New Big 10 Logo

While other conferences base their division names on geographical references (East/West, North/South, Atlantic/Coastal), the Big Ten has announced that they will buck the trend naming the two new conference divisions “Legends” and “Leaders.”  Although it would seem natural to look for some sort of meaning in the teams represented in each division, don’t count on it.

Lock a team of marketing execs in a room for three months and this is what you get folks.

The new “Legends” division will consist of: Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern

Teams in the “Leaders” division will be: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin.

Does this mean that Ohio State and Wisconsin are the new “leaders” of the Big Ten while Nebraska, the newest team to the bunch is a Big Ten “Legend?” Like I said, don’t look for meaning. You’ll only drive yourself crazy.

Fortunately, we’ve got p.r. people. In an attempt to make sense of it all, I point you to the press release announcing the divisions. In the release, Big Ten commissioner James Delany explains the names:

“‘Legends’ is a nod to our history and to the people associated with our schools who are widely recognized as legends – student-athletes, coaches, alumni and faculty. ‘Leaders’ looks to the future as we remain committed to fostering leaders, the student-athletes who are encouraged to lead in their own way for the rest of their lives, in their families, in their communities and in their chosen professions,” said Delany. “We’re proud of our many legends and even prouder of our member institutions that develop future leaders every day.”

Like I said, good thing we have p.r. people to write this stuff. (“We’re proud of our many…” Please.)

O.K., so I buy into the “Legends” and “Leaders” thing. That still doesn’t explain the No. 1 in the new logo. Am I missing the two? Is this a tribute to the legend of the 1 in the latest Big Ten logo? Again, I refer to the press release:

“The new Big Ten logo was developed to symbolize the conference’s future, as well as its rich heritage, strong tradition of competition, academic leadership, and passionate alumni,” said Gericke. “Its contemporary collegiate lettering includes an embedded numeral “10″ in the word “BIG,” which allows fans to see “BIG” and “10″ in a single word. Memorable and distinctive, the new logo evolved from the previous logo’s use of negative space and is built on the conference’s iconic name, without reference to the number of member institutions.”

Oh…I get it…the G sort of looks like a 0.

Keeping consistent with the legends theme, the Big 10 also anno0unced 18 new trophies named after Big 10 Legends. For the most part, these are pretty cool as the updates include a number of recent legends as well as those from the past.

For example, the Big Ten champions will win the Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy (tell me that doesn’t give Penn State a reason to play next year) and the player named MVP will win the Grange-Griffin Championship Game MVP.

Other Ohio State honorees include Woody Hayes with the Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year, Eddie George with the Graham-George Offensive Player of the Year, Orlando Pace with the Rimington-Pace Offensive Lineman of the Year (love seeing the Pancake get his due), and Jack Tatum with the Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year.

You can see a list of the trophies and short bios of the honorees here.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Pick the score and win one of these prizes. Details at the end of the post.

Let me just start out by saying thank goodness JoPa hit the 400 mark. The last thing I wanted to do was spend a week discussing the implications of Jo Paterno playing for his 400th win at Ohio Stadium. Fortunately, we got that out of the way last week. Of course, Uncle Joe couldn’t let it go at 400. He had to leave the field with a “Now let’s go beat Ohio State” which I’m sure will result in a new t-shirt slogan (on white t-shirts of course) and some kid paying for another semester’s tuition.

Vegas Likes the Bucks
Although the BCS doesn’t like Ohio State, someone must. The Buckeyes opened this week as 18 point favorites. Sort of surprising considering the way Penn State has been coming on the past few weeks. Remember though that the big comeback last week was against Northwestern. Unlike Northwestern, Ohio State has a defense. Give the Buckeyes get a 21 point lead and they’ll hold it to cover the spread.

As they do every year, Penn State is showing a little confidence coming into this game. The addition of Matt McGloin at quarterback has given Penn State something of a spark. In two games he’s thrown 475 yards, five touchdowns and hasn’t tossed an interception yet. Of course, beating up on Minnesota and Northwestern will only take you so far. He has yet to meet a defense like Ohio State — especially a well rested Ohio State defense. Or even worse, a well rested Buckeye defense lead by Ross Homan who should be back at full strength by Saturday.

Personally, I think the Buckeyes are going to dissect Penn State Saturday. Ohio State is playing with one of the most balanced teams we’ve had in years. Dane Sanzenbacher is on pace to catch more touchdowns this season than Chris Carter, Joey Galloway, and Santonio Holmes did in their best seasons. Boom Herron had become the go-to man when yards are needed on the ground and I have faith that the offensive line will continue to gel. Pryor even said he was going to spend the off week learning not to pass the ball to his receiver’s shoelaces. Penn State meanwhile is riding on confidence formed at the bottom of the Big Ten.

With the human polls placing the Buckeyes at No. 7, there’s still a chance for the BCS to catch up. Ohio State is going to receive a lot of attention in these last three games. A big win Saturday will not only provide a nice confidence boost before heading to Iowa, it won’t hurt any in the eyes of the voters.

Mr. 1 meet Mr. 2
Although the difference in total wins will be big, the top two winning coaches in college football will face each other Saturday in Ohio Stadium.

Predict and Win
We’ve got prizes again this week. Predict the score of the Ohio State vs. Penn State game and you could win one of the lovely prizes pictured above courtesy of our friends at Gametimegeeks.com. If nobody get’s it exactly, I’ll give it to who ever picks the winner and is closest to the total score. Leave your guess in the comment below.

Update: The Winner…
I can’t tell you how much it pains me to do this but yes, tEggman won it again this week. He was only one point from getting the score exactly.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Get 'em while they're hot. Link only good today.

I don’t know why Penn State and Indiana are playing at Fed Ex Field in D.C. but it appears that whoever planned this brilliant move is getting a little concerned. Today’s Baltimore Groupon is offering discounted tickets to the game. Yes, that’s right my friend, you can see what may be one of the last games of Joe Paterno’s career for only $25.

I guess it’s only about a four-hour drive from Penn State. If you’re coming from Bloomington, you’ll probably want to fly.

Get them today though folks. Groupon deals are only good for 24 hrs.

Don’t forget tBuckeyeblog’s Pick the Score and Win Contest. We’ve got some cool prizes to give away.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Al Joad: Ain’t you gonna look back, Ma? Give the ol’ place a last look?
Ma Joad: We’re going’ to California, ain’t we? All right then let’s go to California.
Al Joad: That don’t sound like you, Ma. You never was like that before.
Ma Joad: I never had my house pushed over before. Never had my family stuck out on the road. Never had to lose everything I had in life.

Colorado announced yesterday that they will be joining the Pac 10 effectively bringing down the house of cards that has become the Big 12. With the announcement comes this morning’s story on TMZ that Oklahoma State will also head west to the Pac 12.

And as we all await Nebraska’s announcement this afternoon that they will join the Big 10, expect the rest of the Big 12 South to fall into place following their predecessors down the mother highway to the land of milk and honey.

Although Missouri (who apparently hasn’t heard from the Big 10) has pipe dreams of holding the Big 12 together, don’t count on it. Don’t worry Missouri…it will all be over soon.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I was in Columbus earlier this week and happened to catch our friend Rob Harley on CD 101. Rob may have summed it up best when he said that everything there is to be said about the Oregon/Ohio State matchup was covered the the week after the game was announced. With 300+ comments on this blog, he’s probably right. Even so, Rob manage to find some good talking points to fill the spot and I’ve got enough left to fill one last post.

So with that:

Laurinatis and Hartline Weigh In
I got an email this morning from Kirk Reynolds who’s latest projects include Playmaker Mobile. Playmaker Mobile interviewed former Buckeyes James Laurinitis and Brian Hartline about the Rose Bowl. Here’s what they had to say:

Laurinitis

Masoli concerns me. He is a true dual threat. He can run, he’s got speed, good shakes and he can throw. Plus he can run you over. He really is perfect for that system. They have two good running backs in Blount and LeMichael James, but if you focus too much on stopping them you lose site of Masoli.

Larry Grant went to San Francisco City College and has been telling me about Masoli, because they played together. If he wins that game against Stanford he deserved to get his name in the Heisman talk. He’s that good. He’s not a prototype so he flies under the radar a little, but next year, he’ll have an opportunity to be one of the guys being talked about.

The key to this game is making Oregon one dimensional, take away that zone read. You have to stop their running game and turn them into a passing team. If you don’t stop the run against Oregon you have no chance of slowing that offense down.

Joe Bauserman is crucial. He’s got to give the defense good looks. He’s got good speed and good shakes so he can emulate Masoli, but you still have to stop the real thing. It won’t be easy, but that’s the key to the game.

The Rose Bowl is a dream come true. The two goals you set out to accomplish are to win the Big 10 and play for the National Championship. If you don’t make the BCS game then you better win the Rose Bowl. National Championships are almost how you’re judged now at Ohio State. We’ve had so many Big 10 championships that the fans expect that. As a team, you want that black and white picture hanging on the wall in the Woody Hayes Center and the only way to do that is win the national championship. If you don’t get that you better win the Rose Bowl or else you’re really just another team at Ohio State. Any time you lose a bowl game it just leaves a sour taste in your mouth and takes something away from the season. So there is a lot riding on this game.

Interesting point about Bauserman. Made me take a second look. You forget that even the guys who don’t play on game day are a crucial part of the team.

Hartline:

Terrell Pryor has had some ups and downs. From an outsider’s point of view he has been at his best when the passing game comes to him. It seems like they were doing some things, kind of forcing the passing game early on and that took him out of the comfort zone. When he starts making plays with his feet, getting outside of the pocket he seems to get a little more comfortable. He’ll be the key to the game. Getting him comfortable, letting his legs get moving, getting him outside the pocket, those things will get the passing game going.

Oregon’s defense runs well so I don’t see Ohio State getting those big momentum changing plays in the running game. They’ll make some plays, but I think the big plays, the game changing plays are going to have to come through the air so I think it will come down to how well Terrell plays. He’s got receivers. Posey and Sanzenbacher have been making plays all season and they’ll have to do it again when the plays present themselves against Oregon.

We have a great defense at Ohio State and I think the defense will keep the game even keel so it will really be decided by which quarterback and which offense executes the best. Masoli runs it very well and both guys have good arms. I don’t want to put too much on one kid, but if Terrell is playing well, making plays with his feet and limits mistakes I think Ohio State will be very tough to beat. If he plays well the rest of the team will finish it.

Ohio State will win. I think it’s going to be a tough game, but getting to the Rose Bowl after three Fiesta Bowls in four years will be very motivating. I’m sure it will be motivating for Oregon too, but I just feel it’s Ohio State’s time. Getting to California will be an eye opening experience for Ohio State. It’s a big year for the Big 10. We have to have a strong showing and make a stand.

Pryor as the X factor…go figure.

Oregon and the Quick Snap
One of the many Oregon fans who have visited this blog in the past month called me out because I hadn’t addressed Oregon’s hurry up offense (Tony in Beavertown?). In the past couple of days both Ivan Maisel at ESPN.com and Ken Gordon at The Columbus Dispatch have also brought up the quick snap.

Maisel points out that even though the Oregon offense scores an average 37 points per game, they only hold the ball a mere 26:58 per game. Gordon adds that 38 percent of Oregon’s scoring drives this season took less than two minutes off the clock.

Gordon goes on to point out that even though Oregon plays fast, they only average about five more plays per game then Ohio State’s opponents so far.

Defensive endurance may be a factor on both sides of the ball. In Oregon’s case, they will need to deal with the physical aspect of the Buckeye offense. For the Buckeyes, their ability to recover quick and contain the option will be crucial. Masel reports that Oregon loves the challenge of grinding it out. According to Gordon, the Buckeyes have focused on endurance training since bowl selection. Doug Worthington stated that there has been a significant improvement in the huff and puff factor during the past month.

“They’re Big, Really Big”
The Oregon offensive line noticed something those of us in Buckeye Nation have been saying for some time — these Buckeyes are huge. Oregon offensive linemen Carson York told the Oregon Daily Emerald,

“Our team, there are some big guys, but most of the guys are pretty normal-looking dudes. At least we think so, being around each other, but when we go out in public we’re giants…I saw all those Ohio State guys at Disneyland (on December 26, for the first Rose Bowl press conference), and there is not a small guy on that team. Every guy just seems big. I don’t know if they have 70 lineman or what. I don’t know if they left the DBs or wide receivers at home, but I didn’t see them.”

It’s important to note that York is 6-foot-5 and weighs 285 pounds.

Others agreed with York who added,

“It’s not really something that we’ve dealt with all year, just within the Pac-10…I think Purdue is probably the closest in size that we’ve dealt with, and Ohio State’s a step up.”