Why is this news?: How Tyler Green earned his offer, Gene Smith says Tatgate penalties weren't deserved

"We're not going to offer you because you're not good...But we're going to offer you because you're great."

-Larry Johnson, talking to new Buckeye commit Tyler Green via Ari Wasserman

If you were at all on the fence about Johnson taking over for Vrabel on the defensive line, this article will win you over. Wasserman takes an hour-by-hour look at Green's camp weekend at Ohio State and the stress -- for the whole family -- of trying to win a commitable offer.

Johnson clearly cares about his players and his recruits, which might be part of the reason why he's so revered. If you can read this piece without feeling psyched to have both Johnson and new commit Tyler Green, then you might be a zombie. It's clear that Green wanted to be a Buckeye badly and put in the work to get it.

A tall, raw defensive back that worked his butt off for an offer? That sounds exactly like Tyvis Powell to me...

"Luck added that there are no 'available teams' -- schools from the non-Power 5 leagues -- that would add value to the Big 12's per school revenue."

-West Virginia's Oliver Luck, dismissing BYU as a potential addition to the Big 12, via Brett McMurphy

"Thanks, but no thanks" -- that's pretty much the sentiment from the Big 12 on further conference expansion. Even though BYU's Bronco Mendenhall would be psyched about a move to the Big 12, at least two B12 atheltic directors are happy without the Cougars. According to Oliver Luck especially, there simply aren't any teams that would be worthwhile financially to bring onboard right now.

While that's true -- and blunt enough to BYU -- I thought Luck's recollection of the crazy conference expansion/retraction period in late 2011 was even more interesting. When Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State flirted with the Pac-12 (and before West Virginia made its way into the Big 12), the other conference members were threatened with getting left out in the cold. So Luck cold called his future peers in the Big 12 and proposed a Big 12 leftovers-Big East merger for a solid basketball conference.

Can you imagine a world where the old Big East survives, but there are only four true power conferences? Or the impact on the playoff?

"I have no idea what that question meant."

-Roger Noll, Stanford economist and expert witness in the O'Bannon trial, via Steve Berkowitz at USA Today

Maybe eleven hours is a reasonable amount of time for a witness to be on the stand, but I can't imagine being Roger Noll this week. From just the length of time to the dumb questions from NCAA lawyers, it sounds like the worst way to start your summer. Regardless, the O'Bannon arguments seem pretty difficult on either side based on the coverage from Monday and Tuesday.

"Our penalties were not deserved."

-Gene Smith, via Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland.com

Doug Lesmerises' next Tatgate wrap-up is Gene Smith, who mostly used his interview time to defend the decision to not self-impose a bowl ban and talk about the crusade for athlete stipends.

"Changes are occuring," according to Smith, and I think he's right. Overall fan opinion has seemed to switch in favor of some kind of compensation for student athletes. But I don't necessarily think the average fan or ESPN commentator would link O'Bannon with Ohio State's Tatgate injustices. At least in most peoples' eyes, the Buckeyes -- Tressel, Pryor, Boom, and the others -- are still "cheaters" rather than martyrs.

STICK TO SPORTS

• It's a good time to be a craft brewer, to the point that the excellent Great Lakes Brewing Company just needs to buy the entirety of Ohio City, darnit.
• It wouldn't actually be so easy for E.T. to phone home, or Earth, for that matter.
• Probably a good time to stay away from TweetDeck for a while...
• If it kills German roaches too then I'll buy a year's supply.
• Could soccer ever be as popular as football in the U.S.?