Eleven Warriors

Note, a few of the following links go to playboy.com. Although the pages linked-to don't necessarily contain the naughty-naughty, we wanted to give you a heads-up should you be reading this from work.

Count Playboy among those not buying the Georgia hype. After the AP followed the coaches poll placing the Bulldogs in the top spot, the venerable lad's mag didn't even see fit to include Georgia in the top five (Playboy and Phil Steele -- more in common than you thought). Instead, they like the Sooners with Ohio State, Florida, Missouri and USC filling the two through five spots.

They're definitely not high on the Big Ten outside of the Buckeyes. Wisconsin checks in at 14th, with the Illini pegged at 21st. Being kind enough to bless us with a top 50, they like Michigan at 31st, Penn State at 32nd and Purdue at 36th. Also, I can't put words to the smile I got when I saw traditional powers Florida State, Miami and Notre Dame at 43rd, 47th and 49th, respectively.

They also have photos up of their 2008 All-American team with Laurinaitis and Jenkins both repping the defensive unit. And while the initial reports of USC's linebackers dwarfing Laurinaitis may have been a little exaggerated (see photo #5 in the gallery), Taylor Mays is pretty burly for a safety.

On the offensive side of the ball, both Knowshon Moreno and James Davis are fine running backs, but if there's a reason Beanie didn't make this team, I'd love to hear it.

I did get a little side-tracked on the site and it had nothing to do with the beautiful women surely just a click away. Playboy has posted photos of past All-American teams and there are some classics: Hollywood Cris Carter in 1986, Coop, Plummer and Diggs bringing the black shirts on the '99 team, Herschel Walker's socks in 1981 and old time football in 1996.

The 11W house policy on polls is that they're fun, but they should be banned until about week four of the season. At the same time, we're big believers in the BlogPoll and part of having a ballot is participating in the preseason poll. So here we go.

The first thing that's going to jump out at some of you will be the team at the top. We thought long and hard about this and tried to squelch any semblance of homerism and the truth is, this looks to be the best team in the nation. Further, we're pretty convinced that if the Buckeyes had not lost or had not even played in the UF game, they'd be a consensus #1 heading into this season. It's the weight of the two back-to-back (and more importantly the first) that's keeping voters in other polls from pulling the trigger on this team. With all of the questions on the other top teams, we're not as shy.

If you're still thinking "homer", hopefully our past ballots can speak to the fact that Ohio State receives no special quarters in these parts. Either way, we'll find out in less than a month.

Our top ten follows (with 11-25 after the jump). We'd love to hear your thoughts.

1		20 starters back from a team that made it to the show last season and questions about every other top team = homer love.
2		Great offensive line and a proven quarterback. An Oklahoma/Ohio State MNC game means one of the coaches gets to shed the label.
3		Great team and coach with a ton of momentum but the law and injuries are wreaking havoc on those title plans.
4		Big question at quarterback all of a sudden, but the defense should be amazing and there's always talent on offense.
5		Would anyone really be surprised to see this team win it all this year? The defense will be better and Tebow of Nazareth is pretty seasoned all of a sudden.
6		Another pretty loaded team, but Oklahoma is the Tigers' daddy.
7		16 returning starters and tough as hell to play at home -- which is where they catch LSU and Georgia.
8		Clemson could easily go unbeaten this year. They could also drop three and nobody would bat an eye.
9		Great defense, but some serious questions on offense. They're talented, but you have to wonder when Leslie's gambling luck will turn on him.
10		Mike Leach, the blogosphere's favorite coach, has 18 starters back from an offense that threw for 137,000 yards last season.

11		Pat White's back and the Mountaineers catch Auburn and USF at home, but Bill Stewart may struggle year one on the job.
12		If we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times: without Vince Young, Mack Brown is not a top tier coach.
13		17 starters back, and they'll be the Buckeyes toughest conference test, but open the year at Fresno State, an upset waiting to happen.
14		15 starters back from a 12-1 team and everyone roots for Mangino.
15		The Illini suffered some big losses with the departure of Mendenhall and Leman, but the recruiting boost will start to show.
16		The Ducks have one of the top secondaries in the nation and most of the defense is back. They're also Leaf-free, so that's good.
17		The Hokies have a lot of new faces this year, but Beamer always has them competitive.
18		The Sun Devils could have a better team than last season, but won't figure to catch as many breaks. The Georgia game will be a lot of fun.
19		Joe Pa has a lot of troops back and the Morelli loss is a good thing. They're probably looking at a three-loss season.
20		Eric Berry is a future NFL all-pro and the Vols bring back a lot of offensive production, though Ainge will be tough to replace.
21		Jim Grobe can coach a little, and Demon Deacons return their quarterback, running back and 9 of their top 10 tacklers from '07.
22		BYU is a hot pick this season, but Hawaii set the mid-majors back a few years with that no-show against Georgia.
23		Since this is the preseason, the Bulls could be a top five team or the 23rd-best team. We have no idea.
24		The Bulldogs can put themselves on the map with a win over Wisky. If they pull that off, they'll have an inside track to a BCS game berth.
25		Stoops, Meyer, Tressel, Pelini. We're banking on head-coaches at big programs that hail from northeast Ohio.

On the heels of a #3 ranking in the coaches preseason poll, the Buckeyes have received a #2 ranking in the AP preseason poll released this morning.

OSU received the second most first place votes (21) with #1 Georgia garnering 22 first place nods.

Of course, preseason polls mean jack squat but the amount of #1 votes seems to indicate the media isn't hating on OSU as much as national fans.

OSU edged out the Trojans who come in ranked 3rd while Oklahoma and Florida round out the top 5.

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The university announced fans will not be allowed to bring cameras into Monday's open practice at the 'Shoe. I'm struggling to understand the reason for this - it's not like Tress is gonna run the first 20 scripted plays for USC - but I'm not losing sleep. You?

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Bob Baptist reported Cincinnati Aiken's Chane Behanan, Ohio's top 2011 hoops recruit, has verbally committed to UC.

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The Athletic Department kicked in another $4 million toward renovations of the main library meaning the $108.7 million project is now fully funded. The most recent gift is in addition to a $5 million donation made previously.

A 108 million dollar library?!? Sounds like a nice place to get your read on.

A lot was made of the way Troy Smith learned to parrot his coach when talking to the media while at Ohio State. His quotes his senior season could just as easily have come from Tressel himself. Now, you too can learn the art of always saying the right thing via the wonders of the internet.

Google News has released a new feature that allows you to search for quotes in the news and they've already indexed 137 Tressel classics like the following:

At Ohio State, among the Ohio State faithful, we're expected to win the conference every year.

And:

Anytime there's change, change is exciting in its own way -- the wonder of what this is going to look like.

And finally, this classic:

You know, Woody used to say that for every sophomore you played you lost a game.

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The SEC has inked a new 15-year deal with CBS and there is joy in Georgia, at least. I get that CBS treats the league well and lobbies hard for teams to get into big post-season games and that's fine, but the day when every major conference has its own network is just around the corner. This new deal will make it difficult for the SEC to get there.

The SEC has been at the forefront of its share of innovations, such as conference title games and the fact that it's widely seen as the conference most favorable to a playoff, but they missed the boat on this one. Score one for the Big Ten (and if you're counting, that's a total of 2 points when instant replay is included).

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Finally, a big shout-out to Corey as he's slated to tie the knot later today. He'll be honeymooning in Newcomerstown because Woody thought that was the most romantic place on earth.

A&E Home Video was kind enough to hook us up with a box of Woody Hayes' Ohio State Buckeyes DVDs and since we're still rocking Betamax, we're left with no choice but to give them away. We'll start today with our first contest of the 2008 football season.

We're getting a little out there this time, but stay with us, this could get fun. To enter, simply leave a comment in this post prior to the contest deadline Sunday evening detailing a trick play you'd like to see drawn-up and executed by the Buckeyes this season. It helps to be as detailed as possible -- the situation, players involved, who's in motion pre-snap, etc.

We'll review the entries and announce the winner on Monday or Tuesday.

UPDATE: We've decided to give away two copies of the DVD -- one to each of the top two entries, so keep those entries coming.

The fine print:

• Must be 18 years-old or older.
• One entry/comment per person.
• Your entry/comment must include a valid email address.
• Deadline for entries is Sunday, August 17th @ 6PM ET.

A smattering of practice updates from both the MSM and our well-placed scout, Connie Tressel. Actually, Connie's not on the payroll. Or is she?

• The big news is that Robiskie is nursing a shoulder injury. If you recall, he was held out of spring drills with something similar, but he should be ready for the opener.
• Beanie is looking great -- amazing shape and no lingering injury signs. Saine and Rasta Wells are getting the bulk of the reps behind Beanie leaving Boom out of the shuffle for now.
• Curtis Terry is now seeing more time on defense than he is at fullback. Tight end Brandon Smith has been getting looks at fullback and it appears that the staff still hasn't decided which way to go with this.
• Some of the freshman are already showing added bulk from their high school days, most notably Mike Adams and Jake Stoneburner. Speaking of Adams, his recovery is proceeding and he may be ready for live action next week.
• Folks like to talk about Flash Thomas' speed, but DeVier Posey may be the team's 2nd-fastest player behind Saine. Speaking of Posey, he's putting additional heat on Small for playing time right out of the gate. Ditto for Sanzenbacher and Washington.
• The defense is all-business. No jawing, just domination of the offense. Washington is looking fantastic in coverage and Chekwa is showing the year of experience under his belt. Right now, Andre Amos is getting the bulk of the nickel work, but Torrence is lurking.
• Thad Gibson is blowing things up from the end position. Rehring claims he's the fastest guy off the ball he's seen in Columbus since the Fresh Prince.
• Cordle and Boone have new Ice-Ice, Baby haircuts. I'm not a huge fan, but I'm old and cantankerous. Nicknames the lineman call each other have also come out. Boren is "White Lightning", Cordle is "Purple Rain", Mitchum is "Flash" and Boone is "Dark Thunder". Ah, kids...
• Pryor is picking things up quickly, but still has a lot to learn. He's adjusting to the speed of the college game and figuring out that even his athleticism may not be able to bail him out if he holds onto the ball for too long.
• Bauserman is running with the 2nd team offense and the 2nd team offensive line looks to be: Miller, Mitchum, Moses, Smith and Shuggarts.
• With all of the linebackers present, there's some scuttlebutt about a 2-5 hybrid making situational appearances this season.
• NFL scouts love the WHAC. About 30 were on hand one day earlier in the week.

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Bad omens keep popping up for the Trojans. First, it was Sanchez's knee injury, then the team was hit with a jock itch epidemic and now Joe McKnight gets a dorm room door slammed on his right hand.

USC held their night scrimmage earlier in the week and the defense looks to have the edge out there as well as the offense struggled to score.

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The SEC may be king according to SI's Great Conference Debate, but it's the Big Ten that's taken the lead on Mandel's Conference Showdown on DonorsChoose.org. As of right now, fans of the Big Ten have more than doubled the giving of the 2nd place SEC and when you consider the MAC is in 3rd place, the Midwest is really representing with their hearts, if not their team speed. Where you at, Big 12?

To help keep you one step ahead of your Buckeye brethren when it comes to sporting the finest in Buckeye memorabilia, we're going to take a weekly dive into eBay to see what gems we can unearth.

In the interest of disclosure, we're biting this idea from the talented author of mvictors.com. One difference is that he's posted a few Buckeye items including this impressive letter to a man and his grandson written by one Wayne Woodrow Hayes whereas we have no intention of posting anything pro-Go-Blow.

Keeping with the Woody theme, this poster features a sweet caricature of the man himself complete with a king's crown.

This beauty will only be available for bidding through Friday afternoon so stake your claim before it's too late. A word of caution, you might have to outbid the balance of the 11W bank account, aka $23.60, because I've got my eyes on this puppy.

How 'bout that robe complete with Buckeye leaves? Somebody out there needs to mass produce a similar model so I can wear it every casual Friday during the season. Priceless.

We're counting down the weeks until kickoff by profiling a different Big Ten team each week. Today, the Wisconsin Badgers are up.

To me, this is the scariest game for Ohio St. in 2008. Right now, all the attention is on SoCal and rightfully so, however, it is the game in Madison that could decide the Buckeye's destiny.

COACHING: Bret Bielema is entering his third season and is looking to improve upon his 21-5 start to his coaching career. With another round of OOC cupcakes and their toughest games at home, don't be surprised to see Whisky play in their fifth straight January bowl game.

OFFENSE: While much has been made of Ohio State's 18 returning starters, Wisconsin returns 17 starters, including 8 on offense. Allan Evridge, a senior transfer from Kansas St. looks to have a leg up in the competition to replace Tyler Donovan at QB. Evridge, saw limited action last year, but started 6 games for Kansas St, in 2005.

P.J. Hill is back for more and if he can stay away from injury, he may challenge Beanie for the conference rushing title. Hill has rushed for 2,781 yards in his first two years on campus and will have 4 returning linemen to run behind. Hill sat out 2+ games with injury last year, but still managed 14 touchdowns and 5.9 yards per carry.

Three of Whisky's top four receivers return, including all-conference TE Travis Beckum, who lead the Badgers with 75 catches for 982 yards and 6 touchdowns. Kyle Jefferson, a 6'5" Glenville product, will try to improve upon his 15.8 yards a catch average.

As mentioned Wisconsin will have 4 starters returning on the offensive line. The running game will be there and the 105 combined starts of this unit will allow the new QB time to get acclimated to the pace of play.

DEFENSE: While the defense may have slipped a bit in 2007, allowing 30+ points in 6 of their games, they return 9 starters and 13 of their top 16 tacklers. Wisconsin brings the wood and this defense, combined with a drunken home crowd at night, has me a bit nervous for October 4th.

Jonathan Casillias (96), DeAndre Levy (70) and Elijah Hodge (67), were the top three tacklers from a year ago and all return to their respective linebacker positions.

Matt Shaughnessy lead Wisconsin with 13 TFL last year and will lead two other returning starters on the D-Line. Six of their top 8 linemen are back, looking to continue the Badger's recent line success. FS Shane Carter lead the Big Ten with 7 picks last year an will be joined again by SS Aubrey Pleasant and CB Allen Langford in the secondary.

KEY GAME: The Ohio State game happens to fall in the middle of Wisconsin's key stretch. The Badgers go to Fresno St. on October 13th for a 9:30 central time kick, a game they desperately tried to get out of. After a bye week, Whisky opens up Big Ten play at Michigan, followed by home games against Ohio St. and PSU.

BEST-CASE: Wisconsin is going to have a good year. You know they have hopes of an upset Oct. 4th and if that happens, they could have the inside track for the conference title. Their OOC schedule also includes home games against Akron and Marshall to open up and mighty Cal-Poly to finish off the season. After their opening B10 stretch, their last six games are winnable; at Iowa, MSU and Indiana, with home games against Illinois and Minnesota.

WORST-CASE: If QB play becomes inconsistent and defenses can shut down the run, Wisconsin could lose 2 or 3 of their first 4 games. Their defense is going to keep them in games if the offense struggles, but even if they lose 1 of their last 6, the worst case should be another 9-4 record for Bret and his team.

I don't have to remind Buckeye fans what happened last time OSU played in Camp Randell Stadium. That game is going to be the highlight of the Big Ten season, with the potential of another low scoring defensive battle. Wisconsin's success hinges on the play of their QB, the Badgers should see a lot of 8 or 9 men fronts and if the QB can't throw the ball, fans in Madison may see this team fall below their expectations.

With college football approaching a $2B industry, Forbes has dug into compensation and performance to try to determine the best (and worst) coaching values. The formula they used is pretty straight-forward (though the bonus points for BCS wins isn't exactly spelled out):

To measure bang for the buck, we developed a metric that compares a coach’s 2007 salary with his team’s performance over the past three years. Bonus points were awarded for winning any of the five prestigious Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl games. A score of 120 means that the coach achieved 20% more victories per dollar of pay than the average coach.

Despite the two big game losses, Tressel still came out on top of their rankings -- mostly due to the fact that he's only the 9th-highest paid coach in BCS football:

But the best bargain was Ohio State’s Jim Tressel, who scored a 122. Tressel has led the Buckeyes to the last two national championship games (losing to Florida in 2007 and Louisiana State in 2008) and was paid $2.6 million last season, less than eight of his peers.

The worst coach for the buck, according to Forbes, is also a Big Ten coach (and rightfully one that's on the hottest seat in the conference):

The most overpaid coach is Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz, who made $3.4 million last year despite lackluster results on the field, for a score of 71. Just how lopsided is Ferentz’s deal? During the last three years he’s pocketed $10 million, including a record $4.7 million in 2006, but has led the Hawkeyes to just a 19-18 record.

Mike Riley, Jim Grobe, Pete Carroll and Frank Beamer round out the top five, while Greg Robinson of Syracuse, Charlie Weis, Ralph Friedgen and Al Groh round out their bottom five.

Despite the 20 returning starters and NFL talent oozing from virtually every position, there still remains a lingering doubt about one particular unit: the interior of the defensive line.

They should be good this year. The rotation is a grizzled group that's been on campus for what seems like a decade. But still, the visions of Hester pounding the ball away in the BCS game and various other teams (Penn State, for one) running by this front to put hats on the backers has us and many others thinking that the play of this unit will make or break redemption aspirations.

Defensive coordinator Jim Heacock has heard the chatter and isn't having any of that:

"I read and hear a lot about our inside guys and not getting many (sacks), but if you look over the years, inside guys aren't going to get as many as outside guys. That's a fact. Whether we want to believe it or not, that's the truth.

"For these guys, because they heard so much negative about their sack production, you can look back over the years and look back at the Ryan Picketts of the world, how many sacks did he have when he played? [He had eight in 37 career games, three in his final year.] And he was a first-round draft choice. And you go on and on.

"In our defensive scheme, we really try to control the line of scrimmage and let our linebackers run. We ask our defensive line to do a good job of keeping people off the linebackers and let them run, and that's what we've been good at. Sometimes that doesn't equate to great pass rush. I think they're going to be better there ... I know they're going to be better there this year."

I know Heacock just has his guys' backs and that's what any good coach would do, but give us idiots on the interwebs a little bit of credit. It's doubtful any knowledgeable fan expects Gholston sack numbers out of a tackle, but eat up that run and yes, take on that fullback as well, so the linebackers really are free to run.

It's good to know Heacock is there for his guys, but who's out there clamoring for more sacks? Just taking on a double-team every now and then is fine for the interior troops.

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Would the Buckeyes be ranked #1 if the preseason poll had come out today? That's the question Tim May is asking and the answer is... doubt it. Look, this has to be the first time in recorded history that a team returned 90% of its starters from a championship game appearance and was not considered the favorite going into the next season.

If the Buckeyes had won just one of those two MNC games, they'd be a comfortable #1 heading into this season. The scenario would either be a rebuilding team winning it all before coming back for another run or a team that had won a title, then lost in the title game during the following, said rebuilding year. The markings of a dynasty. Instead, any top billing in the polls will have to be earned on the field and key injuries to teams ranked ahead of them will do little to sway voters' opinions about the team.

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Devon Lyons is looking to snag playing time for the Mountaineers, but so far it's been somewhat of a struggle (to his credit, he's only had 5 practices with the team). We make it a point to pull for Buckeye transfers regardless of where they end up, but it gets tough when they take a shot at the program:

"Mountaineers work harder than any team in the country. You can quote me on that. We do a lot more running than we did at Ohio State. I just feel they want it more here."

Ouch.

(Via OH.DEL.ICIO.US)