Big Ten 2011 Tournament Bracket And Schedule - SB Nation Pittsburgh

Ohio State is all but guaranteed a spot in the Big Ten finals with Northwestern, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois all on their side of the bracket. The possible Friday morning match-up against Northwestern is the most intriguing. Otherwise it's straight to Sunday and a meaningless rematch against Purdue or Wisconsin. The most desperate team will be Michigan State who might need some wins to get into the tournament.

Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Illinois Fighting Illini - Box Score - January 22, 2011 - ESPN

Bucks win a very exciting -- and important -- road game over Illinois, 73-68.

Sullinger and Diebler played great, but there was a lot of iffy play from Lighty, and I spent an inordinate amount of time yelling at Aaron Craft for his many miscues. Still both he and Deshaun Thomas redeemed their poor first half play during the 11-0 run that turned the game.

Would like to see the Bucks develop more of their inside-outside game, but Sullinger is so good in the paint that kicking out to the three point shooters is actually the less desirable option. Lighty on the other hand can't seem to hit shots after contact and always looks like he's expecting a foul to be called -- like a desperate receiver looking for pass interference on every play. Craft also had a bad habit of leaving balls on the front of rim when he tried to drive the lane. Finally, big man Dallas Lauderdale didn't see much playing time, probably because the OSU D did a good job of keeping Sullinger out of foul trouble.

Ohio State advance to 20-0 and defend their #1 ranking.

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Ohio State Buckeyes - Recap - January 19, 2011 - ESPN

Buckeyes roll to 19-0:

David Lighty scored 18 points and Ohio State wasn't tested in its first game as No. 1, rolling over Iowa 70-48 on Wednesday night.

Sugar Bowl: Ohio State vs. Arkansas

I'm dreading this game.

Everything is stacked against us. SEC opponent. Southern location. Myriad distractions. My fear is that we'll play Virginia Tech to Arkansas's Stanford. Hang around for a quarter or two and then go home on the wrong side of 42-10.

So is tonight the night that Buckeye fans everywhere decide that OSU is a basketball school? Bucks are 12 1/2 point favorites against Iowa.

UPDATE

Buckeyes played a brilliant first half, taking a 28-10 lead, but nothing has gone right since. The phantom safety may have been the last straw as the lead is cut to 31-23. I think I've seen this movie before.

Meanwhile the basketball team eked out a 73-68 win over Iowa in a game where they trailed for the bulk of the action.

UPDATE

Another bizarre play as Herron fumbles on what should have been a back-breaking, clock-burning, 4th down conversion.

Bucks lead 31-26 with less than 6 minutes, but right now we're waiting for the inevitable Arkansas go-ahead score.

UPDATE

Buckeyes get a remarkable three and out with 4 1/2 minutes to go. Field position continues to be their greatest enemy as Arkansas punts them down inside the 5 yardline.

UPDATE

With 2 minutes left, OSU has done a good job of running the ball and running down the clock.

Still, the game has been way more exciting than it needed to be.

UPDATE

And there you go. A special teams disaster. Would have been better if they'd gone for it.

UPDATE

HOLY COW! The Bucks get an interception with a minute left!

UPDATE

Bucks win 31-26. Unbelievable game. I've got nothing left to say.

FINAL UPDATE

Hope someone off the defense gets the MVP. They made the difference 100%.

Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Indiana Hoosiers - Recap - December 31, 2010 - ESPN

Buckeyes are off to a great start this year going 14-0 and picking up their first win in conference play.

So far this is a better team than the Greg Oden led 2006-2007 team that lost the NCAA champion game to Florida, but they still have a long way to go to match the achievements of the Jerry Lucas teams of the early 60s. Those teams not only went to the finals three years in a row, but the 1960-61 team followed up its National Championship by going 27-0. Their only defeat was in the championship to Cincinnati (70-65, in overtime!) The next year they came back and did it again going 26-1 before losing the rematch with Cincinnati  71-59.

Five Ohio State Buckeyes, including Terrelle Pryor, must sit out five games in '11 - ESPN

This is ridiculous.

The hypocrisy of the NCAA and the universities needs to stop. Either limit suspensions to criminal behavior, or fix the economics of college sports. When guys are essentially pawning their valuables for pocket money there is something wrong.

I'm just mad cause this will probably screw up the Sugar Bowl.

Hats and Jackets

Ohio-Ohio St. Preview - College Football - Rivals.com

Buckeyes are favored, but mindful:

The second-ranked Buckeyes hope to not need another late rally to defeat the Bobcats when they meet Saturday in Columbus.

After getting shut out in the opening quarter and trailing Ohio 14-12 heading into the fourth, Ohio State scored two touchdowns to come away with a 26-14 victory Sept. 6, 2008.

The Buckeyes have scored first in both wins thus far in 2010 and have held leads of 35 and 19, respectively, after three quarters in those games.

Ohio State (2-0) enters this matchup as a heavy favorite, but offensive lineman Justin Boren knows just how dangerous a game like this can be. He played for then-No. 5 Michigan when it was shocked by FCS team Appalachian State 34-32 on Sept. 1, 2007.

Is it Saturday yet?

Ohio State looms as benchmark game for Miami - ESPN

Hurricanes want revenge. What will motivate the Buckeyes to not have a let-down the way they have against Texas and USC in recent years?

Pryor impresses as No. 2 Ohio State crushes Marshall - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com

Bucks win 45-7 and get ready for next week's Big Game - and rematch - against Miami.

Rivals.com College Football - Coming season features big games every week

Big games: (factoring in my own personal bias):

• Week 2: Ohio State vs. Miami (Fl) - Dangerous trap game for the Buckeyes. Will be a chance for OSU to prove how fast they are.
• Week 7: Ohio State at Wisconsin - Tough, tough road game. Will be a chance for OSU to prove how mean and resilient they are.
• Week 12: Ohio State at Iowa - Another tough, tough road game. If this ends up being for the Big Ten title, this will be the game that solidifies the Buck's preseason #2 ranking and puts them in the national title debate.

Ex-football star Clarett back in class at Ohio St. - College Football - Rivals.com

This is probably a good thing.

2010 Rose Bowl Champions

It took losses to USC and Purdue to figure it out, but once Tressel decided on his game plan (defense, ball control, minimizing turnovers), he stuck with it. Against the Ducks, the Buckeyes executed as well as they have all year. An excellent win that is less a culmination than a lead-in to next season. What can they achieve next fall? The haters will hate and the Buckeye nation will talk National Championship.

Pryor gets the MVP, but Posey (#8) was the difference maker.

[Photo]

Buckeyes Defeat Michigan

Buckeye Football Time

As football season draws near, it's time for my annual ritual of a) second guessing the Buckeye's chances and b) remaining cautiously optimistic. So, yeah, Buckeyes, blah, blah, blah. Yahoo's Rivals.com ranks them at #7 which is good but not great. In all likelihood that's probably what's in store for the season: good but not great. They can tear through the season, but losses to USC and, Wisconsin and/or Penn State, will leave everyone disappointed. The much hyped recruiting classes of the last couple of years need to produce some stars (on offense, defense, AND special teams), or the season will end up being Terrelle Pryor and a cloud of dust. Go Bucks!*

*Cautiously optimistic

Buckeyes in the Big Dance

OSU makes the tournament:

• The Bad News is that they're an 8 seed.
• The Good News is that they're playing in Dayton so: home court.
• The Bad News is that they'll have to play a 1 seed, Louisville in the second round.
• The Good News is that if they beat Louisville in a Buckeye friendly setting, the whole bracket becomes a free-for-all.
• The Bad News: who am I kidding? Siena is a very dangerous 9 seed. This could be one and done.
  
• The Good News: It's nice that they made the tournament at all considering Lighty was out most of the year.
  

Buckeyes 61 Boilermakers 65

Very exciting game today. The Buckeyes just came up a little short. Still they had their chances in the final minute of the game and you can't ask for much more than that.

Next stop, the NCAAs.

Buckeyes 82 Spartans 70

It's always hard to tell how much teams care about the conference tournaments compared to the regular season and the NCAA tournament. For Ohio State this was a great win, especially when you consider that all year long they were a potential top 25 team that just couldn't win the big games. For Michigan State, this is a so-so loss for a team that probably wasn't going to get a #1 seed anyway. All things being equal, MSU still has the best shot of going deep into the tournament of any team in the Big Ten.

In terms of game strategy and tactics, OSU did a much better job of anticipating and responding to the second half rush then they did in previous meetings. They also did a slightly better job of rebounding than in previous games though there were still a few possessions where MSU had 2 or 3 shots at the basket (and that's what allowed them to cut the lead to 10 late in the game).

The main thing was outside shooting. OSU hit some threes, and MSU uncharacteristically went stone cold. Meanwhile OSU did a better job managing their fouls and getting MSU's big man Suton in foul trouble.

Tomorrow Ohio State will play the winner of the Purdue/Illinois game for the championship. It probably won't have a huge impact on their seeding, but it would be a nice feather in their cap.

Buckeyes 61 Badgers 57

Sounds like I missed a good game:

Evan Turner scored 19 points Friday and Ohio State held Wisconsin without a field goal for the final 6 minutes of the Buckeyes’ 61-57 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.

Up next is Michigan State who defeated Minnesota 64-56.

Big Ten Tournament Preview

The Buckeyes finished strongly, but wound up with the fifth seed in the conference tournament. First they'll have to beat Wisconsin on Friday, and then its Michigan State on Saturday. Not promising.

The other half of the bracket look like a free-for-all with Michigan, Illinois, Purdue, and Penn State as potential semi-finalists.