This week, there’s only one song that will suffice for Buckeye Nation. Enjoy!

Shiny

Buckeye 411

• “One time”-  Monday was the reveal of the fourth edition of Nike’s “special” uniforms, and the third time it’s been unleashed for The Game. This year’s a bit different than the past- the jersey won’t be made available to the public, but a number of other “rivalry” shirts and accoutrements are out there for public consumption- be sure to check out The Buckeye Room, where they’ve informed us that they’re also getting in a limited number of the gloves that will get your favorite player flagged on Saturday. Woot!

The “reveal” was a part of the Beat Blue rally in the Student Union on Monday night, and saw former Ohio State running back Raymont Harris taking the catwalk at the party.  The biggest question is about the Buckeye leafs awards on the helmet- the jersey will have seven of them to commemorate the seven national titles, but it’s unlikely that the awards the players have won this season will make the helmet. That being said, the official Nike blog has a Buckeye sticker on the helmet, so there may be something in the works.

My take: I like these the most of the ones we’ve seen, although I wish they’d stop screwing around with the gear for Mich1gAAn week. But, the students like them, as do all of the recruits who will be in attendance... and that’s the target demographic.

• Meyer’s Musings- In this week’s B1G Conference Call, Coach Meyer talked anew about how growing up in Ohio makes him understand The Game as the most important thing that matters.

“You’re taught at a very young age who the enemy is, but you have a lot respect for the enemy.”

He spoke fondly about this year’s senior class, and how he’s been impressed that they stuck around once the bowl ban was announced.  He talked about the need to be ready for both Denard and Devin at quarterback on Saturday, and that there was more than likely a chance for something “interesting” to happen. On his own quarterback, Coach Meyer talks to him daily and reminds him that the goal is to be a QB that can run rather than a running back who throws the ball. “It’s a big week in Columbus Ohio”

• Oh, Davey!!-  Braxton is one of three finalists for the Davey O’Brian Award this year, and there’s a chance for fans to vote as well. Personally, I hope that the fan votes are taken with a huge grain of salt- NCAA accolades should not be like an American Idol competition, plus Texas A&M fans are notorious for their online balloting prowess.
• That Coach Up North- was also on the B1G conference call, and clarified his position on calling OSU “Ohio”, saying that he didn’t mean it to be disrespectful, but that it was something he’d done since he was a kid.  He also talked about Braxton, and said his decision making has improved greatly from last year and throughout the season… something they will be focusing on.
• Show Urb The Money- While I still don’t give a flying fig for the AP rankings until AFTER the season is over, Coach Meyer has at least a nominal reason to pay a little more attention to where his team ends up- his contract was reworked to reward him for a high AP position this year, in lieu of the BCS ban the Buckeyes are facing.
• Might As Well Jump! Huge thanks to our own Janelle for this great photo of this year’s Mirror Lake Jump!

• Past And Future- Wanna’ know more about The Game? The Plain Dealer has got you covered… forever.  Oh, and there’ll be a little history created on Saturday as well… Awesome!

Commentary- Expansion

Following up on Monday’s “news” that Maryland was the newest member of the conference, Rutgers announced on Tuesday that they too would be joining the B1G fourTEeN in the near future. While we know that Maryland will be coming on board in Summer 2014, the Scarlet Knights haven’t announced yet when they will be coming to the party.

What I was most impressed by, other than the chance for a glorious Utah/Rutgers Rose Bowl, was the honesty by which the presidents of Maryland and Rutgers addressed the situation.  Yes, they’re excited to be a part of the conference, and honored to be included. But they’re also realistic that this move will help support their athletic departments in the near future- that the finances involved will help cover state and institutional money that has been dwindling for both programs over the past several years.  As we said on Sunday, it’s got the possibility to be a win/win: TV sets and eyeballs for the BTN, economic support for growing programs.

However, the money aspect rubbed a couple of people the wrong way. Grantland’s Michael Weinreib lamented the move as an obvious money grab, as if Grantland’s parent network weren’t part of the foundation of the escalation in colleges looking for more television revenue. Weinreb trots out the “plodding” and “slower and slower” trope in describing B1G play, as if LSU and Alabama were offensive napalm on skates.  He also writes- “all of this was hammered home by the high-profile oopsy-daisies of standard-bearing Ohio State in BCS bowl games throughout the ’00s.”  You know, the Ohio State team that’s got a 5-3 BCS record during that time… compared to Oklahoma’s 4-3 in that same time period- thank god for UConn.

The New York Magazine sees madness in both the B1G’s expansion and the overall climate that currently exists for programs, comparing the old B1g 12 and ACC models, both which didn’t deliver financially, to the stretch made by the B1G this past week. Yahoo!’s Dan Wetzel wonders what the end result will be of the decision to sacrifice quality for cash; and some are wondering if the NCAA might need to get involved to help create guidance.

We’re certainly not done- “sources” across the web (again, huge grain of salt) point to FSU/Clemson approaching the B12, the ACC reaching out to a number of Big East schools, the B1G talking with North Carolina/Virginia/Texas, and SDSU/Boise/BYU begging the MWC to call them again… the “we always loved you” approach. Oh, and this is a pretty interesting look at the need to go to 14 teams just for the ability to have larger percentages of your conference ranked in the coming year… which gives your conference the appearance of being stronger.

As I’ve said before- I hate the level that outside forces (media corporations) can influence academic institutions, but that’s where we find ourselves.  So, if all of this shuffling gets us closer to Barry Alvarez’ idea of a “Super League”, it might also get us to the point where these huge programs can be separated from their Universities, and where the myth of “student athlete” can be corrected according to the risks they take to create the revenue that drives this machine.

Just Because

Here are two of my favorite things- The Big Lebowski and LSUfreek:

Basket Bucks

• Thad Hits Gold- With all the crazy stuff going on this week as well as our staff’s travel plans, we’ve missed a could of big pick ups for Thad Matta. First up: Keita Bates-Diop, a 6’7″ forward from Illinois who was rated as a four star athlete by major scouting services. After a slow 2013 and 2012 class, it’s good to see Coach Matta reassert himself.
• Part Deux- Jae’Sean Tate added to the 2014 class immediately afterwards; the top player in Ohio is a 6’5 forward/guard from Pickerington.

Elsewheres

• #KeepTheGameTheSame- Gene Smith, for better or worse, has been available to the media every day this week thus far, and today had some interesting comments about the expansion process. After rumors floated that the divisions for the B1G would essentially stay the same, with Rutgers/Maryland being traded for Illinois, Smith and others said that they’d reevaluate the divisional breakdowns in the coming years.  He also said that maintaining The Game as the last game of the season was a priority- so it’s quite possible that we can see a move to having OSU/TTUN in the same division… as St. Woody intended.
• New Friends In Berkley- When Ohio State travels to the Left Coast next year, the Bears will be facing a new coach, as Jeff Tedford was given the door by Cal this week after the loss to Oregon State.

And Finally

Looking for something new for your Thanksgiving meal prep? (#teamfriedturkey)  Here’s an idea from some of my other favorite nerds:

Tags: Brady Hoke, Braxton Miller, Davey O'Brien Award, Gene Smith, Jae'Sean Tate, Jeff Tedford, Keita Bates-Diop, LSUFreek, Maryland, Mirror Lake, Nike, Raymont Harris, Rutgers, SBP, The Game, Uniforms, Urban Meyer
Categories: Basketball Recruiting, College Football, Conference Expansion, Humor, Michigan Football, Ohio State Basketball, Ohio State Football