Ohio TE Brandon Moore Speaks with Some Wolverines

There has been a steady stream of recruits in for spring practices, many from instate, but some from out of state. One of the biggest names to visit this week was Trotwood (Ohio) Madison tight end Brandon Moore.

One of the highlights of that visit that occurred Tuesday was meeting Michigan players past and present. Moore told Rivals.com, “I met Manningham, Crable, Steve Breaston, Jamar Adams and Tyler Ecker also,” he said. “ They were real cool guys. Three of them I talked to came from Ohio including Crable and Manningham. I asked them why they chose Michigan and they gave me a lot of reasons why they chose Michigan over Ohio State. They seemed like real cool people – people I could get a along with.”

Michigan needs Moore as TE #1 and either Michigan native T. Hoover or Ohio product (OSU & UM offer but grew up a big UM fan) Kevin Koger or a PA kid as TE #2 in this class. Any combination of those will make me very happy, especially following last years class at TE (four-Star Webb and three-star Watson).

Mourning Over

In case you were preoccupied with baseball's opening day, Ohio State lost the NCAA Men's basketball national championship on Monday to Florida, 84-75. In a nutshell, Florida guards were deadly from beyond the arc, hitting 10 of 18. Ohio State lived and died by the three all season, and their shooters picked the biggest stage to fall flat. The Buckeyes hit just 4 of 23 shots, 2 of which came after the game was already decided. It's been widely discussed that this is Florida's second consecutive men's title, with a BCS football title sandwiched in between. The latter two wins came at the hands of Ohio State.

A few random thoughts...

Greg Oden played his best game of the season, finishing with. He looked like a man possessed, a man out to prove the doubters, and worst of all, a man who knew this was his last college game. He finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks.

Joakim Noah, the object of much ire from fans this season, was essentially useless. He finished with 8 points and 3 rebounds, but was plagued with foul trouble the entire game. He went from a possible #1 pick to a mediocre lottery option. I hope he enjoyed all of that lousy dancing, screaming and chest-pounding this season.

Despite the persistent rumors and the dazzling play during the tournament, PG Mike Conley Jr. publicly confirmed that he's coming back to Columbus next season. Of course, he has until April 29 to change his mind. if he does choose to return (assuming Oden leaves) Ohio State should be a pre-season top 10 team again. They lose clutch guard Ron Lewis and forward Ivan Harris to graduation, but the cupboard is stocked again.

These are the 8 players you'll see in rotation to start the season. Madsen is a transfer from Vanderbilt that spent the season practicing against Oden. Koufos is a 7'0" center from Canton, Ohio. He's a McDonald's All-American rated as the top 15 players in the entire 2007 class. Should Conley leave, Butler would slide back to point guard, where he played as a sophomore.

G - Mike Conley
G - Jamar Butler
G/F - Daequan Cook, David Lighty
F - Othello Hunter, Kyle Madsen
C - Kosta Koufos, Matt Terwilliger

The rest of the incoming class, along with their Rivals.com ratings.

G Jon Diebler (OH) #15 shooting guard, #59 overall
F Evan Turner (IL) #13 small forward, #46 overall
F Eric Wallace (VA) #31 small forward, #110 overall
C Dallas Lauderdale (OH) #10 center, #106 overall

More on the Ohio State basketball jugernaut in the days to follow. We'll also resume our breakdown of Ohio State football on Friday.

My Little Pony's Last Ride

It has been a long while since an Ohio State football or basketball team went into a big game as a decided underdog. The basketball team has lost just three games this season, at UNC, at Florida, and at Wisconsin. While they certainly were not favored in any of those games, the line wasn't very large either. Further, Oden missed the first game and was in just fifth game when Ohio State visited thr Gators. The Buckeyes avenged the Wisconsin loss twice later this season, once in Columbus and again in the Big Ten Tournament championship.

As for the football team, last year's 12-1 team was favored in every single game. That included the shocking BCS title game when Florida routed the rather flat (footed) Buckeyes. Even during the 2005 season, Ohio State lost just two games to Texas and at Penn State. The line (and general consensus) prior to these games was that the teams were closely matched, and both games were decided by a score or less.

So Buckeyes fans find themselves in a strange position this evening...we're expected to lose. It seem too cruel to that Ohio State could lose both championships to the same school in the same year. It would be especially painful, given the obnoxious nature of Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and the rabid Florida fans. As ESPN.com's Pat Forde wrote, Noah is NOT a beloved player. So watch him scream, whine at fouls and pound his chest is nauseating. Brewer doesn't seem much better, but this blog hasn't yet gone R-Rated so I'll keep those insults to myself. For anyone you thinking I'm a bitter Buckeye, that's not the case. Mostly. I have no problem with Horfor, Green and Humphery, who generally go about their business while mauling teams. I just don't like loud uppity players. You know, unless their on my team and I can make excuses for them.

We've seen Florida's A game. They have the hardware and the experience. Logic may dictate that you're not going to beat the defending champ, who browbeat you by 26 this season, on a court they won the SEC championship on.

But we haven't seen Ohio State's best game yet. We haven't seen Oden unleashed, free from foul trouble, blocking shots and rattling the rim with dunks for 30 minutes. If this happends, Ohio State's trio of three point assassins will have plenty of room to knock down shots and equalize Green and Humphery. We're just getting to see David Lighty gain confidence and start shutting down players on offense. And Mike Conley has already shown that he simply does not know how to lose. Logic may say that Florida is better, but Ohio State is a young, talented team that is just putting it all together. It needs to happen right now. Oden, and probably Conley, will not be back for a mulligan in 2008.

Ohio State is used to being the juggernaut. It has been just over four years since Ohio State rolled in to a huge game with the underdog label. Too slow. Can't complete with the a more talented team, the defending national champions. No chance, the experts said. That Ohio State football team stunned the Miami Hurricanes and won the national championship. Does this year's basketball team have that magic?

4 hours and change till game time. Let's dance.