Previously we took a look at the returning offensive firepower in the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and the SEC. Now it's time to look at the Big East and find out who has the most ammunition coming back from last year.

*TPY= 2010 total passing yards

*RPY= Passing Yards from 2010 for players returning in 2011

Thanks to ESPN, College Football Zealots all over the United States got a chance to watch some live college football on Sunday. Unfortunately for Texas, it wasn't quite the outing that they had hoped for. The Texas Longhorns are one of the most storied franchises in all of college football but last year they fell on hard times as they posted their first losing record since 1997 when they went 4-7. Due to the poor record, Mack Brown flipped his coaching staff and brought in key hires in OC Bryan Harsin of Boise State and DC Manny Diaz of Mississippi State. Coming into this spring game you have to believe that the Longhorns wanted to give their fans some type of hope to grasp onto until football season starts. From where I sat, and you can't draw final conclusions based on a spring game, Texas is going to have a tough time on the offensive side of the football this year.

Texas played four QBs and none of them were very impressive. The top QB for the day was undoubtedly Case McCoy, Colt's younger brother. Case put up good stats (9 of 11 for 124 yards) and was able to move the football on a regular basis. That being said, he didn't look particularly comfortable out there. The returning starter Garrett Gilbert had an awful day. He threw one up for grabs on the first drive that was dropped by the defense but on the next drive he horribly under-threw a pass that was easily picked off by the defense. Gilbert finished 8 for 15 for 76 yards. All four QBs had trouble throwing the deep ball and the majority of their completions were on screen passes, which were very prevalent today for the Longhorns. On one of the drives in the first half the Longhorns broke out some trick plays but besides that one drive the offense was very pedestrian and that's particularly troubling because it was against a Texas defense that was playing very vanilla (on purpose) today.

Each week during the off-season we will be doing this feature that will simply be called "This Week In College Football". We will cover the biggest news and stories of the past week and give some opinions and analysis. In addition to covering the weekly happenings we also do a weekly roundtable where we discuss varying topics and we give several opinions on each topic. If you haven't read it yet then check out this weeks roundtable, it's all about the Big Ten. It was a pretty busy news week so let's get started...

HBO Real Sports

Earlier this week Bryant Gumbel and HBO took on college sports as they discussed corruption and the NCAA. Overall, I was very disappointed by the presentation. HBO brought forth four Auburn players who made accusations but never named names and didn't have any proof other than their word. There were no follow-up questions asked (or at least shown). They did a segment with Ed O'Bannon (former UCLA basketball player) about a class-action law suit against the NCAA for using players likeness in video games. If I was HBO and I was trying to make a point then I would have never spoke about the NCAA basketball game. The NCAA basketball game was so profitable for EA Sports that they didn't even put out an edition this year! Seriously, guys get your stuff together. Using the football game here was a no brainer as that's the money maker in terms of this scenario but HBO dropped the ball on that one. HBO also glossed over the two biggest accusations on the program. The first was an Auburn player receiving envelopes of cash from a coach. No coach was named in the accusation. The next was Stanley McClover saying that on his trip to Ohio State he was taken out by players and asked to pick a girl of his choosing. It was said that sex was included in this visit. We all know girls are used by the schools (see also: Lane Kiffin) in different ways but to actually come out an accuse a school of providing a woman to have sex with on a recruiting trip is a bombshell. Too bad HBO didn't bother to follow up on any of this or give us any facts.

There won't be any college football games played for quite a while but that doesn't mean we are going to stop talking about the sport we love. Each week during the off-season we will bring you the top stories and we will also be discussing a variety of topics in our weekly roundtable. Over the next several weeks we will be touching on all of the BCS Conferences and also taking a look at the non-BCS teams. We started with the ACC, hit the Big 12 last week and this week we will be talking Big Ten football. Agree, disagree or want to chime in to the conversation then let us know in the comments. If you want to pose a question for us to answer then e-mail it to us at collegefootballzealot at gmail.com or just drop it in the comments section. Joining us this week on our panel of College Football Enthusiasts are a couple of very knowledgeable Big Ten guys. First we have Joe Lucia who is most well known for his outstanding coverage of the Atlanta Braves over at Chop-N-Change but he also has a passion for football. In addition to his work covering the Braves he also is the lead editor over at the new Big Ten blog Delany's Dozen and also writes for the Northwestern based blog Rise Northwestern.  You can follow him on Twitter @JoeCNC and you can follow Delany's Dozen @DelanysDozen. If that's not enough Big Ten muscle for you we also have Ross from the great Iowa Hawkeyes based SB Nation blog Black Heart Gold Pants giving us his take on this weeks questions. Follow Ross on twitter @RossWB. Enough with the chit chat, let's talk college football!

The biggest off-season story in the Big Ten has been Jim Tressel and the "Tattoo Five". How big of an impact will the suspensions have on Ohio State's season?

Joe (Delanys Dozen): During the initial suspensions, I think the Buckeyes go 4-1 or 5-0 (with the only possible loss being to Miami). But if the NCAA slams the hammer down on Tressel and increases his suspension? All bets are off. The Buckeyes are definitely a talented team, with or without the tattoo five. Their coach though, is one of the best in the game and losing him for an extended period of time during the grueling Big Ten schedule could be murder on the Buckeyes.

Ross (BHGP): As much as other fans of other Big Ten teams want to believe this will cripple Ohio State next year, I'm not sure it will and in apart that's because of the timing of the suspensions.  From Ohio State's perspective they could hardly come at a better time next year: four of the five games are at home, two are against MAC opponents (Akron and Toledo) and one is against a rebuilding BCS club (Colorado).  Given the level of talent in the OSU program, they should be able to beat those teams without the "Tattoo Five" or Tressel.  The other two games are more challenging -- a road trip to Miami and a home game with Michigan State -- but they still happen at the front end of the season when any damage can be mitigated.  Unless things change between now and September, they'll have Tressel and the "Tattoo Five" for the stretch run of games in October and November -- and those will be the meaningful games that decide whether or not they can make it to the Big Ten Championship Game next December.

That said, it will be interesting to see how Ohio State works the suspended players back into the mix after their five games suspensions are up -- new players are bound to have stepped up and produced in the interim and there could be some friction between them and the former stars when the latter group returns.  Ultimately, I don't expect Ohio State to go any worse than 4-1 during the suspension streak (maybe 3-2 if the replacement players really struggle), but lingering tension could undo the rest of their season -- or all the drama and conflict could galvanize the team and get them to play well with an "us against the world" mentality.  Either possibility seems very possible.

It's time to get back on the Georgia Bulldogs bandwagon and take a look at the 10 most important players for Georgia this year. Let's not confuse this with their 10 best players, although sometimes the lines will get crossed.

#1 Aaron Murray, QB, RS Soph

I had Murray at #2 when I first put this down on paper but the more I think about it the more I think it would be too much of a blow if Georgia were to lose to Murray. Sure, Hutson Mason or Christian LeMay might step up but neither has taken any meaningful college snaps and LeMay didn't even play during his senior year in High School. Murray is the man that will dictate how far this Georgia team goes on offense this year. I think the ceiling is high for this club but only if the pieces come together under his leadership.

# 2 John Jenkins, NT, Junior (JUCO)

Jenkins wasn't even on the team last year and won't even show up on campus until summer but he's #2 in my book because of the importance of the Nose Tackle position in the 3-4 defense and the huge hole Georgia had on the DL last year. Georgia lost to South Carolina, Mississippi State and Colorado because they couldn't stop the run last year. I'm not saying they win all of those games with a better DL but they could have. Jenkins has the ability to make an immediate impact in the middle of the defense and will also make the DL better by sliding DeAngelo Tyson out to DE where he can be more effective. Jenkins ability to anchor the Georgia defense will be key this season for the Dawgs.

#3 Jarvis Jones, SOLB, RS Soph

Jarvis Jones was starting to make an impact with the USC Trojans two years ago when he went down with a season ending injury. He ended up transferring back home to the University of Georgia and after sitting out last year to fully heal he is poised to become an impact player for the Dawgs. Jones will be tasked in replacing a lot of the production left from Justin Houston's early exit to the NFL draft despite not playing the same exact position (Houston was a weak-side OLB, Jones will be a strong-side). Jones presents an upgrade over Houston in the majority of LB categories. Houston was a fantastic player for Georgia but was moved from DE to OLB last year in the 3-4 and was much better at rushing the passer then at other areas. Jones presents a more complete skill set and has the ability to be a star. His ability to adjust to Grantham's 3-4 and become a play maker will be critical for the success for the Georgia defense.

Previously we took a look at the returning offensive firepower in the ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and the SEC. Now it's time to look at the Big Ten and find out who has the most ammunition coming back from last year.



*TPY= 2010 total passing yards

*RPY= Passing Yards from 2010 for players returning in 2011

Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin will all be breaking in new QBs this year and Ohio State will have a new one for their first five games. It's interesting that the new head coaches at Minnesota and Indiana will be able to make an immediate stamp on their program with who they pick to run the show. There are six teams up top with the majority of their passing yardage returning from last year but they are very different. Who would you rather have at QB- Dan Persa or whoever Purdue decides to throw out there? Would you rather go to battle with veteran Kirk Cousins or whoever wins Nebraska's QB derby?

Last time out, I promised a look at a pair of young stars on offense, but as I started writing the article, I quickly realized that I really only wanted to talk about one guy in particular.  So the other fella will have to wait, today we're focusing on a new face in a new place...

A collective gasp swept across the state of Alabama when early reports began to trickle out that dynamic athlete Blake Sims had taken the field with the quarterbacks to kick off spring practice. It wasn't the first time Sims had practiced in that spot since arriving in Tuscaloosa, but there was a prevailing sense that this would be the semester the coaching staff got serious about finding a permanent home for him on the field. And no one thought that home was going to be at quarterback. So when word got out, confusion quickly turned into an excitement that was palpable. (As if there wasn't already enough excitement surrounding the QB spot as it was.)

Despite constantly pledging their allegiance to slow-footed, game-managing, fabulously coiffed "pro style" quarterbacks for the past 10 years or so, I think nearly every Tide fan is a closet spread-aholic who dreams of having a Denard Robinson or Tebow or, gasp, Cam Newton under center (or 5 yards back from there). So you can understand the collective quiver that went down so many legs at the prospect of The Other Sims in competition at quarterback.

Welcome to the first installment of a series of quick hitters I'm planning as the Crimson Tide continues spring practice. Today, we'll focus on a bit of bad news...

Coach Nick Saban kicked off spring practice by announcing the indefinite suspension of junior safety Robby Green. As you may know, Green had just gotten clear of a year long suspension for failing an NCAA drug test and was set to compete with Robert Lester for a starting spot in the secondary. With Mark Barron limited due to recovery from a pectoral injury, Green figured to have ample opportunity to make his case. Now it's unclear when, or even if, Green will set foot on the field again. It's equally unclear whether this suspension for "violation of team rules" is the result of a new disciplinary problem involving Green or simply an additional team punishment related to last spring's NCAA suspension. If it's a case of the former, I would be surprised if Green is still with the team by the time fall camp rolls around.

Green isn't alone in Saban's doghouse, though. After participating in the first two spring practices, redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Brandon Moore disappeared and was later declared suspended for his own "violation of team rules" by Saban on Saturday. Much like Green, Moore is no stranger to the doghouse. He served a one game suspension during the season.

It's Spring Football time. Teams and fans are starting the new season with a clean slate. Everybody is undefeated. Previously at CFBZ we took a look at the ACC Atlantic Division, now it's time to check out the Coastal.

Duke Blue Devils

Fixing The Defense- Last year Duke gave up 450 yards per game and 35.4 points per game. In the three games they won they had to score at least 28 points to win every one of them. The defense is has to step up or it will be more of the same this year for the Blue Devils. Jim Knowles will be the third DC in as many years for Duke as he was promoted from within (he was also the head man at Cornell for six years). Rick Petri, who has 29 years of experience, was brought in to coach the DL. Duke is learning new techniques up front and using a lot of different fundamentals. Will it be enough? Duke's offense was middle of the pack in the ACC so it's clearly on the defense if Duke wants to be better this season.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Replacing Nesbitt- For Paul Johnson's entire tenure at Georgia Tech he's been able to lean on Joshua Nesbitt as his leader at QB. That day has finally come to an end and Johnson will now be tasked with finding a new man to run his offense. Nesbitt was not recruited by Johnson and was not recruited to run Johnson's style of offense but in the end it turned out pretty good for the both of them as they won a Conference Championship and received a berth in a BCS bowl. This year there are three Paul Johnson recruits who will vie for the QB position. The first is Tevin Washington. Washington played in 8 games last year and became the starter after Nesbitt went down with an injury. In the four games Washington started the overall productivity didn't really decrease but the scoring did as Tech failed to score more than 10 points in two of the four games that Washington started. Will Washington's experience help him win the starting job or will RS Freshman Synjyn Davis or true Freshman Vad Lee win the job? The guy with the highest upside is Vad Lee but he also doesn't arrive on campus until after this spring. In addition to replacing Nesbitt, Tech needs to see significant improvement from their defense in the second year of the 3-4.

Each week during the off-season we will be doing this feature that will simply be called "This Week In College Football". We will cover the biggest news and stories of the past week and give some opinions and analysis. In addition to covering the weekly happenings we also do a weekly roundtable where we discuss varying topics and we give several opinions on each topic. If you haven't read it yet then check out this weeks roundtable, it's all about the Big 12. There isn't a ton of news out there this week as spring practices are just gearing up and teams are trying to stay under the radar but here are a few newsworthy items....

Jim Tressel

We have already talked about Jim Tressel these past two weeks. You can read about our previous thoughts and opinions here and here. Since he was willing to cover this situation up, I've wondered what else he could be covering up. Well this week we found one answer. One of the excuses Tressel gave for covering up this information and keeping it from his employer and from the NCAA was that he was honoring a confidentiality request from the person who gave him the information. The Columbus Dispatch found out that he didn't treat the "confidentiality request" very confidentially. He forwarded the information to Ted Sarniak, who is a mentor for Terrell Pryor (Ohio State's QB and member of the "Tattoo Five"). The more this situation gets looked into the murkier it gets. By keeping Tressel, Ohio State has already told everyone that wins are more important than integrity. The interesting questions know are what else do we find out that Tressel did (or didn't do), what will it take for Ohio State to part ways with the Sweater Vest and what will the ultimate suspension be that is handed down by the NCAA for Tressel. This situation is far from over.