COLUMBUS, OH -- Ohio State remained No. 3 in both the AP and Coaches polls while Kentucky held onto the top spot for the third straight week. The Wildcats received 63 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel, while Syracuse, No. 2 in both polls, got the other No. 1 votes.  Ohio State, Missouri, North Carolina and Baylor held third through sixth, the same as last week. The Buckeyes will host the Purdue Boilermakers (15-8, 5-5 Big Ten) on Tuesday in ... Read More

From: modbee.com -- Thanks, Big Ten. The bruised feelings and backbiting over recruiting last week confirmed my long-standing argument that it's nothing more than an image-obsessed, ethically convenient, regionally focused football conference. It exists in its own little parochial enclave, conning itself and its legions of apologists that it operates from a higher moral compass than other, more competitively dominating conferences. The combative reaction to Urban Meyer's first Ohio State recruiting class exposed the Big Ten's double standards. Every ... Read More

By Danny Restivo (TheLantern.com) --  Ohio State women's basketball coach Jim Foster hasn't quite embraced the idea of social media. "I mean really, tweeting?" Foster said. "Who cares what you think at the moment, you're going to change your mind in five." He might not tweet about his 760 career wins, a Final Four appearance or being 12th on the all-time NCAA wins list, but he's not afraid to share one aspect of his career: getting all his players to earn degrees. Before ... Read More

By: Rob McCurdy (News Journal) --  COLUMBUS -- As a McDonald's All-American in high school, Shannon Scott could have gone anywhere in the country. He picked Ohio State, a program already with a standout point guard only a year ahead of him. "I knew that playing with Aaron (Craft) would make my game better every day," Scott said. "It would help me to be a better player." Craft averaged 30 minutes a game as a freshman and emerged as an elite ... Read More

From: AP via ajc.com -- COLUMBUS, Ohio — There must have been a lot of interesting give-and-take when the Big Ten football coaches met at the conference offices on Friday. New Ohio State coach Urban Meyer faced off with at least a couple of coaches who have been reported saying they question his poaching of recruits who had already committed to other programs. Meyer's first recruiting class on Wednesday included eight players who initially had said they were ... Read More

By Brian Bennett (ESPN.com) -- Urban Meyer hasn't coached a game yet at Ohio State, but his impact on the Big Ten has already been massive. Though he was only hired in late November, Meyer managed to put together an impressive first recruiting class that ESPN ranked as the sixth-best in the country. Several players in the class were at one time committed to other league schools. The Buckeyes put together one of the best groups of defensive linemen ... Read More

By Matt Norlander (CBSSports.com) -- When you're successful, lurkers and hangers-on start to come around. Right now, Ohio State's in the midst of another terrific season, something they've grown accustomed to in Columbus since Thad Matta got to town. But with this success has come a problem on the secondary ticket market. Someone, or some group, has been printing counterfeit tickets and creating havoc for Buckeye home games. On Thursday the school sent out a memo, reminding and ... Read More

By: Matt Hayes (Sporting News) -- So this is what it has come to. After 60-plus days on the job at Ohio State, there’s no avoiding it. Either the Big Ten bows to Urban Meyer, or Urban Meyer bows to the Big Ten. “I can tell you this,” says Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema. “We at the Big Ten don’t want to be like the SEC—in any way, shape or form.” Just so we’re clear: Bielema wasn’t talking about winning national championships. He was ... Read More

By Adam Rittenberg (ESPN.com) -- Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema made waves Wednesday when he suggested new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer used "illegal" recruiting practices in signing his first class. Now it appears that Bielema and Wisconsin are taking things to the next level. Sporting News reported Thursday that Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez will speak Friday with Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany about Meyer's recruiting methods during the league's athletic director meetings. During his National Signing Day press conference, Bielema ... Read More

By Erick Smith (USA TODAY) --   Jim Tressel is returning to campus. Tressel was announced as Akron's vice president of school engagement at a press conference Thursday. The former Ohio State coach has a long history with Akron. He was a graduate assistant with the Zips and earned a master's degree from the school. Tressel, who resigned after 10 seasons with the Buckeyes on Memorial Day, helped in the school's search that led to hiring of Terry Bowden as ... Read More