ohio State as a standard loaner, available to all customers who bring their cars in for repairs, while Pryor was having the engine in his own car replaced. [Columbus Dispatch]
• Boltin' Bolden. Penn State quarterback Robert Bolden, the first true freshman quarterback to start on opening day for Joe Paterno, plans to transfer after losing his job to former walk-on Matt McGloin over the second half of the season. Per Bolden's father: "He's notified the coaches. … They're not looking for him to leave, they don't want him to leave, but he no longer wants to play at Penn State. He's not happy at Penn State currently. If it was up to me, he definitely [would leave], without a doubt. He's definitely made it known that he does not want to be there anymore." For his part, Paterno admits that the Lions should have played Bolden a little more often down the stretch. [Penn State 247, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
• Next man in. Mike Haywood is out at Pittsburgh after just 17 days on the job, thanks to being slapped with a felony domestic assault charge on New Year's Eve. Among the early leaders to fill his not-so-large shoes: Likely-to-be-fired Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and longtime Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, widely considered the heir apparent to Joe Paterno in Happy Valley, who received a ringing endorsement from JoePa for the Pitt job on Sunday. In the meantime, outgoing Panther coach Dave Wannstedt plans to announce whether he'll coach the team in Saturday's BBVA Compass Bowl against Kentucky at a noon press conference. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, NFL.com, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
• George O'Leary's Punch-Out. If you blinked after Central Florida's 10-6 upset over Georgia in Friday's Liberty Bowl, you probably missed it, so here's "UCF Punches Georgia Player: The Musical," directed and scored by the incomparable Mocksession:
Mark Richt refused to accept the runner's-up trophy after the loss, telling an official to "get it to him later." Sporting. [Orlando Sentinel, Mocksession, Associated Press]
Quickly… Oregon arrives in Arizona. … A handy guide for Auburn and Oregon fans to get to know one another a little better. … The Columbus Dispatch probes the gaps in a "full" scholarship. … Terrelle Pryor says some things about some stuff. … Will Muschamp adds five new names to Florida's coaching staff, not including Charlie Weis. … Litigious USC fans are mapping out their plan of attack against the NCAA. … Pat Fitzgerald challenges his juniors to step up as seniors this year. …And the TicketCity Bowl (aka the "Zombie Cotton Bowl") clearly didn't move that many tickets.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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