In one of the worst secrets ever kept since the one about el Kaiser likes to wear womens clothes in his “private time” multiple sources are leaking out info on the release of Big Ten Divisions today.

Here they are:

• Losers Division
  • Michigan
  • Nebraska
  • Iowa
  • Michigan State
  • Northwestern
  • Minnesota
• Winners Division
  • Ohio State
  • Penn State
  • Wisconsin
  • Purdue
  • Indiana
  • Illinois

Before everyone gets their panties in a tight wad there are pros and cons to this alignment and at least in private we MOTSAGers have discussed or fought over them since Nebraska announced they are joining the conference.

I know the vast majority of Buckeye fans are going to hate seeing this and expect THE GAME to be move and affected in a negative way. I hope everyone will at least look at the big picture of the good of the conference which I feel is just as important as our own team’s importance. We aren’t the Big 12 or MWC and every decision made is made for the betterment of every member institution and not just the best programs.

I can’t imagine OSU and scUM will be the last game of the year and then a possible rematch in the CCG but no schedule has been released yet so you never know. (Updated, see below)

Look at it this way and you can start to see why they split us this way. The last weekend of the regular season will include these games OSU vs PSU, scUM vs MSU, Indiana vs Purdue, Illinois vs Northwestern, Wisky vs Minnesota, and Iowa vs Nebraska…… That is a tremendous lineup of games that will make the B10 extremely relevant and important on the last week. It also sets up a OSU vs Nebraska or scUM Conference Championship Game every year with PSU getting to go once every 25 years or so.

Bottom line fellow Buckeye fans is when we decided to expand as a conference we all agreed to change. We have no idea if this is good or bad change for at least 4-5 years. I fully expect more changes and more expansion in those 4-5 years.

Stay calm and remember it doesnt really matter when THE GAME is or what division we are in. We just have to win every game we play and we will be OSU.

Update:

Just announced on Big Ten Network that tonight at 7 PM Commish Jim Delaney will announce live on the Big Ten Network the conference divisions.

Another Update:

According to ESPN Big Ten Blogger Adam Rittenberg:

Several signs point toward the Ohio State-Michigan game remaining on the final Saturday of the regular season. We’ll know for sure tonight, as athletic directors Gene Smith (Ohio State) and Dave Brandon (Michigan) will appear on the Big Ten Network’s announcement show.

The Dispatch is reporting that 97.1 FM radio station is reporting that THE GAME will remain as the last game of the season

RUMOR ALERT:

I cant confirm with a link but rumors are flying that only Divisional games will count toward going to the CCG.

As we come to the end of our countdown to gameday I would be remiss if I didnt honor what has become tOSU greatest position. Maybe we arent LBu or RBu or QBu but we can now and forever be known as Punter U. Mr. Skladany was one of our greatest ever and really he was a trend setter. He paved the way for some of the greatest punters ever in CFB the likes of Tom Tupa and Andy Groom and A J Trappaso and many others. Thank you Mr. Skladany for all you have done to make Tressel Ball an acceptable form of coaching.

Wow. Three days from this very moment I’ll be on my basement couch, having rocked Hey Buckeyes! on the stereo all day with my Block O flag hanging off the front porch of my house. I don’t know about anyone else, but I plan on tearing through the bulk of a 24-pack of some inexpensive domestic brew and yelling at my projector screen for a good three hours Thursday night.

In short, I’m so excited about the opening of college football season I could crap my pants.

Which leads me – if a bit graphically – to something that occurred to me the other day. My kids got their OSU jerseys for this season via UPS – a white #2 for my daughter and a red #1 for my son*. I have watched College Gameday probably every Saturday since its inception and one thing that always sticks out to me watching games in Columbus vs. other places is the sheer number of people rocking the Buckeyes’ jerseys on game day. And I’m one of the worst, with a personal collection that has included the following:

• #11 (Antoine Winfield)
• #8 (Steve Bellisari – err… Drew Carter)
• #16 (Dr. Krenzel) – although this one wasn’t a Nike jersey and it used to piss me off because the stripes on the sleeves were wrong, so I only had this jersey for about 3 weeks.
• #7 (Teddy Ginn, Joe Germaine, Joey Galloway)
• #10 (St. Troy)
• #28 (Beanie)
• #2 (Cris Carter, Mike Doss, TP)

So I guess I have a bit of a personal stake in thinking the jersey-as-gameday-uniform is one of the unique little twists that OSU has.

* – an aside for those of you without kids: Jerseys are expensive and kids grow too fast for one to last more than two seasons, tops. It freaking sucks. But we do what we must to remain true to tradition.

I haven’t done any in-depth research on this – just in case any member of the A-Team feels obligated to jump into the comments and point this out – but it seems to me that this is the case. I know for a fact that at Air Force games very few fans rock the jersey, which isn’t really saying much. Most Air Force fans are like the good natured little league parents, cheering for any big play, no matter which team had it, bringing jello-molds and Rice Krispie Treats to the games, and hoping to go home knowing that darn it, everyone just had a really good time. I drop more f-bombs between my bed and the alarm in the morning than the entire capacity of Falcon Stadium does during a game against Navy or Army. But I digress…

Can anyone else think of a college football team whose supporters wear their team’s jerseys in similar proportion to ours? Does anyone else go along with my “white jerseys are for girls, scarlet jerseys are for guys” mantra? Am I just partially insane or full-blown bat-s#&@ crazy? And is Marshall as good on offense as they are if you’re playing them in NCAA 11 on All-American or Heisman difficulty?

I leave these questions to you.

This is some tidbits from the ESPN Big Ten Blog with info on updates about the Buckeyes.

Junior defensive end Nathan Williams, a projected starter, will miss the Marshall game with a knee injury. He should be back shortly thereafter. Solomon Thomas will start in Williams’ spot Thursday night.

Starting cornerback Chimdi Chekwa (hamstring) is questionable for the Marshall game, but corner Devon Torrence (hamstring) should be fine.

Sophomore C.J. Barnett’s strong performance in camp lifted him ahead of Orhian Johnson on the Week 1 depth chart. Johnson missed a chunk of camp with an injury.

Start salivating, Buckeyes fans, because running backs Jordan Hall and Jaamal Berry likely will handle kickoff returns against Marshall.

Hopefully this info will help with any questions about injuries and depth chart. Stil waiting to see who is listed as the no. 2 QB and how much Tyler Moeller will play.

According to Taurian Washington his former high school teammate Dionte Allen from Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Marys will become a Buckeye. The cornerback from Florida State was a highly touted recruit and chose FSU over OSU originally but has had a injury riddled past and apparently left the team over playing time this year. He will have one year of eligibility left next year after sitting out this year.

No one from OSU admissions office has confirmed this story as of yet.

With a little more than seven three weeks to go, we are going to do something we haven’t done in a couple years – write season previews. Bringing the majority of the writing will be our newest member, Johnny Utah. For the weeks leading up to the season, we will be looking at the major positions for the 2010 Ohio State football team. This particular post is will serve as a central location for our previews.

Offensive Line
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Quarterbacks

Defensive Line
Linebackers
Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Season Preview

The plan is to have a preview for each position go live every Monday when they’re done. Further blogging will continue as sporadic as usual in full force now that the season is nigh upon us.

As Terrelle Pryor drops back to pass he locks onto Devier Posey, Posey is open as he makes his break. Pryor pats the ball 4 times and throws a wobbly pass to a now covered Mr. Posey. The pass is easily broken up and could have been picked.

As Buckeye fans, we’ve all witnessed this before.

Terrible mechanics, bad decision making, locking onto receivers, patting the ball, running toward the sideline instead of straight up the field and saying the most random and ridiculous things during post game interviews…no offense to Michael Vick.

Those are just some of the negatives that have come with Terrelle Pryor being the Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback the past two seasons.

With all that said and with all that is…or was wrong with Pryor, he led the Buckeyes to 2 BCS bowl games, 2 Big Ten Titles, 2 wins over Michigan, 1 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and 1 Rose Bowl MVP. He did all of that because whenever he steps onto the field he is the best athlete on it.

Now…just imagine if he learns how to throw the ball on a more consistent basis? If the Rose Bowl was any indication, he is moving in the right direction. That’s not to say he is Dan Marino with Vince Young’s legs…that would be gross.

Pryor has improved every facet of his game and that is a bad thing for the rest of the Big Ten. Based on what I’ve watched from the Oregon beat down until now, Pryor will be a much better and more complete quarterback.

With all of Pryor’s physical gifts, this transformation didn’t start with his athletic ability. It started between his ears. He was dedicated himself to becoming a better leader. Just ask Tyler Moeller.

"Terrelle is a great player," Moeller said, responding to a question about Pryor’s claim that he’ll return to Ohio State as a senior in 2011. "It’s a huge difference from when he first got here to now, his maturity and how he became a leader.

"I think when he first got here, I don’t think too many people liked him, really. He was kind of a punk. But now I have the utmost respect for him. He’s a great player and a great leader and I’d follow him into battle any day."

“I’d follow him into battle any day.”

Because of Pryor’s growth this year, Jim Tressel will trust him far more with the offense. Leading up to the Rose Bowl, Pryor had an outstanding couple weeks of practice and showed Tressel that Pryor could be trusted with a more diversified offense. We all saw what #2 did against the best team in the Pac 10 and by all accounts he is even better now.

Trust is a big thing with Jim Tressel when it comes to his quarterbacks. Troy Smith wasn’t always a Heisman front runner. As a sophomore Smith split time at the QB position and was held back by Jim Tressel until the trust was there. Smith struggled until the Michigan game where he lit it up. He was then suspended for the bowl game for being an idiot but that season and Pryor’s sophomore season did have parallels.

Both played very average most of the time with flashes of brilliance. But after good practices, both were given a change to show what they could do and both delivered.

Smith went on to have an outstanding junior season, catapulting him into a Heisman his senior year. Pryor is not the natural passer Smith was, but he is a far better athlete. I do look for Pryor to have a big junior year on a team loaded at just about every position.

Look for Ohio State to throw the ball much more this year. Quicker decision making and the ability to read defenses will open up other facets of the Ohio State passing game. Jake Stoneburner and Brandon Saine should benefit from this more wide open offense. Devier Posey should be the #1 target again with Dane Sanzenbacher being Mr. Dependable.

This could be the year the Pryor cuffs finally do come off for good. In my mind, Pryor should throw for between 180-220 yards every game and run for another 50-120 yards a game. What Pryor does best is run the ball and that part of his game shouldn’t be taken away.

He is the key to Ohio States success this year and it is his time to silence his never ending sea of doubters and haters.

The Backups:

Joe Bauserman

Vs.

Kenny Guiton

It’s Bauserman vs. Guiton. I’ll make this short and sweet. Joe Bauserman cannot be trusted. He is a ginger and therefore evil to his core. Kenny Guiton has been impressive this offseason and could take away the backup job. But in Tressels world, it’s all about trust, and The Magic Ginger has been around a long time. One of these two may have to squeak out a win at some point this year as Terrelle Pryor has a bad knee and is a physical runner. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that because the Buckeyes are thin at the backup QB position.

But enough about the backups, we all know the season will come down to Terrelle Pryor. Like it or not, he will be given most of the credit and most of the blame for the success of the Buckeyes. Pryor is 6’6 240lbs, the best athlete on the field, has a cannon for an arm and by all accounts has finally learned how to play the position of quarterback. He is a defensive coordinators worst nightmare and will wreak havoc on every team he faces this fall.

This isn’t my wheelhouse, these wide receivers. It’s no secret I’m more of a defensive minded kind of fan. Punting on third down is never a bad option in my book. But some of you fans seem to like the idea of hurling the football in the air when it really should be safely cradled in the nook of a fullback’s bent arm. It’s a gameplan I’m not really comfortable with. I’m an adherent to the adage of, “three things can happen when you throw the football and two of them are bad.”

But I will begrudgingly admit that there is a certain benefit to quickly working the ball down the field in such a way that the defender can’t do a thing until the ball is caught. And if the Buckeye coaches are serious about doing this 25-35 times a game, I guess I better get on board. So how’s the receiving end of the passing game going to work out? (we’ll get to the passing end soon).

Contrary to popular belief, Terrelle Pryor actually has more than one target within the wide receiving corps. Having watched every play last year, it was clear with whom Pryor has built a rapport. Baby-faced DeVier Posey is clearly the number one receiver in the passing attack and Pryor isn’t afraid to communicate that unequivocally to everyone on the field (that’s a joke, people). Posey has established himself as a home run hitter with deceptive speed and soft hands.

Sure, DeVier Posey gets the majority of the action down the field, but Pryor also has Dane Sanzenbacher at his disposal. Sanzenbacher continues the tradition (and the now getting really old cliche) of the possession receiver. (It’s not his fault he’s got velcro hands). If there’s someone that’s getting a pass on a crucial third and five, I want the ball going to Dane.

Along with the human tackling dummy, the wide receiver group is also comprised of senior Taurian Washington and freshman Corey Brown. These two will most likely see the field the most this season.

It’s amazing what a case of the dropsies will do for your confidence and playing time. Out of camp last year, Taurian Washington was impressing coaches and observers. Then, after a couple ill-timed drops early in the season, Taurian found himself on the wrong end of the pine. Even to the point of contemplating a transfer. Fortunately, a Rose Bowl victory in which his blocking, not catching, contributed has reenergized the senior.

And then there are the tight ends. Oh, the tight ends. We Buckeye fans have had a somewhat of a tortured relationship with our tight ends lately (FRICKEN RYAN HAMBY [don’t click, it’s too painful]) (ALL HAIL JAKE BALLARD [click, click, clickity click]) so this year brings us to a crossroads. Jake Stoneburner has been ready to explode for a couple years now. This is going to be his year! He’s going to catch a hundred passes! Not so fast, my friend. Let’s not get too excited. As Duane Long rightly put it, “When in all the time Jim Tressel has been here has he thrown the ball to the tight end? It is not what we do here.” But he does go on to say that doesn’t mean Jake can’t have an impact. Stoneburner is the most athletic tight end Jim Tressel has had at his disposal in a long time (if not ever). Even if he doesn’t catch a ton of passes, he’s going to be a match-up nightmare for defenses and will factor in the passing game plan as a probable third option and hopefully as a relief valve for Pryor.

So supposedly Jim Tressel is planning on throwing the ball quite a bit this year. If that’s what you like, bully for you. I guess that means the Buckeyes will be scoring faster.

I’ll be waiting for the defense to get back on the field. Now it will just happen a little faster. Bully for me.