Last night, the Utah Jazz took Kosta Koufos in the first round of the 2008 NBA Draft with the 23rd overall selection. This is slightly lower than many pundits had projected Koufos.

As a result of slipping, many judged the selection as great value for the Jazz. ESPN’s Chad Ford had this to say:

Great value pick for the Jazz at No. 23. He could be the second coming of Mehmet Okur -- a sweet-shooting big man who can play inside and outside. If Koufos had stayed in school, he would have been projected as a top-10 pick in 2009, so I don't think the Jazz could have done much better at 23.

The Jazz have a strong frontline and were among the league leaders in rebounding. Their reserves are good as well, with Paul Millsap really developing this season and Jason Collins giving solid minutes off the bench. If Koufos continues to improve his defense and rebounding he may see meaningful minutes in 2008-09.

Jamar Butler or and Othella Hunter went undrafted last night.

The 2008 NBA Draft starts in a few hours and the Buckeyes have a few players in the draft pool but only one player likely to make some noise: Kosta Koufos.

Most scouts and mock drafts predict that Koufos being drafted in the mid-first round. His workouts upped his stock considerably and our previous prediction that he would end up in Europe appears unlikely.

Where do you think he will go? Where do you think he should go? And, where do you hope he goes? Let us know. Post a comment.

The Ohio State football Buckeyes officially added their 10th commitment today. Dorian Bell, a big time LB prospect from Gateway High School in Monroeville, PA made the announcement today during a press conference at his school. Bell is getting some rave reviews, whether it is from Rivals (5-Star), Scout (5-Star), or ESPN (Top150).

Perhaps more impressive than Bell, is Ohio State’s ability to continually recruit top shelf linebackers. The litany of Buckeye ‘backers is well documented, but this is getting out of control. The talent currently on the roster is more than impressive. In 2008, the Scarlet and Gray signed Etienne Sabino (5-Star) and Andrew Sweat (4-Star) to add to the mix. Moreover, prior to Bell’s commitment the 2009 class already included Storm Klein and Jordan Whiting (both 4-Star) as well as Adam Homan. Bell is considered the #1 strong side linebacker by Scout, which should pair nicely with Whiting (#3 MLB) and Klein (#7 MLB). With all of this talent, the Buckeyes could be the first college team to sport the 2-7-2 defense.

Here is a brief snapshot of the Buckeyes’ 2009 recruiting class to date (that is a lot of stars): Read More...

Ohio State punctuated its season by defeating UMass 92-85. Koufos and Butler led the way, but a big kudos to Evan Turner who had his third straight big game for the Bucks. Turner essentially doubled his season averages and made a great case for the potential long in the NIT versus one and done in the NCAA. You have to believe his performance in the postseason will have a positive effect. Here's hoping the whole experience gives the team more motivation. Congratulations to David Lighty for getting the championship monkey off his back.

It's worth mentioning as well that this is the second straight season Thad has led his team to a tournament championship (Big Ten 2007). In fact, in the last three seasons, the Buckeyes postseason record, including the Big Ten Tournament, is 16-4 (6-2, NCAA; 5-0, NIT; 5-2, Big Ten). Not too shabby.

Depending on possible (yet dubious) defections to the Association, this could be a very talented and confident team in 2008-2009. Let hope that postseason winning streak continues.

We had this same headline last year. It has a slightly different meaning this time around, however. Still, we can all enjoy this game for what it is: the culmination of great postseason run.

Game previews include 11W and The Ozone. If you are a mainstream media kind of fan check out The Dispatch and The Plain Dealer. If you are one of those numbers fans (I am looking at you Tom) all you need to know if that the Buckeyes are 3.5-point favorites.

I could give you a prediction but that would be trite and hollow (Buckeyes by 10). Instead, I simply recommend watching the basketball Buckeyes one last time. For after tonight, the sports drought that is summer is right around the corner (sorry, baseball fans). All we have left to do is obsessively speculate about the 2008 football season.

What’s that? We are already doing that? This is going to be a long summer.

Ohio State thumped Dayton last night to advance to the NIT Semifinals in New York. That’s the good news. The bad news is Ohio State is on a collision course with its most recent (intertwined) nemeses: the University of Florida and the SEC. Ohio State takes on Ole Miss on April 1, 2008 at 9:00pm.

For whatever reason, Ohio State has not fared well versus the Florida or the SEC. So, the Buckeyes must relish the chance to gain a small measure of exorcism with potentially two straight games against the SEC, the finale against the Gators. Right?

Freud would almost certainly say that Buckeye Nation is developing defense mechanisms due to the recent results. (Level 4 defense mechanisms to be sure.) After all, who among us has not defended Ohio State in the face of SEC revelers? Read More...

Ohio State is a win away from Madison Square Garden as they take on Dayton at 9:00pm tonight in the (less?) friendly confines of Value City Arena. I say less because it appears Flyers fans have purchased plenty of tickets and plan to make the trip. Ohio State is an 8-point favorite. The game is on ESPN2.

This should be Ohio State’s toughest test so far in the NIT and Dayton looks to improve on its past two performances thanks to the return of Chris Wright. With two Ohio universities facing off there is no shortage of pre-game coverage, so I will not add another one.

The Dayton Daily News has a story previewing the game, as well as notebooks for both Dayton and Ohio State. The DDN also has a story on how the Flyers have learned to win on the road.
Read More...

Despite The Boss pushing the Buckeyes out of their home, the Ohio State men appeared to be inspired by one of Springsteen’s greatest hits. Ohio State used two big runs - 17-2 in the first half, 24-4 in the second – to put the game away.

St. John Arena’s funky floor seemed to have a positive affect on the Buckeyes’ shooting, as they made 29 of 58 (.500) from the floor. The giant red rectangle was an especially nice balm for Butler and Koufos, who scored 20 and 17, respectively, to pace the Buckeyes. Butler hit 4 of 9 from three-point territory. So far in the NIT, Butler is 16 – 28 (.571) from the field and 9-19 (.473) beyond the arc.

Next up for the Buckeyes: a home game versus Dayton, who defeated Illinois State 55-48 tonight. Maybe Ohio State should play that one in St. John Arena as well.

Future Buckeyes: If you have already turned your attention to soon-to-be Buckeyes, you have a chance to see two of them play Wednesday night. The McDonald’s All-American Game takes place in Milwaukee at 9:00pm and is televised n ESPN. The game features the two most highly rated future members of Matta’s squad: B.J. Mullens (Canal Winchester High School, Canal Winchester, OH) and William Buford (Libbey High School, Toledo, OH). Oddly, they are on opposite teams with Buford playing for the East and Mullens for the West. Read More...

I do not have the numbers in front of me but I am certain that today, as the first day of the NCAA Tournament, is the least productive day of the year for men ages 18-80, in the United States. Unless you are foreign born, have deep-seeded moral objections to gambling, or are a Buddhist monk you will most likely spend a considerable amount of time and energy following the games.

Maybe you are at work with the automatically refreshing online scoreboard, at home “sick,” or one of the lucky ones working in a restaurant surrounded by televisions. Whatever the case maybe be, you are locked in.

*unofficial Buckeye Commentary data

Unlike last year, we do not have all of our energy invested in the Buckeyes’ championship run. It would be great for Ohio State to be in the hunt every season, but we get our fair share in football (hello, 2008!). As an Ohio State basketball fan, think of March 2008 as an equal opportunity month for college basketball viewing. You can spread your fandom more judiciously to more than one team instead of fixating on the Scarlet and Gray. This is your chance to cheer for your wife’s alma mater or a college from a city where you used to live. You get to do it with impunity, too. The good folks at Buckeye Commentary certainly are not going to hold it against you.

I like to think of this spring as a welcome break from the championship grind. After all, for three straight major-sport seasons (football 2006, basketball 2007, football 2007) Ohio State fans have been on the edge of their seats - nerves frayed, souls spent. And, the best part of this little time off? You have the knowledge that five months from now you will be right back at it, watching Tressel’s squad fight for another championship. I am going to need my strength.

NIT Second Round: In case you are interested (and judging by Tuesday’s attendance, you are not), tickets for Ohio State’s second NIT game went on sale this morning. The No. 1 seeded Buckeyes host a second round game on March 24 at St. John Arena. The Buckeyes will play the winner of New Mexico and California, a game scheduled for tonight at 11 p.m.

Buckeye Commentary Pool: It is too late to join but I believe ESPN allows you transfer teams into different leagues. Feel free to come over and show off your perfect bracket. Updates at the end of the night.

Buckeye Chris is back with more analysis on the basketball Buckeyes. This time he sets his sights on tonight's opening round NIT game versus UNC Asheville.

So... the NIT. Hooray! Are you as excited as I am?! Really? Are you? The Buckeyes play UNC Ashland (or something like that) tonight. Save me a seat. I'm sure there will be plenty of room for me. This leads me to my big question. In anticipation of "plenty of great seats available" for the 7:00 PM tip off on ESPN2 (yes...ESPN 2) tonight I have to ask Buckeye (Basketball) Nation, "What does this say about us (OSU hoops fans)?" Are we fair weather fans? Or, do we just expect more of our team/program than an NIT berth?

In all fairness to the team and the staff - let's be real. While I do have issues with the apparent lack of "designed plays" (especially in crunch time), Matta, etc. did have to pretty much start from scratch this year- with the departure of the nation's dominant big man - not to mention one of (if not the) nation's best point guard. I certainly don't mean to sound as though I am condemning the staff and team for being in the NIT. Yet, here we are. So, what's a die-hard fan to do?

I go back and forth as to whether or not I'll watch. Admit it. So have you. If they win, they've won an NIT game. Oh...the chills. If they lose. Well, see my previous comment about the 1994 team losing to Gary Trent and OU...at home. ARRRRRRRRRRRGH!!! As you can tell, I'm over that. Completely over that. Okay, you caught me. Come tip off, I'll probably switch over from Law and Order re-runs on USA and watch the Buckeye game.

Go Bucks! The Road to ...New York begins tonight.

But what do you think? Are we crappy fans if only "close friends and relatives" show up tonight?

Spring Game VIP: On a good note a friend of mine who does some (too much, to be honest) online research called me tonight and informed that he has it on good sources that Pryor plans to attend the Ohio State Spring Game. Hmmm ...wonder why?

See you in the Buckeye Commentary Pool.

The NCAA Selection Committee denied Ohio State entrance to the Big Dance so the Buckeyes did what any shunned outsider does – accepted the next offer that came its way. As a result, OSU bookends its 2007-2008 season with appearances in the NIT pre-season and post-season tournaments. Back in November the Buckeyes were drilled by Texas A&M in the NIT Season Tip-Off.

Ohio State plays their opening round game at home against UNC Asheville on Tuesday night at 7:00pm. If they prevail they will play the winner of (4) California v. (5) New Mexico

Just in case you are considering skipping the game to work on a puzzle, you may want to tune in to see 7’7” Kenny George, the tallest player in the history of Division I basketball. George leads the nation in field goal percentage and can dunk without leaving the ground. How cool is that? If that is not enough, he sounds like Gheorghe Muresan as well.

But does he smell like big Gheorge?

The NCAA Selection Committee will annouce the fate of the basketball Buckeyes in a couple of hours. Their silence may be defeaning. Do you think the Buckeyes will make the field? Voice your opinion now with the poll on the right. Stop back around 6:00pm to participate in the Live Blog during the selection to discuss where the are headed: NCAA or NIT.

Ohio State begins its Big Ten Tourney Title defense Friday afternoon. Their first opponent in the tournament? Their last of the regular season, of course. The Buckeyes play Michigan State for the second time in six days and the third time this season. The home team won each time. Bucknuts has a nice preview here.

The Buckeyes get a small break being the 5th seed, as opposed to 6th or lower, in that they do not have to play today. Because there is no home court advantage, both the Buckeyes and Spartans are each ostensibly 4th seeds.

If you care to get ahead of yourself, head over to Big Ten Fever for some interesting, homegrown Bracketology.

Ohio State’s all-time record in the Big Ten Tourney is 13-8, and they won the title twice: 2002, 2007. With that in mind, I thought I would look back at five memorable Ohio State performances in Big Ten Tournament.

1. Ohio State 94, Illinois 88 (2002): As a sign of unity, the Buckeyes shaved their heads prior to the tournament. It worked. Jim O’Brien collected his 100th win at Ohio State as he guided their first Big Ten Tournament Title Game. Each team was lights out from the floor (Ohio State – 57%; Illinois – 55%) but the difference came at the free throw line where the Buckeyes were 27-of-36, knocking down 19-of-24 in the second half.

2. Ohio State 58, Wisconsin 50 (2003): Ohio State limped into the conference tourney with a 15-13 record and snuck by Iowa in the opening round. The game started badly for the Buckeyes, who were big underdogs, but they abandoned the zone defense and went to man-to-man, and the Badgers couldn't figure it out. Wisconsin grabbed a lead early in the second half but the Ohio State defense held them scoreless for nearly five minutes to go ahead for good. Wisconsin had plenty of chances down the stretch but committed costly turnovers and could capitalize on OSU’s mistakes.

3. Ohio State 66, Wisconsin 49 (2007): Mike Conley and Ron Lewis led the Buckeyes to a deceptively easy win and their second Big Ten Tournament Title. The Badgers shot poorly and committed 12 turnovers and 17 fouls. Greg Oden only played 22 minutes but did not matter. OSU took a 4-2 lead a minute and a half into the game and never trailed.

4. Ohio State 81, Iowa 64 (2002): This game clinched Ohio State’s first tournament title. The Buckeyes forced a tournament-record 19 turnovers and Boban Savovic scored a career-high 27 points. As the Buckeyes dominated most of the game. Savovic, named tournament MVP, spurred a 21-8 second half run to put it away.

5. Ohio State 55, Michigan State 54 (2003): The Buckeyes continued the momentum from their victory over the top-seeded Badgers, but it almost did not happen. Ohio State avoided a huge collapse when Charles Bass banked in a free throw with 6 seconds remaining to give Ohio State its final lead. OSU led by as much as 19 in the first half as they held Michigan State to15 percent shooting. Ohio State returned the favor making just two field goals in the last 17:09, the final basket coming with eight minutes to play.

NCAA Basketball Pool: Feel like battling the rest of Buckeye Nation in an NCAA Tournament Pool? Here’s your chance. Buckeye Commentary has started a NCAA Pool on ESPN. Follow this link to join the group. It is a public group so you will not need a password.

Obviously, there is no entry fee to play and therefore no pot of money but do not let that deter you from signing up and making friendly wagers amongst yourselves. See you in Bracketville.

After being a frequent reader and comment contributor, BuckeyeChris has been kind enough to join Buckeye Commentary as a basketball contributing writer. Tonight marks his inaugural post and I am sure you will agree with me in hoping he continues. Enjoy.

Barring back-to-back wins against Michigan State (the Buckeyes play Sparty this Sunday and will play them again on Friday in the 4 vs 5 game at the Big Ten Tournament) plus a few more wins in the Big Ten Tournament next weekend, the Buckeyes are likely looking at a berth in the NIT (forgive me, Non-Important Tournament) this year.

I guess I am just greedy after a few seasons in a row of trips to the NCAAs, but the NIT just doesn't excite me.

That said, as painful as this team can be to watch, they aren't that bad. For the most part, they aren't getting blown out. They are just losing to teams they shouldn't be losing to (such as teams that have to hold "Buy 2 tickets, get 2 free!" promotions...Ann Arbor, I'm lookin' at you) and displaying a consistent failure to seal the deal in crunch time (see the Tennessee game, the Wisconsin game at home and the Indiana game at home). A prime example of the presence of this complete confusion in crunch time was to be observed Tuesday night against Purdue. Yes, I am aware that they won in overtime. However, what was the plan at the end of regulation? Does this team run any set plays? It once again did not appear so. They dribbled and passed until about 0:08 and then someone just spazzed toward the center of the court, 4 defenders converged, the ball was knocked free...Purdue ball... opportunity blown.

Let's face it. This team needs a "go-to" guy in the worst way. If they had someone who commanded the ball in crunch time, who knows how many of their near misses (Tennessee, Indiana, Wisconsin) may have been big wins? If such a player can, from the shadows, emerge in the final week of the pre-NCAA Tournament season the Buckeyes may (repeat "may") be able to make some noise NCAA-wise.

With such a young team I think it's vital to the future that this team make it to the "Big Dance." The experience, bright lights and atmosphere the NCAAs offer would be exponentially more beneficial to these young men compared to what the NIT has to offer. I say this even on the assumption that the Bucks may lose in round one or two of the NCAAs. What would they gain from going to the Semi-Finals of the NIT? The bottom line is this, you don't come to Ohio State to play in the NIT.

Ohio State's 71-57 loss at Minnesota yesterday most likely dashed their hopes of making the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season. In case you missed it here are the, er, highlights. (ESPN's lame video site will not allow me to embed the video and you probably do not want to see it anyway.)

Do the Buckeyes have any chance of getting an at-large bid? Joe Lunardi does not think so. He has not said as much, but as of last Friday the czar of bracket prognostication already had the Buckeyes on the outside looking in.

After being outscored by 13 points in the second half yesterday their stock certainly did not increase. Was it a death knell? This coming week offers both salvation and gloom. The Buckeyes have two difficult home games remaining: March 4th v. Purdue (23-6, 14-2) and March 9th v. Michigan State (22-6, 10-5). Ohio State has to win those two games and may even have to do some damage in the Big Ten tournament to erase the memory of yesterday from the Selection Committee's mind. But a couple of nice victories over Top 20 teams and an opening round win in the conference tournament would be nice momentum for a team that has stumbled badly down the stretch.

Coming to an Arena Near You: If you are having football withdrawal and you just watched the Buckeyes crumble in Minnesota, there may be minor (league) help on the way. The Arena League now features nine former Ohio State players.

This was opening weekend for the Arena League and two former OSU quarterbacks led their teams into action. Steve Bellisari was 20-of-38 for 210 yards and three scores, before leaving the game with an injury in the second half. Joe Germaine was 19-of-31 for 236 yards, 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. Neither the Utah Blaze or New Orleans VooDoo are coming to town but you can catch the Destroyers along with others at Nationwide Arena the season.

The Liveblog will be up today for the OSU/Minnesota basketball game. Tip off is 4:00pm. It's interactive, so stop by and contribute as much as you like.

Reminder: I will be conducting another liveblogging event tonight for the OSU/Michigan basketball game. Gametime is 7pm. It's interactive so participate if you can.

For some unexplained reason, the Ohio State - Penn State basketball game was on ESPN tonight. I could, perhaps, understand it if the game was in Columbus but not when it's played in the Bryce Jordan Center where the Lions struggle to draw 7k per contest. In fact, it's so bad the Big Ten Network bought a 1000 tickets even though it wasn't on their network. Figure that one out. They say it was for charity.

Anyway, Jamar Butler has returned to form in the last few games. This has coincided with teams abandoning the extended hedge at the top of the key. Against Penn State, Butler scored 20 points, handed out 6 dimes and played all 40 minutes in a 68-56 win. (Sorry PJ Hill) Not that it was a cakewalk mind you. Penn State, as they typically do against us, played out of their heads in the first half. The Nits opened up a 7 point lead and had the scored tied at intermission. Unfortunately, they opened the second half with two consecutive turnovers and their night went slowly downhill from there.
Boxscore:


The win moves Ohio State to 15-6 overall. Those forecasting a future NCAA tournament selection probably need to hope for another solid win, although many of the early bracketologists have us as a 8 or 9 seed. Ohio State stays on the road traveling next to Carver Hawkeye Arena to take on Iowa. By the way, I still hope to complete another LiveBlog - perhaps the Michigan game next Tuesday. What's a LiveBlog, you may ask? This.

Totally unrelated, Keith Wells now featured in Buckeye Vision (top right of the sidebar). We still love Terrelle, just sharing the wealth. Also, new Buckeye blog added: Our Honor Defend.

Ohio State men's basketball has been maddening this year. The record is solid, the RPI is fantastic and the schedule strength is among the upper echelon. Yet the feeling is a somewhat empty as if we cannot get a bead on the identity of this team. More pointedly, the play has been schizophrenic, typified by periods of exceptional basketball befit of experienced teams along with horrid spells where making a basket of any type is an exercise in futility.

With a healthy dose of irony, the only thing that's been consistent is the inconsistency. This was never more apparent in the 76-60 win over a pretty good Minnesota squad on Saturday evening. After jumping out to a commanding 19-3 lead, the Buckeyes found themselves hanging on by only 3 deep into the second half. And just like that, a switch was flipped to catalyze a 32-19 run to end the game in a flurry. Such is life with a young team I suppose.

If the team has aspirations of an NCAA berth the next month needs to be the time to galvanize. A year long calming force has been veteran Jamar Butler. Even when he isn't scoring a lot, he's taking care of the ball and handling the junk defenses opposing coaches throw at him. He's beginning to get help as other players step up. In particular, Evan Turner has played extremely well of late despite the rotation becoming shorter and minutes increasing. Turner has been in double figures each of his last three games where he hasn't played fewer than 34 minutes (see above graphic).

Next up is a road trip to Penn State (sans Geary Claxton) and then to Iowa. Perhaps David Lightly can work on his turnover issues.

Ohio State ran Iowa out of the gym last night in a convincing 79-48 victory. I had the chance to take in the action and my view from section 302 saw the Buckeyes attack an Iowa squad that is trudging through a transitional period. Former Iowa coach Steve Alford bolted for New Mexico and top player, Tyler Smith, rode off to Tennessee which makes for tough sleding for new coach Tom Lickliter (a former Matta assistant).

It was clear early Ohio State had the decided quickness advantage. In a game where no Buckeye played more than 23 minutes, David Lightly was the early catalyst. He scored from distance, off steals and by acrobatically finishing a few runouts. Ohio State ran a bit more than normal so the fact the turnover number was especially low (6) is indicative of the quality of passing. Othello Hunter and Lighty led the Buckeyes scorers with 14 a piece. Jamar Butler, coming off a virus which saw him lose 10lbs, turned in a 9 assist - 0 turnover night.

I snapped off a few pictures from the game. They are admittingly not very good but I offer them anyway. The slideshow is Flash based and can be controlled by the small buttons toward the bottom of the image. Should you want to hop around, one of the buttons will display thumbnails. Groovy.


In several ways, it was good to see the blowout occur. The size of the lead allowed Jamar and other starters to get much needed rest as the upcoming road trip is rather brutal. And perhaps just as importantly, players like Eric Wallace, PJ Hill and even Dallas Lauderdale received much more playing time than usual. The payoff here will likely be seen further down the road. Additional thoughts and commentary at Eleven Warriors.

Ohio State trailed Illinois early in the second half when Jamar Butler decided he'd had enough. The following few minutes saw Butler score the Buckeye's next fifteen points and turn a one point deficit into a healthy lead. In the end, Thad Matta's young team worked through some kinks to win 74-58. Butler finished with 32 to lead all scorers and 11W is effusive with praise. Othello Hunter added a quiet 15 points.

StatSheet Box:


On top of Jamar's impressive play, it's notable the Buckeyes won in Champaign again. Even with Illinois struggling some this year, winning at Illinois is never an easy task. The recipe for success was nearly identical as previous outings this year; a kinda-good zone capped by periods of blazingly hot offense. Basically, this is a team that will make your heart sore with pride and frustrate you to the brink of psychopathy. Youth will do that and that's what makes it exciting.

The win pushes Ohio State's record to 10-3 on the year. Next up is two game home starting beginning with Northwestern and finishing up with Iowa on Wednesday.

In beating Maryland - Baltimore County by nine, who is not to be confused with Maryland - College Park, the boxscore offers all kinds of ugliness. Some of the ugly stats include UMBC hitting 17 three pointers, attempting 17 more shots, making three more FGs and some guy named Ray Barbosa going off for 32 points. That Ohio State actually won is commendable, thanks to prodigious work at the charity stripe and the emergence of Jon Diebler.

Diebler, as we should know by now, is the freshman scorer from Upper Sandasky. He adores shooting the three but the beginnings of his collegiate career were frigid shooting the ball. In the first 8 games, he was 7-45 from beyond the arc which equates to 16%. That number is even inflated by a 5-14 night against North Carolina. But, that North Carolina game may have given him the shot of confidence he needed.

Diebler has since gone on a tear in his last four games to make up for his earlier shooting woes. In contests against Presbyterian, Cleveland State, Florda and UMBC, Diebler is 14-23 (61%) from three point land. The improvement is probably less to do with a change in mechanics and more the adjustment some freshman need as they make the leap from high school to major college athletics. And, yes, the opponents aren't exactly murderers row but neither were the teams he faced earlier when he struggled severely to make any jumper. Besides, Florida is still the defending national champs and UMCB actually has a (much) higher RPI than the more famous Maryland. So does Cleveland State.

The key now for Jon will be sustainability. No one should expect this torrid shooting all year; he is not Chris Lofton after all. However, Jon can be an effective and consistent spot up shooter and scorer. If he does, at the end of the season, we can look back that this stretch as his breakthrough period.

Replay of the liveblog is now posted. Thanks to everyone who stopped in to participate or read along. Good times.

The search for a Michigan football coach is over. Rich Rodriguez has accepted the offer and will be formally introduced tomorrow morning. He will not coach West Virginia in their bowl game. This makes the second coach Michigan has pilfered from the Morgantown university, the first being basketball coach John Beilein who left WVU in April of this year.

Undoubtedly Rodriguez will bring an entirely different brand of football to Ann Arbor. He is one of the leading minds on the spread option (or read option) offense which gives teams (ie: Ohio State) so many problems. And, while this is a good hire for blue, don't fret just yet if you're an Ohio State fan. This offense usually takes time to implement not only in terms of design but also personnel. Seeing Ryan Mallett run the spread option would be a humorously welcome sight. To that end, West Virginia was just 3-8 in Rodriguez's first year in Morgantown.

The impact of this coaching change has already reverberated to the recruiting world. An Illini messageboard post reports that QB John Wienke has decommitted from Michigan and will now attend Iowa. Unfortunately for Buckeye fans, all-world QB Terrelle Pryor has added the Wolverines to his short list. No word on how the coaching change may effect Josh Jenkins who is formally committed to West Virginia but has been wavering for months. Many feel he was already on cusp of switching his commitment to Ohio State before Rodriguez bailed.

Last week, the path to New Orleans was outlined after our convincing win at Michigan. That path was further cleared today when LSU lost at home to Arkansas - or, as Les Miles says, ar-Kansas - in triple OT. We still must ask for more help from Oklahoma in the Big 12 Title game. If Oklahoma wins (in a game I believe they'll be favored), Ohio State, barring any poll wackiness, is all but assured a return trip to the BCS Championship game.

In case you were wondering, the odds have been calculated for you math types. As of games which ended today, Ohio State stands a 59% chance of getting to the BCS Championship game which is second only to West Virginia's 83%. So, the probability of our return to the national title game has quickly gone from longshot to on the cusp. Maybe ending the regular season before Thanksgiving isn't so bad after all?

If nothing else, you have to applaud the Big Ten Network for their savvy media blitz. They're not only hitting the major, national outlets but also small time bloggers as well. It's smart tactic - attempt to cover all angles and connect, in some small way, to the fans themselves. Other sites have gotten in on this interview thing as well, like Peegs and MGoBlog back in July. I was lucky enough to be given 20-25 minutes on Friday afternoon to hurl some questions at BTN president Mark Silverman. Sweet.

Some caveats before you dive in because this phone interview taught me a few things. It's harder to do than you think and even harder when you're doing it at work. My nervousness (I don't know why) and awkwardness will come through, along with the natural twang I have in my voice even though I was born and raised in central ohio. Weird, I know. Anyway, I've included the actual audio (24 minutes) so you can listen to an only slightly edited discussion. The edits only cleaned up the flow and took out some needless droning by me.

Of course, I asked about a variety of topics some of which are worthy to outline in written word - though there are other interesting points in the audio. I tried my best to not duplicate already asked and answered questions. For instance, I asked about the berth of the network in the first place. Fans, especially those of teams whose football and basketball games were always on, are a little irritated that once available games aren't now for the most part, unless you have DirecTV. Silverman says:

"I think the one piece people haven’t fully realized is how much of their games were moving to lesser distributed platforms. For example, in 2005 there were 10 games on ESPNU and 5 games on ESPN360. Last year, those 5 games on ESPN360 increased to 10. The 10 games that were on ESPNU increased to 17."

Further strengthening the argument, Silverman says there were 5 completely untelevised games in 2005 and that number jumped to 8 last year. It also appeared that disturbing trend would only get worse and affect all teams - no matter their caliber - which is when the conference started to investigate creating its own network. And let's not kid, the creation of a network is also a mechanism the make more money. Which is the primary catalyst is tough to tell.

We then focused on the status of the cable providers. In Ohio, Time Warner Cable (TWC) represents a huge segment - especially in Columbus. Silverman said they are still in active negotiations with TWC though my impression was nothing is imminent. The two sticking points remain the same - tier and price. BTN says the tier is non-negotiable so it was interesting to learn that the $1.10 per subscriber price is not the price on the table for TWC. It is lower than that:

"Time Warner knows that number ($1.10) is higher than what we've offered"

Silverman has said the price isn't even worth discussing if the two sides cannot agree on tier. Reading tea leaves, I'm going to (maybe incorrectly) assume this means Time Warner has agreed to tier and are just haggling over price. Also of note is if talks continue into the season, the channel will be brought to customers midseason. Just because the season begins doesn't mean the negotiations stop. Oh by the way, that whole two free preview games as reported in the Dispatch?

"There's absolutely nothing to that."

The news is even more grim for Comcast customers:

"Comcast is not going to happen, I'm convinced."

This puts a buzzsaw into the rumors on various messageboards that Comcast will bring on the channel in January of 2008. The whole Comcast Channel Guide brouhaha was addressed by Silverman as well.

The nasty thing in all this and what really chaps people is the lack of options. To date, 100 cable companies have agreed to carry BTN - just not anyone of consequence. Right now, it's DirecTV or you're pretty much not going to see the games. Can't blame TWC for that since they didn't create the network or move games to ESPNU/ESPN360. There have been many that cavalierly say 'move to DirecTV' (which Silverman actually uses himself) but it's simply not that easy. Depending on location, there are thousands who cannot get DirecTV at all which leaves no options outside of moving. But we're in the technological age where bandwidth is gigantic so what about live streaming games on the official BTN site?

I don’t’ think we’ll be able to stream games out of the gate. All of our cable deals have restrictions for what you can do online.

Eh, who struck the deal with that restriction? Live streaming would bridge the gap quite nicely...like it does for March Madness and corporate America.

There were other random topics that I'll leave to the audio. They pertain to specifics with the overflow channels, releasing coverage maps much like ABC does, replaying of games and some talk of the wrestling programming. Nevertheless, no matter what side you are on, you're still caught in the middle with very little power.

Meet you at the sports bar, where we can watch the game and discuss the effects a regionalized station will have on recruiting.

Being that I've been away, it's probably prudent to get up to speed with news items that have come and gone. If I have missed something (100% chance of that), just chime in. I did not follow my 150+ RSS Feeds on a daily basis when I was 'away'.

Fall Practice Begins. Hello Injuries: We are a solid two weeks into fall practice and the injury bug is starting to surface. By now, you all probably know about Ray Small twisting his ankle. On top of that Curtis Terry was carted off the field the other day (HT: BuckeyePlanet), the day after The Dispatch ran a nice piece declaring him injury-free. Jinx! Elsewhere, so many folks are talking about injuries to OL Kyle Mitchum and Jon Skinner that I'm not even going to find links. I believe it to be true. Even the franchise, Beanie Wells, came down with a stinger during a recent Hoot 'n Holler drill.

On the positive side, Anderson Russell appears to be full go and showing no side-effects of his knee injury. The loss of AR last year was a critical blow to the defense. His return to the secondary will bolster a somewhat thin backfield. True frosh Devon Torrence has moved to WR from DB where most thought he'd play.

BTN = Free? The Big Ten Network (BTN) has yet to formulate an agreement with the two big dogs - Time Warner and Comcast. A recent Dispatch article, however, indicated Central Ohio Time Warner subscribers may receive the first two games of the year on a free trial basis. When asked point blank Mark Silverman, BTN head honcho, said:

"I can't comment on that specific solution, but we're trying to get this (overall deal) done. I'm open to coming up with creative ways to solve this."

Seemingly, this tactic would provide additional negotiation time while satisfying the seething and frothing Ohio State fans. I can live with that because what I'm not going to do is attach one of these to the side of my house. Then again, with just released men's basketball schedule, I made reconsider.

Kosta Koufos: No one will ever truly replace Greg Oden but Kosta Koufos is a much heralded big man who is playing exceptionally well. In the UMCOR U18 European Championship, he was named tournament MVP while playing for Greece. During tournament play, he averaged - averaged! I say - 26.5 points, 13 boards and 3.5 blocks against some of the top competition in his age bracket.

Worst. Cover. Ever: This doesn't necessary classify as old news but pertinent nonethless. The next issue of Sports Illustrated will feature Michigan RB Mike Hart on the cover. Initial reaction is one of 'whatever' but this has an interesting tie-in to James Laurinaitis. For those who aren't aware, there's been a subtle campaign to out JL as a good, but overrated player. To a point, I would agree in so much as he's no AJ Hawk. But, Mike Hart fits 'good but overrated' tag (GBO) about as well as anyone. This is a guy, after-all, who averaged less than 5 yards a carry last year...and the year before. He gets his 1500 yards by virtue of a bazillion carries. On top of that, he and Chad Henne (another who is GBO) have yet to beat Ohio State or a bowl opponent.

As several outlets have reported including the good folks over at Eleven Warriors, junior college freshman point guard PJ Hill has committed to Thad Matta. Hill will be eligible for the upcoming season, undoubtedly as stopgap measure to help replace Mike Conley, Jr. It is important, however, to note Hill bears no relation to the PJ Hill who totes the football (rather well, I might add) at Wisconsin.

The informational goods on our Hill are cloaked in a bit of a mystery. Simply put, we don't know much about this guy. What we do know is the 6'2", 165lbs guard played for the national champion Midland College (TX) where averaged 6.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists. He prepped at Minneapolis North HS and he was discovered and offered in a week span by OSU assistant John Groce. It may have been defense that Groce liked most:

Hill was a key player off the bench last season for the national champion Chaparrals, averaging 6.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. Hill, however, was best known for his defense and his ability to harass some of the best guards the Chaps came up against last year.

And remember this is a player who has three years ahead of him at Ohio State. While he may not put up consistent double digits scoring nights, it appears he likes to make opponents uncomfortable with his palms up aggressive defense. A seemingly perfect type of player to give short burst of minutes helping Jamar Butler and incoming blue chipper Noopy Crater run the show.

If you know more or if any readers have actually watched him play, chime in.

Sports Illustrated published its list of the Top 10 Buckeye athletes today. This is an ambitious effort considering the legends that have played for Ohio State. Whittling down a gigantic list of candidates to only 10 and then ranking them is no small feat. So for that, a tip of the cap to SI. In order to save some of you some clicking, their selections are as follows:

Rank	Buckeye Athlete	Sport
1	Archie Griffin	Football
2	Jesse Owens	Track & Field
3	Hopalong Cassady	Football
4	Blaine Wilson	Gymnastics
5	Jerry Lucas	Basketball
6	Katie Smith	W.Basketball
7	Eddie George	Football
8	Greg Oden	Basketball
9	Jack Nicklaus	Golf
10	Troy Smith	Football

Yeah, so, that represents 5 Heisman Trophies, 7 Olympic Gold Medals and a Silver (Wilson). The selections are strong and Yes, I think Oden deserves to be on the list. Opinions vary. Maybe not at #8 (more like #10) but in twenty years from now, any list without Greg will look utterly ridiculous. Certainly cases can be made for others such as John Havlicek and Orlando Pace but there'll always be arguments for inclusion.

My chief argument is the ranking of Jesse Owens. It's felonious and shameful to rank him anywhere but at the top. Whereas others figured on the national scale, Owens impacted the World. The Buckeye Bullet won prestigious awards, set world records and broke through extreme pressures to win Gold - multiple times - in the face of hatred. Consider too, he won eight individual NCAA Championships at Ohio State and at a meet in Ann Arbor, set 3 world records (tied another) in less than an hour. We love Archie. He's beloved. But Jesse is the top and the next in line isn't even close.

Almost equal parts football and basketball...

Jay Richardson Making Enemies - When you're a fifth round draft pick, protocol would dictate to keep your trap shut, work hard and hope you make the team. On top of this, you make nice with returning players, listen to their sage advice and melt into inner workings of the clubhouse. But, whatever you do, do not air dirty laundry and question the work ethic of some returning players. That would be really bad, but it's exactly what Jay Richardson did.

"Some of the veterans reported that we were working too hard. With me coming from Ohio State, we always worked really hard there so I was kind of used to it. But the veterans complained that they 'don't always have to do all of this crap.'"

On the 'egregiousness-scale' (yes, I made that up), it doesn't rank too high.