Ohio State Pounds Rival Wolverines On Way To B1G Championship Game

(Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Jared Sullinger scored 24 points to help No. 7 Ohio State defeat Michigan (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) 77-55 on Saturday in the Big Ten tournament semifinals.

Deshaun Thomas scored 22 points and William Buford added 10 for the third-seeded Buckeyes (27-6), who advanced to play No. 8 Michigan State in the final on Sunday. Michigan State defeated Wisconsin (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) 65-52 in the other semifinal on Saturday.

The Buckeyes shot 49 percent from the field to earn a shot at their third straight Big Ten tournament title.

Tim Hardaway, Jr., led No. 2 seed Michigan with 13 points, but he made just 3 of 10 shots. Trey Burke, Michigan's other star player, scored five points on 1-for-11 shooting and had eight turnovers

The Wolverines (24-9) shot 31 percent from the field, made just 4 of 25 3-pointers and committed 18 turnovers in one of their worst offensive performances of the season.

Tuesday's Buckeye Bits

Good morning Buckeye fans. Welcome to your Tuesday Buckeye Bits. Unfortunately we are entering the worst month on the sporting calendar tomorrow. February is the worst.

College basketball is still weeks away from the greatest tournament on earth, the NFL will be coming to a close with this weekend’s super bowl, pitchers and catchers are still a couple weeks away from reporting and it’s COLD.

Don’t fret Buckeye fans! I am here to scour the internet in hopes of finding some interesting tidbits for you to read. Let’s get to it.

Buckeyes continue their hot streak- National signing day is only a few days away and the Buckeyes continue to pull in the blue chippers. The latest commit was corner Armani Reeves out of West Roxbury, MA. Depending on what recruiting site you look at, Reeves is listed anywhere from the 17th to 8th best corner available. It came down to OSU and Michigan in the end and I think we all know he made the right choice. It probably didn’t hurt that his high school teammate Cam Williams signed on last week but we’ll take them any way we can get them.

Can Urban "Put a Fence" around Ohio?

Urban's goal: lock down Ohio recruits

As we wind closer to National Signing Day, it's time to look at how well Coach Meyer has done. Certainly, one can conclude that he has made a significant impact in raising the profile and quality of recruits for Ohio State. Perhaps most importantly, he has reinforced the long-held importance of keeping as many top-shelf Ohio recruits as possible here.

In the words of Gene Smith during the introductory press conference: "We wanted a football coach who..would create the environment here with the aspiration for every single football player in the state of Ohio is to be a Buckeye..and have no other thought."


Did Coach Meyer accomplish that? Of course, we won't know for certain for a couple of days, but let's look at what we know so far, especially in relation to TSUN. We'll also take a look at how Urban's immediate predecessor did in HIS first recruiting season.

Live Blog: Ohio State vs. #18 Michigan

The Rivalry is finally here. Ohio State hasn't had the season Buckeye fans had hoped for, but with this group of freshman, hopes are high for the coming years. Right now, nothing else matters. Urban Meyer? Psh. Luke Fickell? It's his time to leave a legacy. Go Bucks.

Join the Live Blog at 11:45 to cheer on the Buckeyes as they head to Ann Arbor.

THE Game: What It Means To Me

Cooper had all the talent in the world.

This week we are running a feature where each of the writers tries to describe what the annual Ohio State vs. Michigan game means to them. Here's Brady's take:

What does the Ohio St.-Michigan game mean to me? Well, in my formative years in the mid to late 90’s it meant heart break, white hot rage, disappointment and missed opportunities. John Cooper was a recruiting savant and always seemed to fill out the roster with 4 and 5 star kids. Some of the greatest players this program has ever seen came from those Cooper teams.

Names such as Winfield (my personal all-time favorite), George, Pace, Boston, Galloway, and Glenn, just to name a few, peppered the sidelines for the scarlet and gray. Those teams would always roll through their schedule with relative ease and seemed to hang around the top 5 every time they would go into the game with the Wolverines. Then, for whatever reason, the team would shit the bed (not a pretty metaphor but an appropriate one)when they saw those wing tipped helmets on the opposite sideline. At least two possible national championship teams were thwarted by TSUN in the 90’s.

THE Rivalry: It's A Hate Thing

Hate Week is in full swing in Buckeye Nation, and this afternoon we would like to feast your eyes on some good old fashioned hate. Also, after the jump we have video of the Mirror Lake Jump 2010. Terrelle Pryor, DeVier Posey, and Nate Oliver all were there. First things first, let's get the pictures going.

Beating a Dead Horse: The Game

Not what I meant, google....

A lot of us were excited when Nebraska was announced to become the 12th team of our beloved 11 team Big Ten a few months ago. "CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!" we shouted. We were so excited. Oh how things can change in just a few short months. We were in shock that Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany had actually done something proactive. We were the first to pull the trigger, and the team that we added, Nebraska, just seemed to "fit" in with the rest of us.

There was a lot of talk about the conference championship game. Where should it be played? Who will be in it? What about divisions? Competitive balance or geographical alignments?? There sure seemed to be more questions than answer. "But..." we thought "I'm sure that things will work out and most everyone will be happy". Looks like we might be wrong. I know this has been talked about at length, but bear with me while I beat this dead horse and maybe drop my two cents on the topic.

Damn it feel good to be a gangsta..

Seeing that I'm about 6 weeks short of 27, I'm not quite at the "get off my lawn" point just yet, but believe me, I'm getting closer and closer every day. For as long as I can remember, Ohio State has played Michigan the last week of the regular season, and a lot of times, it was for a trip to Pasadena and/or a shot at the National Title, mythical or not. Fact is, it's been played that way since 1935, it's a tradition like pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, or making your younger sibling ride "bitch" when you're in the car. It's the way things are, and the way they should be. It just feels right. Not to say that all traditional ideas and ideals are right, but this one is.

My best guess is that Jim Delany hates to do things the easy way. He must absolutely hate the path to least resistance. Currently, each Big Ten team plays two teams or "protected rivalry games" every year, year in and year out. Ohio State's are Michigan(obv.) and Penn State(again, obv.). It would seem to me that the easiest way(depending on whether OSU and Michigan are in the same division or not) is to keep these two protected rivalries as is, and to have OSU, Michigan and Penn State in the same division. On top of that you can still have the OSU v. Michigan game every year as the last game of the season. By keeping OSU and Michigan in the same division you guarantee that they play the same week, same time and only once just like always. Why is Delany causing all this trouble? The answer is right in front of him, like it always has been!

1938...

Some have hinted at Michigan and OSU being in separate divisions, making a slight possibility of a rematch. Quite frankly(F U Stephen A Smith), rematches happen every now and then in the Big Twelve and the conference that shall not be named because I can't say it fast enough to do justice to it's incredible speeeeeeed. As much as I, and a lot of other OSU (and even UM fans), am concerned this isn't nearly as bad as other options. Still not desirable, but way better than meeting up every once and while if both teams manage to make it to the conference championship game.

The third choice is to keep the game, but move it to October, or some other time other than the last week of the regular season. Another idea that I hate. The example of the Red River Shootout just doesn't work as it has led to more confusion in the past couple years. Anyone remember when Texas, Oklahoma and Texas Tech all finished with the same records and Oklahoma got the nod over Texas in some convoluted tie-breaker scenario? Add to that that Texas Tech was left out of the BCS on top of that Texas/OU S storm. Ugly. Isn't that the point of what this whole conference expansion/title game thing is? Keep the game as it is, a knock out round.

Option four is suicide for the Big Ten. In my opinion, it is the absolute worst option out there. Putting Michigan and Ohio State in different divisions with no guaranteed regular season match up would kill the rivalry, and kill one of the best things the Big Ten has going. Some may point and say "well, it's up to these two teams to make it to the championship game. If they can't do that then they have no business complaining." To which I say, you're ignorant. Rivalries, traditions, etc are what NCAA football is all about. If Cal didn't play Stanford the band would have never been on the field. If 2006 OSU and Michigan didn't play we'd be down another instant classic. I could go on and on as every conference seems to have at least one marquee rivalry. Without these games, college football loses another thing that makes it special and different from the NFL.

I still hate you..

Emotion is what makes college football great. The thrill of defeating your rival to win the conference and go on to a bowl game or national title game can't be matched. No one can ever take the memories I have of rushing the field after the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines. On the flip side, the agony of being on the other end of the first scenario also makes rivalries what they are. I can honestly say that growing up in the Cooper years has made my blood boil every time I see that ugly winged helmet, block M or even the colors blue and yellow(in any shade) thrown together. The NFL doesn't have that. Major League Baseball? Get out of Here. Don't even mention the NBA. None of these touch college football in terms of the emotional connection with fans.
In the eyes of the fan, Delany's choice isn't a choice at all. It's as clear as day. Can he pull of two brilliant moves back to back? Or will we rue the day that Nebraska joined the Big Ten and set the wheels in motion for the demise of the greatest rivalry in all of sports?

Don't take this from me.

A day of Links.

There is nothing to say about to today, so let's give our friends over at the other blogs up help. (not that they really need it)

• Fear The Sword is currently going over the previous Boston-Cleveland match-ups in the playoffs. They also have the latest on Lebron's elbow.
• Eleven Warriors "sends" a letter to Duron Carter
• The Buckeye Battle Cry continue to beat down on Michigan. Eh, why not.
• The Rivalry, Esq. is having their "Northwestern" week, currently going over the MVP for them last year.
• Cincy Jungle is covering all you need to know about the Bengals, and are right now covering free agents and waivers etc.

Inside The Shoe is still looking for two writers. One basketball, and one football writer. If your interested, please leave a comment, or email us at insidetheshoe2009@hotmail.com. The requirements can be found here. We hope to be talking to you soon!