COLUMBUS, Ohio — When ESPN announced its slate of prime-time Big Ten games for the 2016 season on Monday, Urban Meyer likely had a hard time hiding his smile.
Ohio State will play in at least four prime-time conference games this season, with the possibility—or perhaps likelihood—that the Big Ten Network will be adding another game under the lights to the Buckeyes’ 2016 slate.
Add in a Week 3 showdown at Oklahoma that will possess no shortage of national interest, and it’s conceivable half of Ohio State’s upcoming regular schedule will consist of night games.
Which is just the way that Meyer likes it.
“I love tradition,” Meyer said in 2013 during an appearance on the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer. “But I love recruiting better.”
But beyond the obvious recruiting advantages of playing in a prime-time spot on a consistent basis, ESPN’s choice to prop up the Buckeyes as the Big Ten’s most prominent team is telling from a big-picture perspective as well.
For all the talk of Jim Harbaugh’s ascent at Michigan and the reality of Michigan State having won two of the past three Big Ten titles, it’s still Ohio State that finds itself as the conference’s top draw, despite the departures of 16 starters from last year’s team, including 12 NFL draft picks and five first-rounders.
“We’re not going to change our standards, and that was a message all week to our players,” Meyer said following the Buckeyes’ spring game last month. “We certainly don’t lower…
Continue Reading: Big Ten Football’s 2016 Prime-Time Schedule Proof Ohio State’s Still on Top
