With gas, food and other commodities shooting through the roof, you most likely cannot afford to do anything more than sit on your couch and stare at your laptop (on low brightness, of course, to save power). Don’t fret, Buckeye Commentary is here to help and provide you with some headlines from around Buckeye Nation. You may know some of this stuff already, but a second reading never hurt anybody.

Stay classy Detroit: The Detroit Free Press could not resist taking one more shot at Coach Cooper. Look for Ken Gordon to pen this headline upon Lloyd’s HOF induction: “Perpetually old curmudgeon receives honor despite splitting a championship and not winning a meaningful game in his last five seasons.” Kenny, you can borrow that one when the time comes.

Helmet to helmet: Troy Smith continues to haunt Michigan and its former players. Bill Belichick let the Patriot, Shawn Crable, know that his on-field discipline was an issue.

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know: Ohio State and USC will kickoff at 5:00pm PT. Didn’t we know this 6 weeks ago.

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know, pt. 2: We are not going to have a college football playoff anytime soon. Duh.

It feels like the first time: The site of Ohio State’s first football game was commemorated this weekend. This link has some pictures of the … um, field. How many tackles do you think that tree had in the game?

Border War: Earle Bruce is scheduled to regale hundreds at a fundraiser in Toledo today. His talk will focus on his first significant victory against Michigan … in recruiting. Ohio State coaches and players will be on hand to sign autographs.

Wind sprints: Apparently, Michigan will be less tired this season after chasing Beanie Wells all day. No word on if they plan to tackle him.

Addition by subtraction: Ohio State grabbed two junior college players after Kosta Koufos and Eric Wallace fled campus.

We’re still here: The Minneapolis Star Tribune covers the Big Ten, but basically ignores about the Gophers.

New starters: Rivals did a little post-spring breakdown of the Big Ten. According to them, Tyler Moeller is a pass rusher now and Jamario O’Neal has been a starter for a while. In other news, I can dunk with both hands.

Pattern developing: Anyone else noticing a theme here? Maybe Thad can find a free scholarship just to keep up with Tressel.

Buckeye Commentary is not one those sites always begging for money (you know who you are). Nevertheless, desperate times call for desperate measures.

If you were not already sure, EDSBS has the ability to spite your team … in horrific fashion. Worst of all, they are threatening to bring harm to our beloved Buckeyes. Thankfully, the crew over there is accepting bribes not to act counter to the ambitions of our gridiron heroes. We must act fast. Read More...

Spring practice is over for every team, important position battles have been waged, players have been arrested (everyone is doing it) and some even dismissed from their squad. That means there is only one thing left to do: make ridiculously early Top 25 predictions. Hey, if players can practice year round, we can prognosticate year round.

Luckily for you (and me), five respected institutions have obliged with some paid-by-the-word breakdowns of the Top 25 teams in college football - at least as it stands four months prior to the season. Other polls are sure to follow and we can update this data accordingly. As history has taught us, no players will be injured, arrested for assault and/or resisting arrest or suspended for soliciting prostitutes between now and August 30, 2008.

A couple of the rankings are in need of updating (CFN and ESPN), but when you are dealing with an inexact science’s second cousin, what is a few months? The other three were composed after the conclusion of spring practice and two after Perrilloux’s fate was decided.

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Last season: We have all read about the lack of interceptions from the defensive backs last season. The Buckeyes only had 11 picks and Anderson Russell believes they dropped an additional 15. Those numbers are troubling, but not the end of the world. After all, the Buckeyes finished in passing defense (as measured by yards allowed) and we know it was not because teams were busy running on them (they only gave up 83 ypg on the ground). When measured by passing efficiency, the Buckeyes finished 4th.

As you can see from the chart, Ohio State typically held their opponents well below the average passing numbers. Only Washington and Wisconsin fared better than averaged.

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Last season: By almost any measuring stick, this group had a terrific season and I am not about to dispute that. James Laurinaitis would have been a first round choice had he decided to leave and Marcus Freeman would likely have been a day one selection. Larry Grant graduated and the 49ers drafted him in the seventh round.

Laurinaitis won the Butkus Award (controversy aside) for being the nation’s top linebacker, while leading the team in tackles for the second straight season (121 tackles). If Laurinaitis leads the team again this season it will the second consecutive three-year stretch where one player led the Buckeyes in tackles each year. (A.J. Hawk led the team in tackles from 2003-2005.) Another similar year from Lil’ Animal should land him inside the Top 10 for career tackles at Ohio State.

Marcus Freeman finished second in total tackles (109) and led Ohio State in solo tackles (66). He also forced two fumbles and broke up more passes than any player other than Chekwa.

This season: This is the definition of a logjam with a ton of talent in the linebacker meeting room each week, but there little experience and certainty beyond Laurinaitis and Freeman. Including incoming freshmen, the Buckeyes have 12 candidates for playing time this fall. Representative of this stockpiling, at least three players have practiced at and/or are said to be switching positions – Tyler Moeller (to safety), Curtis Terry (to fullback), Thaddeus Gibson (to DE). Read More...

If you find your self in Vegas anytime soon (and I hope you), place some serious coin on Jim Tressel’s Hall of Fame chances. It is the closest you are going to find to a sure thing.

In case you missed it, the Hall of Fame officially welcomed former Ohio State coach John Cooper on Thursday. Cooper said he had known about his selection since Sunday, but had to maintain radio silence. This is a great honor for a great coach. Obviously, views of Cooper ran the gamut around Buckeye Nation, but Buckeye Commentary has always been a fan. It is fitting that Cooper was selected in the same year as Lou Holtz, too. After all, Holtz did lead Notre Dame in two straight whippings at the hands of Cooper and Ohio State (1995-1996). (I think the ’95 team just scored again.)

In the larger picture, this means the last three former Ohio State coaches are in the Hall of Fame. A distinction I am willing to bet no other school can match. Woody was inducted in 1983, Earle Bruce in 2002, and now Cooper.

To illustrate how certain Tressel’s induction is, compare these numbers:

Tressel may not catch Woody in Big Ten titles. He would have to stick around for another 15 or so seasons. But he is leading win percentage by a good bit and is leading the Buckeyes to a BCS bowl virtually every year.

Look for the college football gods to fast track Tressel’s canonization once he retires.

In other Hall of Fame news, Chris Spielman and Jim Otis were not selected for this year’s class. For a look at the criteria used, check out page 3. Better luck next year guys.

In other gambling related news, Buckeye Commentary has its money on Z Fortune to win and a trifecta of Monba, Gayego, Big Brown. Wish us luck.

Les Miles and LSU have decided they were too good for the rest of college football. Therefore, they are attempting to level the playing field by dismissing their starting quarterback, Ryan Perrilloux.

This will surely be billed by SEC apologists as another opportunity to showcase how much better they are than everyone else. Feel free to start the Andrew Hatch for Heisman campaign any day. We will all understand.

One positive for the Tigers, they will surely be moving up in the Fulmer Cup (follow this link – it is worth it). Perhaps, Les Miles wanted one more trophy.