In what is becoming something of a regular cycle, the Big Ten has put out word that they are interested in adding another team to the conference. This will be the fifth time the Big Ten has considered expansion since Penn State joined the division in 1990. Ohio State president Gorden Gee is one of the first to come out in favor of adding a 12th team to the conference.

When we look at the number shared champions, the need for a Big Ten Championship has become apparent. In recent years, the Big Ten has slept through the month of December while the SEC and others are building momentum heading into the bowls. However, the move to play into December next year may be enough to solve this problem.

The first question that comes to mind when adding teams is who and we all tend to look to Notre Dame. Don’t count on it folks. There is absolutely no incentive for Notre Dame to play in the Big Ten. They have their own personal television contract which brings in millions and their own special place in the BCS. They turned down the offer in 2009 and it’s probably safe to say that they will turn it down again. And while I’d enjoy a good Notre Dame beatdown, do we really want them in the division.

A Penn State fan on Twitter did point out the potential of ending the regular season with Penn State/Notre Dame and Ohio State/Michigan games to decide the conference championship.

Other teams I’ve seen tossed around include West Virginia, Missouri, Rutgers and Virginia Tech. Missouri and WVU seem like good matches due to their Midwestern local. WVU has the rivalry game with Pitt that will need to be dealt with while Missouri has been building it’s own rivalries. They’ve got their thing with Illinois that could possible grow into something better.

I’m not keen on Virigina Tech and I really don’t have a good reason not to be. They just seem too far south to me. Rutgers? We’ll they’ve got football history and tradition but again..Rutgers?

From a financial perspective, Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel gives an interesting breakdown. According to Mandel, a 12th team would need to add around $22 million in revenue to make the deal worthwhile. If his numbers are correct, there’s only one school who can realistically bring in that type of cash and as I mentioned earlier, they’ve turned us down before and there’s absolutely no incentive for them to join.

Thoughts?
Since I’m tending to ramble at this point and running out of time, let me know what you think of a 12th team. Is it a good idea? Does moving games to Dec. solve our Dec. layoff problem? Who?

And what about Ohio State/Michigan. This is probably my biggest concern. Call me nostalgic but losing those years when OSU/UM decide the Rose Bowl…too much to pay.

Gorden Gee Shares His Thoughts
The Ozone.net put up a great video on YouTube. In it, Gee talks about everything from a 12th game to a 12th team.

Bowl Pickem
Our friends over at 11 Warriors are organizing a Bowl Pickem contest. I’m in although I picking in a hurry before leaving town today. Hopefully I’ll get through the opening weekend in one piece. Get in today or you may miss out on the St. Petersburg Bowl (yep…that’s where I’m headed).

Coming soon
More Oregon/OSU stuff to come. Been a busy week but think “Three Keys to Winning.” Don’t post ‘em yet…just something to think about.

The 11^th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge starts this week and let’s be honest, it hasn’t been much of a challenge for the ACC to win it. The Big Ten has never won the annual match up and this year might be their best chance. With six teams in the top 25 in both the Coach’s and AP poll the Big Ten looks poised to finally take the challenge.

Whether it is fair or not, the nation looks at the Ohio State Buckeyes (5-1) as the measuring stick for the Big Ten.  Most of this stems from the football team, which has struggled in nationally televised games, including the dreaded 2006-2007 season where Florida dominated the Buckeyes in two title games (Football and Men’s Basketball).

This year the veteran Buckeyes get the much-improved Florida State Seminoles (6-1), whose only loss came to the aforementioned Florida Gators.  The Seminoles are lead by 7-1 sophomore center Solomon Alabi and sophomore forward Chris Singleton.

The Buckeyes counter with all world junior guard/forward Evan Turner. Turner is averaging a double double for the season and has garnered two triple doubles and three Big Ten player of the week awards.

OSU is coming off a blow out victory against St. Francis (PA) where they dominated every facet of the game. The large margin of victory allowed Thad Matta to get his entire bench involved in the game and rest his starters with none of the starters playing more than 28 minutes.

Florida State on the other hand is coming off of a one-point victory over Marquette where they were down 30-18 at the half. Florida State’s schedule has been rather weak so far, which has me believing that their record may be the product of inferior competition rather than superior play.

If their recent performances have been any indication the Buckeyes will come out strong both shooting and on defense and try to limit the size difference of the Florida State big man down low. The size and skill of the FSU center will keep them in the game for the first ten minutes but the Buckeyes outside shooting and ball movement will just be too much for them to handle. If the scarlet and gray are cold from outside you can expect to see a lot of cutting and ball movement freeing up Turner and David Lighty in the second half. In the end however the Seminoles are just too young and the Buckeyes just too talented to let this one slip away.

Prediction: Ohio State 68 – Florida Sate 55

When one has got to make correct entries, one comes to hate those savages--hate them to the death.

“Whether he knew of this deficiency himself I can’t say. I think the knowledge came to him at last–only at the very last. But the wilderness found him out early, and had taken vengeance for the fantastic invasion. I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know, things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude–and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core.”

The time has come for our brave warriors to travel deep into the heart of darkness. To rise above their inner horrors. To overcome the draw of the savages and expose the hollowness at the core of what has become an 8-1 Penn State team. Yes Kurtz…I mean Coach Paterno is in too deep and although he lost control of the beasts for a short while last year, he seems to have regained composure and eliminated the violators–those who would taint the mission with disciplinary problems and suspensions.

Marlow…I mean Coach Tressel must now go in and take back what is rightfully ours. And while the fever may be taking hold, Paterno has secured his reputation. His legacy will survive the beating to come…

I could go on with the allusion but I’m sure you get the point. In order to win tomorrow Pryor and the offensive line must overcome their own personal horrors, rise up against the savages and play with the talent they have been given. If you remember the story to which I allude, Marlow fends off an early attack by scaring the natives with the steam whistle and that’s exactly what the Buckeyes need to do. They need to throw Penn State off balance quick and force them to play from behind–a test they have not faced yet this year.

If they do, it will have a big impact on the crowd. Take the crowd out of the game and the players will feel it. That is when the memories of Iowa, the panic will set in. The Buckeyes need to get them on their heels and not let them up. Hit them over and over again and this game will be ours.

At least JoPa made it to the end zone that day.

All valid questions and all keys to the game. However, don’t think for a minute that we’re the only ones with a few question marks hanging above our heads. Thing is, most Penn State fans are so wrapped up in their white t-shirts and defensive stats that they are missing a key point which in any other team would raise concern. This is Penn State though so let them enjoy their moment. They don’t get it often.

While the Penn State stats look good on paper, consider that their seven wins come against Akron, Syracuse, Temple, Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Michigan and Northwestern. Not really a powerhouse of college football. Last week Northwestern gave the Lions something to think about. The Penn State defense that we keep hearing about also allowed 17 points against Illinois — one of the least effective offenses in the Big Ten this year.

Against Iowa, their only opponent worthy of discussion, they completely fell apart. The Iowa defense hit Daryll Clark over and over again exposing more then a minor weakness. Clark wore the shock on his sleeve the entire game and limped off the field at the end with his head hanging low.

But not to be deterred, once again Penn State fans charge forward yet again drowning in overconfidence. They’re finding great glee in the photo of Pryor hanging his head after last year’s loss forgetting of course that another inch to the right and Pryor not only would have made the first down ending the game, he very easily could have been headed to the end zone all alone. They find strength in the Buckeyes sleepwalk against Purdue. They desperately search for the magic of the “white out” of 2005 which no longer shocks anyone although it is cute to see them try– what with the little tent city and all.

In a final act of “Won’t you be our rival…please?” they have taken to photo shopped pictures (Block O Nation collected them here) declaring it “Hate Week.”

Sorry Penn State but we’ve already got a team to hate. Try as you might, at this point you’re just not worth my ilk.

CorrectionApologies to Syracuse. They are 3-5 (0-3 in conference) with one of their wins coming over Northwestern. I corrected the earlier error in the post above.

While those of us in Buckeye nation find ourselves deeply entrenched in a debate over the development of our offense, leave it to an SEC blog to really capture the essence of the Ohio State offense in a way that only an outsider can do:

Grimly fingerbanging its way through its schedule without having to resort to actually using the designed implement for scoring, Ohio State is saving putting it in the endzone properly for marriage but using all kinds of football outercourse to protect its chastity. Jim Tressel’s defensive chastity belt has them allowing just 12 points a game. As bad as you may think they are offensively, they’re worse offensively: 86th in the nation, and 108th in the nation in passing offense. Date-rapin’ Iowa looks like Texas Tech comparatively, and Terrelle Pryor runs the passing attack with the verve and accuracy of a young point-shaving Art Schlicter. Kurt Coleman taking direct snaps and dare people to touch him might be more impressive, because he scares the bark off trees and leads the usual Ohio State defense. Boner time: 21st in punting!

I mean really, where do you go from there? Stunningly accurate if not discomforting metaphors aside, the idea of playing Coleman on both sides of the ball is one I hadn’t heard. At this point it isn’t sounding all that bad.

Tressel ended Tuesday’s press conference saying that the goal for the second half of the season was for Pryor to notch up 110 yards rushing per game, throw for another 250/game and run out the season 6-0.

With Pryor’s talent, it is a fairly realistic goal. As I expressed in an earlier discussion on this blog, the question is, can the coaching staff get him there.

At this point, what this offense needs is a good old fashioned slumpbust. Something to bring back the old confidence. An easy mark to prove to that they’ve still got game. A game that gives Tressel the opportunity to mix up the play calling, to take a few risks. But where? Who? We’re halfway through the season. The out of conference pushovers are well behind us. If only there were a team that could give our offense the opportunity to take a few risks, to grow, develop and gel as a cohesive unit. If only there were such a team…

Buckeyes take on Purdue
The Bucks head to Purdue this weekend to take on the Boilermakers. Although they opened the week as only a 13 point favorite, you’d better get your picks in quick as the spread is now up to 15. It actually moved up a point as I was writing this post.

I may actually buy one of these myself -- sort of a 'lost causes' type of thing

It’s no wonder the spread is going up as the Buckeye defense scored more then that against Wisconsin — a team with a good offensive line. Put the Buckeye D up against a turnover prone Purdue and this game could get ugly real fast.

As for the offense, if they’ve ever had something to prove, this is the time to do it. Don’t think for a minute Tressel hasn’t heard the critics. He’s been bombarded all week with questions and doubts. Aggressive play calling combined with a top performance from Pryor is exactly what this offense needs to get back on track again. Purdue’s been giving up 30 points per game this season. Now’s the time to build confidence against Purdue, develop technique against Minnesota and solidify it all against New Mexico State. By then the Buckeyes will be ready when they head into Happy Valley.

Before we get carried away though, Purdue almost got past Notre Dame. Then again, who hasn’t? If the defense plays even half what they did against Wisconsin, they could double the 15 point spread and then some.

Update: The Columbus Dispatch is reporting this morning (Thurs) that Pryor feels that this is going to be the breakout game. He says there’s a sense that the offense is ready to explode, he sees what he needs to do different and from here out, it’s a new game. As I mentioned above, Tressel outlined the goal for the next six.

Naturally, being the Tressel bred coach that he is, Siciliano was quick to back peddle. While I believe that a big part of our offensive breakout may be the fact the Purdue is not very good, Sicilano wanted to be sure to clarify. From the Columbus Dispatch:

“I don’t want it misinterpreted that he says, ‘Purdue is not very good, and we can go out and score 40′ — nuh-uh,” Siciliano said. “That’s not what he was getting at. He was just saying he believes, ‘Hey, it could come together this week.’ “

Buckeye Fans, Don't let this happen to you!

If you’re looking for the 2009 Ohio State/Iowa point spread, click here. I see this post is coming up high on the google rankings for Ohio State/Iowa.

As the Ohio State defense was busy kicking the snot out of the Juice Williams and the Illinois offensive attack, Michigan fans were basking in yet another glorious victory — a victory over Big Ten powerhouse Indiana. Never mind the fact that the refs handed Michigan the win with by awarding a “simultaneous conception” (as the announcer termed it) to the defense, a wins a win.

And with that, the Buckeyes head to Indiana to take on the team that nearly ended the “Michigan is Back” fallacy. The Bucks are a 16.5 point favorite and from what we’ve seen the past two weekends, I’m going with the Bucks to lay the spread.

For those looking for something a little more exciting then we’ve seen the last two weeks, don’t look for it in this game. Unless of course, you enjoy watching a defense completely dominate an opponent – which I do (at least when it’s the Buckeyes). If the Buckeyes play like they have the last three weeks (USC included), this could easily end in yet another shut out.

This of course will give Pryor the padding he needs to continue to develop his game. Expect the Buckeyes to spend the first half running the ball and putting points on the board. Once the Buckeyes have a comfortable lead, we’ll see the passing game open up in the second half. Indiana couldn’t keep up with Michigan’s Carlos Brown (who did look fast), they’re going to struggle against the Ohio State run.

Did somebody say defense?
Is the Iowa defense really that good? Doesn’t matter. Penn State quarterback Daryll Clark spent most of his “revenge” game playing punching bag to an Iowa defense that played havoc with the offensive line. Too bad Iowa didn’t have an offense to go with it. Again, didn’t matter. They did exactly what they needed to do complete with clock eating drives reminiscent of the 2007 Illinois win over Ohio State.

I’ve got mixed feelings on this one. Something in me really enjoyed watching Penn State go down. All those late game camera shots of dripping wet Penn State fans clad in their cute little white tee shirts with expressions of total shock…well…it just gets me deep down inside. At the same time, I wanted Penn State to be everything the media thought they were. It would have been much better if it had been our defense that exposed the weaknesses of a top ranked Penn State team.

Unfortunately, the loss to Iowa will be seen as Big 10 weakness as opposed to parity. Only the SEC gets that gift.

Penn State has a month or so to figure it out but if they don’t, the Buckeye defense is going to rip them to shreds. Also makes for an interesting Iowa/Ohio State match up. Any guesses on the over/under for that one?

Is Notre Dame for Real?
Am I the only one who doesn’t get it? Not only has Notre Dame resumed their traditional role as media darling, quarterback Jimmy Clausen is getting Heisman attention. They got beat by Michigan and barely got past Purdue and Michigan State. Is that all it takes these days? If the Buckeyes pull off late-game last-minute wins over Michigan State and Purdue, will Pryor be in the Heisman race also?

Wear Grey Saturday
You’ve got to love this. Apparently Indiana needs a photo of newly remodeled Memorial Stadium filled with red shirts. What better time to take the photo? During the Ohio State game of course.

It seems as though Indiana Athletic Director Fred Glass realizes that there is little hope of packing an Indiana stadium with actual Indiana fans wearing red so why not go with the next best thing – Scarlett.

Yep, that’s right. According to our friends at Boiled Sports (Purdue), Indiana plans to take advantage of the Ohio State crowd for promotional purposes. Indiana knows from experience that Buckeye fans travel well considering they tore down the Indiana goal post in 1996. Now they plan to use Ohio State crowd to their advantage.

So the answer…wear gray.

If your heading to Indiana this weekend, break out the Grey tee shirts. Let’s show them a true picture of an Ohio State away game.

Update:

Northwestern at Indiana?

Apparently this is what happened last time Northwestern visited Memorial Stadium:

A defensive ringer?

Although the memories of Ohio State’s 2007 loss to the Illini and quarterback Juice William’s clock draining late game attack, don’t get too excited Illinois fans. Since that fateful day in the shoe, the Buckeyes have a new weapon with the potential to render Illinois coach Ron Zook helpless against the Buckeye Defense. That weapon? Terrell Pryor.

I know what you’re saying…but what good is Pryor if he can’t get the ball? If the defense can’t handle Williams two pronged run/pass attack, then it doesn’t matter what Pryor does. Our defense has always struggled against a quarterback who can run and Williams knows how to run.

Ahhh, not so fast my friend. The biggest difference between the 07 Ohio State defense and the 09 defense? The 09 defense has spent their summer lining up against Pryor, a quarterback very similar to Williams only about four inches taller. The biggest difference is that Williams has the maturity that Pryor has yet to develop.

From a defensive perspective though, this is huge. The key to winning this game will be to force Williams to scramble. If the Buckeye D can get through the line and still leave a strong defensive secondary, Illinois is in serious trouble. And at this point, there is no reason to think they can’t.

Last weekend, the Ohio State defense ripped Toledo to shreds. Sure, it was Toledo but by the time it was over, there wasn’t much left of an offense that was at the top nationally. Likewise against USC. Other then the last drive, the Ohio State d contained a trojan offense that was expected to put some big numbers on the board.

No question the Illini offensive line will have their hands full protecting Williams who claims he’s recovered from injuries suffered against Illinois State. If the Buckeyes can keep the pressure on Williams and force him out of the pocket, not only will they test his post injury running abilities, watch for the turnovers.

On the other side of the ball, the Illini will try to do the same. Like the Ohio State defense, they’ve been practicing against a shorter version of Terrell Pryor. And like the Buckeyes, they’ve got a strong secondary.  However, so far the young Illini defense hasn’t done much to prove itself getting blown out against Missouri and giving up 385 passing yards to Illinois State.

If the offensive line plays like they did against USC, they’ll give Pryor the time he needs to make things happen. Unless the Buckeyes pull a USC and sleep through this game, Illinois is going to have a tough time holding back the Bucks. They’re best defense will be to keep the offense off the field and unlike 2007, they won’t be able to make it happen

The spread is at 14. Expect the Buckeyes to clear it and then some.

By about halfway through the fourth quarter, I pretty much had this post written in my head. It was full of the post victory stuff — “Not in Our House,” commentary on how the Buckeye defense shocked what everyone seems to consider the best offensive line in the country, the hard walk up the tunnel for Barkley. But as we all know, it was not to be and by now, the post game analysis has been hashed and rehashed.

My biggest problem with this game, as I’m sure it is with ever other Buckeye fan, our young men on the field did a great job. And while I’m sure the world outside of Buckeye Nation will refuse to accept it, Ohio State demonstrated that talent wise, they can play with anyone.

Other then the last drive, the Bucks stopped the USC run. They pressured Barkley and contained the offense. On the other side of the ball, our offensive line held up well against the USC defense. Pryor was forced to scramble a couple of times but I don’t believe he was sacked. When pressured, Pryor was able to outrun the USC defense and he often didn’t go down until the 3rd or 4th hit.

We had a number of opportunities to put the last nail in the coffin and end it. Going into the half, we should have been running the two-minute drill and put points on the board. From the play calling though, I have to wonder, do we even have a two-minute drill?

Likewise late in the second half. The last two fourth quarter possessions should have been long, steady drives ending in points. Short plays and first downs eating the clock. A field goal on either drive would have made it a two possession game. Passing on fourth and one when you’ve got a qb who can run like Pryor?

And that is what is so painful about this game. Our boys played great and it’s hard to see them struggling to make reason out of the loss(see above video). Unfortunately, the coaches didn’t put them in a position to win. In an earlier post, I said that aggressive coaching was the most important key to the game. Looking back at the keys I outlined, I think it’s the only one where the Buckeyes failed.

Instead of going for the kill when they had the opportunity,we saw the Tresselball that worked in the early days of his tenure with Ohio State. I was sitting directly behind the USC bench during the game and there is no question, by late in the second half, the USC players were looking shocked. The enthusiasm that was there in the beginning had definitely changed. Barkley was doing little more then handing the ball to his backs who we were shutting down. It could be seen on the field also when they blew the snap in their own end zone giving the Bucks two points.

It didn’t end at the half though. USC was struggling late in the game. A panicked Barkley threw one at his linemens’ feet and for some reason, Tressel called a time out as Barkley spiked another into the ground as the offensive line couldn’t get the play.

Problem was, instead of pouncing when they were down, we let them get back in the game. The fans smelled blood, the players smelled blood, why didn’t the coaches?

And while the calls to fire Tressel have already started (see comments on this blog), that is not the answer. So we fire Tressel, where do we go from there? For the most part, the only losses Ohio State has seen in the past five years have been to top 5 teams. The last three were all very close.

No, getting rid of Tressel isn’t the answer. He does need to realize though that the Tresselball that lead him to the BCS Title in 02-03 isn’t the be all and end all. He needs to trust his talent and go for the kill. These kids have the ability take on and beat any team in the country. Now it’s time for the coaching staff to let them do it.

(Just an FYI: Sorry it took me so long to get this post up but I was traveling back from Columbus. There are a number of post-game comments on the posts below. Be sure to check them out.)