Between some rather ludicrous travel from Philly International to Chicago O'Hare and back to State College, I spent the last two days in the Windy City covering the Big Ten Media Kickoff.

For those of you not familiar with the event, every Big Ten coach stands up and talks about his team and answers questions from guys like me. What's cool is, we reporters also get to talk to a few players from each team as well.

Day one -- Thursday -- was spent listening to coaches behind the dais. On Friday, any reporter could go to any table to talk to any coach or player at any time. Neat-O, huh?

I'm not going to let on to anything too exclusive here, but I figured I'd use this space to give out a few Travvies.

What's a Travvy? Well, it's an award that I invented.

Enough. Let's begin.

BEST DRESSED PLAYER
And the Travvy goes to ... JUICE WILLIAMS (QB/Illinois)

Juice looked classy on Thursday, in a blood red button down shirt and tie, black pants and shiny black shoes to match. The diamond earrings finished off the look. Juice saved his best for the second day, opting for a white shirt with half-black collar. His tie-of-choice was black with silver diamonds. If he wasn't a dual threat QB entering his third year in Ron Zook's offense, Juice could've easily walked onto the set of the Sopranos and taken over the lead role.

I have to give Indiana's Marcus Thigpen an honorable mention here. On day two, Thigpen went all out with his orange crush, checkered suit.

BEST ACCESSORY
And the Travvies go to ... MALCOLM JENKINS (CB/Ohio State) & MORGAN TRENT (CB/Michigan)

Both wore Big Ten championship rings on day two. Those things are big, they're shiny and when you see them, you wish you had one.

BEST DRESSED COACH
And the Travvy goes to ... PAT FITZGERALD (Northwestern)

Lavender tie with a simple white shirt and black jacket and slacks. Coach Fitzgerald's classic approach made up for Northwestern's mascot's attire. Willie the Wildcat looks like he hasn't had a bath for years.

BEST QUOTE
And the Travvy goes to ... JOSH GAINES (DE/Penn State)

Gaines is quite animated. It was funny to watch multimedia guys squirm as he slapped his hands down on the table enthusiastically -- bumping their recording devices -- as he answered questions.

Here's an excerpt:

"I'm always hyped. I'm always energized. Guys will tell you I'm always running around. I'm always doing crazy stuff. I'm a guy that makes outlandish comments. There's some things I say that I don't understand either, but that's just me."

BEST FREE SWAG
And the Travvy goes to ... MICHIGAN STATE

The Spartan sports information office spared no expense at the fan autograph session on day two. While other most other schools brought free schedules and stickers, Mark Dantonio's boys outdid them all. At the Spartan table one could get their hands on mini footballs, foam fingers, media guides, shiny green beads, keychains, pompoms, pens and drink coasters. How much do foam fingers retail for at Spartan Stadium?

BEST MASCOT
And the Travvy goes to ... the MSU Spartan.

It's just a cool suit. It kind of reminds me of Russel Crowe in Gladiator.

"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?"

MR. POPULAR
And the Travvy goes to ... RICH RODRIGUEZ (Michigan)

If yesterday would have been a high school homecoming dance, Rodriguez would have been crowned king. There wasn't a single second where there were less than 10 reporters at the former WVU coach's table.

We'll be taking votes at the end of the week for queen.

MOST LIKELY TO STAR IN HIS OWN ACTION FLICK
And the Travvy goes to ... CURTIS PAINTER (QB/Purdue)

Christian Bale is set to play John Connor in the upcoming Terminator: Salvation, so why not let Painter play the Terminator?

He's got the ammo (29 TDs thrown last season), he's got the cannon (356 for 569 with 3,846 yards) and he's even got his own highlight video and hang-up wall calendar -- called "Painting a Masterpiece.

MR. DAREDEVIL
And the Travvy goes to ... JOSH LANGENBACHER (The Daily Collegian)

It was dark in downtown Chicago. The orange hand on the crosswalk sign was flashing. No time left to cross the busy street, but that didn't faze Collegian football reporter, Josh Langenbacher. After all -- there is ice water in his veins. As the orange hand turned steady, forbidding a street crossing, Langenbacher took off. The junior journalism major was nearly chopped in two by a speeding Honda Accord, but made it back to the Red Roof Inn in one piece. Kudos.

- Travis

Big Ten Football Media Days are just hours away and I just got done waiting in line for two and a half hours at the Philadelphia International Airport.

It kind of reminded me of when the Super Dooper Looper debuted at Hershey Park. Lines, lines and more lines.

My connecting flight from Philly to Chicago was delayed, delayed again and then, when we were finally on the tarmac, engines roaring, the pilot came over the radio:

"Folks, this is your Captain speaking. We regret to inform you that this flight has been canceled due to thunderstorms in our flight corridor."

Huh? Canceled?

Yup. So what that means is, I'll be here in Philly International until I can hop the next flight to the Windy City. That's at 10:30 tonight. Bummer, but it's better than the 7:35 a.m. flight tomorrow, which was the other option.

I tried all day not to eat just so the first thing I ate would be a yummy piece of Chicago-style pizza. But seven hours in an airport takes a toll on your body and mind. I slipped and munched out on some Sbarro. Mmmmm. Just like in the HUB.

I'll be in touch.

--Travis

Well the odds makers in Vegas have stopped making it rain with Adam "Don't call me Pacman" Jones long enough to release their predictions for the 2008 college football season. They have released the odds for each team to win the national championship and also the over/under on the number of wins for each team.

(Note: the Collegian does not condone betting, nor has any football writer ever wagered on college athletics.)

That said, the guys making the lines in Vegas are good, they're really good. Think about it, the guys making the lines on the games and season do it for their living. They predict a game right, there's good on their table that evening. So while these are not set in stone, the predictions are right more often than they're wrong.

Vegas has Penn State at 50-1 odds to win the national championship, which ties the Nittany Lions for 20th in the country. The odds on favorites to meet in the BCS title game at USC at 3-1 and Florida and Oklahoma both at 6-1. Ohio State is the top Big Ten team at 8-1 followed by Wisconsin (30-1), Michigan (40-1) and Illinois (40-1).

Wait, Michigan? Yea, who knows, I'm not sure if they'd even be favored to win the FCS championships (insert Appalachian State joke here.)

As far as the over/under, Vegas has set Penn State's at 8.5 wins. So basically Vegas doesn't think the Lions will win nine games, but at the same time won't lose eight. Uh oh, I'm feeling a vicious tie against Michigan just to keep the winless streak going.

Anywhere, here's your vegas fix for the day, and once again, the Collegian does not condone nor encourage betting on athletics, we just use the information.

Here's all the odds and over/unders.

-Wible