B1G Tournament Basketball Preview: Ohio State vs. Michigan

Ohio State is facing Michigan for the 3rd time

Based on the way Ohio State looked in its first game of the event, the Wolverines will need to play much better against their archrival if they want to earn a spot in the league championship game.

The No. 10 Wolverines look to prevent the seventh-ranked Buckeyes from reaching the Big Ten final for a fourth consecutive season when they meet in the semifinals for the second straight year Saturday in Indianapolis.

Co-Big Ten champions in the regular season along with Michigan State, second-seeded Michigan (24-8) and third-seeded Ohio State split their first two meetings in 2011-12. The Buckeyes (26-6) won 64-49 at home Jan. 29, but the Wolverines got their revenge and snapped a six-game skid in the series with a 56-51 win in Ann Arbor on Feb. 18.

William Buford had 16 points and Jared Sullinger added 14 with 13 rebounds as the two-time defending tournament champion Buckeyes beat Michigan 68-61 in last season's semifinals, improving to 5-0 against the Wolverines in Big Ten tournament play.

Considering the way Ohio State played during an 88-71 win over Purdue on Friday, Michigan has reason to be concerned after it needed a late rally and overtime to beat 10th-seeded Minnesota 73-69 earlier in the evening.

Basketball Preview: #10 Ohio State vs. Northwestern

Sullinger needs to get hot

For Ohio State to have any legitimate chance of reaching the Final Four, Jared Sullinger must re-emerge as the go-to player he's been most of his two seasons. Northwestern's chances of simply reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history could hinge on keeping the preseason All-American in his recent funk.

The 10th-ranked Buckeyes try to set up a weekend showdown for the Big Ten title and avoid being a large notch in the Wildcats' belt Wednesday night when the teams play at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Ohio State (23-6, 11-5) can still claim a share of the conference title if it wins this game and its regular-season finale Sunday at No. 5 Michigan State. For that to happen, though, the Buckeyes must get Sullinger -- averaging 16.8 points and 8.9 rebounds -- back on track.

The sophomore has been the target of physical double- and triple-teams in recent games as Ohio State has lost three of five. Sullinger has been held in single digits in consecutive games for the first time in his career after scoring eight points in Sunday's 63-60 home loss to then-No. 16 Wisconsin. He missed a portion of the second half after cramping up, and coach Thad Matta is trying to make the needed adjustments to get Sullinger rolling again.

How Jim Delany Finds Traction On The Slippery Slope

More Money - More Headaches

Our friend ProveIt has dropped by again for his third article on ITS. Today he covers just how Delany is working the playoff/BCS scene.

Portions of Delany’s playoff model were recently leaked - a seeded 4 selected using the BCS formula with the 1st round played at the home field of the top 2 teams. The location of the title game would be bid on by prospective hosts.

The Slippery Slope
From the initial SEC proposal to the present, the majors have said they don’t believe a seeded 4 or plus 1 would appreciably impact yearly revenue. They believe a seeded 4 risks becoming a slippery slope to larger formats. They believe larger formats would result in a decrease in revenue for the year. This is the common findings of the networks, bowls, and independent research groups. When dropped like a hammer to the head of mid major commissioners, they have never denied this, choosing instead to quickly change the topic.

It is worth noting:
1. Nobody with access to, and the ability to project from, pertinent information has ever claimed a plus 1 or seeded 4 playoff would result in a notable change in revenue for the year for the majors. They have all claimed a larger format would result in a yearly loss in revenue for the majors.

2. Prior to the recent talks (and perhaps still now), no major had ever stated their conference supports a playoff of any size – this includes the SEC and ACC.

 - If you have a link to show otherwise, it would be greatly appreciated. If you have a series of unsupported plausible sounding statements, you have something anyone could make up.

This is not the 1st Time Delany Walked the Slippery Slope
Courtesy of Pariahwulfen at Off Tackle Empire, Delany promoted a true Plus 1 format to the B1G in 2005.

“Henry Bienen, president of Northwestern University, told Yahoo! Sports that Delany actually favored a playoff-type system that Delany decried in 2005… the so-called Plus-One model, the two top-rated teams that emerged after the Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Orange Bowl were played would advance to a national championship game. “

Basketball Buckeyes Fall At Michigan

Cold shooting left the Bucks with an L

More than 17 hours after Beilein showed up at the Crisler Center with doughnuts for the fans, Michigan (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP) finished off a 56-51 victory over No. 6 Ohio State. (Ed. Note That gives Ohio State a 2-game losing streak against teams from TSUN)

The Wolverines (20-7, 10-4 Big Ten) are 15-0 at home and tied with the Buckeyes for second place in the Big Ten, a half-game behind Michigan State.

The star of the night was a true freshman who was introduced to the fired-up crowd as "The pride of Columbus, Ohio, Trey Burke."

Burke finished with 17 points, including a game-clinching runner with 11 seconds left that helped Michigan stop a six-game losing streak to the Buckeyes.

Basketball Preview: #6 Ohio State vs. #19 Michigan

Can Sullinger and OSU bounce back?

The memory of another frustrating loss to rival Ohio State last month remains vivid in the collective minds of the Michigan basketball team.

With that defeat as motivation, the No. 17 Wolverines try to avoid a seventh consecutive loss to the sixth-ranked Buckeyes on Saturday night in a Big Ten matchup at Crisler Arena.

Michigan (19-7, 9-4) trailed by three at halftime at Ohio State on Jan. 29, but the Buckeyes used a 14-2 run midway through the second half to win 64-49. By the end of the game, Buckeye fans added insult to the result by singing "We Don't Give A Damn For the Whole State of Michigan."

The rematch is here, in a prime-time setting and on a court where the Wolverines have won 15 straight dating to last season. The Buckeyes are going to be tested coming off of their recent loss to Michigan State.

Smith, Buckeyes Give Late Push Against Wolverines

(AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Lenzelle Smith Jr. once again stepped up big time for #4 Ohio State, as he scored 17 points and had a career-high 12 rebounds as the Buckeyes (19-3, 7-2) flexed its muscle inside to beat the 22nd ranked Michigan squad 64-49 on Sunday, keeping the Buckeyes in a first-place tie in the Big Ten.

Jared Sullinger added 13 points and William Buford and Deshaun Thomas both had 12 for Ohio State (19-3, 7-2), which ran its winning streak over its archrival to six straight and eight of nine.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had 15 points for the Wolverines (16-6, 6-3). Trey Burke, the conference's top freshman point guard, returned to his hometown to play for the first time against Sullinger, his former high school teammate, and finished with 13 points.

The Buckeyes also extended their home-court winning streak to 38, the second-longest in the program's 100 years. Leading by three points at halftime, the Buckeyes pulled away with a 14-2 run midway through the second half. Bookended by 3-pointers by Burke, most of the points came as a result of backdoor cuts or drives. It didn't include a 3.

Buford, who was quiet throughout the first half, got it started with a driving layup. Later in the spurt he stepped in front of Burke's crosscourt pass and streaked the length of the court for a dunk.

What Went Right/Wrong: The Game

Brown showed some improvement

There's something very deceiving about the 6-6 record that Ohio State holds for the 2011 season. A lot of these losses came down to either the final couple of minutes in the game, or were within striking distance the entire day. We lost to Michigan 40-34. Before that margin, Michigan was at first and goal, leading with only a couple of minutes left in the game. Then some magic took place, allowing hope to enter my head.

That magic, came in the form of some very stupid mistakes by Michigan. A holding call, and then a personal foul against the Wolverines pushed them all the way back to around the 20 yardline. In turn, they had to kick a field goal, leading to the final score. Of course, Ohio State had an opportunity to get things going and to win the ballgame with a last minute drive once again.

With that, let's get onto what went wrong and right for the Buckeyes on Saturday.

Preview: Ohio State vs. #19 Penn State

Can OSU step up to the challenge?

The football programs at Penn State and Ohio State have had troubled and troubling seasons.

A year ago when Penn State and Ohio State played, the game matched the two winningest active Division I coaches.

On Saturday, the Nittany Lions visit the Buckeyes again with both programs in flux.

"There's no question that a lot has happened in the past year for our programs," said two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, now president and CEO of Ohio State's alumni association. "At this point, you just have to focus on moving forward and learning from things that have happened."

Tom Bradley and Luke Fickell, formerly defensive assistants, are now the interim head coaches for the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes, respectively. There is a lot riding on the game -- a Big Ten division title -- yet it's clear that the world has wobbled off course for both.

Recap: Ohio State 23, Purdue 26

Hall made some big plays

If you thought that Ohio State (6-4, 3-3) would come out fast and looking ready to go for a November to remember, you weren't the only one. Sadly, it looked as if they didn't make any progress from the close-shave against Indiana. The trip to Ross-Ade stadium again seems to give fits to Ohio State offenses, and the defense looked terrible in a 26-23 overtime loss to Purdue. The Boilermakers (5-5, 3-3) had just been coming off 2 straight losses - both in ugly fashion. First came Michigan who they lost to 36-14, and then traveled to Camp Randall where the Badgers took care of business in fashion 62-17.

Of course, those games meant nothing to Purdue. Look at their home record before this game: 4-1. Their only loss came to Notre Dame. They beat Illinois and a Minnesota team that has shown much improvement from the past couple of years. Add to the fact that the Buckeyes have some weird phobia of playing against the Boilermakers at Purdue, and that's a recipe for confidence and success for Danny Hope's squad, which is now one win away from bowl edibility. As for Ohio State, things have taken a turn for the worse since their monumental upset of then highly-ranked Wisconsin. After that game, Ohio State was just 1 game away from being in control of their own destiny on their way to a B1G CCG. All they had to worry about was winning out, but even with Braxton Miller's heroics again, this time with a 4th down roll-out that ended in a fantastic Jordan Hall catch,  the Buckeye defense couldn't come up with a stop in overtime.

Links Around The League

A while back this summer, we had our first "Links Around The League" with the mindset of making it into a weekly feature. If you enjoyed that you'll appreciate the fact that it is joining the weekly lineup this fall starting next Tuesday, and every Tuesday following that one. If you're too lazy to click the link to see what this feature is about, then I'll tell you. "The big story's/news from all around the Big Ten and Big Ten blogs, not only keeping you up to date on your enemies, but also giving you links to some of the absolute best sports blogs in the country. We aren't exaggerating this a bit, these guys have got it down. So with that, here is this week's Links Around The League.

Are The Buckeyes Going To Win The Big Ten?

How far can Fickell take this team?

Phil Steele in his latest predictions, has Ohio State winning the Big Ten Leader's division despite the losses of Terrelle Pryor and Jim Tressel. This isn't too surprising, and he obviously has a lot of faith in what Luke Fickell can do. I do as well, but I can't tell if they can win a B1G championship just yet. I have to be able to see Nebraska, Wisconsin, etc. The B10 is very deep this year, with Wisconsin (along with getting Russell Wilson), Michigan State, an interesting Illinois team, Nebraska, and some early underdogs that could step up with some pretty big upsets.

While I think it is possible, I think the first 5 games are going to be the real test for Braxton Miller (who's been rumored to be the starter, based off subtle notes in the Big Ten media day) and how he plays, along with our stable of running backs, will decide how the rest of the season plays out. Michigan State, Miami, and Nebraska are going to be some real tough tests, not just for Miller, but the defense as well. After the jump, look what Phil Steele has to say about his latest predictions on the Buckeyes.