Michigan got some good news for 2016 on Tuesday when star tight end Jake Butt announced on Twitter that he will be returning for his senior season.
But said quote-"My heart and soul is with Michigan".
The draft-eligible junior was ranked as the top tight end in the 2016 NFL Draft according to the CBS prospect rankings and a projected second-round pick. Instead, Butt -- who was snubbed from being a Mackey Award finalist -- will return to Ann Arbor as one of Michigan's best players.
In 2015, Butt was the third-leading receiver for Michigan, hauling in 48 catches for 620 yards and three touchdowns. Having Butt back will be a huge boost for the Michigan passing game in 2016 as he is one of the nation's best receiving tight ends.
>>Pac-12 Commish Pushing Big 12 to Add Title Game; Big 12 Makes Schedule Changes
College football would be better off if the Big 12 stages a conference championship game, said Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, whose league missed the College Football Playoff this season.
Scott said quote-"I'd like to see more consistency (between conferences) rather than less. I'd like to see the Big 12 go to a championship game. I don't think it's good or fair to see a conference not have to win that extra game and have that extra opportunity both for a win and a loss."
Oklahoma won the Big 12 and made the playoff without a game in the final week. A year ago, the Big 12 missed the playoff when a conference championship game helped Ohio State beat out Baylor and TCU for the final spot.
In an effort to improve the league's strength of schedule ratings, the Big 12 has announced a new scheduling requirement that will force every team play at least one nonconference game against an opponent from a Power Five conference (ACC, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC and Notre Dame).
No existing game contracts will be impacted by this new requirement and there is no hard deadline, but this is clearly a move that has resulted from the decisions of the first two College Football Playoff Selection Committees.
The Big 12's rigorous round-robin nine-game conference schedule has been used an excuse for teams like Baylor to schedule a softer nonconference slate. The Bears have not played a Power Five foe in the regular season out of conference since 2009 and have just two nonconference agreements on the books right now -- Duke (2017-18) and Utah (2023-24).
But not all of the Big 12 teams have scheduled like Baylor. Big 12 champion and College Football Playoff participant Oklahoma won on the road at Tennessee. Both TCU and Texas opened the year against Power Five opponents, Minnesota and Notre Dame, respectively. Texas Tech beat Arkansas and West Virginia beat Maryland. Even Kansas traveled East to take on Rutgers -- not the most daunting non-conference opponent for others but it meets the new requirement.
