Eleven Warriors

How kind of you to drop by for the Tuesday Skull Session. Why don't you pull up a chair?

Like the rest of the year, May has been chillier than usual¹ but we're finally getting into quality summer weather. OSU students are trying to understand what it's like to not have any classes in May after running into June for so many years. It's quite confusing to the senses, and to old habits. For instance, this would be the perfect time to sunbathe on the Oval, but with most people gone the main campus reminds me of Oberlin more than OSU.

The year is winding down for most Buckeye sports teams, but in the professional league playoffs some Buckeyes are doing work. In the NHL, former Buckeye Matt Bartkowski of the Boston Bruins couldn't have picked a better time to score his first career postseason goal, as his team defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 to advance in the playoffs. In his third year in the league, Bartkowski has only seen spot time, but for the rest of the playoffs he'll receive more notice.

In the NBA, Mike Conley Jr. once again was sensational, guiding the Memphis Grizzlies to a 3-1 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Conley, who was just named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team, led the Grizzlies in points, assists, and steals in a 103-97 overtime win. Outside of people named "Stephen Curry", nobody in the NBA is hotter than Conley right now.

Music.

It is one of the most significant and important human endeavors. When made for a purpose, it can crush our souls, lift our spirits, and make us consider both ourselves and the world around us in a new light. For many, music is a powerful and transformative force in their lives. Not just because of what it can represent, but also because of how it resonates with us for years and years.

So when the states that make up the Big Ten were selecting their state songs, they almost universally said "SCREW THAT!" and picked some of the most bland pabulum a songwriter could possibly third-ass that related vaguely to their part of the country.

Look, politics and music do not typically get along too well. Bruce Springsteen's  subversive ballad about an alienated Vietnam War veteran is Ronald Reagan's ode to being born in the USA (if you only listen to the chorus, which, to be fair, is the singular part of a Springsteen song most people ever listen to anyway). So with that in mind, put yourself in the shoes of a state legislator: I mean, seriously, why even bother?

Because you wanna be cool, dammit! Music is about two things: changing the world and trying to seem cool as possible. And I'll be honest; on this list there is not a lot of coolness. I've only used officially designated state songs here, because as we all know, you are only as cool as your weakest link of coolness. How cool are the B1G states? Well, let's just say we're not Miles Davis quite yet.

With a  top recruiting class in the books, and another crop quickly taking shape in Columbus, Urban Meyer has proven time and time again he is a top-notch recruiter. 

This in your living room. Hard to turn down.

Few coaches put more emphasis on a program’s lifeblood than Meyer, just listen to the guy:

“I love tradition, but I love recruiting better,” Meyer said in February. “Recruiting is really important in the game of college football. Like, really important. More important than anything else. You get my point?"

It’s something fans don’t think of much but college football coaches are tasked with two jobs: be an excellent coach, and be an even better salesman.

Some HC’s have the X’s and O’s down, but simply don’t have the charisma to hard-sell a program.

Others can sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves, but are still working on the whole winning football games thing.

Two days ago, I found myself watching a tape-delayed soccer game from France’s Ligue 1. Yeah, not only was I watching French soccer; I was watching French soccer that wasn’t even live.

Realizing what was going on, I cursed the college football off-season for the umpteenth time and turned my thoughts toward the fall of 2013.

Recently, both ESPN/ABC and BTN released their slates of B1G night games for 2013. There are some outstanding games scheduled to start after dark this fall, and some not-so-good ones as well. We’ll still watch them all, or as many as our schedules will allow, of course.

Looking at how good some of these games are and how others appear to be some kind of Gitmo torture device, my mind naturally started shuffling them around by quality. Of course, things can, and do, change when footballs are kicked, carried, and thrown, so what appears to be a good game now may not be as swell later. Likewise, those contests that appear to be stinkers now may actually turn out to be pretty good in the end.

Still, it can be helpful in determining your priorities this upcoming football season to rank these games from best to worst. You are busy and planning your schedule in advance is just good time management.

Let’s do this countdown style:

College football loyalists got an introduction to recruiting season in the 1990s. But the seriousness of the business wasn’t realized until the past decade, when recruiting became more popular than college basketball in the month of February.

National Signing Day is viewed as a holiday in several parts of the nation. With John Cooper, Jim Tressel and now Urban Meyer at the helm of Ohio State’s juggernaut football program, the Buckeyes often find themselves near the top of national recruiting rankings. Getting blue-chippers to enroll at your school doesn’t guarantee national championships, but it’s the clearest path to success.

Recruiting, like the NFL Draft, is a hit-and-miss industry. There are legendary cases of busts and No. 1 prospects that turned into hall of famers. The guesswork is all part of the thrill, similar to the unknown lurking past the first hill on a rollercoaster.

No coach knows for sure what he’s getting on the first Wednesday in February. The indicator light doesn’t flash for the first time until three years later, when a final grade is stamped on a recruiting class. For Ohio State, that time is fast approaching for the 2010 class, the last pre-TatGate group Tressel brought to Columbus.

If ever a class can be deemed feast or famine, it is 2010.

Yesterday was Mother's Day and while many of us were enjoying brunch and showering our wives and/or mothers with gifts, Gary (Ind.) West Side's Lonnie Johnson topped us all by committing to become the 8th member of Ohio State's football class as a gift for his mother, Nora.

Johnson has speed in bunches and plans to play wide receiver for the Buckeyes. While there were discussions of academics holding up an offer from Ohio State, Johnson told us that wasn't the case. "The reports about my grades were not true," he said. "I just wasn't ready, and was going through some personal stuff."

Welcome to the show, Mr. Johnson.

In late-breaking news Sunday night, our own Jeremy Birmingham reported that former Texas commit Demetrius Knox will make an official visit to Ohio State for the Penn State game in October. That's a night game, so Meyer and his staff will be doing what they do best: selling an incredible atmosphere to an elite offensive lineman.

BIG HELP ON THE WAY? Per Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports, Tulane big Josh Davis will take an official visit to Columbus soon.

A 6-foot-8 forward, Davis has one season of eligibility remaining and would be able to play for Ohio State right away. He averaged 17.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for the Green Wave last season, going off for 27 against Georgia Tech in the opener and 21 and 15 against Memphis in the Conference USA tournament.

Davis will also take visits to San Diego State and Gonzaga. Wherever he lands gets an instant upgrade.

In other basketball addition news, here's class of 2014 big man Dave Bell earning straight As on the height test next to former Buck Dallas Lauderdale.

There are only 268 short days until one of my favorite days of the year. A day that is full of presents and surprise announcements and news - both good and bad - that shapes the future for those you love. 

Marcelys Jones started the Buckeye 2014 class off right.

Of course, I am talking about national signing day. Next year, on February 5th, there will be somewhere between 17-25 current high school juniors (or maybe junior college football student-athletes) that take the next steps in their football careers by putting pen to ink with the intention of becoming the next wave of Buckeye greats. Eight of those players have presumably already made a verbal commitment to Ohio State to join their class, and those seven have gotten the Buckeyes off to a great start for 2014.

As I've gotten older, I've realized (most unfortunately) that time seems to go faster and faster with every passing year. So much can change from one day to the next, let alone week-to-week or month-to-month.  It is with a grain of salt then that I present to you, our faithful and dear 11W readers, my thoughts on how Ohio State's offensive 2014 class will finish up. 

These are prognostications based on the best available information that I currently have, and are most certainly likely to evolve as the days go by. Other guesses - and make no mistake, even the best recruiting analyst is guessing - are most certainly going to come down the line.

Without further adieu, here's what I see come February, position-by-position, starting with the offense. You'll notice that at each position I've listed multiple players, with the player I feel is most likely to join the class listed first, and it filling in subsequently based on if the Buckeyes "miss." Current commitments are listed in red, and the players in green represent the players I feel Ohio State has the best chance of landing. Other players, in black font are the "next" group. You'll notice that I've taken the liberty of moving a few players - like commitments Parris Campbell and Sam Hubbard - into the position that I feel they end up playing at Ohio State. That, of course could change based on what the staff sees, other signees, etc.

Take a look after the jump.

Even in victory, Mike Conley Jr.’s doubters persist.

Fluke, hot streak, just one of those games. Those are some of the excuses Conley’s critics have used to describe his heady play. But it is starting to be drowned out by the admiration of his supporters.

Now in his sixth NBA season, Conley has improved each year, a progression from oft-injured rookie to budding superstar. His rise has been consistent since high school, where he was an All-American beside teammate Greg Oden. The duo went on to prominence at Ohio State before their NBA careers went in opposite directions.

Conley was the fourth overall pick in the same draft that Oden went No. 1 to Portland. While Conley was a top-five selection, if the state of their careers was discussed today without names, most would recognize Oden as the catalyst in a playoff push. Instead, it is Conley.

If Saturday night's alright for fighting, what do we Saturday morning? I imagine there's some level of calisthenics we all have to do in order to prepare for fighting tonight.

Perhaps such preparation for tonight's fight comes in the form of a Saturday Skull Session, which leads off with the latest black eye Rutgers has to show around the country.

 RUTGERS CAN'T BUY A BREAK (SPOILER ALERT: IT CAN'T AFFORD ONE). Of course, all of this has to happen with Rutgers delivered to the Big Ten. We can't LOL at the Big East for this, in large part because it no longer exists in its familiar form.

We're all aware of the recent basketball scandal at Rutgers, which saw its former head coach, Mike Rice, videotaped hurling verbal abuse at his players and using basketballs a projectiles at his players' faces. The scandal became even bigger than it could have been because Rutgers' then-athletic director, Tim Pernetti, was aware of the extent of the abuse and offered a small punishment that did not fit the crime. His effort to rehabilitate Rice proved inadequate and eventually he resigned his position.

Meanwhile, Rutgers hoped to start anew by hiring Eddie Jordan to lead the program into the Big Ten. Eddie Jordan is arguably Rutgers' basketball highest profile alumnus, having been a part of the school's celebrated 1976 Final Four team and rising to the top ranks of basketball coaching with the Sacramento Kings, Washington Wizards, and Philadelphia 76ers.

If only he were an alumnus of the actual university he attended.

It turns out Eddie Jordan did not graduate from The State University of New Jersey like the athletic department claimed he did in 1977.