2010 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament Schedule

2010 Big Ten Basketball Tournament

Thursday, March 11th

* Game 1 – #8 Michigan vs #9 Iowa – 2:30 ET – ESPN 2
* Game 2 – #7 Northwestern vs #10 Indiana – ESPN 2
* Game 3 – #6 Minnesota vs #11 Penn State – 7:30 ET – Big Ten Network

Friday, March 12th

* Game 4 – #1 Ohio State vs Game 1 winner – 12:00 PM ET – ESPN
* Game 5 – #4 Wisconsin vs #5 Illinois – ESPN
* Game 6 – #2 Purdue vs Game 2 winner – 6:30 ET Big Ten Network
* Game 7 – #3 Michigan State vs Game 3 winner – Big Ten Network

Saturday, March 13th

* Game 8 – Game 4 winner vs Game 5 winner – 1:40 ET – CBS Sports
* Game 9 – Game 6 winner vs Game 7 winner – CBS Sports

Sunday, March 14th

* Big Ten Championship – Game 8 winner vs Game 9 winner – 3:30 ET – CBS Sports

Ohio State Buckeyes Clinch Big Ten Title

Evan Turner did it again last night with a double-double to give the Buckeyes a 73-57 win over Illinois and a share of the Big Ten title.

With last nights win, the Buckeyes clinched the top seed in next week’s Big Ten tournament and moved a game ahead of Michigan State and Purdue in the standings.

Turner had 16 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Jon Diebler led the way with 21 points on seven treys, and William Buford added 17 points with seven rebounds and six assists for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State scored five quick points at the close of the first half to take a 37-33 lead at the break. The Buckeyes took control in the second half at led 65-51 with just under 8 minutes to play.

The Buckeyes will face the winner of the No. 8 seed and No. 9 seed Friday, March 12 at Noon.

Buckeyes Ranked Pre-Season #2 for 2010

Can you believe we’re talking 2010 Ohio State Buckeye football already? Rivals.com is listing Ohio State as #2 in the college football Top 25 just a few days after the 2009 season ended with Alabama winning the national championship over Texas. Alabama obviously holds the #1 spot because of that. This year does look up for the Buckeyes especially with Pryor coming into his own and Tressel appearing to feel more confident with him as well.

Other Big 10 teams in the top 25 are:
Wisconsin – #9
Iowa – #14
Penn State – #24

You can see the full list here – http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1037628

Evan Turner is Back!

Rumor yesterday was that Evan Turner was going to be back early to play against Indiana and that indeed was the case. Evan returned after being gone for 4 1/2 weeks after breaking bones in his lower back. After the game Turner said he felt fine so that’s great to hear. Since loosing Turner the Buckeyes had gone 3-3 and dropped out of the Top 25.

Turner didn’t have a huge game but it was only his first game back. He ended up with 8 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes of play.

The Buckeyes ended up beating Indiana 79-54

Welcome back Evan Turner we’ve missed you!

Thaddeus Gibson to declare for NFL Draft

ESPN is reporting that Thaddeus Gibson is going to forgo his senior season and declare for the NFL draft. The following is from ESPN.com

Gibson likely will make an official announcement Tuesday afternoon. According to a source, he met with Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel and co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell on Monday to finalize the decision.

The 6-2, 240-pound Gibson played some outside linebacker at Ohio State but eventually transitioned to defensive end and came on strong during Big Ten play in 2008. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors this fall after leading the Buckeyes with 13 tackles for a loss and ranking second in sacks with 4. Gibson also had two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and an interception.

We’ll certainly miss him next year but wish him the best.

Ray Small & 2 Others Ineligible For Rose Bowl?

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Ray Small along with Rob Rose and Bo DeLande are ineligible to play in the Rose Bowl after violating team rules. Small has had his fair share of issues with Tressel during his tenure at Ohio State but he is still a valuable asset that will be missed in this huge game. Last week it was also announced that freshman Duron Carter would be ineligible for the game as well. Nothing official has been announced from Tressel or the University so we’ll have to wait and see.

Dispatch Article here – http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/12/21/Osu12219.ART_ART_12-21-09_C6_0MG2JBO.html?sid=101

Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals Has Died at Age 26

It was reported yesterday that WR Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals had fallen from the back of pickup truck after a domestic dispute with his fiancée.

Henry has had his share of problems since being drafted by the Bengals out of West Virginia but recently it’s seemed like he’s tried to work hard at turning his life around.

It was just announced a few minutes ago that he has now died from his injuries.

This is obviously very tragic especially at such a young age. Head coach Marvin Lewis is set to have a conference at 11:00 am EST today.

Ex-Buckeye Rob Harley talks stopping Oregon’s offense

The Rose Bowl sets up to be a fantastic battle of imposing wills. Will Oregon’s offense impose their fast break tempo on Ohio State, or will it be the Buckeye silver bullet defense that flexes it’s muscles to pound the Ducks into submission?

There are tons of questions surrounding Oregon’s spread offense, and more importantly their bread and butter: the read option. What are the keys? What are the reads? How do you defend it? First of all let’s review the spread offense. The main goal of the spread is to stretch the field horizontally, forcing the defense to defend from sideline to sideline. The offense is looking to stretch and distort the defense to open up multiple creases, thus giving themselves multiple options. Offenses want to put the pressure on defenses to make quick decisions, and most importantly defend in the open field. In fact decision making and open field play is the crux of the read option on BOTH sides of the ball.
The one thing to keep in mind about Oregon is that they love “smoke and mirrors,” tons of movement and misdirection to get the defense out of position. The hard part is seeing this for what it really is, mainly window dressing covering up a familiar option attack. Every option play leaves one defender unblocked that the quarterback will option off of (keep, pitch, or dive), and the Ducks’ read option is no different. It may vary who they leave unblocked at times, either the defensive end or defensive tackle, but the plan remains the same. Force the defender into jumping one of the options, leaving the defense out leveraged with little time to rally to the football.

The reason Oregon has been so successful is because QB Jeremiah Masoli has done a superb job making good decisions, and hitting the defense where it hurts. The Ducks’ offense is like a metronome staying on pace and chipping away at opposing defenses, forcing them to play perfect on every play. They know that one defensive mistake can lead to big gains and big points.

Which leads us to stopping this seemingly unstoppable attack. To be honest there’s no real secret, dominating the trenches is paramount. Don’t allow horizontal creases, and the offense won’t have any options. Then the defense has to put the pressure back on the offense by forcing the quarterback to be perfect under duress. I’d bring heat early and often to make things happen quickly, now the creases don’t have time to become huge gaps. When things happen fast the defense can resort to old fashioned football…see ball, hit ball. The last and most important part is being able to rally to the football. Relentless pursuit covers up all mistakes, when someone misses their assignment there’s four more guys to clean up the mess. It has to be eleven defenders playing with one heart beat, nobody trying to make “the big play.” You try to do too much or be the hero, and that’s when the Ducks strike.

Football is a simple game, forget about all the exciting schemes and you’re left with fundamentals. The team that dominates the trenches and wins the run game, is almost always victorious. Win your one on one battles on each play and you’ll ultimately win the war. Can the Buckeyes find a way to slow down this juggernaut attack? Will the Ducks waver amidst the silver bullets flying? The Rose Bowl approaches…

This guest post was authored by Rob Harley. You can check out his blog here – http://harleyinthehuddle.blogspot.com/

A Rose Bowl Preview Featuring John Diebler‏

I assume most of you are confused by this title. Some of you may be asking, ‘why would John Diebler, a shooting guard for the Ohio State basketball team, appear in the title of a Rose Bowl preview?’ In three words; he. is. amazing. Let me elaborate:

I was watching Ohio State’s match up with Florida State (part of the Big Ten – ACC Challenge) early last week. A few minutes into the game, John Diebler ran around a set screen and drilled a three point shot. One of the gentlemen calling the game gave us this commentary:

“And that’s John Diebler, a Junior who holds the Ohio high school record for most career points. He scored more points in high school than Lebron James!”

For those of you who watch Ohio State basketball regularly, this fact has been drilled into your head with a ferocious consistency. I honestly can’t recall a game where this fact wasn’t recited after Diebler’s first made basket.

Up until Wednesday night, it irritated me. I would usually just grunt, roll my eyes, and mute the television until I figured they were done talking about it. But there’s something about redundancy and repetition — I just can’t help it. I give in. If these announcers think this fact is important enough to be mentioned during every broadcast, then dang it, it’s important to me as well.

With that said, let’s get to the preview!

When Ohio State is on defense:

Nothing will be more pivotal then the play of the defensive line. The best way to stop a spread offense, or at least a run-oriented spread offense, is by not letting it get past the edges or to the second level. Watch how Boise State’s defensive front controlled the line of scrimmage against Oregon earlier this year. The Broncos were able to keep everything in front of them, and they shut down the “quack attack”. If you want to see what happens when you don’t get that pressure from the defensive line… just watch any other Oregon game.

It’s hard to understate the challenge Ohio State’s defense will have on New Year’s day. This Oregon offense will be the best unit they have seen all year. If you listen to the media, the defense stands little to no chance against the Oregon attack. The accepted truth around the country is that Ohio State struggles against spread offenses, and especially against running quarterbacks. But I wasn’t voted “Most likely to shatter and tarnish accepted truths that are given to us by the media” in high school for nothin’! Let’s take a look at the last few instances where Ohio State faced off against spread offenses.

Nov. 21 — Ohio State held Michigan, who led the conference in rushing, to just 80 yards on 31 attempts (2.6 yards per carry). The pressure created by Ohio State’s front four forced five turnovers in the game — 4 interceptions and 1 fumble (which was recovered in the end zone for a Buckeye touchdown). The Silver Bullet defense held Michigan’s offense to just 10 points, the lowest output the Wolverines managed all season.

Nov. 7 — Penn State hosted Ohio State in what was supposed to be the ‘Big Ten Game of the Year’. Penn State’s offense was averaging over 30 points a game, using a balanced attack to wear down opposing defenses. That never materialized in this match up as Penn State was held to just 201 yards of total offense. Only 76 of those yards came on the ground (30 total rush attempts for 2.5 yards per carry). The Nittany Lions were able to get into the end zone once, but even that touchdown looked questionable as replay showed Daryll Clark pulling the ball back into his body before it crossed the goal line. The 7 points Ohio State held Penn State to was also their lowest output of the season.

Oct. 17 — I hate to bring it up, but in an effort to not look like a complete homer, I have to talk about the Purdue game. And when you look back at it, it’s kind of encouraging that even during the defense’s worst game all season, they still did pretty good. On a day when their counterparts (OSU offense) were turning the ball over and constantly putting them in a horrible position, they were able to allow just 80 yards rushing on 31 attempts (2.6 yards per carry). Deja vu, anyone? Purdue Quarterback Joey Elliot threw for 281 yards, but it’s not like he was dropping bombs on the Buckeye defense. It took him 50 pass attempts to get those 281 yards.

Sept. 26 — The Fighting Illini, one of the teams that gave us this “can’t-stop-the-spread” moniker, came into the ‘Shoe with some people expecting an upset. This was followed by a dominant performance by Ohio State’s defense. The Buckeye’s only allowed 170 total yards, 82 of which came on the ground (34 attempts for 2.4 yards per carry). You could say that the weather was a factor, as it rained hard for most of the game, but it’s not like that stopped Ohio State from moving the ball. The Illini failed to put any points on the board, their lowest output of the season… deja vu… again?

Remember what I said about redundancy and repetition at the beginning of the preview? I know that I’m giving in; how about you? Do you believe yet?

Anyway, there were other spread offenses that we faced this year — Toledo, Indiana and New Mexico State — but as you remember, Ohio State shut them down just as easily, so there’s no need to elaborate.

When you look back at this season, you could almost say that Ohio State struggled with non-spread teams the most. In my opinion, the team that gave Ohio State the most trouble was Iowa. Wisconsin moved the ball effectively against the Bucks, and I don’t have to mention USC’s last heart-wrenching drive against us. Maybe the new ‘accepted-truth’ should be that Ohio State can’t stop normal offenses! Pat Forde, Mark May, I’m giving you gold here! We don’t struggle against spread teams anymore. It’s one of those hidden statistical treasures, like how John Diebler holds the career record for most points scored in Ohio high school basketball history! I mean, come on! He scored more points than Lebron James!

Let me reiterate — Ohio State hasn’t seen an offense that’s nearly as effective as Oregon’s. All I’m saying is that the Buckeyes have had success recently in stopping spread attacks, and that there’s also two sides to that argument. Oregon hasn’t seen a defense that’s nearly as dominant as ours.

When Ohio State is on Offense:

It might take a few series for the Buckeyes to adjust to Oregon’s style of play, which is based primarily on speed. Their linebackers are fast and well rounded. Their defensive lineman don’t boast a whole lot of size, but they have a great burst and do well containing the edges. Oregon’s secondary has shown flashes; they were great against Boise State and USC, but were embarrassed down the stretch against Arizona and Oregon State. This defense will be unlike any that Ohio State has seen this year; they’re not like the big, strong defenses in the Big Ten. They’re all about speed, speed and more speed.

It will be interesting to see what Jim Tressel tries to do against this defense. They’ve shown weaknesses in stopping both the run and the pass throughout the season. As mentioned earlier, Oregon was shredded down the stretch by Sean Canfield (Oregon State QB) and Nick Foles (Arizona QB). Will Pryor develop enough during the layoff for Tressel to put the game in his hands? Or will Tressel try and take advantage of Oregon’s smaller defensive line and pound the ball down their throats, like many teams have?

Ohio State’s biggest advantage will be up front. The Buckeyes offensive line asserted themselves extremely well in the final five games of the season, rushing for over 200 yards in each contest. Against this smaller defensive line, you’d think that Jim Tressel would attack their weekness with our greatest strength. It will be nice to have Boom Herron as healthy as he’s been all season, because the physical backs that Oregon faced this year had the most success. Brandon Saine has shown better toughness this year as well, which will only help the cause.

The key to Ohio State’s success is Pryor. I do think Tressel will try to attack Oregon’s defense with the run, but it won’t be very successful if Pryor can’t keep them honest with the threat of a functional passing game. He won’t need to become Peyton Manning for Ohio State to win, but he’ll need to throw for more than 150 yards. If he can manage the game and show improvement in the intermediate passing game (10-15 yard range), the Buckeyes should be in good shape. If he can hit a big pass play (like the bomb to Posey against Penn State), that would be just fine and dandy as well.

It all comes down to Pryor. I do think he’s going to take the layoff and improve. I think he’s ready to take the next step in becoming a great quarterback. All he has to do is listen to his coaches and execute the game plan. He needs to continue using the advice given to him by Lebron James, a guy who wishes he had scored as many points as John Diebler did in high school. John Diebler holds the career record for most points scored in Ohio high school basketball history.

The Buckeyes would be smart to attack this defense the way Stanford did. No, I’m not sure Ohio State is capable of putting up over 500 yards and 51 points, but they have the personnel and talent to reproduce that game plan. If they can wear down Oregon’s defensive front with the running game and make enough plays in the passing game; well, that’d be just rosy.

John Diebler.

Rose Bowl Tickets Go On Sale Dec. 11 at 10 am

If your heading to the Rose Bowl on Friday, Jan. 1, you’ll be happy to know that it has been announced that tickets will go on sale Friday, Dec. 11 beginning at 10:00 a.m. on OhioStateBuckeyes.com

The following is via OhioStateBuckeyes.com

Game tickets are priced at $155 each and there is a maximum order of four (4) tickets. Game day parking passes will be available for sale at $25 each, discounted from typical game-day prices. A limited number of tickets to the Rose Bowl Kickoff Luncheon on December 31 will also be available for $85 each. All orders will incur a $25 per order fee, and will be shipped via UPS overnight delivery.

To order tickets at OhioStateBuckeyes.com, click on the Athletics heading at the top of the home page and use the drop down menu to access the ticket office page. Once there, click on the “Rose Bowl Tickets” icon to begin the order.

Kickoff for the game is set for 2:00 p.m. Pacific time (5 p.m. EST). The Buckeyes are 10-2, champion of the Big Ten Conference and ranked No. 8 in the BCS Poll, the USA Today Coaches Poll and by the Associated Press. Oregon won the Pac 10 championship last Thursday with a 37-33 win over Oregon State. The Ducks are also 10-2 on the season and ranked 7th in all the polls.

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