Your Big Ten Tournament Open Thread

Let's get it started folks. Have at it. This is open alllllllll day!

Yes, it is time for some fun.

I mean, whenever you read this blog, when is it not fun, right?

Anyway, this is the start of our brand new group on ESPN. It's time to get those bracket's going! I created the group, and here's the information to join:

Group Name: Inside The Shoe

Password: insidetheshoe

• Rules: Must be human
• One bracket per person

Folks, this is going to be some serious compeitton, because if you win, you win a free item from our ITS Shop! The best part is, you do not have to be over 18, and you even get bragging rights. Of course, when you fill out your bracket, keep in mind if you join this group, you also sign up for the Game Picking Center here at Inside The Shoe. So if you end up not wanting to particpate in the GPC for the Big Ten Tournament, then you can come back for the March Madness tournament, and kick some butt. You all should know by now how to sign up for the GPC, but to sign up for our group on ESPN.com, just go to this link.

Also, there is a reason to try for the GPC, because at the end of the year, (long way away right now, but still) you also win a free item from the shop! We want to wish everyone good luck in the challenge, and I expect to see you all there!

Big Ten Tournament Time.

The time has come for the Big Ten Tournament. This Thursday, get your eyes ready for the very beginning of March Madness.

Sorry it's hard to read.

The Buckeyes get a first round bye, while 6 teams face off to kick off the tourny. They are Minnesota, Penn State, Indiana, Northwestern, Iowa, and Michigan. Regardless of the records, you could see Penn State or Iowa take it all. That's whats great about this, the sheer craziness of it all. We look forward to Thursday. On Thursday, we will feature one post on all of the games played that day, and we want your picks for them for our GPC. If you haven't signed up, just comment below you would like to participate, it's not too late, seeing as your going to be picking on over 64 games this month. For everyone already playing, you know the drill, and good luck to all! Go Bucks!

The Final Destination..

Inside The Shoe Blog update

You can't say I haven't kept my promise that we would keep making updates to the blog so we can make it easier and better for you, the reader. By now, you may or not have noticed that there are tabs underneath our picture of the Shoe. I will go through each one and explain it. First, though, I added a list of Buckeye Blogs to our Blogroll, and I made our Blog load A LOT faster, so check that out as well. So the tabs are:

Home: This was made for you guys so that when you're done reading, you don't have to go back, or re-enter http://www.insidetheshoe.com over and over again. All it does is take you back to the homepage.

About Us: This tab was just made to make more space in the sidebar. It is also easier to track down for you, the reader. It is just telling how we got started and all about the writers that you talk to.

ITS's Game Picking Center: This was one of our new ideas for the blog. For a little bit of healthy competition, I have moved our record of picking games to this, but also added a list of our writers. They, including me, will compete for fun, by picking who the winner of the next Football or Basketball game is. For Basketball, it will just be Ohio State until the March Maddness tourny, where ITS will have complete coverage (Yes, I will be writing basketball if need be). For Football, all the games that we cover with the national games of the week posts, we will predict the winners. There is no prize involved, but each month, whoever has the best record will get their name and the "trophy" on the sidebar. Here is the big thing though. Fans are welcome to participate!!! All you have to do, is comment on this post if you would like to join football, basketball, or both, and I will put your name in. Then, to send your predictions, just send them to the blog email, which can be found in the Contact Us tab.

Picture of The Week: The POW will still be posted as a regular post every Friday, but in case you ever want to look back on a picture, or want to show your friends something, we will keep links to all those POW's, and have the latest one pictured.

Contact Us: This is for you, the readers, to contact our blog staff to let us know something, ideas, tips, or you just feel like saying good job.

So, we are really excited for this, so we hope to see you commenting below saying you want to join in on the Game Picking Center!