Butler Reaction

The OSU men's basketball team lost to Butler this past Saturday, 74-66. It was the Bucks first game without star player Evan Turner, who led OSU in points, rebounds and assists. Some analysts dubbed Turner as the National Player of the Year through the early part of the season.

The Bucks put up a valiant effort on the road against a very good Butler team, now ranked #17 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings). But the loss of Turner was definitely prevalent in the outcome.

David Lighty and William Buford had their best games of the year, scoring 16 and 20. Jeremie Simmons added 11 off the bench.

OSU went back and forth with Butler for most of the game. A 15-0 run midway through the second half is what killed the Bucks. Butler got hot and OSU couldn't find a way to score. This was a time in the game where Evan Turner's loss was most felt. Yes, the Bucks did get out rebounded, and Turner certainly would have helped with that aspect, but they were still in the game and ET's loss was most felt on the offensive side of the ball. Turner is the one who makes plays for his teammates and is the go to guy when the Bucks need a bucket. No way that 15-0 run happens with Turner on the floor.

OSU is now 7-2 and ranked #18 in the ESPN/ USA Today poll. Next up for the Bucks is Presbyterian at home on the 16th.

OSU Beats Eastern Michigan, Turner Injured

The Buckeyes 110-60 victory over Eastern Michigan came in the ultimate bitter-sweet fashion. Yes, the Buckeyes won the game, but it came at a great cost.

Evan Turner had a bad fall early in the game, and limped off the court. He missed the rest of the game, and is now reported to be out for 8 weeks according to ohiostatebuckeyes.com.

Rose Bowl Opponent Decided Tonight

Ohio State will find out who they will play in the Rose Bowl tonight. Oregon plays Oregon State in the "Civil War", with the winner claiming the Pac 10 title and a berth to the Rose Bowl.

Oregon is the favorite, but don't count Oregon State out. Its a rivalry game and the Beavers aren't in a position to win the Pac 10 by luck. They're a good team and should give Oregon a game.

OSU probably matches up better with Oregon State as Oregon is full of speed that resembles the teams OSU has lost to in the past in BCS games (Florida, LSU, Texas).

Turner, Diebler Lead Way for Bucks in Win over FSU

The Big 10 has won the Big 10/ ACC Challenge for the first time in the event's history. It took 11 tries, but with OSU's victory over Florida State late Wednesday night the Big 10 took a 6-5 advantage, winning the challenge.

OSU had little trouble with the Seminoles. Winning 77-64, the game was steady in hand for most of the second half.

Jon Diebler led the way for the Bucks in the first half when most of the team was struggling from the field. The junior had 5 three pointers in the first half, and finished the game with 22 points.

Evan Turner continued his dominance over his opponents thus far this year with 25 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists.

Both Turner and Diebler played the entire 40 minutes. The Bucks only used 7 players.

Coming off the bench, Jeremie Simmons contributed 14 points in 16 minutes of play and Kyle Madsen added 4.

The Bucks have a home date with Eastern Michigan Saturday and then travel to Butler on the 12th for their first true road test of the season.

Mens Basketball Beats Lipscomb

The Buckeyes defeated Lipscomb 84-64 last night.

David Lighty led the way for the Bucks with a career high 22 points.

Evan Turner had his second triple double of the season. No, that wasnt a typo. Evan Turner now has 2 triple doubles through 5 games. His stat line read like this: 16 pts, 11 reb, 10 ast. Only 34 players in the history of the NCAA have recorded more than 1 triple double in a single season. The record for triple doubles in a year in 4. That is definitely reachable for Turner, although I doubt he will keep up his streak of turning in a triple double every 2.5 games. Once Big 10 play starts, teams like to slow down the game and a lot of games end in the 50s. It will be much harder for him to reach the triple double plateau as the season goes on. Whether or not he gets to 4, look for the National Player of the Year hype to start right now for Turner.

Jon Diebler had 17, Dallas Lauderdale added 13 pts and 6 rebounds. Jeremie Simmons had 11 off the bench.

The Buckeyes next opponent is St. Francis (PA) on November 28th.

In other team news, sophomore guard Walter Offcut is transferring. He has appeared in a total of 23 games through his career with the Bucks. His destination is not yet known.

Big 10 Honors

9 members of the football team earned All Big 10 Honors yesterday.

2 received first team honors- senior safety Kurt Coleman and junior offensive lineman Justin Boren.

4 received second team honors- junior running back Brandon Saine, junior defensive lineman Thaddeus Gibson and Cameron Heyward, and junior linebacker Ross Homan.

3 received honorable mention- sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor, junior offensive guard Bryant Bowning and junior cornerback Chimdi Chekwa.

The only Buckeye that comes to mind in terms of deserves to be on one of these lists and isn't is sophomore receiver Devier Posey. He was tied for 2nd in the conference with 7 tds, and 9th in yards. But the Big 10 is full of receivers like Posey and nobody is going to be outraged that he isnt at least honorable mention.

Pryor being honorable mention is no surprise. But his season as a whole is a little bit of a disappointment after being picked as the preseason Big 10 offensive player of the year.

6 In a Row

The 21-10 win yesterday over Michigan extended Ohio State's streak of wins over Michigan in a row to 6, the longest ever in the series.

The win also gave the Buckeyes the Big 10 title. This is the 5th consecutive year the Bucks have either shared or won the Big 10 title outright.

The Bucks won this game the way that they've been winning games all year: running the ball and defense.

OSU ran for 251 yds and the defense forced 5 turnovers. Tressel ball at its best.

Game ball has to go to senior safety Kurt Coleman. The senior had 2 interceptions and 4 tackles in his last regular season game as a Buckeye.

The Bucks now have over a month until their game in Pasadena. With Oregon's win yesterday against Arizona, it looks like the Bucks will be playing the Ducks on January 1.

OSU Loses to UNC, beats Cal

After a loss to UNC in which the Buckeyes struggled for most of the game shooting the ball, they rebounded very nicely against the #12 ranked Cal Bears who were coming off a loss to Syracuse.

Evan Turner continued his streak of double-doubles with 26 pts and 14 rebounds. He also had 6 assists.

Dallas Lauderdale was a force down low with 8 points and 7 rebounds.

The Bucks can now go back to Columbus feeling well about their performance up in NYC. A loss to #4 UNC in which the Bucks really only played well for the last two minutes of the game is nothing to be ashamed of. It was also good to see that this team can rebound off of a loss and come up with a good performance. OSU dominated Cal for most of the game.

The Bucks are now 3-1 and should stay around the 15 range when the rankings come out next week.

OSU's next big test comes December 2nd at home in the ACC-Big 10 challenge against Florida State.

OSU-UNC

The OSU Mens Basketball Team has a huge game tomorrow night, 8pm ESPN, against #4 UNC. The Bucks have looked very good through their first two games, but they were against Alcorn State and James Madison University. UNC is ranked #4 in the country, but lost a lot of experience from last years National Championship team and hasn't really done anything special through their first couple of games. Both teams have something to prove.

In order for OSU to win, Evan Turner is going to have to keep playing like he has been the past two games. Turner had a triple double in the first game of the year and had another standout performance against JMU as well. If Turner has a great game against UNC and OSU gets the win, on national television, the hype around Turner and OSU will shoot up.

Buckeyes Smell the Roses

Yesterday's overtime victory over Iowa was about as perfect a way to win the Big 10 title as possible. Sure, Ohio State didn't play as well as they could have, and they let Iowa back into the game after going up 24-10 midway through the 4th quarter. But who wouldn't want to win a trip to the Rose Bowl in overtime with a field goal, and then have the students rush onto the field in celebration?

Like the way the Bucks won the game or not, OSU is headed to Pasadena for the first time since the 1996 season.

We have clinched at least a share of our 5th straight Big 10 title. And are headed to a record 8th BCS game.

OSU-Iowa Preview

Ohio State hasn't been to the Rose Bowl since 1996. With a win against Iowa tomorrow, they'll be heading to Pasadena for the first time in over a decade.

And if the Buckeyes play even reasonably well, I think a trip to Pasadena is what us Buckeye fans will get.

Ricki Stanzi is out at quarterback for the Hawkeyes. Our defensive front should be able to put pressure on freshman quarterback James Vandenberg and give the secondary chances for interceptions. If we don't get at least 2 turnovers I will be surprised.

As long as Terrelle Pryor and the offense can control the ball and not give Iowa a short field, the game should go well for the Buckeyes.

Prediction: OSU 31- Iowa 17.

M BBALL Defeats JMU 72-44

Behind a huge night from Evan Turner once again, OSU rolled past JMU 72-44. Coming off the second triple-double in Ohio State men's basketball history, Turner had another big game- 24 pts, 17 rebounds, 4 assists. Turner has now turned in back to back 17 rebound games. Through 2 games hes averaging a ridiculous 19 ppg, 17 rpg, and 7 apg.

Although keep in mind that these first two games have been against, at best, lower level D1 teams. The true tests come next week, in which the Buckeyes will face #4 UNC on Thursday and pending the result of the UNC game, either #12 Syracuse or #13 California.

Basketball Inks Top Recruiting Class

The Ohio State Men's Basketball team signed 6 high school recruits yesterday. Tuesday was the first day high school recruits could sign with the school they had committed to.

Jared Sullinger, J.D Weatherspoon, Deshuan Thomas, Aaron Craft, Jordan Siebert and Lenzelle Smith Jr. make up the 6 man class that is touted by most recruiting sites as the top class in the nation for 2010.

Sullinger is the prize of this recruiting class. The 6-9 forward is a consensus top 5 player nationally and is ranked as high as #1 overall on some recruiting sites.

This class brings great optimism to a program that already has a lot of young talent. The last time the Buckeyes brought in a class with this much hype, they went to the National Championship game on the back of freshman Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr.

Buckeyes Roll In Basketball Season Opener, Turner with a Triple Double

The Ohio State Men's Basketball team started off the year with a bang monday night, defeating Alcorn State 100-60.

Junior guard Evan Turner recorded a triple double, the second in school history. Turner had 14 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists.

John Diebler had 22 points, going 6-9 from 3 point range. William Buford added 19 points. David Lighty and Kyle Madsen, the Bucks other 2 starters, had 8 points and 7 points, respectably.

OSU plays James Madison University on Thursday before a date with UNC on 11/19.

BCS Rankings Week 11

Ohio State moved up to #11 in the BCS Rankings tonight. We are one spot behind Iowa at #10. Penn State dropped to #18 and Wisconsin is #20. There are no other Big 10 teams in the BCS top 25.

Heres the full top 25:

1 Florida 9-0
2 Alabama 9-0
3 Texas 9-0
4 TCU 9-0
5 Cincinnati 9-0
6 Boise State 9-0
7 Georgia Tech 9-1
8 LSU 7-2
9 USC 7-2
10 Iowa 9-1
11 Ohio State 8-2
12 Pittsburgh 8-1
13 Oregon 7-2
14 Miami (FL) 7-2
15 Houston 8-1
16 Utah 8-1
17 Arizona 6-2
18 Penn State 8-2
19 Oklahoma State 7-2
20 Wisconsin 7-2
21 Virginia Tech 6-3
22 Brigham Young 7-2
23 Oregon State 6-3
24 South Florida 6-2
25 West Virginia 7-2

New Polls

With the huge win yesterday @ Penn State, OSU has moved up in the polls.

The Bucks are now #8 in the Coaches Poll and #10 in the AP, after being #12 and #15 last week. http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings/_/poll/1.

The BCS comes out later tonight.

But really, the polls, BCS specifically, don't really matter at this point for OSU. We're not going to the National Championship, and if we beat Iowa next week, we're going to the Rose Bowl. The polls will only affect us if we lose.

Buckeyes Beat Penn State in Rout, Now Control Big 10

I definitely did not expect the Buckeyes to completely dominate Penn State like they did today. I thought they could win, but thought it would be a back and forth battle. It was anything from it.

The Bucks held what people thought was a potent offense to 201 total yards. Daryl Clark was 12-28 for 125 yds and 1 int.

OSU did what it had to do on offense. They didnt necessarily look great, but they had 0 turnovers, and moved the ball when they had to. Terrelle Pryor had some good throws and looked comfortable in the pocket, throwing for 2 scores, and running for 1.

With the win, and the Iowa loss, the Bucks are now tied for 1st place in the Big 10. Next weeks game against Iowa is basically the conference championship. Whichever team comes out on top will win the Big 10, even if they lose the next week.

OSU-PSU Predictions

The big game is less than a day away, heres my prediction.

OSU 28- PSU 24.

The game will be back and forth. OSU will go up 28-24 a little into the 4th quarter, and the Bucks defense will stop Penn State from scoring.

Terrelle Pryor will have a good, but not great game. Around 200 yards passing and 70 yards rushing. The Bucks defense will force at least 2 turnovers. Both of which will lead to points.

OSU Basketball beats Walsh

The men's basketball team won their exhibition game tonight, defeating Walsh 86-48.

Evan Turner led the way for the Bucks, putting in 15 pts, 14 reb, and 6 assists. William Buford also had 15 points. David Lighty had 11, and Jon Diebler and Jeremie Simmons both had 10.

12 players got into the game.

This was a great start to the year, and should give the team some confidence heading into their season opener Monday against Alcorn State.

Playing well early in the year is pivotal for the Bucks. OSU has a chance to put some big non-conference wins on their resume before Big 10 play starts, with early season match ups against UNC, either Cal/Syracuse (pending UNC game), Florida State and Butler.

Buckeyes With a Shot at Redemption

Last season, Penn State ended all hopes that Ohio State of winning the Big 10 when they defeated the Buckeyes 13-6 in the Shoe' in a defensive battle full of 3 and outs and field goal attempts. This season, OSU has a chance to return the favor, and put themselves in a position to win the Big 10.

OSU (7-2, 4-1) travels out to State College, PA to face #11 Penn State (8-1, 4-1) in a matchup that will not determine who will win the Big 10, but the loser can pretty much eliminate themselves from the 3 way race between OSU, PSU and Iowa.

Everybody in college football remembers Terrelle Pryor's fumble last season against Penn State. The Buckeyes were driving late in the 3rd quarter, up 6-3. On a 3rd and 1 near midfield, Jim Tressel called a quarterback sneak. Instead of diving up the middle, Pryor bounced it outside, and for a second, it looked like he could go the distance. However, Pryor fumbled, Penn State took over, and put the ball in the endzone minutes later. Penn State win on to win the game, the Big 10, and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

In order for Ohio State to have a chance to defeat the Nittany Lions on the road, Terrelle Pryor and the offense are going to have to make some plays and put the ball in the endzone.. Sure, the offense has looked good and put up some points the past few weeks, but who cares when it is against Minnesota and New Mexico State. This is Ohio State, and the coaches, fanbase and players should not feel good about themselves by beating up on lesser opponents. Its time for the OSU offense to show up in a big time game, and a game on the road against rival #11 Penn State is the perfect oppurtunity.

The Buckeyes are going to have to control the line of scrimmage for the offense to have any chance to put up points. Penn State has one of the best front sevens in the country and the way the Bucks offensive line plays could dictate the game. When given time, Terrelle Pryor has proved to be dangerous as both a passer and a runner, when not, well, ask Purdue. If the line can give TP time, OSU has a great chance to win. If not, OSU's chances of winning the Big 10 are pretty much over.

OSU-New Mexico State Recap

The Buckeyes were clicking on all cylinders yesterday in their 45-0 rout over New Mexico State. OSU had season bests on both yards gained (559) and yards given up (62). The shutout was the third of the season, and this season is the first since 1996 in which the Buckeyes have had 3 shutouts.

After a little concern this week over the running back situation, with both Dan 'Boom' Herron and Brandon Saine being a little banged up, the Bucks ran for a season high 310 yards.

Terrelle Pryor struggled at times and wasn't as accurate as last week, going 11-23 for 135 yds and 1 TD. But he ran the ball well and managed the game.

The defense looked stout as usual.

The win puts the Buckeyes at 7-2 heading into a huge game next Saturday against rival Penn State.

OSU #17 In Basketball Preseason Poll

The preseason ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll is out, and the Buckeyes come in at #17. A full top 25 can be found here: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings?pollId=2.

OSU is the 4th highest ranked Big 10 team. In all 5 Big 10 teams are ranked, with the highest being #2 Michigan State.

The Buckeyes will have a chance to either rise drastically or fall out of the polls early in the season. With games against #4 UNC, #13 Cal/#25 Syracuse and #10 Butler all happening before Christmas, the Bucks will have numerous chances to impress the pollsters.

New Polls

OSU moved up #15 in the Coaches Poll and up to #17 in the AP.

The BCS just came out, OSU is up to #17.

OSU-Minnesota Highlights

TP Quiets the Critics

With today's 38-7 victory over Minnesota, all is happy in Columbus, Ohio.

After struggling for most of the year, Terrelle Pryor and the OSU offense finally had a breakthrough performance. TP had 3 TDs, threw for over 200 yds and ran for over 100. The offense as a whole put up 509 yards.

The 509 yards of offense is the first time OSU has tallied 500 yards in a Big 10 game since November 18, 2006 in which the Buckeyes defeated then #2 Michigan on way to the National Championship.

But more intriguing than the stats is the way the offense looked, especially Terrelle Pryor.

For the first time in his young career, Pryor looked like he was comfortable in the pocket. He was setting his feet and throwing off of his back foot. If his first read wasn't open, he went to his second. If his second read wasn't there, he went to his third. He hit his receivers in stride and on target.

The offensive line deserves a lot of praise as well. Terrelle Pryor was sacked only once and rarely faced pressure when he dropped back to pass.

So, whats to take from this?

Ohio State is not going to the National Championship this year. That much is clear with 2 losses. But could they win out and go to the Rose Bowl? Based on the way the offense looked today, it is certainly possible. If the Terrelle Pryor we saw today is the same player that we're going to see for the rest of the year, we have to be considered contenders for the Big 10 title. Our defense has been stout all year long and with a newly found offense we could have something special brewing in Columbus, Ohio.

2009-10 Basketball Predictions

The Ohio State Men's basketball team comes into the 2009 season with a lot of optimism. The Buckeyes won 22 games last season and lost a heartbreaker to Siena in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament. With basically the entire backcourt and big man Dallas Lauderdale returning, there is no reason not to expect the Buckeyes to make some serious noise in the Big 10.

Lets take a look at the games on the Bucks schedule:

Non Conference

Lock it up (Games that should be over with by halftime)

Alcorn State, James Madison, Lipscomb, St. Francis (PA), Eastern Michigan, Presbyterian, Deleware State, Cleveland State

Toss Ups

UNC, Cal/Syracuse (Depends on how we do against UNC), Florida State, Butler, West Virginia

I see us going 10-3 in the non-conference, which would make us 10-2 going into Big 10 play (I think we lose @ WVU in January). With 8 games against inferior opponents and 5 against teams similar to our caliber, we could be anywhere from 8-5 to 13-0. College basketball is unpredictable, especially early in the year, but with the experience that we have in the backcourt I think 10-3 is reasonable.

Conference Play

Home Games

Indiana, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Minnesota, Penn State, Iowa, Purdue, Michigan, Illinois

I see us winning 7 out of our 9 home games. I think we go 1-1 against Purdue and Illinois and 6-1 in the other 7 home games.

Away Games

Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Purdue, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State, Penn State

I think we go 5-4 in our away games. Purdue, Michigan, Illinois, Michigan State, and Penn State are all going to be extremely tough. Going 3-2 against these 5 would be a great accomplishment. The other 4 games will be tough as well, and with playing on the road being so tough in college basketball, I think we go 3-1. That puts us at 6-3 away.

Based on my calculations, I see us going 22-9 (12-6 Big 10) this year. I think we can win at least 2 games in the Big 10 tournament, which would put us at 24-10 going into Selection Sunday. That should be good for a 4 seed. We have a very tough schedule this year, especially out of conference, and we should get rewarded for that.