More than a few of you have been following this blog from the very beginning. I think I belabored this elsewhere in an interview with another blogger, but I almost did not start Our Honor Defend. For one, Our Honor Defend was my second choice for a blog name. No domain to capture Francis Schmidt’s mantra to “close the gates of mercy” was available or was short/memorable enough to be worth registering. That does not belie my belief that running up the score on everyone we play isn’t worth doing at every opportunity. Alas, Our Honor Defend was available and underscored my frustration of trying to fight to the end, for O-HI-O, while living in the deep South in January 2008. This was as Ohio State was preparing for its second consecutive BCS Championship Game appearance.

As such, I had registered the domain for some time but did not want to do anything with it. It was the idea of a colleague of mine to do something like this, for which I was contracted because of some expertise with CSS, HTML and website design, more generally. He thought that, together, we could put a meaningful spin on some of the rather dumb discussions creeping into college football while we lived in Alabama. That, or we could have fun sucking at it. Still, I was skeptical, if only because I thought the “sucking at it” part would be more pronounced than the part of having fun. If we had defeated Louisiana State that night in New Orleans, I didn’t think a blog would be necessary and I wouldn’t have done it. College football would have returned to normal and I could triumphantly tell my colleagues in Alabama to take their “SEC pride” for a conference rival and play in traffic with it. That did not materialize and, alas, Our Honor Defend went live and “Vico”, my nom de guerre and a nod to my favorite anti-Cartesian philosopher, was born.¹  Our introductory message? Well:

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Rather than delete it, I think I’ll just add something more substantive to it. This is the start of a hopefully long, but perhaps inevitably fruitless, endeavor to cover the Buckeyes with some kind of… some kind of, umm, hmm… originality. We realize that there are much, much more interesting, original and flat-out better blogs out there that cover the Buckeyes. We, on the other hand, are the law of diminishing returns. This blog will no doubt suck with an unmatched fury, which is why we recommend that this blog be read by no one.

As a solo project for much of its existence, I’d liken OHD to my college friends who still live in Ohio as “my dumb little baby”. It was dumb, often. A lot, even. But, it was mine. I did OHD as a hobby and, oddly enough, people seemed to like it or pay attention to it. This encouraged me to be more creative with the blog and use Twitter, then a bit in its infancy, as a means to being a social media presence to funnel traffic to the blog. Having OHD as a hobby of mine allowed me to ask why couldn’t Ohio State fans have a YouTube presence akin to WolverineHistorian. As such, the “Drive-Thrus”, under the dumbest possible name I thought to give the YouTube service (YouTube-o-Vision), were born. It also allowed me a forum to apply expertise from my day job (research) to blogging endeavors, like the Better Know A Buckeye series. I intend to continue doing both at Eleven Warriors. The BKABs will start in earnest after signing day.

For five years, OHD served as a nice vehicle to be creative in expressing my enthusiasm for all athletic endeavors of The Ohio State University. As such, it also opened a lot of doors for a guy who struggles with all sorts of social anxieties. I got to meet The Donnie and his father (great people), be notified by Steve Myers’ children that he thinks I’m a creep for blogging about his Buckstache, and get feedback from family members of the 2008 recruiting class. This includes being yelled at by Nathan Williams’ mom for referring to him as “Nate”, which is still one of my favorite things ever. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet a lot of cool Buckeye fans, just by virtue of being “Vico” or having the Twitter handle of @ourhonordefend. Without waxing too ecstatic for an occasion that really isn’t a “goodbye” for the aforementioned reasons, it is rather interesting for me, given I didn’t know how to speak or talk until I was four years old and still struggle with talking to people in public.

I’m very grateful for some of the co-authored help from multiple people, when, in 2010, it became apparent I could no longer continue OHD as a strictly solo project. I’m very grateful, in particular, to Charles and Michael, who did excellent stuff covering women’s and men’s basketball. I also want to thank Margie and Josh for being invested in OHD until the end, as well as past help from guys like Chris, Jeremy, Dan, Nate, and others.

OHD will remain active as a museum, of sorts. I’ll continue to pay for the domain and hosting, allowing interested Buckeye fans to read content on this site’s archive. Effective today, though, Michael and I will be at Eleven Warriors while Charles will be joining the great group of bloggers at The Buckeye Battle Cry.

Thank you for the five years.

- V

1. That colleague of mine soon lost interest in the blog (as I feared he would), and, while I still think well of him as a person, he sinced moved from Alabama and my profession, and we’ve lost contact. Fortunately, I no longer live in Alabama as well.

A few moments of Crafty defense were the only highlights in a poor showing by Ohio State.

Ohio State suffered its first conference loss in spectacular fashion, crashing and burning in a 74-55 loss at Illinois. The Buckeyes (11-3, 1-1) showed a remarkable lack of intensity for the game’s first 32 minutes, turned the ball over repeatedly, forced shots, and generally missed almost everything they launched. If this year’s team thought that winning the B1G was a birthright, the Illini (14-2, 1-1) forcibly beat that notion out of them. Illinois played good team defense, made its shots and took advantage of 11 first-half OSU turnovers in building a 37-25 halftime lead that soared as high as 16. Nothing much changed in the second half except the Illinois treys started to fall and things got worse.

Aaron Craft’s hustle and Deshaun Thomas’s shooting cut the second-half deficit that had ballooned to 25 down to 14 but a three-pointer by D.J. Richardson settled the Illini down. Illinois scored six of the next eight points and restored control. Brandon Paul didn’t equal last year’s unconscious 43 points, but his 19 led four Illini in doubles. That includes center Nnanna Egwu, who crushed his season averages of six points and four rips, putting up a career high 16 points with eight rebounds.

Meanwhile, Ohio State got five points and eight boards from Amir Williams and Evan Ravenel. The duo also combined for five fouls and three turnovers. They were generally so ineffective that Thad Matta benched both and went with a smaller lineup of Craft, Shannon Scott, Lenzelle Smith Jr., LaQuinton Ross and Sam Thompson. Trey McDonald, you say? Matta put him in for two minutes at garbage time and he recorded a trillion.

In the preview, I suggested that Ohio State would be in trouble if it had trouble stopping both Richardson and Tracy Abrams. Richardson scored nine but hit some dagger threes to kill any OSU momentum. He added four rebounds, a block and three steals. Abrams scored 13 with six rebounds, five assists and three steals. He did turn the ball over six times, but his night was more accurately epitomized by an NBA range bomb with Craft’s hand in his face as the shot clock wound down. It was that kind of night.

I also suggested that Ohio State was in trouble if they had another brickfest. The Buckeyes shot 20/60 (33%) and a putrid 4/19 outside the arc (21%). They also shot 68.8% (11/16) at the line. I felt Thomas needed to score around his average without needing a lot of shots to do it. It took him 21 shots to notch a game-high 24 points (9/21 shooting, 1/5 from downtown).

We told you rebounding would be a factor. The Illini entered 11th in the conference in rebounding margin. They won on the glass 39-28 (9-8 on offense). So, basically, Ohio State did none of the things we thought they needed to do to win, and that’s how you lose by 19 points.
Positives? Craft scored 11, but it took him 10 shots to get there. Part of that was a flurry of forced shots as time started to become a factor. Craft also nabbed four steals and four rebounds without a turnover in a pretty good all-around game. The Buckeyes forced 12 second-half turnovers, but squandered most of those opportunities to get back in the game. Smith scored eight points with seven rebounds but all of those points came in the first half and he turned it over four times.

Looking ahead to a difficult schedule, Matta must figure out what to do with Thompson. Slam scored one point with two rebounds, two assists and a block, but he simply doesn’t appear to be any threat offensively. When on the floor with Craft it generally puts Ohio State in a 3-on-5 situation on the offensive end. Ross is not an answer at this point. He had more turnovers (3) than points and rebounds combined—scoring two points. He looks hesitant against formidable competition and passes up open shots to try to dribble around defenders. This is not his forte.

Next up is a trip to Purdue on Tuesday. All the Boilermakers did in their last home game was beat Illinois.

Mike Mitchell

Just as the Under Armour All-American Game yesterday, Ohio State recruitniks got the news they were expecting at the linebacker position.  Trey Johnson was the good news yesterday.  Today, Mike Mitchell, a linebacker from Plano, Texas, committed to Ohio State during the fourth quarter of the Army All-American Game.

In one weekend, Ohio State football compensated for some of the turmoil of last spring.  As you may remember, Alex Anzalone and Lewis Neal committed to Ohio State shortly after our spring game.  However, both quickly decommitted for various reasons, ultimately landing at Notre Dame and Louisiana State respectively.  As the season progressed, we saw just how dire the situation is at linebacker.  With only uncertainty at the position, Meyer and company needed some fresh talent to give themselves options.  Trey Johnson and Mike Mitchell, both top 3 guys nationally at inside and outside linebacker respectively, give Ohio State some wiggle room at linebacker.

Mitchell’s commitment to Ohio State is the culmination of something Ohio State fans had anticipated for some time.  For those of you who may recall, Mitchell’s dominating performance at a nationally televised SPARQ combine came with news that Mitchell was strongly considering a commitment to Ohio State.  That, however, cooled, as Mitchell wanted to take time to make sure a move that far from home was what he really wanted.  He took some unofficial visits to Texas and Oklahoma, as well as an official visit to Ohio State in November, before announcing his decision today.

The 21st commitment in Ohio State’s recruiting class, I have to imagine Ohio State is done recruiting at linebacker.  Ohio State will now focus attention on safety, wide receiver, and possibly offensive tackle, before signing day.  Worth noting: Mike Mitchell’s brother, Mikey, is a highly regarded basketball player who is being looked at by Thad Matta as a possible addition to his 2015 recruiting class.

Film is below. Also, Mike Mitchell’s nickname is “The Abusement Park”.  I hope he thrives at Ohio State, because that nickname would be awesome to go with appearances on the Butkus Award circuit.

Trey Johnson had the hat ceremony and everything. (via ESPNU)

People who follow Ohio State recruiting closely were not surprised with the decision today.  Still, there is reason to celebrate.  Trey Johnson, a linebacker prospect from Lawrenceville, Georgia, announced his verbal commitment to The Ohio State University during halftime of the Under Armour All-American Game.

Johnson, the one time Auburn commitment, came on Ohio State’s radar as it became apparent that changes on The Plains would behoove Johnson to re-open his commitment and look elsewhere.  He was soon drawn to Ohio State for a variety of reasons.  Ohio State, of late, has a good reputation in the Peach State.  It started with Jim Tressel, who identified Georgia as a nice pipeline for talent.  It is essentially Florida-level talent without all the Florida-level hassle.  Further, recruits are kind of drawn to Urban Meyer and his success, charisma, and, hell, machisimo.  All signs pointed to Ohio State, which was  reaffirmed this evening.

Johnson’s addition is welcome for many reasons.  Importantly, Ohio State’s answer to the current linebacker situation hinges on Ohio State adding numbers.  With more questions than answers, Ohio State is at least giving itself options.  Second, Johnson’s addition to the fold should go nicely with the anticipated addition of Mike Mitchell to this year’s recruiting class.  Ohio State could compensate for the losses of Alex Anzalone and Lewis Neal last spring in one fell swoop this weekend.

Trey Johnson is the 20th commitment in this recruiting class, with maybe three or four spots left to fill.  Senior film is below the fold.

Ron Effing Swanson himself (Nick Offerman) received a B.A. from Illinois in 1993.

The road to a fourth consecutive B1G title gets significantly more difficult on Saturday, with the No. 8 Buckeyes (11-2, 1-0) visiting No. 11 Illinois (13-2, 0-1) at Assembly Hall. The Fighting Illini will be in a mood after dropping their B1G opener at Purdue on Wednesday, 68-61. In fact, Illinois has dropped two of its last three after a 12-0 start under first-year coach John Groce—an old friend who not only knocked TTUN out of last year’s NCAA tournament while at Ohio University, but also spent 2005-08 on Thad Matta’s staff at Ohio State. The game tips off at 2:15 p.m. on the BTN.

The Buckeyes and Illini split last season’s series with each team winning at home. You may recall this was a difficult fixture for the Buckeyes last season. Brandon Paul went off for 43 points fueled by 8/10 three-point shooting, leading the Illini to a 79-74 home win. By himself, Paul scored only one fewer point than Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas combined. The Illini are always tough at home (7-0 this year), possibly because Assembly Hall looks like a spaceship.

Illinois features three returning starters from last season, including Paul (#3), a senior who leads his team in minutes per game (32.4), points per game (18.5), rebounds per game (5.0), and assists per game (3.5). He’s hitting 37.9% outside the arc, but we’ve seen what he can do when he gets hot. For what it’s worth, Paul was held to nine points in the rematch in Columbus last year on 2/9 shooting, but that was the sixth straight Illini loss in a 1-9 close to the season, which cost Bruce Weber his job. Sophomore guard Tracy Abrams (#13) started 19 games last year. He’s second on the team in scoring average (12.1), first in steals (24) and second in assists (50).

Senior guard D.J. Richardson (#1) adds 10.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Senior forward Tyler Griffey is 6-9, but plays a perimeter game, hitting 45.3% beyond the arc and pulls down only 3.3 rips per contest. He averages 9.1 points. Rounding out the starters is sophomore forward/center Nnanna Egwu (#32), who is 6-11, but his size hasn’t translated to much production yet. He averages six points and four rebounds. Still, he may prove productive against the two-headed beast of Amir Williams and Evan Ravenel if it plays lethargically. Nnanna has a sister named Nnenna, who attends Purdue, which is apropos of nothing but interesting nonetheless.

Redshirt junior guard Joseph Bertrand (#2) provides some matchup problems off the bench. He’s a fairly big guy at 6-6 and is hitting 45.5% of his threes. We’ll also see a fair bit of senior transfer forward Sam McLaurin (#0) and sophomore guard/forward Myke Henry (#20).

Illinois wins if…Brandon Paul goes HAM like he did last year. Paul has been inconsistent at times but he annihilated the Buckeyes in Champaign last year. Likewise, if Ohio State struggles to stop Richardson and Abrams, the Illini have enough athletes to win. Illinois would also be in great shape if Ohio State’s recent trend of laying bricks on jump shots continues. Rebounding will be a factor. The Illini are 11th in the B1G in rebounding margin per game (+0.3) and they’ll probably need to win on the glass to win the game.

Ohio State wins if…it controls the boards per usual and Deshaun Thomas scores his average on a fairly low number of shots, and the Buckeyes keep two of the Paul/Richardson/Abrams trio under wraps. I think one can have a big game (not as big as Paul’s last year) but if two of these guys do, it could be a rough night. Ohio State’s scoring defense has been excellent, so that’s doable. Additionally, Ohio State must shoot at least in the 42-45% range from the field and not settle for clanging long triples. Illinois is 11th in the B1G in scoring defense, so the Buckeyes should get good looks.

Notes: Ohio State is just 65-100 in the all-time series against Illinois (34-59 on the road), but is 11-4 under Thad Matta…The Buckeyes have taken 11 of the last 14 meetings and four of the last six in Champaign…Matta will be coaching his 300th game at Ohio State. Only Harold G. Olsen (456) and Fred Taylor (455) have previously reached that mark… Aaron Craft is 11 steals from tying Jay Burson’s career OSU mark of 204…With two assists, Craft will pass Mark Baker for fourth on the school’s all-time list. Jamar Butler, Kelvin Ransey and Curtis Wilson have the top three spots…Thomas needs 24 points to pass Lawrence Funderburke for 34th on the OSU career scoring list…Kevin Kugler and Jim Jackson will call the game for BTN.

Here’s your live blog window, which will open in time for the U.S. Army All-American game:

In the Hive

Good morning, and welcome to the first Thursday of 2013, as well as your Thursday Morning Hive. It sure was fun watching Ohio State dismantle Nebrasketball last night. If you missed it, Vico’s got your recap, but this is the salient takeaway from the 70-44 Buckeye victory. It was a nice start to the B1G season with a lot to like, but there are still some glaring weaknesses with this year’s Buckeye squad, notably the tendency to clang wide open jump shots. Aaron Craft, despite being the most swoon-worthy player in the nation, scored zero points last night on 0/4 shooting, but he did contribute eight assists, six rebounds, and three steals. Craft passed Ronnie Stokes and Troy Taylor, moving into fifth on Ohio State’s all-time assists list, with 423, just one behind Mark Baker. Jamar Butler holds the school record, with 579.

What’s really interesting is that Shannon Scott and Alex Rogers also failed to score, giving the Buckeyes zero points from the point guard position on the night. I’m not sure that’s ever happened before. And just in case anyone thinks Amedeo Della Valle was the point guard when Shannon Scott went to the bench, well, he didn’t score either. Weird. But hey, the Buckeyes are atop the B1G standings! The OSU women will tip off their conference schedule tonight at Iowa. Meanwhile, how about we get to the Hive?

Just when you thought it was safe…

…to forget about Penn State’s mess, along comes Governor Tom Corbett. The governor announced a lawsuit against the NCAA yesterday, calling for an end to the sanctions placed on the university in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and the subsequent cover-up by, well, a lot of very important people who should have known better. This Dan Wetzel column summarizes what’s going on pretty nicely. Corbett, who seems to be grandstanding with all of this, said “The citizens and the businesses of Pennsylvania have been harmed.” Well, I’m pretty sure the ones who suffered the most harm were Sandusky’s victims, which were made more numerous by the actions (and inactions) of Penn State’s leadership and the athletic department’s top guys.

The NCAA responded:

“We are disappointed by the Governor’s action today. Not only does this forthcoming lawsuit appear to be without merit, it is an affront to all of the victims in this tragedy – lives that were destroyed by the criminal actions of Jerry Sandusky. While the innocence that was stolen can never be restored, Penn State has accepted the consequences for its role and the role of its employees and is moving forward. Today’s announcement by the Governor is a setback to the University’s efforts.”

This mess will probably drag out through much of 2013, so if you’re among our Penn State bros, we’re really sorry. We know all too well about the suckage of sustained negative press.

Chomped

Well, I think we all saw that coming, right? Didn’t we all have Louisville dominating Florida in our predictions? No? Oh. Teddy Bridgewater played like a boss, and the defense played so far over their heads that their noses will bleed for a week to 10 days, as the Cardinals beat the Gators 33-23 in a game that wasn’t nearly that close. The Cards started quickly with a pick six of Jeff Driskel 15 seconds in and the Gators never really recovered. Despite Louisville’s attempt to DERP its way out of it in the third and fourth quarters, Florida just couldn’t capitalize. Will Muschamp may go on a tri-state killing spree after seeing his team thoroughly dominated by a team that got flattened by Syracuse in November. After all, they s’posed to be SEC. It was refreshing not to hear that irritating chant (you know the one) at the end, but I would have welcomed a trollish Big East cheer by Louisville fans.

New Stipend Proposal for NCAA Athletes?

According to Jeremy Fowler of CBS, NCAA President Mark Emmert plans to unveil a new plan in April to get cash to college athletes who need it. Last year’s plan was rejected soundly, but Emmert went back to the drawing board. The new plan will focus on a “needs-based” system, and may give universities or conferences the power to decide how the money is dispersed. We talked a lot about the possibility of paying college players the true cost of their education last year. Prepare to hear more about it this offseason as well.

Buckeye Claims CCHA Offensive POW Honors

Sophomore forward Ryan Dzingel’s hat trick against Penn State was enough to net him the Central Collegiate Hockey Association’s weekly offensive honor. Dzingel’s three goals were the most by any CCHA player last week and his three points tied for the league lead. Unfortunately, Dzingel’s three goals were not enough for a Buckeye win, as Ohio State fell 5-4 to the Nitts in Pittsburgh at the Three Rivers Classic. Dzingel’s nine goals lead all Buckeyes.

More on Clowney’s Destruction of Vincent Smith

We know many of you haven’t been able to stop watching this:

But if you didn’t see the game, don’t feel bad for Smith. It was payback for this:

Also, this is not the first time a Gamecock has forcibly removed a Wolverine running back’s helmet. To wit:

Sometimes history repeats itself and is glorious in the process.

Briefly…

Mike Farrell of Rivals predicts where some Army All American Bowl recruits will commit…Deshaun Thomas and Tayler Hill are Ohio State’s student-athletes of the week…Former Jim Tressel assistant Taver Johnson has been retained by WOO BERT SOOIE at ArKansas, but will move from linebackers coach to cornerbacks…Oregon’s Chip Kelly reportedly set to interview with the Browns (also Bills and Eagles)…Oops.

Live action photos of Thad Matta are always the best.

Ohio State fans were hoping to see an improved team that took seriously the lessons from the losses to Duke and Kansas, en route to a comfortable victory over Nebrasky to begin league play.  I’m not convinced we got the former, but we definitely got the latter.  Ohio State was simply too much for an outmatched Nebrasketball squad.   The Buckeyes ran away with this before intermission and coasted to a 70-44 win.

Buckeye fans have been a bit nervous regarding the distribution of points for this year’s team.  Bench production hasn’t been what we wanted.  Further, Shannon Scott, and Aaron Craft, especially have not been the scoring options this team really needs.  In fact, neither Scott nor Craft scored this game, finishing a combined 0/6 from the field.  It wasn’t until midway through the second half that LaQuinton Ross scored.  He finished with eight points this game.  However, neither were necessary.  Deshaun Thomas (22pts) and Lenzelle Smith (17pts) led all Buckeyes in scoring and, by themselves, were only five points off Nebrasky’s total offensive output for this game.  Deshaun Thomas outscored Nebrasky by himself in the first half.  Throw in a few highlight dunks from Sam Thompson (6pts), and Ohio State won this easily.

However, some of the same problems persist entering the next contest, an important road clash against the Fighting Illini on January 5th.  Amir Williams didn’t look particularly sharp and is often beaten to the basket with a simple drop step.  He finished with eight points, four blocks, and seven rebounds, though, and is fairly reliable at the charity stripe.  Ravenel chipped in seven points from the bench.  Still, I’m not sure I’m more confident in these guys this season than I was before tip-off.  Further, jump shooting remains problematic.  Craft still can’t find his mojo and we hope to compensate with Smith and Thomas three point attempts.  This seems contingent on Smith or Thomas, and Smith, in particular, having a hot hand.

Importantly, though, Ohio State looked much better against Nebrasky than it did against Chicago State.  Ohio State next plays on January 5th in Champaign, Illinois.  Tip-off is scheduled for 2:15pm ET.

This image of Bo Pelini, cropped from today's Omaha World-Herald front page, captures the sentiment of Nebrasky fans entering this offseason.

Ohio State begins league play this evening when it hosts the Cornhuskies from Nebrasky.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30pm ET in Value City Arena and will be shown on Big Ten Network, if you have it.

Ohio State begins conference play with considerably more questions than this time last year.  Though Ohio State has only one more loss by this time than last year’s team, the losses to Duke and Kansas (again) underscore considerably more uncertainty about this team.  Ohio State finds itself missing the production and inside presence of Jared Sullinger a little more than fans thought they would.  The inside options we have at the moment, Evan Ravenel and Amir Williams, are hit and miss, to put it lightly.  Trey McDonald provides a nice change of pace, but his high effort belies his ability in a lot of aspects.  Further, Ohio State seems unable to make the jump shots it loves to take.  Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith, and Deshaun Thomas, the three main hold-overs from last year’s team, shot 50%, 52% and 47% from the floor last year.  This year, so far: 38%, 45%, and 45% respectively.  Three point shooting has (marginally) improved from last year’s team, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the team play.

On the other bench, Nebrasky comes to town with first year head coach, and ever colorful, Tim Miles.  The team has one more loss in non-conference play than last year’s squad, but one of the wins includes a demolition of hapless Wake Forest in Winston-Salem for the ACC/B1G TEN Challenge.  However, this team was also put on full-blast by Kent State (74-60), mid-major heavyweight Creighton (64-42), Oregon (60-38), and Texas-El Paso (68-52).  The Buckeyes are #8, but also quite possibly a paper tiger this season.  The Cornhuskies, though, are underdogs in this contest and not a trendy pick for postseason play in March.

Miles will count on veterans to lead the way in Value City Arena this evening.  Senior guard Dylan Talley (#24) leads the team in scoring with 13.9 points per game, and is also second on the team in rebounds per game with nearly six boards per contest.  Conversely, senior forward Brandon Ubel (#13) is second on the team in points per game with 13.2 points per game, but leads all his teammates in rebounds per game (6.5rpg).  Senior center Andre Almeida (#32), of Brazil, adds 7.6 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game, albeit in just 18 minutes per contest.  Junior guard Ray Gallegos (#15) leads the team in minutes played and adds another 13 points per contest.  Diminutive (5’9) guard Benny Parker (#3) and 6’7 forward David Rivers (#2) should also see plenty of time this contest.

Nebrasky is not the best team in the conference, far from it.  Under first year head coach Tim Miles, it would be a surprise to see this team play in either the NIT or the NCAA Tournament.  Still, and obviously more important for our sake, this Ohio State team is significantly removed from last year’s Final Four team.  Ohio State fans should hope to see some type of answer to the problems exposed from the two losses to Duke and Kansas in the last calendar year.  Hopefully the new calendar year brings new, and pleasant, surprise for this season’s squad.

In the Hive.

G’day everyone and welcome to 2013, hopefully everyone enjoyed their New Year’s celebration and the glorious full day of bowl games that is New Year’s Day.  I am writing this before any of those games are played as when this is posted I will be on a plane somewhere over the Pacific Ocean; after being in Australia for six months I am finally going back to States for a visit.  After a few days to relax and recover from jet lag in Las Vegas (what better way is there to recover from jetlag than in a city that doesn’t care when you sleep), I will be attending an Astronomy conference in Long Beach, and then getting a chance to have a delayed Christmas with my family.  I am hoping that I will be able to catch a bit of the New Year’s day bowl action before I fly out, I am most looking forward to hitting the Vegas sportsbooks for some of the other bowl games.  I am not a huge sports gambler but I am just looking forward to the chance to watch actual football with people who understand the sport and care about it.

When I wrote this, prior to the January 1st bowl games, the Big Ten was 1-1 on the bowl season and was actually doing better than expected.  Michigan State provided the conference with a win thanks to a thrilling come from behind victory against Texas Christian University.  The Spartans were led in their comeback by backup quarterback Connor Cook who looked much more poised and effective than Andrew Maxwell; it looks like there will be a quarterback controversy in East Lansing next season.  While Minnesota fell to Texas Tech, the Golden Gophers did much better than expected and led late in the game before a late rally by the Red Raiders gave them the win.  Hopefully this trend of doing better than expected continued into the New Year’s Day games, I guess we’ll find out.

Ohio State Volleyball Ranked

The Ohio State men’s volleyball team will enter the 2013 season ranked 11^th in the preseason AVCA Division I-II coaches poll.  The Buckeyes are one of three Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association members that are ranked in the poll; the Big Ten doesn’t play men’s volleyball.  The Buckeyes are joined by Lewis who is ranked 5^th and Loyola-Chicago who is 10^th.  The MIVA coaches picked OSU to finish third in the conference, behind Lewis and barely behind Loyola-Chicago.  Ohio State opens the season by hosting Saint Francis at St. John Arena on January 5^th; the match will start at 7:00pm and admission is free.

As we end this year and move to 2013, we must remember that…the Buckeyes will make the post-season!!! And they will be hungry to do so. So, I will leave you with Kerry Coombs’ ultra-hype inducing recruitment video to get you excited for all the wonderful things to come next year. Cheers, friends!