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News you can't leave work without:

Picking the president was a piece of cake. So was voting for the U.S. house, state legislature and county board.

So, with the recent election work, you'd think picking the best players in the Big Ten would be easy. Not this year.

The teams selected by a media panel and the Big Ten coaches will be announced during a Big Ten Network special Monday night. The votes are due by 2 p.m. Sunday. That isn't a whole lot of time to let Saturday's results sink in.

Everybody has their own take on how to fill out all-star teams. Some refuse to honor players who happen to be on losing teams. Some weigh statistics more than what the player looks like on the field.

Maybe the first question should be "Are we qualified to judge?" We watch one Big Ten team each week in person. If we're lucky and the timing is right, we might be able to catch a second Big Ten game on television.

The best day of the year, as far as The News-Gazette's football beat writer was concerned, was Sept. 20. Illinois was off that day, allowing me to see every other Big Ten team in action. A good mental resource, though it was a long time ago.

Plus, the results of the day weren't exactly helpful in picking an All-Big Ten team. On Sept. 20, Indiana lost to Ball State (Can I put Nate Davis on my team?) Michigan and Wisconsin were off. Iowa lost to Pitt. Northwestern played a ho-hummer with Ohio. Same with Ohio State, which had Troy. And Minnesota beat up on Florida Atlantic. Or was it Florida International? Same thing.

When it's time to pick Sunday afternoon, there will be a bunch of difficult choices. Hopefully, some of it will get sorted out during the weekend. Here are the tough calls:

QUARTERBACK

The contenders: Illinois' Juice Williams, Minnesota's Adam Weber, Penn State's Daryll Clark.

The debate: Williams has staggering numbers, leading the conference in touchdown passes, total offense and passing yards. He also leads in interceptions. Weber has led a resurgence in Minneapolis and is second in the Big Ten in passing and total offense. He has nine fewer interceptions than Williams. Clark is the leader of the best team in the conference and has a 13:4 touchdown to interception ratio.

The pick: Clark, if Penn State beats Michigan State, in a close call over Williams.

DEFENSIVE LINE

The contenders: Illinois' Derek Walker, Indiana's Jammie Kirlew, Iowa's Mitch King, Michigan's Brandon Graham, Michigan State's Trevor Anderson, Minnesota's Willie VanDeSteeg, Northwestern's Corey Wootton, Penn State's Aaron Maybin and Purdue's Ryan Kerrigan.

The debate: A big problem here, the line isn't split into tackles and ends. And that hurts the tackles, who generally don't pile up as many sacks, tackles and TFLs. Like with the quarterback, do you reward the guys on the better teams or the guys who produe the bigger numbers?

The picks: Penn State's Maybin is easy. So is Northwestern's Wootton. Make Kirlew No. 3, meaning the final spot is down to six players. Pencil in (lightly), Illinois' Walker, with VanDeSteeg and Graham close behind.

LINEBACKER

The contenders: Illinois' Brit Miller, Indiana's Matt Mayberry, Iowa's Pat Angerer, Michigan State's Greg Jones, Ohio State's James Laurinaitis, Penn State's Navorro Bowman and Purdue's Anthony Heygood.

The debate: Of course, tackles are the most important statistic for the position. But what comes next? Is it sacks? TFLs? Forced fumbles? Some teams send their linebackers at the quarterback early and often. Others have them in pass coverage. Do the latter get penalized?

The picks: Miller and Laurinaitis are easy. They are first and second in the league in tackles, respectively, and they apply pressure when asked. If they aren't on every ballot, something went wrong. The hard call is the third spot. Heygood and Jones both entered the weekend with more than 100 tackles. But our pick goes to Bowman, who didn't establish himself as a starter until early in the season and was a big reason Penn State played so well defensively.

Bob Asmussen covers college football for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at 217-351- 5233 or at asmussen@news-gazette.com.

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