College sports potpourri for $10,000....

Get pumped. Big college football weekend. This is the Saturday that Ohio State throws the Big Ten race into a tizzy, Northwestern clinches a bowl berth and Illinois determines its direction for the rest of the year.

But first, here's what can happen when you use college football -- instead of the other way around.

Former linebacker Keenan Blalark, who prepped at Larkin High School in Elgin before walking on at Northern Illinois and producing 211 tackles for the Huskies, just learned he received a $10,000 grant to pursue a post-graduate education in athletics administration.

The 5-foot-10 Blalark was one of five players to receive a John McLendon Memorial Postgraduate Scholarship from the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. He's already pursuing a master's degree in sports psychology at NIU -- just as he expected to do when I featured him in 2006 -- so the scholarship will help him even more.

Congrats to Keenan.

Now let's spray to all fields:
--Prediction time: Ninth-ranked Ohio State will ride a fired-up home crowd and a dominant defensive performance to hand No. 3 Penn State its first defeat. Let's call it 24-20 as Beanie Wells goes for 157 yards and 1 TD.

--Rambler Madness: Attended Loyola's tip-off luncheon at Harry Caray's downtown on Friday. With Loyola alum Mike "Mully" Mulligan handling the emcee duties, the Ramblers faithful heard the word from coaches Jim Whitesell and Shannon Reidy.

Both teams are pegged for eighth place in the Horizon League. While the women are still on the young side, the men have seven of their top eight players back and Whitesell plans to throw all five of his newcomers on the floor immediately to see how they fare.

My guess as to the best bets among the newcomers: Juco guard Marcus Thomas, who fills a huge need for a 3-point shooter; freshman point guard Courtney Stanley, since the Philly native is the only true point in the program; and 6-foot-6 freshman swingman Jordan Hicks. He's a monstrous leaper who dominated the dunk contest at last weekend's Rambler Madness and then threw some down in the scrimmage, too.

--Lute's adieu: It's a darn shame Arizona's Lute Olson called it quits Thursday, especially since I'll never get to see him coach against Illinois again. He lent a certain air of intrigue to the frequent Illini-Wildcats tangles during the 2000s. I wonder if Lucas Johnson sent him a Happy Retirement card.

For those who've forgotten, Olson came on the floor to scream at the Maine West graduate during a particularly rabid Illinois-Arizona battle at the United Center in Dec. 2000. Johnson and Arizona's Richard Jefferson got tangled up during that game and Olson didn't appreciate Johnson's style.

"He's crazy!" Olson screamed at Johnson and the officials simultaneously.

Back on Saturday with Illinois-Wisconsin stuff and on Sunday with Big Ten basketball media day craziness.

LW