Bret Bielema left his team high and dry before its Rose Bowl appearance, and yet few blink an eye. Meanwhile, Charlie Strong remains committed to Louisville and folks think he's nuts for not jumping at the Tennessee job. Something's wrong with this picture.

Trivia: Since 2000, the Big Ten has finished with a winning record in bowl games just twice, in 2009 (4-3) and 2002 (5-2). How many times did the conference post a winning mark in the postseason during the 1990s?

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Imagine you're at Northern Illinois or Kent State. You've just enjoyed, arguably, the best season in school history - for NIU you're going to a BCS bowl game opposite Florida State - and yet when you line up for practice next the man that led you to that mountaintop is now gone, jumping at the first chance to flee the Mid-American Conference for the "greener" pastures of Purdue and N.C. State.


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