Eleven Warriors

The Bad News is..
The Buckeyes are only looking at having a few guys taken in the NFL draft as opposed to the bumper crops the Vest typically sends to the next level. The good news, of course, is that the reason for this is because all of the stud juniors (save for the Gun Show) opted to return for their senior seasons.

The NFL announced yesterday that Vernon Gholston, Kirk Barton and Larry Grant have been selected to attend the annual livestock show held annually in Indianapolis that is also known as the NFL Combine.

Gholston is reportedly creeping into top-five range for one club and is a near lock to be taken in the top 15 regardless of where he ends up. He can back it up on the field, but if there's one guy that the NFL Combine is made for, it's VG.

Barton is hoping to make a good showing and move up in scouts' eyes after suffering a knee injury leading up to the Senior Bowl. Anything before the 5th round would suit him fine, which may or may not happen, depending on how well he does at the Combine and Ohio State's Pro Day on March 7.

Grant, a former JUCO All-American and surely the only man in the history of college football to have lost four-straight national championship games, may end up being one of those guys that is taken late or signed as a free agent only to then find a team and stick.

Perrilloux's Suspension Makes that Opener a Lot More Interesting
Blogs were buzzin' yesterday about the "indefinite" suspension of LSU quarterback Ryan Perrilloux.

Depending on how much you want to believe at this time, the quarterback ran afoul for skipping classes and not living up to standards set from previous incidents and Miles decided to suspend him. Throw in a recently deceased father and moms allegedly yanking her son out of school and you have one SEC team in need of QB help.

When LSU recently booked Appalachian State for their home opener this season, they took some heat in some parts for scheduling a "cupcake". I didn't agree with that notion at the time and the Perrilloux situation only moves the line in that game closer. Any guesses on what the spread will be? I'm thinking 10, but I also think that's way too high.

More TP
Mike Farrell of Rivals.com spoke to Terrelle Pryor and confirmed what a lot of us were already thinking: he was set to sign with Ohio State only to back off because his father wanted him to take a closer look at Penn State.

So that feels kind of good, right? He had to have been sticking up for his future coach over the weekend, right? Right?

He also had some choice words for Mark May and if that doesn't make you an automatic Buckeye, I don't know what does.

Comcast and BTN Close Again, Maybe, Sorta
Word out of respective PR flaks is that Comcast and the Big Ten Network are close (once again) to reaching a deal.

I'm not holding any hope, but if the network does score Comcast, that will only put the screws to Time Warner a little tighter, so maybe by the start of the 2008 football season, we'll get to watch all of the games again. Just like the old days.

Roster turnover attacks the hairline

After Sunday's disappointing loss to Michigan, most fans agree the Buckeyes are NIT bound. Not that it'll make you feel any better but it looks like Ohio State's opponent in last year's NCAA Final, Billy Donovan's Gators, could also find themselves on the outside looking in come Selection Sunday.

Both teams sport sagging resumes in need of some high profile wins. The Michigan debacle gave OSU two losses against teams sporting an RPI over 150 and they're 0-7 against teams in the RPI's Top 40.

The Gators find themselves in slightly better shape however they've lost 4 of their last 5 and playing the nation's 119th toughest schedule certainly diminishes the quality of their 19-7 record.

Interestingly, according to the folks over at The Meaningful Collateral, if both OSU and Florida miss the dance it will be the first time the previous year's finalists were left out the following year since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Further, the only other instance in the last 40 years occurred in 1980 when Michigan State and Indiana State failed to earn a bid (48 teams) after Magic's Spartans beat Bird's Sycamores in the legendary '79 Final.

So, look on the bright side...At least this year's team might be the answer to a dubious trivia question asked during another failed attempt by ESPN to create a watchable game show a few years down the line. Of course, most of you won't remember the answer since the creation of the BTN meant you only witnessed 5 games anyway.

As Buckeye news hounds, we read our share of articles out of various press outfits in Michigan. Part of the job is to know the enemy and all that. This has naturally intensified during the recruitment of Pryor and on a recent visit to freep.com, an ad caught my eye.

So just who does the largest metro in the state think is its target wireless user?

It seems like Terrelle Pryor is just as dominant on the hardwood as he is on the gridiron.

On a night when his Jeannette team needed him to survive a 64-54 overtime battle in the WPIAL class AA playoffs, he went off to the tune of 24 points, 24 rebounds, 8 blocked shots and 7 assists.

24/24 with a couple of bounces away from turning that into a quadruple double. Sick. I know he's thought to be purely a football player at the next level, but assuming Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State are his top three choices, every one of those teams could use his services on the basketball court.

He even found the time to work in a little trash-talking with the opposing team's student section. The banter eventually lead to two students being removed from the game by police for what we can only assume was excessive smack talk. RUTS has a little more on the smack talking including the following photo:

That is pretty funny. But does it do anything for Buckeye psyche that he was jawing it up with these fans and then immediately after the game, he confronted the group? Was that a guy sticking up for his future coach? Here's what he had to say on the episode:

"People kept saying things. I try not to listen to it, but it makes you mad."

Just remember, Terrelle, each and every one of those mouthy punks is a young Nittany Lion fan. They'll soon morph into this.

"Your mama wears combat boots"

There are too many big games left to definitively say today's crushing 80-70 loss to Michigan cost Ohio State an NCAA Tournament bid but it certainly could play out to be the case. If nothing else, the defeat just put a lot more pressure on the Buckeyes as they likely need to win at least 3 of their final 5 conference games against the likes of Wisconsin, @ Indiana, @ Minnesota, Purdue and Michigan State. Yikes.

Based on what we witnessed today, there's not much reason to think OSU will answer the bell. Tied at 38 to start the second half, the Buckeyes failed maintain their focus turning the ball over 5 times, leading to just 6 points, in the first 6 minutes. Miraculously, they trailed just 50-48 at the 12:58 mark before an 8-0 run capped by a DeShaun Sims triple gave Michigan a 58-50 cushion with 10:43 on the clock.

To their credit, OSU would bounce back with a 10-2 run behind a pair of threes from Jon Diebler to cut the deficit to 60-58 with 8:08 left but turnovers and their continued inability to find the shooter on defense led to Manny Harris hitting a key three extending Michigan's lead to 69-66 after Ohio State had cut the lead to three on a natural three-point play by Evan Turner.

Thanks to Jamar Butler the sequence turned out to be only the second biggest dagger of the game. Trailing 73-68 with just over a minute to go, Butler committed his season-high 6th turnover on a lazy pass intended for Turner after foolishly picking up his dribble 35 feet from the basket.

Michigan's Kevin Grady blew the layup at the other end but, appropriately, Harris grabbed the o-board and hit 1 of 2 free throws giving the Wolverines a 74-68 lead. Harris was large all day scoring a career high 27 points (10/11 FT) and he was clutch down the stretch hitting 7/8 free throws in the final 2:41 to ensure the victory.

As a team, Michigan hit 20/24 free throws while the Buckeyes managed just 3 trips to the line. I wish I could blame the refs but the discrepancy was more the result of Ohio State settling for jumpers in the second half then being forced to foul to stop the clock and get the ball back in the final minutes. Matta's squad shot 14 threes in the final 20 minutes after attempting just 7 in the first half while scoring 24 of their 38 points in the paint. Why they got away from that remains a mystery.

Overall, Kosta Koufos led the way with 18 points and 12 rebounds however he managed just 6 points in the second half after being benched for turning it over 3 times in the first 4 minutes helping Michigan take the lead for good (46-44) with 16:32 left. The frustrating sequence followed a solid first half in which he shot a healthy 6/7 from the floor while grabbing 4 rebounds. Is it simply agonizing watching this kid. He'll light it up offensively then next thing you know he's turning the ball over and letting smaller defenders take the ball away from him. His 4 turnovers combined with Butler's 6 gave the pair 10 of OSU's 14 miscues. Butler finished with 14 points and 6 assists.

Looking at the positives, freshman Evan Turner was outstanding with 16 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists against just 2 turnovers in 35 minutes. Turner was 7/10 from the floor proving his wrist injury is in the rear view mirror.

Diebler finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds against 0 turnovers in another solid effort. Streaky D is averaging 11.8 points in his last 4 games buoyed by a 12/26 (46%) showing from downtown.

With Turner and Diebler possibly settling into a groove it might be time to put Diebler back into the starting lineup - in place of David Lighty. I'm sure this won't happen because Matta likes the scoring punch off the bench and he's trying to stay in Lighty's corner but if nothing else, Diebler deserves more court time by comparison.

Lighty's best attribute is man to man defense which is useless in Matta's matchup zone whereas Diebler can stretch a defense which is paramount on a team that struggles to score consistently. Lighty was nothing special today with 4 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists and I counted at least 3 examples of his finest Roy Orbison Defense (Blue-by-you) allowing easy layup's for scrubs like David Merritt.

Not to be outdone, Othello Hunter turned in a lackluster 6 point, 3 rebounds performance before fouling out in 21 minutes.

Defensively, the Buckeyes allowed Michigan to shoot 44% from the field including 42% from downtown. Michigan hit 10/24 threes behind Sims and Harris. Sims registered 4 triples (4/8) on his way to 22 points teaming with Harris to score 49 of Michigan's 80 points. Ohio State did win the battle of the boards (36-30) but forced just 9 turnovers while committing 14.

I gotta admit, I'm wondering the point of the Buckeye 2-2-1 press? It yields a low turnover rate and seems to give up a lot of wide open threes as the Buckeyes scramble to identify the shooter in secondary transition. Considering the lack of depth and Butler's mounting minutes, wouldn't it be better to simply get back and zone up?

The good news is Ohio State will have a week to ponder the loss and the questions it presents. The bad news is Bo Ryan and his physical Badgers are coming to town.

The Wildcard

Dave at Maize n Brew was kind enough to offer up a roundtable discussing newly signed classes around the Big Ten. The big fish is still out there, but here's our take on what we do know.

1. As a general question, evaluate your recruiting class. Is it more or less what you expected, were you pleasantly surprised or horribly, horribly disappointed? Were your team's needs adequately addressed or will you be starting a two star running back at center next year?

One of the benefits of having a coach that wears sweater vests every Saturday in the fall is that you don't normally get a lot of surprises out of the guy.

For the 2nd straight season, there were no last minute defections nor any big surprise fish reeled in near the end of the process. Late editions were Keith Wells and Orhian Johnson, with only Johnson considered a real surprise out of the two. Most of the rest of the guys had been locked in for so long that Tressel and staff pretty much knew who they'd land.

Sure, Pryor delaying his decision was definitely a surprise, but considering the fact that nobody really knew where he was going to go, you have to classify that one as an extension of an original surprise instead of a new surprise. Got that?

With the likely departure of Chris Wells after his junior season in 2008, it's curious that Ohio State didn't really sign a true running back with this class. Glenville's Jermil Martin is coming in as a fullback after being named all-Ohio at defensive end. Then again, Wisconsin was on his trail early, so maybe he could develop into the type of bruiser the Badgers love so much. Lamaar Thomas played running back in high school, but it's thought that the Buckeyes will use him as a wide receiver. If Wells does leave after this season, Tressel would have Saine, Boom Herron and these dudes heading into 2009.

2. Who were the big catches in your recruiting class? Name two players matriculating to your school whose existence everyone else in the Big Ten will curse for the next four years.

This was a tough one. Partly because it's an exact science and all just a bunch of guesswork, but also because there are so many kids in this class to get excited about.

Pure odds here, but one, possibly two of the incoming o-linemen will develop into an all-conference performer. If all three live up to it, watch out.

The same applies for the defensive linemen that signed. Goebel, Mobley and Wells could have all gone just about anywhere, so the future of the Buckeye defensive line looks great. Posey is electric and Thomas could stretch the field for many Saturdays to come from the receiver position. The Vest got one of the top kickers in the country and also managed to sign two of the top inside linebackers in America.

The two guys I really like and the guys I think will do early and lasting damage to opponents are Jake Stoneburner and Etienne Sabino. Stoneburner is 6-5/225 and can run. He'll be Pryor or Henton's bread and butter in 2009. Sabino is a 6-3/230 inside backer that plays on a permanent fast-forward. Both kids are academic performers and once processed by the strength and speed programs in Columbus, will no doubt register in the hate corner of opposing fans' minds.

3. You can't win them all. Maybe some slick talking carpetbagger schmoozed his way into your living room, sold you a set of ginzu knives made out of tin foil, and walked off with your wife and your star recruit. Perhaps an in-state lock who grew up with [Insert University Here] posters on his wall and your coach's face tattooed on his arm decided to go elsewhere for reasons no one seems to understand? Did your recruiting class lose someone big on signing day, who was it, and was your school able to yoink someone else to cover his loss?

I think a lot of Buckeye fans, myself included, felt that Pryor was pretty much a Buckeye about 48 hours before signing day. I still feel good, but I won't be surprised to see him get away at this point in time. It's the same zen you have to apply to the time when Ohio State juniors make their annual decision on whether or not to leave early for the NFL -- if it works out, great.. if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world. But damn if he wouldn't look sweet in the scarlet and gray.

After watching a fence go up around the state during the first five years of his tenure, Tressel has seen Illinois, Michigan and to some degree Iowa, make inroads into Buckeye state talent the last couple of years. The Wolverines signed 7 Ohio kids, including a pair from Trotwood. Buckeye fans can spin this all they want, but most of the 7 were quality recruits and Ohio kids always play with an extra chip agains the Buckeyes (Howard, Brewer, Sutton, etc.).

4. There's been a spirited debate about this whole "Coaches' Code" among the members of the Big Ten coaching fraternity. Do you believe this exists or is it a line being floated by the guys who couldn't keep their recruiting classes together? Bonus points for declaring your coach a poacher or a poachee in creative fashion!

I think there was a code at one point in time. But that time was before text messages and bulk emails. The times.. they are a changin'. Either you adapt and work harder or you cry for a little bit and then you ride off.

5. Finally, who's the slickest, smoovest, most Billy Dee Williamsesque recruiter in the Big Ten? Who's the worst, most incompetent, "trip over the flat tire on his Yugo" recruiter in the Big Ten?

The guy in a wizard's cap selling snake oil has the makings of great slickness, but at this point in time, you gotta go with Zook. I mean he's really just a 20 year-old trapped in a middle-age head coach's body.

The worst recruiter in the Big Ten is a little harder to pinpoint. Fitzgerald at Northwestern and Lynch at Indiana don't have a lot to work with, so it's to easy to slap that one on them. You could say Tiller underperformed, but this being his last season and all, that may not be fair.

With that said, I have to put it on Paterno. The old icon isn't traveling to meet recruits and although he did get his usual batch of hard-nosed linebackers, he didn't get much of anything else. Ole Miss, North Carolina and Southern Miss pulling in better classes than Joe Pa? Say it ain't so. Of course, landing a miracle with the initials "T.P." could change things, but outside of that, there doesn't appear to be much to inspire hope in the hearts of Penn State fans.

Will this emotion continue for the season? (AP photo)

Ohio State 17-8, 8-4 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

February 17, 2008 1:00 PM ET - CBS —— Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI

Michigan 7-17, 3-9 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

OPPONENT: The first part of the West Virginia experiment is going as planned for Buckeye fans. Michigan still has the worst overall record in the conference, despite winning their last two games and will be looking to extend their season high win streak.

Michigan actually lead Ohio State at the half in their first meeting, before Ohio State turned up the defensive intensity and ended the game on a 9-0 run to win 65-55. Nothing would be sweeter for Michigan than a chance to play spoiler to any tournament dreams the Buckeyes have.

I know Beilein has 550 career victories and is considered a good "system" coach, but he has dug himself a huge hole and it will be interesting to see if he can get out of it by next year. Michigan ranks dead last in conference shooting, coming in with a 40 percent clip overall and 30.5 percent from downtown. They have shot over 45 percent in each of their last two games, so Ohio State will have to challenge their shots from the opening tip.

UM comes in averaging 61.5 points a game and gives up 68.5 points within the conference. Teams are shooting 47.4 percent against Michigan and outrebounding them by almost three a game. The only positive stat for Michigan is their 5 blocks a game, which is tops in the Big Ten.

KEY PLAYERS: Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims combine to score 44 percent of Michigan's points. Harris, the 6'5" freshman from Detroit leads this team in points (15.8), assists (2.9), steals (1.9), minutes (32.7) and FT percentage at 81. He struggled against OSU the first time around, registering just 7 points, no rebounds and three assists. Sims comes in scoring 12.7 points per contest, while also leading the team with 4.8 rebounds a game. He too struggled against Ohio State with 6 points and 3 boards in only 15 minutes of play.

Ekpe Udoh, a 6'10" sophomore leads the Big Ten in blocks at 2.6 per game within conference play and chips in with 6 points and 4.7 rebounds. Ron Coleman is the only senior starter and continues UM's recent trend of underacheiving seniors. The 6'6" swingman is scoring 5.8 points per game, shooting just 39 percent from the floor and 29 percent from seep.

Kelvin Grady, a 5'11" freshman point guard rounds out the starting five. He is scoring 5.6 per contest, dishing out 2.8 assists, and had his best game against Iowa Thursday with 9 assists and zero turnovers. Grady has not turned it over in the last two games.

Anthony Wright has developed into Michigan's sixth man and saw a career high 25 minutes in the first meeting with OSU. For the season he is averaging 4.5 points and almost 3 caroms. Zack Gibson and Jevohn Shepard will also see some action, accounting for 10 points and 5 boards a game.

NOTES: Michigan has the second toughest schedule according to Sagarin and eighth in the RPI... This is the 40th year for Crisler Arena, with Michigan going 421-117 (doesn't include forfeited games)... John Beilein is 6-4 in the NCAA tournament and 14-6 in the NIT... Michigan has not been ranked since Feb. 6 2006 (22)

BUCKEYE BREAKDOWN: Ohio State will be looking to grab their fourth road victory in conference play and will have a week off before the final stretch of Whisky, @Indiana, @Minn, Purdue and Sparty. A loss to Michigan would be another black mark on the Buckeyes tournament resume', but I still think if they can win three of these games, they will be dancing in March.

IMO, it is critical Ohio State continues to look inside right away, their success in there against Michigan two weeks ago and again Wednesday night is an indication the post entry passes have to continue. Hunter and Koufos combined for 27 points and 16 rebounds in the first meeting and they registered 30 points and 16 boards Wednesday. Any successful team needs an inside game to open up the three and put pressure on the defense.

Ohio State's defense is still rated sixth nationally for FG shooting at 36.7 percent. We all know this team has been frustrating offensively at times, but Thad's old school defensive philosophy is what this team has hung their hats on. Another impressive aspect of this D is the lack of fouls committed. The Baby Bucks lead the nation in fewest fouls at 13.8 per game, limiting opponent's free throw attempts and keeping them in games where the offensive sputters.

KEY PLAYERS: Most of us have been critical of Kosta's softness all season, but he might be on a mission to prove us wrong, thankfully. He has scored in double digits eight straight games and has averaged 15 points and 8 boards over his last three. I think it was the Michigan game where he started to show some emotion and his stats have reflected it. His arsenal continues to grow and I hope a late season push doesn't change his plans for next year.

Diebler continues to be the streakiest shooter I have ever witnessed, scoring over 12 points a game in his last three and connecting on 9-19 three point attempts. He started this recent break out against Michigan, after scoring only 10 points in the previous 6 games. Crisler Arena will be another new background for Diebler, as he has yet to score double digits on the road.

Jamar became Ohio State's all time assists leader Wednesday, but continued his recent shooting woes. While Butler did hit four three's, he has not made more than 4 field goals in his last four games and has not attempted a free throw since Iowa. The schedule has set up nicely this past week, so Butler's legs should be fresh. I think Butler has a great game tomorrow, as he is looking to repeat what the football seniors just did, leave Ohio State having never lost to Michigan.

Which David Lighty and Evan Turner show up today? These two may play a large part in Ohio State's destiny. If they can show up the remainder of the season, we might have an exciting post season.

NOTES: Jamar and Terwilliger will be looking to set the career wins mark with 99... Butler is 12th nationally in assists... Jamar Butler has made more threes (207) than free throws (206) in his career...Verne Lundquist and Clark Kellog will be doing the game.

In honor of Joe Kines getting hired as assistant defensive coordinator at Texas A&M:

(Like we needed another excuse to show that video. Bonus points: the video has the funniest title on all of YouTube, "Joe Kines Gets His Yaw-Yaw On".)

Props to the awesome Purdue blog Boiled Sports for the photoshop magic.

As Bob Baptist noted today, there is an unwritten agreement between the conference hoops coaches that if a kid verbals, rival schools are supposed to cease recruiting. Apparently, Kelvin Sampson didn't care much for that agreement as evidenced by his alleged recruitment of DeShaun Thomas after Thomas committed to Thad Matta last spring.

Apparently, Matta has wanted to choke out Sampson ever since and now it appears Sampson didn't stop with Thomas. Baptist's column notes the Toledo Blade reported OSU commit William Buford received a recruiting call from the IU staff nearly a full year after Buford's verbal to Matta.

IU assistant coach Rob Senderoff also placed an impermissable call to Evan Turner on May 11, 2006 as noted in the NCAA letter to IU outlining the allegations.

Indiana has a press conference scheduled for 3pm today to discuss the allegations and Sampson's status as Head Cheat, er Coach. A suspension while an internal investigation is completed appears to be a possibility as a precursor to termination once the university weighs its legal position.

Most pundits agree IU wants to can Sampson now but they've decided to proceed with caution after watching OSU botch the firing of fellow cheater Jim O'Brien to avoid a wrongful termination suit down the road. Either way, it's likely just a matter of time before Sampson is 86'd. Good riddance.

Ed Mulholland/FightWireImages.com

We're not big fight fans these days, but one guy we can get behind is Kelly Pavlik. The reigning middleweight champion and Boxing Times Fighter of the Year will be squaring off with Jermain Taylor again tomorrow night on HBO PPV.

Pavlik, a Youngstown native, served up a mild shock to the boxing world when he knocked out previously unbeaten Taylor in September of last year.

No word yet on whether both fighters will don trunks representing their favorite schools again, but Pavlik appears to be one of the few guys in Ohio that have a handle on the SEC.

(Thanks to TLB for the tip.)