Eleven Warriors

Happy National Signing Day, everyone! Or, for those of you who aren't into the whole recruiting aspect of college football, Happy February!

With Urban Meyer in charge, though, there are fewer and fewer fans in the latter group. So, just a reminder, here's what's on tap today at 11W, including a live chat and frequent updates courtesy of Alex and Jeremy.

For the visual learners out there, The Plain Dealer even has an interactive map that shows the different locations from which the recruits hail.

And, since I expect most will be occupied with NSD-related news, I would like to give inside shout-outs to the three people who will read this Skull Session:

1. When you call me today, I will either be sleeping, eating, exercising, or taking a shower, because it's always one of the four every single time you phone¹.

2. Drink some water.

3. I will do my best not to unleash the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man onto the world.

BACK TO THE FUTURE. Yesterday, The Dispatch's Bill Rabinowitz noted that in regard to the Big Ten's recruiting classes, Ohio State and Michigan are the Big Two, just like in the days of Woody vs. Bo, disco, and gritty crime movies. Although final rankings will be released later, at this point, Ohio State's class is rated third best in the country while the same services rate Michigan's class as the #4 (Scout) or #5 (Rivals). Every other B1G school is outside of the top 25.

The gulf is wide enough that BTN's Gerry DiNardo declared, "Ohio State's and Michigan's recruiting classes are so much better than the other 10, it's absurd."

However, it will not necessarily be a case of total domination every year for the indefinite future. Many of the other conference teams are undergoing changes, both at head coaching (Penn State, Illinois) and assistant positions (Wisconsin, Iowa). Penn State especially has a lot of rebuilding to do, and their new HC, who is currently preparing for the Super Bowl, hasn't had the opportunity to assert himself yet. Meanwhile, Nebraska is still getting acclimated to the Big Ten and Midwestern recruiting battles.

The intensity to which Urban and Brady Hoke bring to recruiting suggests that although the disparity between OSU/UM and the rest of the league may not always be so great, Ohio State and Michigan will continue to haul in elite classes. As disheartening as that is for the other ten schools, fans of The Game have to pumped. 

FLIPPED TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. For another peak into how Meyer snagged players who had verballed elsewhere, FOX Sports Ohio's Zac Jackson detailed the past two months as he built the 2012 class. Even though, like at Ohio State, most of the recruits he flipped were dealing with coaching transitions, the star power of Meyer, and his approach to recruiting in general, helped wrangle in a top-tier group.

According to recently hired tight ends coach Tim Hinton, "He has a plan. He's relentless in his ability to reach out to players and get those players reach back to you." That involves fostering a rapport with them and, as Tressel did, selling them on a family environment. 

Another part of his plan includes assembling a staff that puts the same type of effort into recruiting as he does. Luke Fickell, who has a reputation as an excellent recruiter, had established relationships with those who committed pre-Urban. Everett Withers, with connections in the South, can boast of developing NFL players. Mike Vrabel, named as one of the best recruiting hires of the past year, owns a few Super Bowl rings and is bro enough to relate to younger guys. 

Plus, what 17 or 18-year-old wouldn't want to play for someone who tweets gems like this:

U riding with us or ur in the way. #buckeyes are working.

— Mike Vrabel (@CoachVrabel50) January 31, 2012

Urban with the John Bender fist pump

GIVE 'EM LENZELLE. Coming into this season, the biggest problem facing the basketball team was how to replace the irreplaceable in David Lighty and Jon Diebler. Their experience, along with Lighty's Swiss Army knife-like abilities and Diebler's shooting, can not simply be replicated.

Still, Lenzelle Smith Jr. has been doing his best Lighty impersonation as of late. The Buckeyes needs him to score? Okay, he'll explode for 28 points against Indiana. They need him to rebound? Ask Michigan how that turned out. Like his glue guy predecessor, Smith has earned his starting spot by playing tough defense.

As Rob McCurdy from the Mansfield New Journal relayed, Smith said, "I want to play. If that means I have to guard the other team's best defender, then I'm down for that."

The article also pointed out a somewhat surprising statistic: the sophomore is hitting 46% of his three-pointers. Now if he, or anyone else on the team, could be a reliable outside threat, I'd feel much more confident about the upcoming slate of games, as well as March². 

MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR. Speaking of the basketball schedule, after winning four straight games, the hoops team begins a tough stretch on Saturday when they travel to their arena nemesis, the Kohl Center. At present, OSU is #1 in Pomeroy ratings and Wisconsin is close behind at #3. Thanks to Wisconsin's win over Penn State last night, and with Michigan State falling at Illinois³, it will also be matchup between first and second place in the Big Ten.

Other than the road losses to Indiana and Illinois, Ohio State has annihilated their B1G competition so far, and SI's Andy Glockner wonders why people seem to be overlooking the Buckeyes as the best team in the nation. Believing the two conference blemishes to be more aberration than anything else, Glockner states, "elite teams show themselves by how many blowout victories they have, and Ohio State has won league games by 33, 31, 29, 17, 34, 24 and 15 points."

While their looming schedule is no cakewalk—even unranked opponents like Purdue and Minnesota are no pushovers—Glockner maintains that the Scarlet and Gray have as good a chance, if not the best, as any other contender of bringing home a national title⁴.

I LINK WE'RE ALONE NOW. The Top 10 B1G dunks this season... In defense of recruiting rankings... Marcus Coker is headed to The Babysitter's Club territory... Breaking Bad RPG... The Many Emotions of Raylan Givens... The NY Times corrects their mistake about The Shining... Kristen Bell really loves sloths... Face Palm.

• ¹ Does anyone actually ever use the word "phone" as a verb? For the sake of word variety, I went with it, but I never say it in real life. 
• ² Though, after last season, I will never be confident in March. 
• ³ Due in part to a Draymond Green knee injury. He will be evaluated today, but the Spartans have a rematch against Michigan on Sunday, and that often has magical healing powers. 
• ⁴ Yes please.