OSU Baseball

The Ohio State baseball team entered the Big Ten Tournament as the lowest seed, #6, and they won all four games, winning the tournament, getting an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. It is an incredible feat when you consider that Ohio State was not even in the Big Ten tournament, until they won the last game of the season. In the Big Ten Tournament, Ohio State beat Penn State, Michigan and Minnesota (twice.) Ohio State is scheduled to play Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday afternoon in College Station, Texas.

News

Baseball
This blog is dedicated to Ohio State football and basketball, but I think it is worth mentioning that the Ohio State baseball team has won their first two games in the Big Ten Tournament. Those wins were over #3 Penn State and #1 Michigan. Ohio State had a disappointing season, finishing sixth in the Big Ten, and they barely got into the tournament, getting the 6th seed with a win in their last regular season game. The win over host Michigan is very impressive considering the Wolverines swept the four game series during the season. Ohio State plays Minnesota tonight, and the winner advances to the title game against the winner of the loser's bracket on Saturday night. The winner of the OSU/Minnesota game would be in the winner's bracket, and the tournament rules state that the game is replayed if the team from the winner's bracket does not win. The winner of the Big Ten tournament gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Ohio State will not be in the NCAA tournament, unless they win the automatic bid. Good Luck Buckeyes!

Turf
The Dispatch has reported that the artificial turf in Ohio Stadium is set to be finished today, ten days ahead of schedule. Fans will notice that the endzones and the Block-O in the middle of the field are now scarlet, instead of gray. Evidently due to UV sunrays, red paint on natural grass causes problems. I will post pictures when they become available.

Big Ten Network

You may have seen commercials for the new Big Ten Network, which will start broadcasting conference sporting events in August. I don't know about you, but it made me think of the OSU vs. Indiana football game last season, which broadcast on ESPNU, a channel that only a small percentage of the US has on their cable or satellite. (Click here to read my post from back in October.) Sure it was a small game, but clearly ESPNU was trying to grab viewers that otherwise would not subscribe to the channel. In some cases the cable providers would not even make the channel available. The same thing happened with the NFL Network, which also had exclusive rights to broadcast games, causing some folks to miss games. So, as you can see, I was a bit uneasy when I heard the network would have at least two Ohio State football games, and quite a few of the basketball games. I did not want to have a cable provider that was unwilling to pay the $1.10/subscriber to BTN, especially considering locally in Columbus, Time Warner was not willing to pay 70 cents/subscriber for the NFL Network. No deals have been made between the network and Time Warner, Insight or WOW, the three cable providers in Columbus, at this time. Those of you with DirecTV will have the channel available, with the Total Choice package. I have not heard anything about DishNetwork. I suggest you call your cable/satellite provider and harass them so that we all have this channel.

Below is the list of programs the channel advertises on their website.
- 35+ football games per season
- At least 105 regular season men's basketball games
- At least 55 regular season women's basketball games
- Big Ten championship events
- Archived Big Ten events, including bowl games
- 170 Olympic sporting events
- Coaches' shows
- 660 hours of institutional programming

New Turf

As I posted in early December, Ohio Stadium is replacing the grass with artificial turf. You may recall in previous posts, I discussed the three different sets of grass turfs used in Ohio Stadium this past season. Ohio State has started the installation of FieldTurf. The old grass, which was only used for the Michigan game and the Spring Game last month, will be installed at local youth baseball parks. The new field will be made of synthetic fibers supported by layers of sand and ground rubber bits. Ohio State has already installed a new drainage system. This material can be found in NFL practice and playing fields, along with college teams such as Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. It will be installed at a cost of $800,000 and is supposed to last at least ten years, and possibly fifteen years. Below are some pictures from the Dispatch.

College Football Hall of Fame

Congrats to Rex Kern for being inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame. Kern was a quarterback at Ohio State from 1968-1970, winning 27 of 29 games and a National Championship in 1968. The Dispatch had a nice article about him in today's paper. Former players Jim Otis and Chris Spielman, along with former coach John Cooper were on the ballot, but they did not get inducted. Below is a picture of Kern along with some accomplishments, from the Columbus Dispatch.

"Ramblin' Rex" Kern

Top accomplishments of former Ohio State quarterback Rex Kern:
- First All-America quarterback (1969) to play for coach Woody Hayes
- Led OSU to three consecutive Big Ten titles and the 1968 national championship
- Rose Bowl MVP in 1969
- In 1969, set a school record for total offense in a season (1,585) and finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting
- Drafted by the Baltimore Colts in 1971 and played four years in the NFL
- Earned a Ph.D. from Ohio State. Established the Anne and Woody Hayes Endowment for the prevention of child abuse at Children's Hospital in 2001

Oden Officially Gone

The Dispatch reported that Oden is officially signed with an agent, Mike Conley Sr. Once signed with an agent a player forfeits their college eligibility. It is still unclear if Oden will complete his classes this quarter. It is in Ohio State's best interest that he completes classes, because any player leaving college early, having not completed the quarter/semester, will bring down the Academic Progress Rate (APR.) OSU already has a low score in basketball, and if it goes much lower OSU could lose a scholarship for the 2008-2009 season.

NFL Draft

I didn't post any information before the draft because this blog focuses on college sports, but I still think it is nice to know where the OSU players went in the draft. Congrats and good luck in the NFL!

Ted Ginn Jr.
WR
First 9(9)
Miami

Anthony Gonzalez
WR
First 32(32)
Indianapolis

Quinn Pitcock
DT
Thrid 35(98)
Indianapolis

Antonio Pittman
RB
Fourth 8(107)
New Orleans

Jay Richardson
DE
Fifth 1(138)
Oakland

Roy Hall
WR
Fifth 32(169)
Indianapolis

Troy Smith
QB
Fifth 37(174)
Baltimore

Doug Datish
OC
Sixth 24(198)
Atlanta

News

The Ohio State sports teams passed the NCAA academic standards. The Academic Progress Report has been in place for three years. A low score results in penalties and possible loss of scholarships. None of the teams in the Big Ten had penalties last year. There is some concern that the departures of Oden, Conley and Cook could cause some problems for Ohio State. The players must leave the school in good academic standing or Ohio State could face penalties. So far all reports indicate the players are attending class, but as the NBA practices approach it is possible the players may start missing classes and exams.

Some of the game times have been announced. Ohio State will play three Big Ten games at 8 PM. The night games will be at Minnesota on September 29, at Purdue on October 6, and at Penn State on October 27. The time for the September 15 game at Washington and the October 20 game in Columbus with Michigan State is 3:30.