I feel like media hype peaked with those two championship games.  But after two embarrassing losses, the media has given up and has started to treat the big ten like the down conference that it is.  The change in tide happened almost overnight.

^So you're actually admitting that your particular media (what, Sports Illustrated?) is biased in favor of Ohio State?

 

Admit?  I laugh!  I'm just stating that you know not what you speak of!

JT's building a dynasty.  This year they'll get at least a share of the B10 title (more likely outright).  Its going to be tough for ANYONE in the B10 to compete w/the tOSU the next two seasons. 

 

Ohio State closes in on fifth-straight Big Ten title; one short of the league record

By Rich Exner, The Plain Dealer

November 09, 2009, 3:25PM

 

An Ohio State victory over Iowa on Saturday would clinch at least a share of the Buckeyes' fifth straight Big Ten title, a streak bettered only once in the history of the Big Ten.

 

Ohio State won six consecutive titles from 1972 through 1977. Among the stars of those Woody Hayes-led teams was two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

 

http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2009/11/ohio_state_closes_in_on_fifth-.html

 

 

 

Thanks for the article Clefan.  That really puts the OSU football program into the right context.  For all the crap that gets thrown OSU's way about not winning the big game, OSU is a model of consistently competing at the highest national level.  OSU doesn't just have an occasional good year.  They are one of the top ranked programs almost every single year.  And that is the definition of an elite football program. 

The Ohio State Buckeyes are Rose Bowl bound!  A thrilling 27-24 OT win over Iowa clinches OSU's fifth straight Big Ten championship and a trip to Pasadena.

It looked like OSU was going to cruise to an easy win when they went up 24-10 in the 4th quarter.  But an Iowa kickoff return TD narrowed the lead to 24-17.  Iowa lucked out of two interceptions on their final tying drive.  OSU had one Pick 6 interception cancelled by an offside penalty and another interception negated by two OSU players coming together to tip the pass to an Iowa receiver. 

 

Iowa played a smart defensive game of denying any long pass plays.  Only short pass plays and running worked for OSU.  Unfortunately for Iowa, OSU's running attack was much better last night.  The triple threat of Herron, Saine and Pryor on the ground accounted for much of OSU's offense in three long grinding TD drives.

This will be Ohio State's fifth straight trip to a Bowl Championship Series game.

 

"The fifth-year seniors have been to the Fiesta Bowl three times and the Sugar Bowl one time and now they get to go to the Rose Bowl," Tressel said. "Life is pretty good."

 

 

Going to the BCS games is good and all, but winning is what counts.  Let's hope OSU can actually win this year.

Tressel's 3-3 in BCS games..........lets not act like they've NEVER won one.

one of those wins being in the championship game and two of those losses being in a championship game.  Pretty good track record.  It is good that the big ten are not getting huge bowls this year,maybe they can actually win some games this bowl season

On a tragic note:  Stefanie Spielman, wife of OSU great Chris Spielman, died of cancer at 42.  Those in Columbus and the Buckeye Nation know about her long battle against breast cancer.  R.I.P.

 

Cancer crusader Stefanie Spielman dies at 42: Her efforts raised millions for breast cancer research

Ugh, R.I.P.

From:  A champion lost: Stefanie Spielman dies of cancer - Eleven years after initial diagnosis, cancer claims dedicated activist

 

Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel also released a statement:

 

"On behalf of the entire Buckeye football family, we send our love, thoughts and prayers to the Spielman family.  Stefanie has inspired the entire Buckeye nation and Columbus community with her courage and strength.  We will miss her and will always remember the lessons we learned from her.  She will always be a special Buckeye."

 

If Ohio State looks a little different today in the Big House - it's not your eyes, it's the uniforms.  The Buckeyes are one of 11 college football teams this year trying out alternate uniforms designed by Nike.  The alternate uniform design is based on the road uniforms worn by the 1954 National Championship team. 

 

Here is the Nike alternate design (left image) and the 1954 design (right image) from Scout.com.

 

         

 

More about the alternate uniforms at OSU notebook: Throwbacks feature modern aspects.

Hail to the conquering heroes!  OSU 21-10

Football: Big Ten awards scarce for OSU

Boren, Coleman only Buckeyes on first squad

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

By Ken Gordon

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Ohio State won the Big Ten football championship outright, but that success was not reflected on the all-conference team.  The Buckeyes, 10-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten, had just two players named to the first team yesterday.  By comparison, Iowa placed seven players on the first team, and Penn State and Michigan had five apiece.  And despite winning his sixth title in nine years at Ohio State, coach Jim Tressel still has not won Coach of the Year honors, this year finishing behind winner Kirk Ferentz of Iowa (10-2, 6-2).

 

Senior safety Kurt Coleman was Ohio State's only consensus first-team pick by the coaches and a media panel. Guard Justin Boren was named first team by the media and second team by the coaches.  Four other Buckeyes landed second-team honors on both lists: running back Brandon Saine, defensive ends Cameron Heyward and Thaddeus Gibson, and linebacker Ross Homan.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/11/24/osufb_all-big_ten.ART_ART_11-24-09_C1_4BFPI2G.html?sid=101

The team totals listed in the above article are from the two voted all Big Ten lists (Coaches and Media).  The complete list of conference first-team, second-team and honorable mention players is at "Big Ten football awards".

OSU FOOTBALL | Looking back: The 2009 season

Sunday, November 29, 2009

By Tim May and Ken Gordon

The Columbus Dispatch

 

After Ohio State completed a regular season with historic ramifications, it figures that the team is waiting on the results of the Civil War to determine its opponent in the Rose Bowl.  That's the prize when Oregon plays Oregon State in the 113th renewal of their Civil War on Thursday night.  In the meantime, Ohio State, coming off a record sixth straight win over Michigan and holding a fifth straight Big Ten title, has plenty to be proud of already from this 2009 season.

 

All but given up for dead after the turnover-riddled loss at Purdue in October, the Buckeyes rallied to win four straight Big Ten games, including back-to-back victories over top contenders Penn State and Iowa, to clinch their fifth straight trip to a Bowl Championship Series game (this time the Rose).  And that came in a season in which they replaced six starters on offense and four on defense, plus the kicker and the punter. 

 

Yet there's still the feeling by some that this Ohio State team underperformed.  That's where our beat reporters, Tim May and Ken Gordon, come in -- to discuss that and other subjects during this break:

 

More at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/11/29/osufb_11-29.ART_ART_11-29-09_C6_IGFQT63.html

Oregon beat Oregon State last night to clinch the PAC 10 title and will play Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.  So in the Rose Bowl it will be the Bucks versus the Ducks.

Oregon beat Oregon State last night to clinch the PAC 10 title and will play Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.  So in the Rose Bowl it will be the Bucks versus the Ducks.

 

I think brutus can put a beat down on that duck!

Tressel's 3-3 in BCS games..........lets not act like they've NEVER won one.

one of those wins being in the championship game and two of those losses being in a championship game.  Pretty good track record.  It is good that the big ten are not getting huge bowls this year,maybe they can actually win some games this bowl season

 

Are you saying you're happy with their performance in BCS games?  The win over Miami was clearly awesome.  Not sure how impressed I am with wins over ND and K-State.  Embarrassing losses against LSU and Florida and a choke job against Texas in the other BCS games.  Couple that with choke jobs against Texas (2005) and USC (2009) and the embarassment against USC (2008) and Tressel has been sub-par in big games against anyone not named "Michigan".

 

For me, this is a big game for Tressel.  He hasn't beat an opponent like this (BCS conference champ) in this sort of game (BCS bowl) since Miami 7 years ago.

98% of college football teams would be estatic w/Tressel's overall record, B10 championships, and overall bowl appearances.  So all in all yes I am happy.  If your not happy go root for Michigan and see how it feels. 

Texas was probably the best team in the country last year, top 2 easy.  tOSU played a great game, came up one missed tackle short of winning that game.  I would hardly blame that BCS loss on Tress or the coaches. 

I love it when Buckeye haters have to invent new ways to knock down the consistent year after year success of Ohio State.  Instead of being proud of your Buckeye state team having the talent to reach the championship game three times within a six year period, they would rather be self-loathers. 

 

And that 34-20 win over Notre Dame in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl was damned impressive.  That was Weis' first year with his best team.  OSU mopped up the field with ND after the media talked about how Weis' superior pro-style coaching would clearly dominate Tressel. 

I love it when Buckeye haters have to invent new ways to knock down the consistent year after year success of Ohio State...

 

Uh, right...I'm a huge OSU fan sick of seeing the team under perform in big games.  I've been to 2 of the 3 national championship games and 2 other bowl games this decade.  Maybe I'm just sick of spending my money on a poor product (and totally why I haven't attended a bowl game since the Florida disaster).

 

Be objective.  What big game performance recently have you been happy with?  Looked really impressive @ Penn State this year (was at that game too)...but I don't consider that to be on the level of a BCS game or games against Texas or USC.

 

By no means am I saying Tressel should go, but for the talent he has - outside of the LSU game which I didn't think they had any business being in - OSU should have either A) won the game or B) been more competitive.  And neither was accomplished.

 

It's one thing to lose to Penn State at home (2008) and just get beat by the better team.  It's another to get out played or out coached in a significant fashion consistently in major non conference games.

98% of college football teams would be estatic w/Tressel's overall record, B10 championships, and overall bowl appearances.  So all in all yes I am happy.  If your not happy go root for Michigan and see how it feels. 

Texas was probably the best team in the country last year, top 2 easy.  tOSU played a great game, came up one missed tackle short of winning that game.  I would hardly blame that BCS loss on Tress or the coaches. 

 

This is the Charlie Weis definition of what is good.  "Almost beating Texas" is about as good as "almost beating USC".  Either one is a loss.

 

And yes, I blame Tressel.  He had opportunities in that game (against Texas last year) to put pressure on offensively when OSU was leading.  And what are you doing putting your defense in a position as time is running out where the opponent can beat 1 guy to win the game?  The post game analysis pretty much ripped Tressel a new one for the defensive call with less than a minute left.

 

While I care about wins and losses, I care about how the teams plays.  And in big games, they have not played to their potential, IMO, since Miami.  The losses to Texas and USC were inexcusable.  The a$$ kicking against Florida and USC were also inexcusable.  Can't say I expected them to win against LSU...but when Beenie Wells is ripping apart the LSU defense in the 1st quarter I kind of expected them to stick with the running game a bit more since it was obviously very effective.  Instead, it vanished in the 2nd half...down 24-10 doesn't mean abandon the running game. 

Uh, right...I'm a huge OSU fan sick of seeing the team under perform in big games.  I've been to 2 of the 3 national championship games and 2 other bowl games this decade.  Maybe I'm just sick of spending my money on a poor product (and totally why I haven't attended a bowl game since the Florida disaster).

 

Nobody is asking you to do a happy dance over the two BCS championship games we lost.  We're just asking you to keep those losses in perspective to the success of the entire program.  Every big-time program has its uptimes and downtimes.  Heck, I can remember Florida having blowout Orange Bowl losses in the pre-BCS era.  Well, they didn't collapse because of that.  And Ohio State won't collapse either.  Because OSU is consistently strong, they'll get more chances in the future.

Uh, right...I'm a huge OSU fan sick of seeing the team under perform in big games.  I've been to 2 of the 3 national championship games and 2 other bowl games this decade.  Maybe I'm just sick of spending my money on a poor product (and totally why I haven't attended a bowl game since the Florida disaster).

 

Nobody is asking you to do a happy dance over the two BCS championship games we lost.  We're just asking you to keep those losses in perspective to the success of the entire program.  Every big-time program has its uptimes and downtimes.  Heck, I can remember Florida having blowout Orange Bowl losses in the pre-BCS era.  Well, they didn't collapse because of that.  And Ohio State won't collapse either.  Because OSU is consistently strong, they'll get more chances in the future.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's certainly nice to win the Big 10 (or a share of) for 5 consecutive years.  And yeah, every team has it's down years.  See Michigan.  See "The Ron Zook Years" at Florida.  USC before Carroll.  Texas before Mac Brown.  Oklahoma before Bob Stoops. 

 

But look, I'm married to a Florida Gator alum.  My side of the family includes Texas and LSU alums.  It's tough defending the Buckeyes after losing 3 BCS games in a row and going 0-2 against USC.  A win in the Rose Bowl would help me out a little! 

 

(And so would some of the other Big 10 teams stepping up for the conference.  Aside from PSU, it's been a little thin lately)

Oregon is good as sh!t. When they're clicking, they're easily one of the best teams in America (but they have choked a few times, which is why they aren't national championship material). With that said, I think this will be an excellent bowl game, probably the best one. I'd expect a close score, competitive stats, and lots of drunken Ohio State fans being obnoxious at the bar. Go Oregon, but Ohio State does have a chance against this team.

 

I hate Ohio State as much as the next guy, but I can't knock Tressel too much (he's better than Rich Rodriguez). His record speaks for itself (as do all those damn conference titles), and they have stepped up to the plate with the big boys. Texas loss last year? Not embarrassing at all, great game actually. USC loss this year? Probably sucked for OSU fans, but not that bad. Even when losing big games, it wasn't John Cooper style, it was because they were usually outmatched (I'd be most pissed about losing to Purdue). Right now, he's the best coach in the Big Ten. It's sad, but it's a true. Ohio State has no competition. Michigan should join the MAC (along with some other Big Ten teams). Penn State huffs and puffs, and gets their house blown in, and Iowa is luckier than Matt Lauer when it comes to having sex with news staff.

 

Basically, it will be a cold day in Ohio before anyone in the Big Ten (or the region in general) can put a stop to the Ohio State train.

 

Jim, I have no idea what C-Dawg Njaim is talking about.  He's truly a lost case

Just agree so that he doesn't do you any bodily harm.

Don't get me wrong, it's certainly nice to win the Big 10 (or a share of) for 5 consecutive years.  And yeah, every team has it's down years.  See Michigan.  See "The Ron Zook Years" at Florida.  USC before Carroll.  Texas before Mac Brown.  Oklahoma before Bob Stoops. 

 

But look, I'm married to a Florida Gator alum.  My side of the family includes Texas and LSU alums.  It's tough defending the Buckeyes after losing 3 BCS games in a row and going 0-2 against USC.  A win in the Rose Bowl would help me out a little! 

Well, now I can understand where the rage against those OSU losses comes from!  You definitely have my sympathies.  All I can say is hang in there.  The Buckeyes time will come again.  Hopefully starting with a win over Oregon in the Rose Bowl.

OSU Football: Coleman is voted team MVP

Monday,  December 7, 2009 - 3:01 AM

By Tim May, The Columbus Dispatch

 

Kurt Coleman wrapped up an all-Big Ten regular season by being named Ohio State's MVP, as chosen in a vote by his teammates.  "Kurt had a great year for us, and this accolade shows the team respected that," defensive tackle Todd Denlinger said at the team banquet yesterday at the Columbus Renaissance hotel.  "He's going to go on to bigger and better things."

 

Coleman left the banquet without commenting but later text-messaged, "Earning the MVP is a tremendous honor."

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/12/07/osufb_notes_12-7.ART_ART_12-07-09_C3_JDFTU41.html

Rose Bowl tickets sell out in 600 seconds

 

The final 1,000 tickets to the Rose Bowl that Ohio State put up for public sale this morning sold out in about 10 minutes, the school announced.  This was believed to be just the third time in 15 years OSU has held a public sale for bowl tickets.

 

Full story at http://blog.dispatch.com/buckeyesblog/2009/12/rose_tickets_sell_out_in_600_s.shtml

Ohio State's Pryor Playing With Knee Injury

By Greg Beacham, AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES - December 28, 2009

 

Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor has revealed he partially tore a ligament in his knee, claiming it didn't slow him down much while leading the Buckeyes to the Big Ten title.  In an affable session with reporters Monday morning, Pryor admitted he has a partial tear in his posterior cruciate ligament, touching his left knee for emphasis, but not confirming which knee is hurt.

 

Full story at http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=9435975

OHIO STATE vs. OREGON | ROSE BOWL | 5 p.m. TODAY | ABC

 

The Buckeye Nation has showed up in force for today's Rose Bowl.  The OSU Alumni Association and TBDBITL held a huge pep rally at the Santa Monica Pier yesterday.  Below is a slideshow.

 

SLIDESHOW: OSU and its fans ready for the Rose Bowl game

 

And a couple of preview articles for today's Rose Bowl:

 

Will bowl blues end in Rose? Spotlight falls upon Buckeyes defense on big stage again

 

Index of 2010 Rose Bowl articles: local stories, a look back at past OSU Rose Bowls and helpful links about Pasadena, the game and the Tournament of Roses parade.

 

OHIO STATE 26 | OREGON 17

Tressel created mankind!

Congrats Buckeyes!

GO BUCKS!!!

That was probably the best game Terrelle Pryor played.  He generated over 300 years of total yardage, made very few mistakes and showed great leadership.  Also a great allaround effort on the offensive and defensive side.  WR Posey's TD catch was outstanding and cliched the game.  RB Saine ran well and had a great TD reception to start off the scoring.  DE Hayward played great again and DT Worthington played the game of his career.  The whole defense held down the high-powered Oregon offense that averaged over 30 points a game.

 

The only part of the game the Bucks did not excel at was kickoff coverage.  Oregon consistently returned our kickoffs to midfield.  If not for that, the game probably would have been as much of a blowout on the scoreboard as it was on the stat sheet. 

With really only a handful of key seniors leaving, Coleman, Pettrey, Russell, Small, Worthington, Wilson and Spitler, this team is primed for another NC run in 2010.

Agreed.  The Bucks look like one of the preseason favorites for 2010.  Some of the losses on defense will be a challenge to replace.  But if Heyward doesn't declare for the NFL draft, the defense will probably be fine. 

 

I was looking through the photos of the game at ROSE BOWL VICTORY and remembered one of the key plays.  The outstanding catch made by senior TE Ballard who stretched his 6' 7" frame for a critical jump ball catch on OSU's final TD drive.

Problem?  What problem?

Well, I can't argue with that. 

 

OSU should be the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten next season, but I don't expect the other teams to just melt away. 

Outlook rosy after bowl win

OSU has momentum going into offseason

Sunday,  January 3, 2010 - 3:33 AM

By Ken Gordon, The Columbus Dispatch

 

The depth chart and the preseason rankings will likely bode well for Ohio State next summer.  Ohio State is coming off an 11-2 season that ended Friday with the Buckeyes finally getting over their big-game bugaboo, beating Oregon 26-17 in the Rose Bowl.  Many were frustrated with the progress -- or lack of progress -- of quarterback Terrelle Pryor in his second season as the starter.  On Friday, Pryor gave fans high hopes for next season.  He had a career day throwing the ball, earning offensive player of the game honors with 266 passing yards and two touchdowns, including the clincher to DeVier Posey in the fourth quarter. 

 

Pryor is one of nine offensive starters who will return, including three players who rushed for 600 yards or more last season (Pryor, Brandon Saine and Daniel Herron).  Ohio State loses only left tackle Jim Cordle and tight end Jake Ballard.  The defense will be harder hit.  Five senior starters are gone, including both safeties (Kurt Coleman and Anderson Russell).  But the Buckeyes might have to replace as many as eight starters if juniors Thaddeus Gibson, Cameron Heyward and Chimdi Chekwa declare for the NFL draft.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2010/01/05/0105-osus-gibson-headed-to-nfl.html?sid=101

Thad is leaving.  Cam and Chekwa are staying for their senior seasons.

 

Nate Williams should sufficiently replace Thad, plus there are some very talented pass rushers who have not found their way on the field yet - Melvin Fowler, Keith Wells and Solomon Thomas. 

 

Spitler leaving will result in an upgrade IMO.  Ettiene Sabino has been groomed and is much more athletic.  We will also get Tyler Moeller back next season, although it is possible that he will be moved to safety.  There is also a kid who redshirted this past year, Dorian Bell I think is his name, from Pa. and he was VERY highly rated coming out of HS... something like the 11th best player overall in the country.

 

Same goes for Cordle leaving.  Hopefully Mike Adams' light will finally turn on.  He can be 10x the LT that Cordle was this past season if he is motivated.  Marcus Hall from Glenville will jump over him in the depth chart if he is not, but that will probably result in Shugarts moving to the left side and Hall taking over at RT.  The guards and center will be back and will make up one of the best interior lines in recent Buckeye memory.

 

To me, the most interesting position next year will be running back.  We have quite a stable - Boom, Saine, Jordan Hall, Jamal Berry, Carlos Hyde and Roderick Smith.  Smith will probably redshirt, but the other five, while maybe not heisman contenders, could start on a lot of Div 1 teams and their skill sets are rather diverse.

The Final AP Poll was released after Thursday's BCS National Championship Game.  After an up-down-and-back-up season, the Buckeyes finished with a very respectable #5 ranking.  A good Rose Bowl win will do that.  Ohio's other Top 10 team, Cincinnati, drops to #8.  A bad Sugar Bowl loss will do that. 

 

Maybe the biggest surprise is that the much maligned Big Ten is the conference with the most teams in the final Top 10.  In addition to Ohio State, Iowa and Penn State cracked the Top 10 with impressive bowl wins. 

 

Final AP Poll  

RK  Team          W-L  Points  Prev  Last Game

1  Alabama (60) 14-0  1500    1    W 37-21 Texas

2  Texas          13-1  1399    2    L  21-37 Alabama

3  Florida          13-1  1370    5    W 51-24 Cincinnati

4  Boise State  14-0  1366    6    W 17-10 TCU

5  Ohio State    11-2  1224    8    W 26-17 Oregon

6  TCU            12-1  1163    3    L  10-17 Boise State

7  Iowa            11-2  1126    10  W 24-14 Georgia Tech

8  Cincinnati      12-1  1060    4    L  24-51 Florida

9  Penn State    11-2  1016    11  W 19-17 LSU

10 Virginia Tech  10-3    953    12  W 37-14 Tennessee

 

To see the full AP Top 25 Poll go to http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/poll?poll=AP

OSU football to open on a Thursday

Marshall game will be played at night Sept. 2

Thursday,  January 14, 2010 - 2:59 AM

By Tim May, The Columbus Dispatch

 

Ohio State football fans who just can't wait for the 2010 season to start got some good news yesterday: The season will begin two days earlier than originally scheduled.  The school moved the opener with Marshall up to the night of Sept. 2, a Thursday.

 

It will be the first Thursday night home game for Ohio State since the 1997 season-opening win over Wyoming in the Eddie Robinson Classic.  That was a special game added to the schedule.  Moving the Marshall game also gives the Buckeyes two more days to prepare for the Sept. 11 game against the University of Miami.

 

Full article at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2010/01/14/Osu201140.ART_ART_01-14-10_C1_K1G9TRI.html?sid=101

OSU Football: Rating Jim Tressel's recruiting classes

Sunday,  January 31, 2010 - 3:35 AM

By Ken Gordon, The Columbus Dispatch

 

This just in: Recruiting is an inexact science.  Some highly rated players are busts, and no-names sometimes blossom into stars.  By now, in this age of breathless, frenzied following of where high school football players choose to play in college, that's an old story line.  Some kids don't fit the mold that others make for them when they are 17 or 18 years old.

 

But as Wednesday approaches, the first day that national letters of intent may be signed, here's a different issue: Have Ohio State's recent recruiting classes lived up to expectations? Have the classes with the most potential been the most successful?

 

To answer that, The Dispatch examined the Rivals.com class rankings for OSU's classes from 2002 through 2008.  The results suggest that Rivals.com did a pretty decent job. Five of the seven classes performed just about where they were predicted.

 

Review of each recruiting class (2002-2008)

 

Full article at http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2010/01/31/osufb_1-31.ART_ART_01-31-10_C1_FAGF74B.html?sid=101

National signing day for college football has come and gone this week.  Below is a link to a compilation of recruiting class rankings from four sources:  ESPN, Rivals.com, Scout.com, MaxPreps.com.  Link lists the top 20 teams and highlights Ohio State's ranking.

 

2010 COLLEGE FOOTBALL RECRUITING CLASSES: TOP 20 RANKINGS

 

It looks like Ohio State had a good but not great recruiting class.  They rank from a high of #14 at ESPN to a low of #26 at Rivals.com.  Penn State and Michigan had the consensus #1 and #2 classes in the Big Ten, followed by Ohio State.  In the national rankings opinions slightly varied from source to source on every team except for one: Florida.  Everyone thinks Urban Meyer and company easily had the #1 recruiting class.  And for you underdog fans, the recruiting news is not good.  The top three teams in the final BCS poll also had the top three recruiting classes: Florida, Texas and Alabama.

 

Also, here's a link to the 18 players signed by the Buckeyes: LIST OF OHIO STATE'S 2010 RECRUITING CLASS

We lost out on some alleged big time recruits this year that some "insiders" thought we were going to get - Lamarcus Joyner (Fla kid going to FSU), Sean Henderson (Minn kid going to USC).  But, IMO, what hurts is that we might have had our worst year in Ohio in recent memory.  The state's consensus top player, Jordan Hicks, went to Texas.  Another top 5 guy, Matt James, went to ND.  Latwan Anderson from Glenville verballed to WVU but might change his mind and go to USC.  It appears Tressel's fence has a couple holes that need mending.

 

That said, we do have an overall young team and that has to be discouraging to some top line recruits who want immediate PT.  I suspect 2011 will be much better on the recruiting front.