Around The Block: BlockONation's Buckeye Bits, Volume 3 — June 3, 2012

Hello once again Buckeye football fans. I have a plethora of bits to share with you today — unfortunately, not all of them good — but nevertheless, the bits are the bits — and away we go.

— The biggest bit of news today involves the arrest of Ohio State senior TE, Jake Stoneburner, for obstructing official business, whatever the heck that means exactly. Details are still sketchy, but it appears Stoneburner may have been intoxicated and was arrested after briefly fleeing from police. It was later revealed that junior O-lineman Jack Mewhort and a third man were also arrested with Stoneburner. Most likely, Stoneburner and Mewhort, both of whom are facing misdemeanor charges, will each probably get slaps on the wrist barring any further-damning revelations, but surely this will not sit well with head coach Urban Meyer.

— Ohio State had hoped to land 5-star LB recruit Jaylon Smith, brother of Ohio State RB Roderick Smith, but earlier today, Smith somewhat surprisingly opted against joining his brother in Columbus, and instead gave his verbal commitment to Notre Dame. While Smith would have made a nice addition to the 2013 class, Ohio State, as always, has plenty of talent and depth at linebacker, and that may have been a factor in Smith's decision.

— Ohio State recently nixed a proposed 2020-2021 home-and-home series with the Georgia Bulldogs, purportedly because of future scheduling conflicts regarding their Pac-12/B1G scheduling deal that is in the works. Also, it can't be ignored that schools in the-now 12-team B1G may soon be playing nine conference games instead of just eight.

— ESPN B1G blogger Adam Rittenberg discussed some keys to the Buckeyes' 2012 season and what to expect from Ohio State this fall.

— 2013 Buckeye verbal and dual-sport star, Jalin Marshall became the 2012 DI Ohio high school state champion in the long jump Saturday. Marshall plays QB for Middletown HS, but early speculation points to him playing WR when he arrives in Columbus next year. With his speed and jumping ability, it certainly would make sense.

As Lee Hudnell of The Buckeye Times recently reported, Athlon Sports has released its' 2012 preseason rankings, and they have Ohio State ranked at No. 6, while college football guru Phil Steele has Ohio State ranked at No. 11. Obviously, the combination of Ohio State's talent and Urban Meyer's coaching prowess has led to some lofty expectations. For what it's worth, I think both are right — kind of. Phil Steele has the preseason ranking dead-on, and Athlon's ranking is closer to where the Buckeyes could find themselves in the final rankings at seasons end.

— And finally, if you're into recruiting and interested in keeping tabs on who the Buckeyes are targeting in 2013, look no further. And since you asked (or not, but just go with it), you can also glimpse even further into the future and track the recruits Ohio State is targeting for 2014 as well, thanks to the great work by our good friends over at ScarletBuckeye.

See you next time, around the Block — HD

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@BlockONation

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ESPN's Resident Biased Hater Pat Forde Ripping the Big 10 Again—What's New?

Posted by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation


On the January night in 2003 when Ohio State stunned Miami and won the national title, the Big Ten seemed poised for a renaissance.

The Buckeyes were back under Jim Tressel, and that wasn't all.

Michigan and Penn State were their usual selves, rolling up 10 and nine victories, respectively.

Iowa went 11-2 that season. Wisconsin and Minnesota each won eight games.

Surely, those schools and others in the league would rise to meet the Buckeyes at or near the summit.

Six humbling seasons later, Ohio State is still waiting for backup.

Yes, there have been high points for the rest of the conference: Iowa's 20 victories in 2003 and '04 combined; Penn State's 11-1 mark in 2005; Michigan's 11-2 and Wisconsin's 12-1 records in '06; Illinois' 2008 Rose Bowl berth; Northwestern and Michigan State each winning nine games last year.

But beyond the Buckeyes, every single program in the Big Ten has had at least one big bust of a season.

Ohio State has not ranked lower than No. 21 in the Sagarin computer ratings in any of the past six seasons. The other 10 teams in the league have ranked in the lower half of the FBS nationally at least once during that time.

Michigan had its 3-9 train wreck last year, finishing 95th.

Wisconsin threw in a 7-6 clunker last season against a soft schedule to finish 61st.

Iowa was 79th in 2007.

Penn State was 71st in 2003 and 63rd in '04.

Purdue slid in its final years under Joe Tiller, finishing 62nd in 2006 and 78th last year.

Michigan State had a couple of rough seasons under John L. Smith, ranking 66th in 2004 and 80th in '06.

Minnesota cratered in 2007, winning one game and finishing 123rd.

Northwestern is justifiably proud of earning three Big Ten titles since 1995, but it was No. 93 in the Sagarin ratings in 2006 and No. 86 in '07.

Illinois has been higher than 68th only once in the past six years.

And Indiana -- where they're now selling league home games to the highest bidder -- has failed to crack the top 70.

Compare that to the other leagues, and you'll see a consistency problem.

Five schools in the Big Ten's nemesis league, the Southeastern Conference, have ranked in the top half of the FBS nationally all six years: Florida, LSU, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina.

Three of them -- Florida, LSU and Georgia -- have done what the Buckeyes have done, ranking in the top 30 every season.

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I'd just like to add:

During his hateful rant against the Big Ten, I absolutely love how Pat slurps several SEC teams, yet conveniently doesn't mention the fact that the Big Ten has a winning record vs. the SEC this decade and all-time.

I suppose that's not really that important when your employer has a $3 Billion TV deal with the SEC though, huh...

Just focus on those lowly season end rankings and not the fact that many of those "terrible" Big Ten teams went on to beat an SEC team in a bowl game that same year.

Spun like a true ESPN anal-yst.

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Here's a video of Forde's take, in case you want to see and hear what he has to say about the top five conferences and how he ranks them 1-5.



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This article was written by Pat Forde and posted on ESPN.com