What if Ohio State had hired Glen Mason in 2001 instead of Jim Tressel?

Mason, who played at Ohio State and was once an assistant coach in Columbus, wanted to leave the Gophers and succeed Buckeyes’ coach John Cooper.  “If you go back and read the reports, it looked like the day before (Tressel was announced) that Mason was the leading candidate,” said Dave Mona who worked with Mason on WCCO Radio shows for several years.  “He would have been delighted if chosen.”

Mason’s friends know him as a coach who led programs for 21 seasons at Kent State, Kansas and Minnesota without NCAA penalties.  I asked Mason about cheating in college football years ago and he said, “I wouldn’t be able to look my son in the eye.”

Tressel resigned last week after months of controversy surrounding himself and several of his players.  Tressel admitted not notifying school administrators of NCAA violations involving his players and speculation is that rules violations may be more widespread during his coaching era than previously believed.

Ohio State’s and the NCAA’s investigation of the football program is ongoing.  Certainly the Buckeyes have been a success on the field under Tressel, winning nine of 10 games against hated rival Michigan, playing in eight BCS games and sharing or winning seven Big Ten championships, but Mason supporters will argue OSU would have been a winner and also on the straight-and-narrow had he become the coach.

Would Ohio State call Mason again?  Assistant coach Luke Fickell is the interim head coach for the season, but a coaching search is possible after the Buckeyes finish their schedule.  Mona believes Mason, 61, might be interested in the job.

“Glen certainly could be responsive to phone calls,” Mona said.  “I don’t think the loyalty to Ohio State goes away.”

Mason played reserve linebacker at Ohio State under legendary coach Woody Hayes, earning a letter in 1970.  He was an assistant coach in Columbus from 1978-1985. Every year Mason goes back to Columbus to play in the Jack Nicklaus golf tournament, an indication of his many ties and relationships in Ohio.

There is speculation, too, whether the Ohio State athletics director job will be open later this year.  Gene Smith will be under scrutiny as the investigation moves along.  Mason’s name might come up with an AD opening.

Gary Hohman, a former Gophers’ football player and friend of Mason for many years knows the Buckeyes will need the right kind of leadership in the months and years ahead.  “Integrity is the No. 1 thing that Glen Mason presents,” Hohman said.  “I think that’s something they’re looking for.”

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The mess in Columbus changes the Big Ten landscape.  The OSU football program is expected to be penalized harshly by the NCAA with sanctions likely to include severe reductions in scholarships and bans on bowl games.

The Buckeyes will be knocked off their throne as King of the Hill in the conference.  Ohio State will be better than your average Big Ten team in coming years, but it’s difficult to imagine the Buckeyes being among the elite of college football.

That reality can be spun a couple of ways.  Ohio State’s fall is bad for a league that could only boast about the Buckeyes as a national superpower.  Talking about the passion and talent in the program Mona said, “There was almost a southern culture to it.”

Ohio State’s demise will create more parity in the Big Ten.  The Buckeyes will lose some games to teams that in the past were put in the win column before the season started.

Two of the programs that look ready to feast on the Buckeyes’ misfortune are Michigan and Nebraska.  The Buckeye haters in Ann Arbor will be partying all summer about the Ohio State scandal.  On the field, if new head man Brady Hoke can coach and find a defense, the Wolverines will soon be avenging those losses to the Buckeyes.  And perhaps in a big way.

Nebraska, winner of five national championships since 1970, begins its first football season ever as a Big Ten member later this summer.  “This is incredible timing for Nebraska,” Mona said.  “They have to be in rejoice mode.”

The Cornhuskers, who are drawing a whisper or two about a possible 2011 national title, can now move right to the top of the Big Ten football pile.  Ohio State, Wisconsin and other programs might not like it but that’s reality based on history and a loaded 2011 roster that includes dynamic playmaking quarterback Taylor Martinez and a stud defense.

With the Gophers playing in the Legends Division, and Ohio State a member of the Leaders Division, the two schools will meet infrequently.  The Gophers’ media guide lists schedules through 2014 but no games between Minnesota and OSU.

Ohio State has won 43 games, Minnesota seven in the rivalry that began in 1921.  The bully from Columbus might be scary good again before the next game rolls around.

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Gophers’ athletics director Joel Maturi wrote in an email to season ticket holders last week that over $1 million is expended to “counsel, advise, tutor and mentor our student-athletes.”   He also said, “Nothing is more important than leaving the University with a degree.”

Phil Steele’s 2011 College Football Preview lists the Gophers’ Troy Stoudermire as the first-team kick returner on the magazine’s All-Big Ten team.  Minnesota wide receiver Da’Jon McKnight and linebacker Gary Tinsley are third-teamers.

Stoudermire has 2,929 kickoff return yards in his college career and needs 189 more to tie the NCAA record.  With 16 more returns he will have 130 and can tie that NCAA record.  The Dallas senior has a career average of 25.7 yards but no touchdowns.  “He’s the best I’ve ever seen who has never returned a kickoff for a touchdown,” said former Gophers radio analyst Dave Mona.

Will Kevin McHale include Jimmy Williams on his coaching staff in Houston?  Williams was an assistant coach with the Gophers when McHale played at Minnesota.  As a Timberwolves executive, McHale approved the hiring of Williams as an assistant coach.  Williams lives in Houston.

McHale, Flip Saunders and John Kundla are the only former Gophers ever to hold head coaching jobs in the NBA.

McHale’s former teammate with the Gophers and Boston, Ray Williams, is now working for the park and recreation department in Mount Vernon, New York.  Williams had been homeless and living in a car in Florida.

Lynx guard Lindsay Whalen had five total rebounds in her first two games of the WNBA season including last night’s home opener at Target Center.  She now needs 32 more to become the third player in league history to have 2,500 career points, 1,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists.

Former Timberwolves’ guard Corey Brewer has played five minutes in one game for Dallas in the NBA Finals against Miami.  Another ex-Wolves’ player, forward Brian Cardinal, is averaging .5 minutes per game.  The Heat leads the series 2-1.

The Tapemark Charity Pro-Am starts Friday at Southview Country Club in West St. Paul.  Past tournament winners have included Don Berry (six times champion), George Shortridge (five times) and Tom Lehman (1990 title).

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