Eleven Warriors

A WWII aircraft carrier as a basketball arena.

#4 Ohio State 0-0, 0-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

November 9, 2012 7:00 PM ET - NBCSN —— USS Yorktown Mt. pleasant, S.C.

MARQUETTE 0-0, 0-0 Big east Roster | Schedule

Ohio State and Marquette start the 2012-13 college basketball season tonight with a unique experience. On a night when a poor shooter might actually throw the ball into the ocean, evaluating a team’s level of play will be nearly impossible.

That’s why Thad Matta and Jim Foster won’t spend too much time dissecting the game tape. The stress level won’t rise too much if shooting percentages are low. Diving for loose balls, however, might cause the players’ blood pressure to spike.

Two members of the men’s team are a little leery of the surrounding water. Deshuan Thomas and Amir Williams have each expressed a sense of anxiety.

“I’ve never played on water before,” Thomas said. “That’s kind of scary.

“Hopefully if Aaron sees me diving into the water, he'll try to catch me.”

Williams said he’s not a fan of large bodies of water, but he figures his nervousness will dissipate once the team has a shootaround on deck and the game gets underway. 

Something that could get in the way of high-arching shots destined for the hoop is the wind. Matta said he contemplated practicing some outdoors but couldn’t find a suitable place to do so. Growing up in Indiana, Thomas told stories of playing in the wind and rain and didn’t think the deck of an aircraft carrier would affect the trajectory of his shot too much.

“He’ll find a way to put the ball in the basket,” Craft said.

Michigan State and North Carolina struggled for portions of their game shooting. The Spartans never could get on track for an extended period of time, making just 30 percent of their shots from the field. The tempo of the game was also affected from being played in the elements.

No one knows if there will be a repeat performance – the weather forecast is calling for sunny skies during the day and a zero percent chance of rain. Temperatures are predicted to hover between 70 and 55 during the two games. Still, Foster isn’t betting on finding too much out about his team.

“The game is outdoors, the game is on a ship,” he said. “For us to evaluate ourselves after that game, it will be on effort and how hard we play. Depending on the condition, it might not be the kind of barometer you want it to be – for either team. I just hope we can get through it without being seasick.”

And if the wind does kick up, what do you do?

“For this generation it’s a little more difficult,” Foster said. “Players in the past played outdoors often. You obviously take it to the hole.”

Half a world away tonight, in Germany, a college basketball game will be taking place at Ramstein Air Base as the Michigan State Spartans and Connecticut Huskies begin the college basketball season in the Armed Forces Classic. 

It’s the second consecutive season the Spartans have started their season in an innovative game. That’s because Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis is one of the most creative, outside-the-box thinkers in intercollegiate athletics.

O-H-I-O FTW [Via @AlissaC_OSU]

He won’t be at the air base in Rheinland-Pfalz because of NCAA Selection Committee duties. But Hollis, no doubt, will be watching the game. He will also have one eye on the action going on in Mount Pleasant, S.C. That’s where one of his many creations will be playing out – the second edition of the Carrier Classic.

Nine years ago an idea came to Hollis. While working for the Western Athletic Conference, he fondly recalled football players and service members interacting on carriers during Holiday Bowl festivities. But watching family members say goodbye to loved ones – possibly for the last time – as they ventured off to war-torn countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, also struck him.

“As conflicts our men and women were involved in broke out, my mind immediately raced to the families that were left behind on those docks as I used to watch the carriers leave in San Diego,” Hollis told Eleven Warriors.

So he traveled to Washington. In a meeting with officials at the Pentagon, Hollis pitched his idea for a basketball game on the deck of a United States aircraft carrier.

“Everyone thinks I’m crazy,” Hollis said.

Hi, hello and welcome. We're back for a special edition of the 11W RoundTable.

Deshaun Thomas is ready. Are you?

This week, your favorite witty wizards, know-it-alls and most of all Dubster Analysts, Ramzy, Chris and Kyle, discuss the all-important bye week for the football Buckeyes and a nice briefing of the upcoming men's basketball season, where Ohio State is looking to make back-to-back trips to the Final Four.

So we won't keep you waiting any longer.

Week 10 is in the books and the Buckeyes are 10-0. With a week off, what must OSU improve on the most heading to Madison?

Ramzy: Bye weeks are about solidifying fundamentals, so I'd go with sharpening these ones in descending order: Pursuit angles from the back seven, Ben Buchanan getting punts off in a time too quick to capture with a sundial, receivers hanging onto the ball, Rod Smith hanging onto the ball, kickoff coverage.

Chris: Since it appears the defense has stabilized in recent weeks thanks largely to Boren settling in at Mike, allowing Shazier to play the three best games of his young career, I’d have to go with the dumpster fire that can be Ohio State’s special teams. Urban’s special units have blocked a couple punts and ran back a punt return for a touchdown but they’ve also had three punts blocked and struggled to cover kickoffs thanks mostly to a ridiculous amount of injuries. At this point, an accidental bicycle kick wouldn’t shock me.

Kyle: The defense has improved the past three weeks. That really isn’t up for debate. But Wisconsin – especially at home – is a different animal. If there are missed tackles and breakdowns in other fundamentals on the defensive side of the ball, it could spell doom for the Buckeyes. Wisconsin is not the team you want to tackle poorly against. Montee Ball and James White will have a field day if that is the case. But if Etienne Sabino is back, and it appears that will be the case, you really have to like the Ohio State linebacking corps. It will be a run-stopping supreme team. Ryan Shazier, Zach Boren and Sabino. That is an offense’s nightmare.

Though the football Buckeyes are off this week, Urban still knocked out his weekly call-in show yesterday, offering up a few worthy bits of news. 

After planting the seed a few weeks back, Meyer basically confirmed Jordan Hall will take a medical redshirt and return next season, adding one more body to what is already shaping up to be a ridiculous amount of talent at running back. 

Meyer also reiterated what he said after Wednesday's practice proclaiming Sabino should be ready to roll against Wisconsin. Urban also noted that in the basic 4-3, Sabino will join Boren and Shazier, making it clear he has no plans to move Boren back to offense. 

Though both Boren and Sabino struggle to cover receivers, Fickell can likely afford to play three linebackers more often in the next two games as both Wisconsin and Michigan lean heavily on the run game because neither has a quarterback that can throw with much consistency. Currently, Michigan is 4th in rushing offense while Wisconsin is 5th. Through the air Wisconsin has the conference's 7th best pass offense with Michigan sitting at 11th. 

Things really seem to be setting up quite nicely for the Buckeyes. 

Frank Beamer's team is 9-1 in its last 10 November games, dating back to 2009. Just one problem: The 2012 Hokies are pretty awful (for Beamer's standards, at least), having lost four of five coming into tonight's matchup.

Still, it's in Blacksburg, so there's a (small) chance of this.

Two weeks without an Ohio State football game: It's like 1/17th of the offseason crammed right into the middle of the season just to remind you of how horrible things are for most of the year.

The Buckeyes are spending their bye week soaking in hot and cold tubs to help heal their bodies for Urban Meyer's final two adversaries: Bret Bielema's bloated wizardry and Brady Hoke's corpulent genius.

Eyes downfield.

Vanquishing both would qualify his first season in Columbus as football's sexiest honeymoon season since Larry Coker's at Miami 11 years ago.

But that dream slumbers for another week, and regardless of what goes down next Saturday in Madison (SPOILER: Drunk people outnumbered only by encased meats) the Michigan game never cedes importance to anything. For now, it's a weekend of rest and observation.

And speaking of observation and Michigan, check out not-Tate Forcier in that picture. A few weeks ago The Situational made the mistake of displaying Jenn Sterger in its opening when discussing FSU, and then last week it showcased some fancy Oregon cheerleaders. That elicited pleas from the commentariat for more pretty lady pictures in this space.

Well, the Internet has plenty of those already and some men just prefer to watch the world burn. So here, have a Michigan Woman™ (she's probably just a native Ohioan rebelling anyway – that's how the category is generally defined).

Next time be more specific. Let's get Situational!

The Ohio State defense put together another positive performance in its near shutdown of Illinois. The Buckeye defense is on an upward trajectory based upon the same contributing factors—the return to health of key contributors, different personnel grouping, and slight tweaks in schemes—that continue to build upon each other in a virtuous cycle. While the Buckeye defense will be more tested in coming weeks, there is reason to believe that the Buckeye defense has improved in the second half of the season. 

Stick to the Script

Illinois sought several 'wrinkles' to create some type of offense. Primarily, the Illini used an extensive amount of direct quarterback lead runs with Nathan Scheelhaase. The Illini were clearly looking for some way to create an arithmetic advantage against the OSU base nickel defense.

Illinois also frequently used rocket motion with their running back to the flat. The idea was to stretch OSU's zone defense to create opportunities inside those defenders, just as Indiana found some success with.

With every new season comes new expectations. Ohio State's debut season under Urban Meyer was certainly no different. Back in August, I reached out to media members outside of Columbus, and around the country, to get their thoughts and predictions on the newest chapter in Ohio State football. You can go back and see what they thought 2012 had in store for the Buckeyes here.

As Ohio State is ten weeks into the season, and finally taking a much needed bye week, I checked in with some of the same experts who shared their predictions back in August to see how Meyer and the Buckeyes were stacking up against their preseason expectations and what to expect moving forward.

Big thanks to the following guests for providing their insights:

Bruce Feldman, CBS Sports

Robert Flores, ESPN/ABC College Football

Lisa Horne, formerly of FOX Sports

Chris Huston, Heisman Pundit and CBS Sports

Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated

One senior and three returning starters.

That’s what Thad Matta has to work with as the Ohio State Buckeyes get set for the 2012-13 basketball season on Friday. To many, that might signal a rebuilding year. But Ohio State basketball doesn’t rebuild under Matta. At the dawn of each season, the Buckeyes are already equipped with the necessary pieces for success.

Jared Sullinger isn't walking through that door.

After losing three starters off the 2010-11 team, Ohio State cruised to 31 wins, a Big Ten championship and a berth in the Final Four. One year later, Ohio State looks to repeat that journey, only with one more game at the end of the season.

Matta’s eight-year tenure in Columbus has included a level of success Ohio State basketball hasn’t experienced in two decades. The Buckeyes are consistent players in the Big Ten title race and familiar faces in the NCAA Tournament. Another trend during the Matta era has been player turnover.

During a four-season stretch, from 2007-10, six Buckeyes left early for the NBA Draft. All six were selected in the first round, including No. 1 overall selection Greg Oden (2007), second pick Evan Turner (2010) and fourth overall pick Mike Conley Jr. (2007).

With the advent of the NBA age requirement rule, one-and-done players and early entrants into the draft has skyrocketed. Ohio State, along with Kentucky, are two programs that have dealt with a high volume of players leaving early but sustained their success. Matta has won at least 20 games in every season at Ohio State and captured conference titles in two seasons after losing first-round draft picks.

The two players Ohio State must replace this season are contrasting cases.